in 1964, and was admitted to the bar in December 1966. In 1970, Dowding married his first wife, with whom he had two sons. Between 1967 and 1972, he represented over 100 Vietnam War conscientious objectors, successfully defending over 30 of them. He also represented protesters who had been arrested at the Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt, a U.S.-operated naval base in Exmouth. The case gained notoriety when Dowding proved that the police officers involved in the incident had swapped their name badges to prevent them from being identified. In 1968, Dowding entered into partnership as Paterson and Dowding, where he concentrated on family law, soon becoming the best divorce lawyer in Perth according to The Sydney Morning Herald. He became a senior partner in 1977 and he sold out of the firm in 1980. From March 1975 until April 1976, Dowding was on the Kalamunda Shire Council, and in 1976 and 1977, he worked as a notary public with the Aboriginal Legal Service in Port Hedland, during which he met his second wife, a Ngarluma woman from Roebourne. In 1977, he represented defeated Labor Party candidate Ernie Bridge in a landmark case in the Court of Disputed Returns. At the 1977 state election, Bridge was defeated by the Liberal candidate Alan Ridge by 93 votes in the electoral district of Kimberley. The Liberal Party had worked to disenfranchise Aboriginal voters, many of whom were illiterate, by having lawyers stand outside polling stations to question their right to vote. The court found that over 90 people were illegally prevented from voting, and so the results were overturned. The resulting 1977 Kimberley state by-election saw Ridge win again. In 1980, he married his second wife, with whom he had one daughter and one son. Early political career Ahead of the 1980 Western Australian state election, Dowding put himself forward to be the Labor candidate for the North Province, a Legislative Council seat which covered the northern side of the state, including the Pilbara and the Kimberley. With no other Labor members seeking preselection, he was endorsed as the seat's Labor candidate. At the election, he beat incumbent Liberal Party candidate John Tozer, having been well supported by the province's large Aboriginal population, having promised to help them gain land rights and self-management. His term commenced on 22 May 1980. Upon Labor's victory at the February 1983 state election under Brian