{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{For-multi|the Australian judge|Kevin Lyons (judge)|the Welsh cricketer|Kevin Lyons (cricketer)|American rioter and criminal|Kevin James Lyons}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = The Honourable |name = Kevin Lyons |image = Kevin Lyons.jpg |caption = |order = 3rd |office = Deputy Premier of Tasmania |term_start = 26 May 1969 |term_end = 14 March 1972 |premier = Angus Bethune |predecessor = Roy Fagan |successor = Merv Everett |order1 = 18th |office1 = Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly |term_start1 = 29 October 1956 |term_end1 = 1 June 1959 |predecessor1 = Horace Strutt |successor1 = Charley Aylett |constituency_AM2 = Braddon<br />(Darwin until 1956) |assembly2 = Tasmanian House of |term_start2 = 21 August 1948 |term_end2 = 22 April 1972 |birth_date = {{birth date|1923|2|7|df=y}} |birth_place = Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |death_date = {{death date and age|2000|5|24|1923|2|7|df=y}} |death_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |birth_name = Kevin Orchard Lyons |party = Centre Party (1969–1972) |other_party = Liberal Party (1948–1966)<br />Independent (1966–1969) |relations = Joseph Lyons (father)<br />Enid Burnell (mother)<br />Brendan Lyons (brother) <br/> Kevin Lyons Jr. (son) }}

'''Kevin Orchard Lyons''' (7 February 1923 – 24 May 2000) was an Australian politician and member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly representing the seat of Darwin (later renamed Braddon).

==Biography== ===Early life=== Born in 1923 in Hobart, he was the son of Joseph Lyons (who would go on to become Premier of Tasmania and later Prime Minister of Australia) and Enid Lyons (who would become the first woman elected to the Australian House of Representatives), and brother of Tasmanian politician Brendan Lyons.

===Political career=== Lyons was elected to the House of Assembly for the Liberal Party on 21 August 1948, and from 29 October 1956 to 1 June 1959 was Speaker of the House.<ref name=parlbio>{{cite Tas Parliament |id=lyonsk500 |title=Lyons, Kevin Orchard |access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref>

On 7 September 1966, Lyons resigned from the Liberal Party after a dispute arose over preselection for the upcoming election. He sat as an independent until 1969, when he pulled together the remains of the Tasmania division of the Country Party under the new name of the Centre Party, with himself as leader. He then ran for election under the Centre Party banner, retaining his seat of Braddon.<ref>[http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/Almanac.htm On This Day: A Tasmanian Political Almanac] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020919110134/http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/Almanac.htm |date=19 September 2002 }}, Parliament of Tasmania.</ref> The 1969 election resulted in a hung parliament, with Lyons' Centre Party holding the balance of power. Lyons agreed to form a coalition government with the Liberals, and was appointed Deputy Premier under Angus Bethune as Premier. Lyons dissolved the coalition in 1972, and was subsequently critical of Bethune, who lost the 1972 election to Labor's Eric Reece.<ref name="stateline">Pearce, Garney: [http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2003/s1186815.htm Bethune Memorial], ''Stateline'' (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 27 August 2004.</ref>

===Death=== Lyons died in Melbourne on 24 May 2000. A condolence motion was read in the House the next day.<ref name=parlbio />

His son Kevin Lyons Jr. was appointed to the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vicbar.com.au/news-events/appointment-kevin-lyons-qc|title=Appointment - Kevin Lyons QC|date=22 May 2018|access-date=31 January 2019|publisher=Victorian Bar|archive-date=1 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201014942/https://www.vicbar.com.au/news-events/appointment-kevin-lyons-qc|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Role in gambling in Tasmania== In his book, ''Losing Streak'', published in 2017, historian James Boyce alleges that Lyons accepted the position of Deputy Premier in order to ensure his vote on the establishment of the casino at Wrest Point.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2017/march/1488286800/amanda-lohrey/tasmania-got-gamed|title=Tasmania got gamed|last=|date=2017-03-01|work=The Monthly|access-date=2018-01-28|language=en-gb}}</ref>

He then quit parliament, triggering a new election, which was won by the Labor Party. After quitting he was offered a huge amount ($250,000 in today's money) by Federal Hotels and British Tobacco as an advance for a book that was never written. He also set up a public relations company, even though he had no experience in it, and his first and primary client was Federal Hotels.<ref name=":0" /> In Federal Hotels' case, the motive is suggested to have been the protection of its casino monopoly in Tasmania.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Markham|first1=Francis|last2=Kinder|first2=Barbara|last3=Young|first3=Martin|title=Pokies, politics and profits: How Federal Hotels monopolised Tasmania's one-armed bandits|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-05/how-federal-hotels-monopolised-pokies-in-tasmania/8417568|accessdate=2017-04-05|work=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=2017-04-05}}</ref>

The outcome of the election that was triggered in 1972 ultimately led to the creation of the second casino in Launceston, and the introduction of poker machines into the casinos, and then the spreading of pokies into pubs and clubs. It also had a hand in handing the monopoly of these machines to the Federal Group.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BgEyDgAAQBAJ|title=Losing Streak: How Tasmania Was Gamed By The Gambling Industry|last=Boyce|first=James|date=2017-03-14|publisher=Black Inc.|isbn=9781863959100|language=en}}</ref>

== See also == * Federal Hotels * 1968 Tasmanian referendum

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-tas-la}} {{s-bef|before=Horace Strutt}} {{s-ttl|title=Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly|years=1956–1959}} {{s-aft|after=Charley Aylett}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Roy Fagan}} {{s-ttl|title=Deputy Premier of Tasmania|years=1969–1972}} {{s-aft|after=Merv Everett}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Kevin}} Category:1923 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Deputy premiers of Tasmania Category:Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Category:Speakers of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Category:Independent members of the Parliament of Tasmania Category:National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Category:Politicians from Hobart Category:20th-century Australian politicians Category:Children of prime ministers of Australia