Dr Carmen Lawrence was born and raised in the WA wheatbelt. A prize-winning undergraduate student she was awarded a PhD in Psychology in 1983 and was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1986. In February 1990 she became Australia’s first woman Premier a position she held until 1993. Subsequently she represented Fremantle in the House of Representatives in Canberra from 1994 to 2007. Between 1994 and 1996 she was a minister in the Keating Labor Government.

From the time he was elected as the member for Victoria Park, Geoff Gallop worked diligently to understand and assist his electors.  He quickly demonstrated that he appreciated the importance of inquiring about the history of the electorate and tracking the many strands of opinion and experience of its people in order to shape effective, inclusive policy.

These are attributes he brought to the Ministry and later to his role as Premier of Western Australia. His intelligence and his insistence on probity were instrumental in giving a strong identity to the government he led. Having seen the destructive aftermath of the improper relationships between business and government exposed by the W.A Inc Royal Commission, he was determined to implement the reforms to governance and electoral matters which had been shunned by his Liberal predecessor.

He was also assiduous in meeting the promises the Labor Party had taken to the 2001 election, particularly in moving to protect old growth native forests from logging (a legacy which will, I believe come to be the hallmark of his administration) and finally cleansing the states of discriminatory provisions, particularly as they affected gay and lesbian couples.  The achievement the electoral changes which provided for (almost) “one-vote-one-value” in the face of sizeable opposition is a testament to his capability as a parliamentarian and a fine example of his trademark principled persistence.   

Curtin University Library. Carmen Lawrence Collection. Records of Carmen Lawrence. Premier Carmen Lawrence working at her desk, 1992. CUL00005/3/58.