Kevin Lyons

The Hon. Kevin Lyons
3rd Deputy Premier of Tasmania
In office 26 May 1969 – 14 March 1972
Preceded by	Roy Fagan
Succeeded by	Merv Everett
Constituency	Darwin
Personal details
Born	Kevin Orchard Lyons (1923-02-07)7 February 1923 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Died	24 May 2000(2000-05-24) (aged 77) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Centre Party
Other political affiliations	Liberal Party
Relations	Joseph Lyons (father) Enid Lyons (mother) Brendan Lyons (brother)

Kevin Orchard Lyons (7 February 1923 – 24 May 2000) was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the seat of Darwin (later renamed Braddon). Born in 1923 in Hobart, he was the son of Joseph Lyons (who would go on to become Premier of Tasmania and later Prime Minister of Australia) and Enid Lyons (who would become the first woman elected to the Australian House of Representatives), and brother of Tasmanian politician Brendan Lyons. Lyons was elected to the House of Assembly for the Liberal Party on 21 August 1948, and from 29 October 1956 to 1 June 1959 was Speaker of the House.

On 7 September 1966, Lyons resigned from the Liberal Party after a dispute arose over preselection for the upcoming election. He formed his own party, the Centre Party, and ran for election retaining his seat in Darwin.^[1] The 1969 election resulted in a hung parliament, with Lyons' Centre Party holding the balance of power. Lyons agreed to form a coalition government with the Liberals, and was appointed Deputy Premier under Angus Bethune as Premier. Lyons dissolved the coalition in 1972, and was subsequently critical of Bethune, who lost the 1972 election to Labor's Eric Reece.^[2]

Lyons died in Melbourne on 24 May 2000. A condolence motion was read in the House the next day.

References

External links

• Parliamentary Library profile