Andrew Fisher
Matthew Mellor | |
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Succeeded by | Jacob Stumm |
Personal details | |
Born | Crosshouse, Ayrshire, Scotland | 29 August 1862
Died | 22 October 1928 Hampstead, London, England | (aged 66)
Resting place | Hampstead Cemetery |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Labor |
Spouse | |
Children | 6 |
Profession |
|
Signature | |
Andrew Fisher (29 August 1862 – 22 October 1928) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the fifth
Fisher was born in
In 1901, Fisher was elected to the new federal parliament representing the Division of Wide Bay. He was the Minister for Trade and Customs for a few months in 1904, in the short-lived government of Chris Watson. Fisher was elected deputy leader of the ALP in 1905 and replaced Watson as leader in 1907. He initially provided support to the minority government of Protectionist leader Alfred Deakin, but in November 1908 the ALP withdrew its support and Deakin resigned as prime minister. Fisher subsequently formed a minority government of his own. It lasted only a few months, as in June 1909 Deakin returned as prime minister at the head of a new anti-socialist Liberal Party.
Fisher returned as prime minister after the
After just over a year in office, Cook was forced to call
Early life
Birth and family background
Fisher was born on 29 August 1862 in
Childhood
Fisher spent most of his childhood living in a miners' row, which had an earthen floor and no running water.[7] He was kicked in the head by a cow as a small child, leaving him mostly deaf in one ear. The injury may have contributed to a childhood speech impediment and his reserved nature as an adult.[8] As a boy, Fisher and his brothers fished in Carmel Water, a tributary of the River Irvine, and enjoyed long walks across the countryside.[9] He was athletic, helping form a local football team, and stood 178 centimetres (5 ft 10 in) as an adult, above the average at the time.[8] In later life, Fisher recalled attending four schools as a boy. The exact details are uncertain, but he is known to have finished his schooling in Crosshouse and to have attended a school in nearby Dreghorn for a period.[10][b] The standard of public education in Scotland was relatively high at the time, and his schoolmaster in Crosshouse had received formal training in Edinburgh; the main focus of the curriculum was on the three Rs.[11] He later supplemented his limited formal education by attending night school in Kilmarnock and reading at the town library.[12]
The exact age at which Fisher left school is uncertain, but he could have been as young as nine or as old as thirteen.
Early political involvement
In 1879, aged 17, Fisher was elected secretary of the Crosshouse branch of the Ayrshire Miners' Union. He soon came into contact with Keir Hardie, a leading figure in the union and a future leader of the British Labour Party. The pair met frequently to discuss politics and would renew their acquaintance later in life.[17] Fisher and Hardie were leaders of the 1881 Ayrshire miners' strike, which was widely seen as a failure. The ten-week strike resulted in only a small pay rise rather than the 10 percent that had been asked for; many workers depleted their savings and some cooperatives came close to bankruptcy. Fisher had originally been opposed to the strike, and unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a compromise with mine-owners. He lost his job, but soon found work at a different mine.[18] Like many miners, Fisher was a supporter of Gladstone's Liberal Party, in particular the "Liberal-Labour" candidates who had the support of the unions. In 1884, he chaired a public meeting in Crosshouse in support of the Third Reform Bill. He subsequently wrote a letter to Gladstone and received a reply thanking him for his support.[19] The following year, Fisher was involved in another miners' strike. He was not only sacked but also blacklisted. He was left with little future in Scotland and decided to emigrate; his older brother John had already left for England a few years earlier, becoming a police constable in Liverpool.[20]
Immigration to Australia
Fisher and his younger brother James arrived in Brisbane, Queensland, on 17 August 1885, after a two-month steamship journey from London.[21] He first saw Australia during a stopover at Thursday Island, where whites were a minority and there was a large Japanese population. His biographer David Day has speculated that this initial first impression may have contributed to his later opposition to non-white immigration.[22] Fisher's path to Australia was virtually identical to that of Billy Hughes, who had arrived less than a year earlier in December 1884 – both men took assisted passage, arrived at the age of 22, and travelled from London to Brisbane.[23] Unlike Hughes, Fisher never lost his original accent and retained a thick Scottish "brogue" for the rest of his life.[24]
After arriving in Brisbane, Fisher made his way to the
Within years of arriving in the town, Fisher had become "an important figure in the Gympie labour movement, straddling both its political and industrial wings".
