91-628: The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (WWF) was an Australian trade union that existed from 1902 to 1993. After a period of negotiations between other Australian maritime unions, it was federated in 1902 and first federally registered in 1907; its first general president was Billy Hughes . In 1993 the WWF merged with the Seamen's Union of Australia to form the Maritime Union of Australia . The Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia traces its roots to
182-739: A Georgist , a street-corner speaker, president of the Balmain Single Tax League , and joined the Australian Socialist League . He was an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union and may have already joined the newly formed Labor Party. In 1894, Hughes spent eight months in central New South Wales organising for the Amalgamated Shearers' Union of Australasia and then won the Electoral district of Sydney-Lang of
273-430: A line cook , but at one point supposedly had to resort to living in a cave on The Domain for a few days. Hughes eventually found a steady job at a forge, making hinges for colonial ovens. Around the same time, he entered into a common-law marriage with Elizabeth Cutts, his landlady's daughter; they had six children together. In 1890, Hughes moved to Balmain . The following year, with his wife's financial assistance, he
364-414: A vote of confidence in his leadership by his party, resigned as prime minister. However, there were no credible alternative candidates. For this reason, Munro-Ferguson used his reserve power to immediately re-commission Hughes, thus allowing him to remain as prime minister while keeping his promise to resign. The government replaced the first-past-the-post electoral system applying to both houses of
455-618: A biting tongue, the consultations between them were not agreeable to either". In reaction to Hughes's campaign for conscription, on 15 September 1916 the NSW executive of the Political Labour League (the state Labor Party organisation at the time) expelled him and other leading New South Wales pro-conscription advocates from the Labor movement. Hughes remained as leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party until, at 14 November caucus meeting,
546-587: A day in Australia if it tampered with a White Australia ...The position is this – either the Japanese proposal means something or it means nothing: if the former, out with it; if the latter, why have it?"{ He later said that "the right of the state to determine the conditions under which persons shall enter its territories cannot be impaired without reducing it to a vassal state", adding: "When I offered to accept it provided that words were incorporated making it clear that it
637-490: A dispute over industrial relations, he and his supporters crossed the floor on a confidence motion and brought down the government. After a period as an independent, Hughes formed his own organisation, the Australian Party , which in 1931 merged into the new United Australia Party (UAP). He returned to cabinet in 1934, and became known for his prescient warnings against Japanese imperialism. As late as 1939, he missed out on
728-789: A fellow Labor minister, was a prominent example of his combative style. Hughes was also the club patron for the Glebe Rugby League team in the debut year of Rugby League in Australia, in 1908. Hughes was one of a number of prominent Labor politicians who were aligned with the Rugby League movement in Sydney in 1908. Rugby League was borne out of a player movement against the Metropolitan Rugby Union who refused to compensate players for downtime from their jobs due to injuries sustained playing Rugby Union. Labor politicians aligned themselves with
819-578: A former Labor man) to turn their wartime coalition into a formal party. This was the Nationalist Party of Australia , which was formally launched in February. Although the Liberals were the larger partner in the merger, Hughes emerged as the new party's leader, with Cook as his deputy. The presence of several working-class figures—including Hughes—in what was basically an upper- and middle-class party allowed
910-494: A fortnight in November 1954. Although the changes were passed, the new legislation proved unworkable. In early 1955 a new recruiting agreement was drawn up protecting the union's right to recruit labour with Harold Holt , Minister for Labour and National Service. The government pressed ahead in 1956 with new legislation aimed at weakening the federation and the improvements it had gained in working conditions and safety provisions. In
1001-477: A new award worse than the old, which included double pickup, cancelled the single pickup in those ports where it existed and removed restrictions on over-long shifts because they slowed ship turnaround times. Wharfies were to be paid less for evening and night shifts than they would for the horror shifts making these dangerously attractive. All appeals for safeguards against excessive strain and overwork were rejected, as claimed for improved safety. The union rejected
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#17328551073371092-668: A no-confidence motion against him was passed. Hughes and 24 others, including almost all of the Parliamentary talent, walked out to form a new party heeding Hughes's cry "Let those who think like me, follow me." This left behind the 43 members of the Industrialists and Unionists factions. That same evening Hughes tendered his resignation to the Governor-General, received a commission to form a new Government, and had his recommendations accepted. Years later, Hughes said, "I did not leave
