Diana Laidlaw
Diana Vivienne Laidlaw (born 2 September 1951), commonly referred to as "Di Laidlaw", is a former South Australian Liberal politician. She was an elected member of the Legislative Council (1982–2003) and held several ministerial posts. [1]
Biography
Diana Laidlaw was born in London, the daughter of Donald Laidlaw and Vivienne Laidlaw (née Perry), both law graduates of the University of Adelaide.[2] Her grandfather was the founder of Perry Engineering. Her early political career was as an assistant to State and Federal politicians before being elected to the Legislative Council in 1982. She entered cabinet in 1993 when the Brown government (1993-1996) came to power in the 1993 election, where she remained under the subsequent Olsen (1996-2001) and Kerin (2001-2002) governments, following which the Liberals lost power.
Ministerial posts
- Minister for Transport (1995–1997)
- Minister for Transport and Urban Planning (1997–2002)
- Minister for the Arts (1993–2002)
- Minister for the Status of Women (1993–2002)
Anecdotes
In 2001, while Minister for the status of Women, she saw her government's prostitution reform bill defeated in the Legislative Council. She is said to have been moved to tears, and called her colleagues "gutless". [3]
References
- ↑ National Library of Australia: Laidlaw, Diane
- ↑ "Heard this week ....". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 February 1952. p. 33. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ↑ Round seven on sex industry laws. Adelaide Now Sept 27 2011