Early political career
Queensland politics
In 1891, Fisher was elected as the first president of the Gympie branch of the Labour Party. In 1893, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as Labour member for the Electoral district of Gympie and by the following year had become Labour's deputy leader in the Legislative Assembly. In his maiden speech, he pushed for a 50% decrease in military spending and declared support for a federation.[36] He was also active in the Amalgamated Miners Union, becoming President of the Gympie branch by 1891.[37] Another policy area that captured his attention during this term, was the employment of workers from the Pacific Islands in sugar plantations, a practice that Fisher and Labour both strongly opposed. He lost his seat in 1896 following a campaign in which he was charged by his opponent Jacob Stumm with being a dangerous revolutionary and an anti-Catholic, accusations that were propagated by the newspaper Gympie Times.[36]
The 1896 establishment of the Gympie Truth, a newspaper that he was to partly own,[38] was part of his response. Intended as a medium to broadcast Labour's message, the newspaper played a vital role in Fisher's return to parliament in 1899. This time, he was the beneficiary of a scare campaign, in which conservative candidate Francis Power was consistently painted by the Gympie Truth as being a supporter of black labour and the alleged economic and social ills that accompanied it.[36] In that year he was Secretary for Railways and Public Works in the seven-day government of Anderson Dawson, the first parliamentary Labour government in the world.[38]
Federal politics
The state Labour parties and their MPs were mixed in their support for the Federation of Australia.[39] However Fisher was a firm believer in federation, supporting the union of the Australian colonies and campaigned for the 'Yes' vote in Queensland's 1899 referendum.[38] Fisher stood for the Division of Wide Bay at the inaugural 1901 Australian federal election and won the seat, which he held continuously for the rest of his political career.[37] At the end of 1901, Fisher married Margaret Irvine, his previous landlady's daughter.[40]
Fisher supported the White Australia policy but also argued that any Kanaka who had converted to Christianity and married should be allowed to remain in Australia.[citation needed]
Labour improved their position at the
George Reid adopted a strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs non-Labour lines – prior to the 1906 election, he renamed his Free Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the Protectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in the Westminster tradition and regarded a two-party system as very much the norm.[41]
Party leader
At the 1906 election, Deakin remained prime minister even though Labour gained considerably more seats than the Protectionists. When Watson resigned in 1907, Fisher succeeded him as Labour leader, although Hughes and William Spence also stood for the position. Fisher was considered to have a better understanding of economic matters, was better at handling caucus, had better relations with the party organisation and the unions, and was more in touch with party opinion. He did not share Hughes' passion for free trade or that of Watson and Hughes for defence (and later conscription). In political terms he was a radical, on the left-wing of his party, with a strong sense of Labour's part in British working-class history.[citation needed]
At the 1908 Labour Federal Conference, Fisher argued for female representation in parliament:
I trust that not another Federal election will take place without there being a woman endorsed as a Labour candidate for the Senate.
With a majority of seats in the Labour-Protectionist government, Labour caucus by early 1908 had become restive as to the future of the Deakin minority government. With the Deakin ministry in trouble, Deakin spoke to Fisher and Watson about a possible coalition, and following a report agreed to it providing Labour had a majority in cabinet, that there was immediate legislation for old-age
During the parliamentary ballots that selected Yass-Canberra as the site of the national capital, in October 1908, Fisher voted consistently for Dalgety.[42]
Prime Ministership
First term (1908–1909)
Fisher formed his only
Fisher committed Labour to amending the Constitution to give the Commonwealth power over
Second term (1910–1913)
At the
A land tax, aimed at breaking up big estates and give wider scope for small-scale farming, was also introduced, while coverage of the Arbitration system was extended to agricultural workers, domestics, and federal public servants. In addition, the age at which women became entitled to the old-age pension was lowered from sixty-five to sixty. The introduction of the maternity allowance was a major reform, because it enabled more births to be attended by doctors, thus leading to reductions in infant mortality rates.[46] However, the maternity allowance was only available to white women, with the legislation barring "women who are Asiatic, or are aboriginal natives of Australia, Papua or the Pacific Islands" in line with the racial exclusions in the old-age pension.[47] Compulsory preference to trade unionists in federal employment was also introduced,[48] while the Seaman's Compensation Act of 1911[49] and the Navigation Act of 1912[50] were enacted to improve conditions for those working at sea, together with compensatory arrangements for seamen and next of kin.[51] Eligibility for pensions was also widened. From December 1912 onwards, naturalised residents no longer had to wait three years to be eligible for a pension.[44] That same year, the value of a pensioner's home was excluded from consideration when assessing the value of their property.[52]
