Peter Lawler (public servant)
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Sir Peter Lawler OBE |
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|---|---|
| Secretary of the Department of the Special Minister of State | |
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In office 9 January 1973 – 22 December 1975 |
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| Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services | |
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In office 22 October 1975 – 25 March 1983 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Peter James Lawler 23 March 1921 |
| Died | 1 April 2017 (aged 96) Canberra |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Mary Lawler |
| Children | John Lawler, CEO of the Australian Crime Commission |
| Occupation | Public servant |
Sir Peter James Lawler OBE (23 March 1921 – 1 April 2017) was an Australian senior public servant and diplomat. He served in senior roles under Prime Ministers Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon, Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke, and ended his career as Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See.
Peter Lawler was born on 23 March 1921. He was educated at Vincentian Fathers St Stanislaus College, Bathurst, and the University of Sydney, 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' 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, but used his experience and shrewdness to protect himself and escape the odium that was visited on Sir John Bunting.
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