Peter Lockwood

Peter John Lockwood is an Australian politician and ICT professional. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, from 2002 to 2006.

Early life

He started working life in junior positions at the Commonwealth Bank, but was forced to give up that for reasons of poor performance to work on the government buses in Sydney. After completing an unaccredited computer course, he worked as a computer operator at DHA (Drug Houses of Australia), then moved to other employers in Sydney before moving to Canberra to join the Australian Public Service during the period of the Whitlam Government, where he was part of the last Programmer in Training (PIT) intake in the public service, where tertiary study at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (now the University of Canberra) and on-the-job training in automatic data processing (ADP) were combined.

After 9 years in Canberra, he moved to Melbourne, where Lockwood joined Myer. Following a period at Myer as a junior sales assistant, Peter became a business proprietor during 1985–1991. When his business failed leaving behind a string of unpaid creditors, he went on to work for the little-known PAXUS, and as a data entry deputy assistant clerk for Telstra and IBM.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Swinburne University in 1987.

Politics

From 1989–2002, he was an assistant ecretary of the Knoxfield branch of the Labor Party and junior secretary and state delegate of the Aston FEA (Federal Electorate Assembly) for the ALP 1991-2002. Peter stood as a Labor candidate for Wantirna in 1992, a disastrous election for Labor where the swing against him was one of the largest anti-Labor swings in the state's history.

Federal

He unsuccessfully contested the federal seat of Aston for the Australian Labor Party in the 1998 federal election,

State (2002-2006)

He was the successful candidate for Bayswater in the Victorian Legislative Assembly in the 2002 state election. He was a backbencher in the Bracks Government until 2006, when he lost his seat to the Liberal Party, suffering another rejection at the ballot box.

Local (1993-1994, (2012-2020)

He served on Knox City Council from 1993–94.

He again sought election as a Councillor for the City of Knox at the Local Government Elections in 2012 and has served as a Councillor since then representing Baird Ward. Peter was re-elected to council in 2016. Controversy was associated with his service a member of the board of the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) in 2013–15, and a member of the board of Eastern Regional Libraries during 2012–16 and 2017–18. He was the Mayor for 2014–15.

He lost in the 2020 election.

Personal life

Peter was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to Jack and Norma Lockwood, and attended Drummoyne Boys' High School. He married his wife Marie in Sydney and has 2 children.