test Lawson faced was the 1923 Victorian Police strike, which saw riots and looting in the streets of Melbourne. There was also increasingly bitter industrial strife in Melbourne as the prosperity of the pre-war years failed to return. There were major strikes on the waterfront and in the coal mining industry. Lawson gained a reputation as a tough conservative. He refused to give in to the demands of the police for better pay and conditions, running the risk of a breakdown in law and order, but once the strike was over he appointed a Royal Commission into police grievances, which gave them much of what they wanted. In September 1923, Lawson formed Victoria's first conservative coalition, including five Country Party ministers. The coalition broke down in March 1924 when the Country Party made demands Lawson would not accept. The Country Party ministers resigned and united with Labor to bring Lawson down. After unsuccessfully contesting the Speakership, Lawson retired to the back bench, where he stayed until October 1928, when he quit state politics altogether. Federal politics At the 1928 election, Lawson was elected to the Senate as a Nationalist, taking his seat in July 1929. In October, the Scullin Labor government came to power and Lawson spent two years in opposition. In October 1933, he was appointed an Assistant Minister in the Lyons United Australia Party government and, in 1934, he was made Minister in charge of Territories. In 1933, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. He retired at the 1934 election, his parliamentary term ending in June 1935. Death and legacy Lawson died in East Melbourne, survived by seven of his eight children. His wife died in 1949 and his youngest son, who had joined the Royal Australian Air Force, was killed in 1941. His daughter, Helen Mary Keays, was appointed an OBE in 1972 for Women's Services. His last surviving child, Ina Constance Watson, died in Melbourne on 9 November 2012. Notes References Geoff Browne, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900-84, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985 Don Garden, Victoria: A History, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984 Robert S Lawson, Sir Harry Lawson - Premier and Senator, Mullaya Publications, Melbourne, 1976 Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856-1900, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972 Raymond Wright, A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament