Lin Powell

Powell was born in Maryborough to Lionel Mitchell Powell and Helen Irene, née West. Lin Powell is a great-grandson of Native Police officer Walter David Taylor Powell.[1] He was educated at state schools in Bundaberg and then at Brisbane State High School. After studying at Kelvin Grove Teachers College and the University of Queensland, he became a schoolteacher. He taught at Stafford, Cairns and Bundaberg and was a school principal at Lyndhurst, Cooloolabin, Forest Station and Cattle Creek Valley.

A long-time member of the National Party, he was secretary of the Mundubbera branch from 1965 until his election as president in 1967, serving until 1970. In 1974 he was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for Isis. Promoted to the front bench as Minister for Education in 1982, he was briefly Leader of Government Business in the House in 1987 before being elected Speaker in December, immediately after Joh Bjelke-Petersen's ousting by Mike Ahern.[2]

On 3 May 1989, Powell resigned from the National Party and declared himself an independent. He continued as Speaker until 5 July 1989, when the government voted against him on a matter of privilege; his resignation prompted scenes of chaos in the chamber. He remained a Member of Parliament until his sudden resignation on 31 July 1989; he formed the New Conservative Party and ran for Isis as an independent at the 1989 election, but without success.[2]