Fisher wanted additional Commonwealth power in certain areas, such as the
Third term (1914–1915)
Labor retained control of the
Fisher and his party were immediately underway in organising urgent defence measures for planning and implementing Australian war effort. Fisher visited New Zealand during this time which saw Billy Hughes serve as acting prime minister for two months. Fisher and Labor continued to implement promised peacetime legislation, including the River Murray Waters Act 1915, the Freight Arrangements Act 1915, the Sugar Purchase Act 1915, the Estate Duty Assessment and the Estate Duty acts in 1914. Wartime legislation in 1914 and 1915 included the War Precautions acts (giving the Governor-General power to make regulations for national security), a Trading with the Enemy Act, War Census acts, a Crimes Act, a Belgium Grant Act, and an Enemy Contracts Annulment Act.[43] In December 1914, a War Pensions Act was passed to provide for the grant of Pensions upon the death or incapacity of Members of the Defence Force of the Commonwealth and Members of the Imperial Reserve Forces residents in Australia whose death or incapacity resulted from their employment in connection with warlike operations.[54]
In October 1915, journalist
What I want to say to you now very seriously is that the continuous and ghastly bungling over the Dardanelles enterprise was to be expected from such a general staff as the British Army possesses ... the conceit and self complacency of the red feather men are equalled only by their incapacity.[citation needed]
Fisher passed this report on to Hughes and to Defence Minister
Fisher resigned as prime minister and from Parliament on 27 October 1915 after being absent from parliament without explanation for three sitting days.
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Fisher was Australia's second
The Dardanelles Commission, including Fisher, interviewed witnesses in 1916 and 1917 and issued its final report in 1919. It concluded that the expedition was poorly planned and executed and that difficulties had been underestimated, problems which were exacerbated by supply shortages and by personality clashes and procrastination at high levels. Some 480,000 Allied troops had been dedicated to the failed campaign, with around half in casualties. The report's conclusions were regarded as insipid with no figures (political or military) heavily censured. The report of the commission and information gathered by the inquiry remain a key source of documents on the campaign.[57][58]
Final years and death
Fisher's term as High Commissioner officially ended on 22 April 1921, although it concluded with three months' paid leave and he left for Australia on 29 January.[59] He arrived back in Melbourne with no firm plans for his future, but the rapturous receptions he received at labour movement gatherings led him to contemplate a return to active politics. He was the only remaining former prime minister in the Labor Party, which had lost many experienced MPs in the 1916 party split. The party's leader Frank Tudor had had frequent bouts of ill health, and T. J. Ryan, who was widely seen as Tudor's heir apparent, died suddenly of pneumonia in August 1921. Fisher seriously considered standing in the resulting by-election, but found there was no guarantee that the local party would accept him as a candidate. He was unwilling to actively campaign for preselection, and decided he would only stand if he were drafted; this did not eventuate.[60]
With little else to keep them in Australia, Fisher and his wife decided to return to London to be closer to their children.
Fisher was buried at Hampstead Cemetery on 26 October 1928. On the same day, a memorial service was held at St Columba's Church, London, which was attended by representatives of King George V and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, as well as Arthur Henderson representing the British Labour Party. In February 1930, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald unveiled a granite obelisk above Fisher's grave. His widow eventually moved back to Australia, dying there in 1958.[65]
Evaluation
Despite the length of Fisher's service as prime minister, for many years he and his government were given relatively little scholarly attention. His decision to retire to England placed him out of the public eye, while his mental deterioration and early death deprived him of the opportunity to dictate his own legacy. Writers interested in the post-Federation era did not generally view him as an attractive biographical subject, which has been attributed to the relative orthodoxy of his political views and a reputation for propriety to the point of dullness.[66] Fisher's 1981 entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography was written by Denis Murphy, who had planned a full-length biography but died in 1984 before completing it. Clem Lloyd also began a biography in the 1990s, which was unfinished at the time of his death in 2001.[67] The first complete biographies of Fisher did not emerge until the 100th anniversary of his prime ministership. These were David Day's Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia (2008) and Peter Bastian's Andrew Fisher: An Underestimated Man (2009), as well as a shorter volume by Edward Humphreys, Andrew Fisher: The Forgotten Man (2008).[68][69]
