On the day that Julia Gillard became our new Prime Minister, it wasn’t long into The 7PM Project when the first complaints arrived that our hosts were mispronouncing her electorate of Lalor.

The good people of the northern Melbourne suburb of Lalor (rhymes with “tailor”) were upset about references to the new PM as the Member for Lalor (rhymes with “trawler”).

Since Julia Gillard’s now comfortably resting her feet on the Prime Ministerial desk, we’re only going to keep hitting this problem, so I set out to investigate.

Here are my findings.

1. The suburb of Lalor and the electorate of Lalor are both named after Peter Lalor, an Irishman who led the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat in 1854, where he was shot and lost an arm. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but it was later withdrawn as he was now considered armless. (Sorry.) Lalor later became an MP and Speaker of the Victorian Parliament.

2. Peter Lalor pronounced his surname “Lawlor.” He would like to have spelled it how he said it, but times were tough on the goldfields, and he couldn’t afford a W.

3. Most locals pronounce the suburb “Laylor,” because that’s just how they roll, and if the man who brought democracy to Australia doesn’t like it, he can go and build another stockade with his remaining arm.

4. Since the electorate is named after the dude and not the suburb, the electorate Lalor is pronounced “Lawler”.

5. For the record, Lalor Park in Sydney is pronounced “Laylor.” Lalor Parkians probably have some thoughts on the issue but they’d clearly be biased. They’re named after different Lalors, anyway, so they don’t count.

6. Did you know? The suburb of Lalor is not even in the electorate of Lalor! You probably knew this if you live in Lalor, or Lalor.

7. Any visitor who calls the suburb Lalor “Lawlor” is given a funny look, and sometimes shot.

8. Peter Lalor died in 1889. The suburb of Lalor was founded after World War 2. Thus there was never any danger of Peter Lalor turning up in Lalor, introducing himself as “Lawlor”, and being shot. Again.

Hope I’ve cleared that up. Lalor, darling, won’t you ease your worried mind?

The opinions expressed in The 7PM Side Project blog do not necessarily reflect those of The 7PM Project or the Ten Network.