About Peter Dowding
Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was the premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990 due to a leadership spill. He was a member of the Parliament of Western Australia from 1980 to 1990 and a member of the Labor Party. Dowding graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Laws, and he subsequently worked as a solicitor and barrister. In 1980, he was elected to the North Province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, the parliament's upper house. He entered the Burke ministry when Labor won the 1983 state election and changed portfolios several times over the ensuing years due to cabinet reshuffles. At the 1986 state election, Dowding transferred to the Legislative Assembly, the parliament's lower house, winning the safe seat of Maylands. In December 1987, Premier Brian Burke announced that he would resign on 25 February 1988. Burke picked Dowding as his preferred replacement, with a secret opinion poll showing that he was the best candidate for the party to choose. After several other contenders dropped out of the contest, Dowding was voted in unanimously as the party's leader on 30 December. Dowding's popularity plunged following controversy caused by WA Inc. On 12 February 1990, he resigned as premier and leader of the Labor Party ahead of almost certain defeat in a Labor Party leadership spill. He was succeeded by Carmen Lawrence. Dowding soon resigned from parliament, and went back to practising law. The royal commission into WA Inc was scathing of Dowding, saying that he "presided over a disastrous series of decisions". On 23 December 1983, Dowding became the minister for planning, the minister for employment and training, and the minister for consumer affairs.
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