Don Lane

Who was Don Lane?

Donald Frederick Lane was a Minister of Transport in the Bjelke-Petersen state of Queensland's coalition government. A former policeman in the Special Branch, in 1971 he was elected as the Liberal member for Merthyr. In 1983 he switched to the National Party, providing it with a majority, and was rewarded with a ministry. Following revelations in the Fitzgerald Inquiry, he and three other Bjelke-Petersen ministers were tried in the District Court and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for falsifying their expense accounts. His autobiography, Trial and Error was published in 1993 by Boolarong Publications.