On the eve of the NT election, Chief Minister Eva Lawler opens up about a political career shadowed by personal grief

After eight months as the NT Chief Minister, there’s a good chance Eva Lawler could lose her seat. She reflects on the passing of her husband, her political career, and her plans beyond.

Chief Minister Eva Lawler with her grandsons Dino and Lenny Dixon at the Palmerston Water Park. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin.

It was the day Eva Lawler entered politics, election day 2016, that her husband’s cancer returned.

Tom Lawler was first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2006, a rare form of the disease likely linked to years of breathing in toxic ash and fumes as a senior Territory firefighter.

“It was literally election night, we were at Labor’s party at the Waratah, and I told him, you know, it looks like I’ve actually won my seat,” Mrs Lawler said.

Speaking to the NT News in an exclusive interview ahead of another Territory election, the memories for the Chief Minister are bittersweet.

“He goes, ‘I’m not feeling well’. He’d been out all day on the polling booth with me and seemed okay, but that was the beginning of the end.

“Those next two years were really tough, the cancer came back with a vengeance.”

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler and her husband Tom Lawler. Tom passed away from cancer in 2018. Picture: Supplied.

Thrust straight into the role of Education Minister, Mrs Lawler was trying to manage a demanding new career with Tom’s chemo treatments in Perth, his rapid decline, and eventual passing in October 2018.

“It was, it was terrible because he’d always been –,” she pauses.

“He came to the Territory to play football, he was a tough footballer. He was a firefighter. He was always fit, you know, one of those larger than life people, and to see him sort of fade away was really, very, very difficult to watch.”

Tom’s illness is a large part of why the former primary school principal fell into politics – and she would insist it was a “fall”, rather than a career intentionally sought out.

She gets worked up remembering the CLP’s opposition to presumptive legislation for fireys, laws that removed the burden of proof to access compensation if diagnosed with types of cancer caused by hazardous substances.

“The CLP said ‘Oh, you’re just after money’ – f--k off. No amount of money is going to compensate me for my husband dying 40 years before he should.

“I never thought I’d go into politics, I’m the least political person in the Labor Party, really.

“I got into politics because I was angry about funding cuts to education, presumptive legislation, and also just the chaos of the CLP, the shame they brought to the Territory.

“I got tapped on the shoulder and said, yeah, I definitely think I can do better than what’s happening out here.”

As new Minister for Education in 2016.

No one would accuse Mrs Lawler of being a natural politician; she can be awkward, often stumbling over sentences, her jokes sometimes falling flat.

But she has proven a confident leader over her eight months as Chief Minister, unafraid to make controversial captain’s calls such as imposing a curfew on Alice Springs.

The curfew legislation reversed years of Labor orthodoxy and – despite Mrs Lawler’s insistence to the contrary – deeply unsettled left and Indigenous factions of the caucus.

“She’s a Territory grandma not taking any s--t,” one staffer said of the decision.

Another party insider was less complimentary: “She’s just a bloody bogan from Palmerston”.

Being from Palmerston is no insult to Mrs Lawler – she’s quick to defend the city and her record as a local member.

“I started as a teacher here in ‘85 and it was called ‘Palmer-slum’ then, now it really is a lovely place,” she said.

“The CLP’s line is ‘are you better off than you were eight years ago’ – and, yes, we all understand there are issues around crime – but there are so many ways we’re much better off.

“Palmerston now has a great reputation, people want to live here … fireys are better off, police are better off, Zuccoli’s got a fantastic school, we fund public art, sporting groups – there are upgrades all over the place.

“We certainly didn’t have all these great sports options when I was growing up.”

Chief Minister Eva Lawler (nee Bilato) with the 1977 U16 NT Hockey team, competing at the Australia school hockey championships in Geelong. Picture: Supplied.

Mrs Lawler is particularly proud of achieving full funding for public schools, a fight she started with the federal government when deputy chief executive of the Education Department.

“Every kid in the Territory should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, it shouldn’t depend on your postcode or the colour of your skin,” she said.

“One of my core values is looking after someone that’s not as fortunate as yourself. You don’t just look after the elite, or the people that are easy to look after, you look after the underdog.

“A good education, and hard work – that’s the only way you’ll achieve in life.”

Another cause close to her heart is Voluntary Assisted Dying, made all the personal witnessing her mother’s dementia and Tom’s painful decline.

Tom probably would not have opted in to euthanasia before his final weeks, she said, but having the option could have saved long days of debilitating pain. It might have meant her son Lindsay was not too late to say a final goodbye to his dad, racing home from the other side of the world.

“I’ll forever be sad about that, and very supportive of VAD,” she said.

“If I don’t win my seat, I accept that, but I would like Territorians to know what my opponent is going to do around VAD, will they fight for Territorians to have those rights?”

Chief Minister Eva Lawler faces the possibility of losing her seat at the election. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin.

It’s that kind of regret – the fear of work not getting done without her – that Mrs Lawler worries about if she loses on Saturday.

“There is a tsunami of growth coming in the Territory,” she said, pointing to early stage ventures such as Santos’ Barossa pipeline and Tamboran’s Beetaloo project.

“We are in a really good position economically for the future, there is so much good ahead.

“So that does worry me, I wasn’t Chief Minister, do we have the skills and the experience to understand the economy of the Territory? A new government always loses some momentum.

“But, if I wake up on Sunday and I’m not Chief Minister, I’m not going to be crying, I’ll just get on with my life.”

What does that look like? A long holiday, reading paperback crime novels, watering the garden, more time with the grandkids, and, if another opportunity comes knocking – getting back to work.

Note: Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro declined to be profiled.

Originally published as On the eve of the NT election, Chief Minister Eva Lawler opens up about a political career shadowed by personal grief