Obituarists of Fisher generally emphasised his modesty, integrity, and dedication to the labour movement. Writing for The Australian Worker, Henry Ernest Boote praised him as "loyal to his class, courageous in the advocacy of their cause, and absolutely incorruptible".[70] In the decades after his death, a general view emerged of Fisher as a competent rather than brilliant leader. He was praised for successfully managing the conflicting personalities within his own party, but as a leader of his country was often compared unfavourably with Deakin and Hughes. In general, his prime ministership was seen as a relatively inconsequential interlude. However, beginning in the 1970s a different view of Fisher began to emerge, which coincided with more of his personal papers becoming available to researchers. His more recent biographers have credited Fisher with establishing Labor as a viable party of government and demonstrating that the party's platform did not have to be sacrificed for political expediency, and argued that he deserves the primary credit for the political and electoral accomplishments of his governments.[66] He is now generally seen as one of the most significant figures in the early years of his party.[68]
Honours
At the end of the First World War,
Another honour Fisher did accept was appointment to the
The federal electorate of Fisher was named after him. A Canberra suburb, Fisher, was also created in his memory, with its streets reflecting a mining theme in honour of Fisher's occupation before entering public life. Ramsay MacDonald, Britain's first Labour Prime Minister, unveiled a memorial to Fisher in Hampstead Cemetery in 1930. A memorial garden was also dedicated to Fisher at his birthplace in the late 1970s.[56]
In 1972 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post.[79] In 1992, his home in Gympie (Andrew Fisher's Cottage) was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.[80] In 2008, Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a fellow Queenslander, launched a biography titled Andrew Fisher, written by David Day. In turn, Rudd was presented with an item that once belonged to Fisher – a slightly battered gold pen engraved with Fisher's signature, which had been held in safekeeping for 80 years.[81][82]
See also
- First Fisher Ministry
- Second Fisher Ministry
- Third Fisher Ministry
References
Citations
- ISBN 9781851094202.
- ^ a b Day 2008, p. 2.
- ^ Peter Bastian (2009). Andrew Fisher: An Underestimated Man. UNSW Press. p. 1.
- ^ a b Day (2008), p. 5.
- ^ Bastian 2009, p. 15.
- ^ Bastian 2009, p. 12.
- ^ a b Bastian (2009), p. 6.
- ^ a b Bastian (2009), p. 5.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 10.
- ^ a b Day (2008), pp. 8–9.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 9.
- ^ Bastian 2009, p. 7.
- ^ Bastian 2009, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Day 2008, p. 18.
- ^ Bastian (2009), p. 20.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 17.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 23.
- ^ Day (2008), pp. 24–25.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 26.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 27.
- ^ Bastian (2009), p. 35.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 33.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 142.
- ^ Bastian (2009), p. 230.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 35.
- ^ Day (2008), pp. 37–38.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 41.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 49.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 51.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 52.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 53.
- ^ Bastian (2009), p. 57.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 54.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 55–56.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 57.
- ^ a b c Day 2008.
- ^ a b Fisher, Kathleen (2006) "From pit boy to prime minister: Andrew Fisher", in National Library of Australia News, XVI (9), June 2006, p. 16
- ^ OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
- ^ "Federation Political Groups – to 1901 and beyond". National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
- ^ "Andrew Fisher, Before office". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
- ^ Fusion: The Party System We Had To Have? – by Charles Richardson CIS 25 January 2009
- ^ "Capital Site". Argus. 9 October 1908. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Andrew Fisher, In office". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
- ^ a b "Social Security Payments for the Aged, People with Disabilities and Carers 1909 to 2002". nla.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 September 2004.
- ^ "Andrew Fisher". Australianhistory.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- ^ Ross McMullin, The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991
- .
- ^ A New History of Australia edited by F.K. Crowley
- ^ "ComLaw: Acts by Year / Number". comlaw.gov.au.
- ^ "1912 Commonwealth of Australia Numbered Acts". austlii.edu.au.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Social Security Payments for the Aged, People with Disabilities and Carers 1909 to 2002". nla.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 September 2004.
- ^ "Commonwealth Government of Australia beginning 17 September 1914 – period in office of Prime minister Fisher, Andrew". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
- ^ "War Pensions Act 1914". comlaw.gov.au. 21 December 1914.
- OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
- ^ a b "Andrew Fisher, After office". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
- ^ "Battles: The Gallipoli Front - An Overview". Firstworldwar.com. 18 August 2002. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
- ^ Fisher, Mackensie; Cawley; Clyde; Gwynn; May; Nicholson, Lord; Pickford; Roch (February 1917). "First report (of the Dardanelles Commission) (Abstract)". British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 401.
- ^ Day (2008), pp. 402–406.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 406.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 407.
- ^ Day (2008), pp. 408–410.
- ^ Day (2008), pp. 410–411.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 411.
- ^ a b Edward W. Humphreys (2005). Some aspects of the federal political career of Andrew Fisher (PDF) (MA thesis). University of Melbourne.
- ^ Day (2008), p. 414.
- ^ a b Stephen Matchett (2009). "Review of the reviewers". Sydney Institute Quarterly. 35.
- ^ David Day (2009). "Review of Edward W. Humphreys' Andrew Fisher: The Forgotten Man". History Australia. 6 (1).
- ^ Day (2008), p. 412.
- ^ "Hon. A. Fisher". The Telegraph. Queensland. 12 May 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Hon. Andrew Fisher". The Week. Queensland. 16 June 1911. p. 12. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Let Glasgow Flourish". Worker. Queensland. 15 July 1911. p. 17. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Mr. Andrew Fisher". Chronicle. South Australia. 1 August 1914. p. 44. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette. Queensland. 8 July 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "On Honors". Truth. Queensland. 25 June 1911. p. 7. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Pointed Pars". The Telegraph. Queensland. 21 June 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Brisbane Courier. Queensland. 17 February 1916. p. 7. Retrieved 26 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Australia Post stamp – Andrew Fisher". Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- ^ "Andrew Fishers Cottage (entry 600537)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Rudd launches biography of ex-PM Fisher". News.theage.com.au – The Age. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- ^ "Prime Minister launches biography of Andrew Fisher (Full speech)" (PDF). Australian Government. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
Notes
- ^ On his marriage certificate, Fisher's mother signed her name but his father signed an "X". He may have been able to read, however, as schools in the early 19th century sometimes charged separately for reading and writing.
- ^ Fisher recounted in 1911 that he had begun his education at "a little private school", before attending "the old schoolhouse" in Crosshouse, the village school in Dreghorn, and then a new school in Crosshouse. He probably also attended Sunday school.[10]
- ^ Bastian believes that Fisher left when he was nine years old, and may have exaggerated his leaving age as an adult because he was self-conscious about his lack of education. He suggests that he was withdrawn from school early to avoid the provisions of the newly enacted Education (Scotland) Act 1872, which mandated compulsory attendance until the age of 13. The price of coal and miners' wages increased during the Franco-Prussian War, which may have provided a financial incentive for younger children to begin work; however, it would still have been illegal for a nine-year-old to work in the mines.[13] Day instead argues that Fisher remained in school until he was thirteen. His parents were known to value education and could afford to have him stay in school until the legal leaving age. He notes a 1911 interview in which Fisher gave his leaving age as thirteen, and suggests that references to him being underground at an earlier age are ambiguous, as he could have simply been visiting his father and older brother rather than actually working.[14]
- ^ The Governor-General, Lord Denman, is standing to the left of Fisher, while King O'Malley, Minister for Home Affairs, is at the far left of the photo (conversing with Lady Denman who was given the honour of pronouncing the new capital's name for the first time).
Bibliography
- Anderson, W. K. (2001). "Andrew Fisher: 'a proud, honest man of Scotland'". Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. 87 (2): 189–208.
- Attard, Bernard (1995). "Andrew Fisher, the High Commissionership and the Collapse of Labor". Labour History (68). Liverpool University Press: 115–131. JSTOR 27516357.
- Bastian, Peter (2009). Andrew Fisher: An Underestimated Man. UNSW Press. ISBN 9781742231822.
- ISBN 9780732276102.
- Grattan, Michelle (2013). Australian Prime Ministers (Revised and updated ed.). Chatswood, N.S.W.: New Holland Publishers. ISBN 978-1-74257-429-5.
- Hawkins, John (2008). "Andrew Fisher: a reforming treasurer" (PDF). Economic Roundup (2). Department of the Treasury: 105–114.
- ISBN 0-19-550471-2.
- Humphreys, Edward W. (2008). Andrew Fisher: The Forgotten Man. Sports and Editorial Services Australia. ISBN 9780975197059.
- Murdoch, John R. M. (1998). A Million to One Against: A Portrait of Andrew Fisher. Minerva. ISBN 0754101398.