Alexander Greig Ellis Lawrie (19 June 1907 – 13 December 1978) was an Australian politician. Born in Maitland,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, he was educated at

The Scots College The Scots College is an independent primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for boys, predominantly located in , an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is affiliat ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

before moving to

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

to become a grazier. He was an official of the Queensland Graziers' Association and served as Queensland State President of the Country Party 1960–1964. In 1963, he was elected to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

as a Country Party Senator for Queensland. He remained a Senator until his retirement in 1975.

Early life

Lawrie was born on 19 June 1907 in Lorn, New South Wales. He was the son of Ilma (née Norrie) and Alexander Greig Lawrie. His father, a grazier, was the grandson of Scottish immigrants who had arrived in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its ...

in 1850. Lawrie spent his early years at Bonnington Park, his father's grazing property on the

Allyn River Allyn River, a perennial stream of the Hunter River catchment, is located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Course Allyn River rises on Allyn Range, on the slopes of the Gondwana Rainforests Barrington Tops, west of Careys Pe ...

. The property was sold in 1916 and the family moved to Queensland where his father had other pastoral interests near

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

. He attended Rockhampton Grammar School for two years, later boarding at Scots College, Sydney, from 1918 to 1921. He left school at the age of fourteen and joined his father working at Booralong, a pastoral lease near

Westwood, Queensland Westwood is a town in the Rockhampton Region and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality split between the Rockhampton Region and the Shire of Banana in Queensland, Australia. It was the first town that was gazetted by the Queensland Gove ...

. Their development of the property included "large-scale clearing of

brigalow ''Acacia harpophylla'', commonly known as brigalow, brigalow spearwood or orkor, is an endemic tree of Australia. The Aboriginal Australian group the Gamilaraay peoples know the tree as Barranbaa or Burrii. It is found in central and coasta ...

, the eradication of prickly pear, ringbarking, pasture improvement, dry land cotton farming and the evolution of a Devon beef cattle stud".

Politics

Early involvement

Lawrie joined the Country Party in 1945 and became chair of its Westwood branch. He served on the Fitzroy Shire Council for thirteen years and was also a member of the executive of the United Graziers' Association of Queensland. In 1956, Lawrie was elected as a state vice-president of the Country Party. He succeeded as state president in 1960.

Senate

Lawrie was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

at the 1964 election, with his six-year term commencing on 1 July 1965. He was re-elected to a further six-year term in 1970, which was cut short by a

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolutio ...

. He was re-elected again at the 1974 election, but following another double dissolution chose to retire prior to the 1975 election.

Personal life

In 1939, Lawrie married

Margaret Hayes Margaret Hayes (born Florette Regina Ottenheimer; December 5, 1913 – January 26, 1977) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Early years A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Hayes was one of four children born to Clara Bussey a ...

, a schoolteacher who later became a prominent amateur anthropologist working in the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...

. She was also an officeholder in the Country Party. The couple had four children. Lawrie died in Rockhampton on 13 December 1978, aged 71.

References

National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Members of the Australian Senate 1907 births 1978 deaths People from Maitland, New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Scots College (Sydney) People educated at Rockhampton Grammar School {{Australia-National-politician-stub