Peter Dowding

Peter Dowding SC
24th Premier of Western Australia
In office 25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor	Gordon Reid
Deputy	David Parker
Preceded by	Brian Burke
Succeeded by	Carmen Lawrence
Treasurer of Western Australia
In office 25 February 1988 – 28 February 1989
Premier	Himself
Preceded by	Brian Burke
Succeeded by	David Parker
Leader of the Western Australian Labor Party
In office 25 February 1988 – 12 February 1990
Deputy	David Parker
Preceded by	Brian Burke
Succeeded by	Carmen Lawrence
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
In office 8 February 1986 – 26 April 1990
Preceded by	John Harman
Succeeded by	Judy Edwards
Constituency	Maylands
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
In office 22 May 1980 – 15 January 1986 Serving with Bill Withers, Tom Stephens
Preceded by	John Tozer
Succeeded by	Tom Helm
Constituency	North Province
Personal details
Born	Peter McCallum Dowding[1][a] (1943-10-06) 6 October 1943 (age 80) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Political party	Labor Party
Spouse	4
Children	4
Parent	Keith Dowding (father)
Relatives	Bruce Dowding (uncle)
Alma mater	University of Western Australia
Profession	Barrister and solicitor

Peter McCallum Dowding^[a] SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was the 24th Premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parliament from 1980 to 1990.

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, representing the Labor Party. He entered the Burke Cabinet when Labor won the 1983 state election and changed ministries several times over the ensuing years due to cabinet reshuffles. At the 1986 state election, Dowding transferred to the Legislative Assembly, 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. He was sworn in as the premier as scheduled on 25 February 1988.

Following controversy caused by WA Inc, Dowding became unpopular. 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 replaced 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".

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