John Dowd (politician)
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The Honourable John Dowd AO QC |
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| Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales | |
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In office 20 October 1981 – 15 March 1983 |
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| Preceded by | Bruce McDonald |
| Succeeded by | Nick Greiner |
| Member of the NSW Parliament for Lane Cove |
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In office 8 February 1975 – 3 May 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Kenneth McCaw |
| Succeeded by | Kerry Chikarovski |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 November 1940 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Australia |
John Robert Arthur Dowd AO QC (born 12 November 1940), is a former leader of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. He was the Chancellor of Southern Cross University between 2002 and 2014, and the President of ActionAid Australia, an international aid organisation.
Dowd was educated at Fort Street High School and the University of Sydney where he graduated with a LLB. Before entering Parliament, he was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1967. Dowd later was admitted to the Bar of Ireland and became a member of the Kings Inns in Dublin.
He was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia, and the member for Lane Cove in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1975 to 1991. He served as Opposition Leader from 1981, elected as Leader shortly after that year's election, until 1983 when he was deposed by Nick Greiner.
The 1981 election had seen Dowd's predecessor Bruce McDonald defeated in the seat he was contesting and the Liberals winning the same number of seats as its Coalition partner, the National Country Party. The Liberal Party leader has always been the leader of the coalition due to the Liberal Party always having more seats than its coalition partner. The fact that the Liberal Party had won the same number of seats as the National Country Party meant that the now vacant Opposition leadership came under dispute between the new Liberal leader Dowd and National Country Party leader Leon Punch which ultimately went to Dowd.
During Greiner's first term as Premier of New South Wales, Dowd was appointed Attorney General, serving between 1988 and 1991 and also serving as Leader of the House during the same period.
During his term as Attorney-General, important legal reforms in New South Wales were completed including establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and reforms of the criminal, tort and motor accident laws. ICAC is recognized as being the idea of Dowd, which he imported from Hong Kong
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