Lindsay Earle Hartwig (29 December 1919 – 2 April 1996) was a politician in

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

Early life

Hartwig was a farmer and grazier by occupation and pioneered the first aerial sowing of pasture seed.

Politics

Hartwig began his political career as a councillor with the

Shire of Monto The Shire of Monto was a local government area in the northern catchment of the Burnett River, Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government area from 1932 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several ot ...

(1961–1970) and was appointed chairman in 1964. In 1972, he was preselected for the safe

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

seat of Callide. He was elected at the 1972 election, winning re-election as a National in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

and

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. In 1981, Hartwig was expelled from the National Party caucus by a vote of 33 to 2 by the party executive for repeated criticism of party president Sir

Robert Sparkes Sir Robert Lyndley Sparkes (31 May 19296 August 2006) was President of the Queensland National Party from 1970 to 1990 and the mayor of the Shire of Wambo for over 30 years. Sparkes was born in Dalby, Queensland, the son of Sir Jim Sparkes. Mo ...

. He won re-election as an independent in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, but retired at the 1986 election. During his time as an independent, he was elected as the Chairman of the

Livingstone Shire Council The Shire of Livingstone is a local government area located in the Capricornia region of Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia, to the immediate north and east of the regional city of Rockhampton. The shire, administered from the coastal to ...

in a landslide. However, he only served about 11 months as chairman because of continual concerns about his ability to be effective as a shire chairman given his parliamentary duties. Hartwig was never appointed to state Cabinet but had a notable achievement in fighting successfully to have

Queensland Day Queensland Day is officially celebrated on 6 June as the birthday of the Australian state of Queensland. History Moves towards statehood began with a public meeting in 1851 to consider separation of Queensland from the Colony of New South Wal ...

officially recognised. He also adopted a unique radio campaign. He put together a race-call commercial and called himself "Lovable Lindsay" who always won by a nose. After leaving Parliament he became involved with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

for a time and contested the 1988 South-Coast by-election for the fringe right-wing

Citizens Electoral Council The Australian Citizens Party (ACP), formerly the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC), is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement, founded and originally led American political activist a ...

Later life

Upon his death in 1996, his former colleagues made a range of tribute speeches; the stories of Hartwig's career were frequently humorous. Hartwig is buried in Toowoomba's Garden of Remembrance Cemetery.HARTWIG Lindsay M.L.A.
— Downs Folk - Lives and times of folk of Toowoomba & the Downs. Retrieved 6 February 2015.

References

* Parliament of Queensland Hansard 16 April 1996
Parliament of Queensland Register
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwig, Lindsay 1919 births 1996 deaths Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Independent members of the Parliament of Queensland National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Citizens Party politicians