Interviews with Dawn Lawrie
Dawn Lawrie first arrived in the Territory about 1960, first living in Alice Springs and then moving to Darwin. She worked both for the government and for a private doctor, then married and had three children. In 1971 she stood as an Independent in the Darwin electorate of Nightcliff and won the seat, the second woman in Territory history to be elected to Parliament. She won again in October 1974 when she was elected to the Territory's first fully-elected Legislative Assembly - a 19 seat Parliament that then consisted of 17 CLP members and two Independents. She experienced Cycone Tracy along with her family at their home in Nightcliff and in the aftermath of the cycone devastation took a leading role in protecting the rights of Darwin citizens. She assisted with the evacuation process and became an outspoken critic of the "permit system" (which restricted evacuated people from returning to their homes) and of the reconstruction and planning issues which emerged in the years following the cyclone. She championed many issues during her parliamentary career, including heritage matters, vagrancy and abortion reform. Dawn was re-elected in 1977 and 1980 but lost her seat in 1983. After a spell of running her own newspaper, she went on to become NT Human Rights Commissioner and at the time of designing this web site is the NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner. Dawn's interview covers the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, including the evacuation, the permit system and the resident action groups that emerged.The Permit System - A description of the social impact of the permit system, including how the system stopped people returning to Darwin.
Total File Size 595k - Play Time 1:05 Evacuating Darwin - A description of the massive airlift to get people out of Darwin, includes resources that were required to complete this task.
Total File Size 890k - Play Time 2:25 Returning to Darwin - Talks of the social impact of not returning to Darwin and the feeling of no sense of belonging.
Total File Size 455k - Play Time 1:45 Redevelopment - A description of how Darwin was redeveloped. This included how heritage building had to be save from being cleared away this the rubble.
Total File Size 753k - Play Time 4:05