He worked as a veterinarian in New Zealand until 1926, when he returned to Australia and acquired Kidgery, a small sheep station near Nyngan, New South Wales.

[1] In 1930, Lawson unsuccessfully stood as a Nationalist candidate for the seat of Cobar in an attempt to enter the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

He was later endorsed by the United Australia Party to contest the federal seat of Macquarie, held by Ben Chifley, the Labor Minister for Defence.

Lawson was a vocal supporter of the proposal to establish a shale-oil undertaking at Newnes, near Lithgow, and in 1934 he increased his margin in Macquarie substantially.

He was part of the delegation to the coronation of King George V, and was assistant to the treasurer Richard Casey and then the minister for industry Robert Menzies.