1183-617: A quickening power of the national spirit as perhaps no other orator since Chatham ever aroused". In July 1916 Hughes was a member of the British delegation at the Paris Economic Conference , which met to decide what economic measures to take against Germany. This was the first time an Australian representative had attended an international conference. Hughes was a strong supporter of Australia's participation in World War I and, after
1274-635: A response to the emergence of the Country Party, so that the non-Labor vote would not be split, as it would have been under the previous first-past-the-post system. In early 1916, Hughes established the Advisory Council on Science and Industry, the first national body for scientific research and the first iteration of what is now the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The council had no basis in legislation, and
1365-600: A second stint as prime minister by only a handful of votes, losing the 1939 United Australia Party leadership election to Robert Menzies . Hughes is generally acknowledged as one of the most influential Australian politicians of the 20th century. He was a controversial figure throughout his lifetime, and his legacy continues to be debated by historians. His strong views and abrasive manner meant he frequently made political enemies, often from within his own parties. Hughes's opponents accused him of engaging in authoritarianism and populism, as well as inflaming sectarianism; his use of
1456-566: A show of solidarity. In 1950, the WWF finally absorbed the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia as a distinct branch. In 1954, the federal government led by Robert Menzies legislated for a committee of inquiry into the waterside industry by the Stevedoring Industry Act 1954 , in an attempt by the government to end the WWF's monopoly on the supply of wharf labour. The Waterside Workers' Federation went on strike for
1547-622: A significant impression on other world leaders at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference , where he secured Australian control of the former German New Guinea . At the 1922 Australian federal election , the Nationalists lost their majority in parliament and were forced to form a coalition with the Country Party . Hughes's resignation was the price for Country Party support, and he was succeeded as prime minister by Stanley Bruce . He became one of Bruce's leading critics over time, and in 1928, following
1638-511: A small stipend. At St Stephen's, Hughes came into contact with the poet Matthew Arnold , who was an examiner and inspector for the local school district. Arnold – who coincidentally had holidayed at Llandudno – took a liking to Hughes, and gifted him a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare ; Hughes credited Arnold with instilling his lifelong love of literature. After finishing his initial apprenticeship, Hughes stayed on at St Stephen's as
1729-666: A teaching assistant. He had no interest in teaching as a career though, and also declined Matthew Arnold's offer to secure him a clerkship at Coutts . His relative financial security allowed him to pursue his own interests for the first time, which included bellringing, boating on the Thames, and travel (such as a two-day trip to Paris). He also joined a volunteer battalion of the Royal Fusiliers , which consisted mainly of artisans and white-collar workers. In later life, Hughes recalled London as "a place of romance, mystery and suggestion". At
1820-681: A trade unionist, and like most of the Australian working class was very strongly opposed to Asian immigration to Australia (excluding Asian immigration was a popular cause with unions in Canada, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in the early 20th century). Hughes believed that accepting the Racial Equality Clause would mean the end of the White Australia policy that had been adopted in 1901, one of his subordinates writing: "No Gov't could live for
1911-634: A vast distance had never been attempted by air; the first ocean crossing by aircraft occurred only months later in June 1919. Despite the risks of such a venture, Hughes' eagerness to see Australia at the forefront of technological development and in a central position in world affairs, had him seeking the support of his cabinet for a scheme to establish a Britain–Australia route. A February 1919 cable from Hughes said: "Several Australian aviators are desirous of attempting flight London to Australia they are all first-class men and very keen your thoughts", and also advised
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#17328551073372002-584: A word, indicated at the end that he was still of the same opinion. Whereupon the President asked him slowly and solemnly: "Mr. Hughes, am I to understand that if the whole civilised world asks Australia to agree to a mandate in respect of these islands, Australia is prepared still to defy the appeal of the whole civilised world?” Mr. Hughes answered: "That's about the size of it, President Wilson". Mr. Massey grunted his assent of this abrupt defiance. However, South Africa's Louis Botha intervened on Wilson's side, and
2093-552: The War Precautions Act 1914 was particularly controversial. His former colleagues in the Labor Party considered him a traitor, while conservatives were suspicious of what they viewed as his socialist economic policies. He was extremely popular among the general public, particularly ex-servicemen, who affectionately nicknamed him "the little digger ". Hughes was born on 25 September 1862, at 7 Moreton Place, Pimlico , London,
2184-474: The War Precautions Act 1914 was used to defeat a waterside workers nationwide strike by the passing of a regulation that deprived the Waterside Workers' Federation of preferences in seven of the busiest ports in Australia. From about 1900 to the 1940s, work on Melbourne wharves was obtained through the bull system of labour hire where workers would be hired on a daily basis at a pickup point, and which
