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Sir Peter James Lawler (23 March 1921 – 1 April 2017) was an Australian senior public servant and diplomat. He served in senior roles under Prime Ministers
Menzies Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges. Derivation and history The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
, Holt, McEwen,
Gorton Gorton is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw. A ...
,
McMahon McMahon or MacMahon ( or ) may refer to: Places * Division of McMahon, an electorate for the Australian House of Representatives * McMahon, Saskatchewan, a hamlet in Canada * McMahon Line, a boundary between India and China * McMahons Point, a ...
,
Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...
,
Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...
and Hawke, and ended his career as Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See.


Career

Peter Lawler was born on 23 March 1921. He was educated at St Joseph's College Hunters Hill,
St Stanislaus College St Stanislaus College (often called Tullabeg College) was a Jesuit boys boarding school, novitiate and philosophy school, in Tullabeg, Rahan, County Offaly. St Carthage founded a monastery of 800 monks there in 595 before founding his monaste ...
, Bathurst, and the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
, graduating in economics. He joined the Department of Postwar Reconstruction in 1944, then the Prime Minister's Department in 1950. In 1951, along with Kenneth Herde, he was seconded to the UK Cabinet Office in London to do research on the workings of government, with a view to bringing back ideas that could be applied within the Australian context. He remained there until 1953, and also undertook postgraduate training in several European cities. Lawler's and Herde's recommendations led to
Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
' decision to establish a Cabinet Office in Canberra as a separate and discrete part of the Prime Minister's Department. He became a Deputy Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department in 1964. He wrote the 1966 Cabinet decision that led to the abolition of the White Australia policy. In October 1967, as Acting Secretary, he was involved in the VIP aircraft affair that threatened the premiership of Menzies' successor
Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until Disappearance of Harold Holt, his disappearance and presumed death in 1967. He held o ...
, but used his experience and shrewdness to protect himself and escape the odium that was visited on Sir John Bunting. In 1968, Prime Minister
John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician, farmer and airman who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. He held office as the leader of the leade ...
made the Cabinet Office a department in its own right (generally believed to be his way of sidelining Sir John Bunting), and Lawler joined it as Deputy Secretary to Bunting, remaining there until March 1971 when the new prime minister
William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988), also known as Billy McMahon, was an Australian politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Australia from 1971 to 1972. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia ...
merged it with the Prime Minister's Department to create the new Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. From 1972 to 1975 Peter Lawler was Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State, serving the
Whitlam government The Whitlam government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam of the Australian Labor Party. The government commenced when Labor defeated the McMahon government at the 1972 Australian federal elect ...
, then Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services from 1975 to 1983, serving the
Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...
. After Sir
Robert Mark Sir Robert Mark (13 March 1917 – 30 September 2010) was a senior British police officer who served as Chief Constable of Leicester City Police, and later as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1972 to 1977. Mark was the first Met ...
's report on the organisation of protective services in the wake of the February 1978
Sydney Hilton bombing The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred on 13 February 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotel in George Street, Sydney, Australia. The hotel was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM), a regi ...
, the Fraser government set up a small taskforce, headed by Peter Lawler, to implement the recommended creation of the
Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
. In March 1983 the incoming
Hawke government The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was su ...
appointed Lawler Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland and Ambassador to the Holy See, serving until his retirement in 1986. He was resident in Ireland, except for four months prior to
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
's visit to Australia. Lawler lobbied to have the post of Ambassador to the Holy See permanently resident in Rome, but this did not occur until
Tim Fischer Timothy Andrew Fischer (3 May 1946 – 22 August 2019) was an Australian politician and diplomat who served as leader of the National Party of Australia, National Party from 1990 to 1999. He was the tenth Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, d ...
's appointment in 2008. He was a Member of the Council of the
Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences The Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences is a multi-disciplinary learned society founded in 1967 modelled on the British Academy of Forensic Sciences. The Academy conducts regular conferences, undertakes liaison with other Australian professi ...
for many years. Lawler died on 1 April 2017, aged 96, survived by his seven surviving children from two marriages, and their offspring.


Personal life

Lawler was a Catholic with open
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
affiliations. He became a patron of the
Australian Family Association The Australian Family Association (AFA) is a conservative Christian political organisation. It was founded in 1980 by the National Civic Council's then president, B. A. Santamaria. Beliefs and lobbying The AFA states they were formed to "provi ...
in 2008. He and his wife were named Australian Family of the Year by the Association. He was also a Cooperator of the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. He married Mary Thornton in 1944. She gave him six children, but both mother and son Gerard died at his birth in 1957. In 1958, he married Mary Robinson, and two more children followed. Lawler's family home was destroyed in the
2003 Canberra bushfires The 2003 Canberra bushfires caused severe damage to the suburbs and outer areas of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during 18–22 January 2003. Almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) pastures, pine plantations, and na ...
.


Honours

Lawler was appointed an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the 1965 New Year's Honours. He was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 1986 he received the papal honour of Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of Pius IX The Order of Pope Pius IX (), also referred as the Pian Order (, ), is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. It is the highest honor currently conferred by the Holy See (two higher honors, the Supreme Order of C ...
. He was awarded the
Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...
on 1 January 2001.It’s an Honour: Centenary Medal
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawler, Peter 1921 births 2017 deaths Ambassadors of Australia to Ireland Ambassadors of Australia to the Holy See University of Sydney alumni Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Roman Catholics Knights of the Order of Pope Pius IX 20th-century Australian public servants People educated at St Stanislaus' College (Bathurst)