Andrew Augustus Lysaght (8 August 1873 – 3 May 1933) was an Australian politician. He was a
Labor Party member of the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...
from 1925 until 1933, representing the electorate of
Bulli. He served as
Attorney-General of New South Wales
The Attorney General of New South Wales, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for New South Wales and usually known simply as the Attorney General, is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibili ...
under
Jack Lang in 1927 and 1930-31.
Lysaght was born at
Mount Ousley
Mount Ousley is a residential suburb situated on the foothills of Mount Keira about four kilometres northwest from the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereig ...
near
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...
, the son of politician
Andrew Lysaght, senior
Andrew Lysaght (1 October 1832 – 3 September 1906) was an Australian politician.
Born in Fairy Meadow, he spent many years as a publican of the Queens Hotel in Wollongong. An alderman of Northern Illawarra Council who served several term ...
. He was educated in Wollongong before attending
Newington College
, motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge
, location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = A ...
(1888–1890) and the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...
. He undertook articles in 1891, and was admitted as a solicitor in 1896. He established a reputation as a leading industrial lawyer, practicing in both Sydney and Wollongong. He was elected to the North Illawarra Municipal Council from 1900 to 1902, serving as mayor in 1902. It was at this time that his most prominent moment as a lawyer occurred, representing the miners before the Royal Commission into the
Mount Kembla mining disaster. He continued to hold a successful legal career, and in 1923 was called to the bar.
Lysaght entered state politics in 1925, when he defeated incumbent Nationalist
Mark Morton for the final seat in multi-member
Wollondilly
Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area adjacent to the south-western fringe of Sydney, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollond ...
. He was briefly appointed Attorney-General in 1927, during the last months of the Lang government. In 1927, following the abolition of the multi-member system, he contested and won the recreated seat of
Illawarra
The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...
, defeating sitting MLA
Brian Doe
Brian James Doe (26 January 1862 – 16 April 1941) was an Australian politician.
Doe was born in Portland, Victoria, and educated at Warrnambool and moved to Mount Gambier, South Australia when he was eleven. He worked as a blacksmith and a r ...
.
A redistribution of the region in 1930 saw him contest and win the new seat of
Bulli, and Lang's return to power saw him again appointed Attorney-General, despite lacking support within the Labor caucus. He clashed heavily with ideological rivals within Labor, and slowly lost Lang's support; he had also become increasingly irascible, associated with his declining health as a result of a disease of the nervous system.
He resigned from the ministry in 1931, and though he was re-elected in 1932,
he suffered from continually worsening health.
He died at
Campbelltown in 1933 while still in office, and was buried in the small town of
Appin
Appin ( gd, An Apainn) is a coastal district of the Scottish West Highlands bounded to the west by Loch Linnhe, to the south by Loch Creran, to the east by the districts of Benderloch and Lorne, and to the north by Loch Leven. It lies northeas ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lysaght, Andrew
1873 births
1933 deaths
Attorneys General of New South Wales
Australian barristers
Australian solicitors
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Mayors of places in New South Wales
People educated at Newington College
University of Sydney alumni
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales