George Lawson

George Lawson (14 August 1880 – 25 November 1966) was an Australian trade union official and politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1931 to 1961, representing the seat of Brisbane. He was Minister for Transport in the Curtin government from 1941 to 1943. He had a long involvement in the labour movement in Queensland.

Early life Lawson was born on 14 August 1880 in the South Pine River district near Caboolture, Queensland. He was the eighth child born to Irish immigrant parents Ellen (née Rilley) and Alexander Lawson; his father was a farmer.

Lawson was educated at the state school at Warner and subsequently worked as a carrier for a Brisbane firm. He served in the Boer War from 1901 to 1902 with the 5th (Queensland Imperial Bushmen) Contingent and was mentioned in dispatches.

Political career

Lawson was elected an alderman of the Windsor Town Council from 1916 to 1921 and appointed as an Australian Labor Party member of the Queensland Legislative Council in 1919, and helped bring about its abolition in 1922. He was elected the member for Brisbane in the Australian House of Representatives in the 1931 elections. With the election of the Curtin government in 1941 he became Minister for Transport, but lost his position in the ministry after the 1943 elections. After Labor's defeat in 1949 elections, he was a strong supporter of H. V. Evatt and opponent of both communists and groupers.