2275-526: The Federation of Australia in 1901 until his death in 1952, and is the only person to have served as a parliamentarian for more than 50 years. He represented six political parties during his career, leading five, outlasting four, and being expelled from three. Hughes was born in London to Welsh parents. He emigrated to Australia at the age of 22, and became involved in the fledgling Australian labour movement. He
2366-508: The National Labor Party and began laying the groundwork for forming a party that they felt would be both avowedly nationalist as well as socially radical. Hughes was forced to conclude a confidence and supply agreement with the opposition Commonwealth Liberal Party to stay in office. A few months later, the Governor-General, Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar , persuaded Hughes and Liberal Party leader Joseph Cook (himself
2457-587: The New South Wales Legislative Assembly by 105 votes. While in Parliament he became secretary of the Wharf Labourer's Union. In 1900 he founded and became first national president of the Waterside Workers' Union. During this period Hughes studied law, and was admitted as a barrister in 1903. Unlike most Labor men, he was a strong supporter of Federation and Georgism . In 1901 Hughes
2548-452: The New Theatre from 1954 to 1962. In 1995 a production by Adelaide 's Vitalstatistix theatre company was performed at this venue. The film unit made several films on waterfront working conditions and events. Some of these films, such as The Hungry Mile , have become documentary classics. The union also commissioned artists, such as Roy Dalgarno , to document the people and conditions on
2639-573: The Queensland Defence Force and the Queensland Maritime Defence Force . Hughes's accounts are by their nature unverifiable, and his biographers have cast doubt on their veracity – Fitzhardinge states that they were embellished at best and at worst "a world of pure fantasy". Hughes moved to Sydney in about mid-1886, working his way there as a deckhand and galley cook aboard SS Maranoa . He found occasional work as
2730-482: The 1930s, Jim Healy was instrumental in the publication of the WWF's national journal, the Maritime Worker , of which he was the first editor. Rupert Lockwood was a later editor. Waterside Workers' Federation Film Unit was established in 1953 by Norma Disher, Keith Gow and Jock Levy. It was based at the Waterside Workers' Federation Hall located at 60 Sussex Street , which also became the venue for productions by
2821-574: The 1960s containerisation began to replace break bulk as the main means of transporting cargo, dramatically reducing the need for waterfront labour. Inspired by the example of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the United States, the WWF decided to co-operate with containerisation, in return for significant improvements in working conditions, such as permanency , an industry pension scheme and reduced working hours. In 1971
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2912-563: The CPA would play a prominent role throughout the history of the Waterside Workers' Federation, including officials such as Big Jim Healy and Tas Bull , and the union was regarded as Communist-led. Healy had joined the CPA in 1934, after he had been the Queensland branch president since 1929. He was elected national General Secretary in October 1937, a position he held until his death in 1961. Bull
3003-692: The Federal Parliament under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1903 with a preferential system for the House of Representatives in 1918. That preferential system has essentially applied ever since. A multiple majority-preferential system was introduced at the 1919 Australian federal election for the Senate, and that remained in force until it was changed to a quota-preferential system of proportional representation in 1948. Those changes were considered to be
3094-508: The Germans did not pay an indemnity". At the Treaty negotiations, Hughes was the most prominent opponent of the inclusion of Japan's Racial Equality Proposal , which as a result of lobbying by him and others was not included in the final Treaty. His position on this issue reflected the racist attitudes dominant among white Australians; informing David Lloyd George that he would leave the conference if
3185-560: The Industrialists (Socialists) such as Frank Anstey , were bitterly opposed to this, especially in the wake of what was regarded by many Irish Australians (most of whom were Roman Catholics) as Britain's excessive response to the Easter Rising of 1916. In October, Hughes held a national plebiscite for conscription , but it was narrowly defeated. The enabling legislation was the Military Service Referendum Act 1916 and
3276-543: The Labor Party, The party left me." The timing of Hughes's expulsion from the Labor Party meant that he became the first Labor leader who never led the party to an election. On 15 November, Frank Tudor was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party. Term of government (1915–1923) Ministries Elections Hughes and his followers, which included many of Labor's early leaders, called themselves
3367-487: The Nationalists to convey an image of national unity. At the same time, he became and remains a traitor in Labor histories. At the 1917 Australian federal election Hughes and the Nationalists won a huge electoral victory, which was magnified by the large number of Labor MPs who followed him out of the party. At this election Hughes gave up his working-class Sydney seat and was elected for the Division of Bendigo , after he won
3458-526: The Paris Peace Conference, Hughes clashed with Wilson. When Wilson reminded him that he spoke for only a few million people, Hughes replied: "I speak for 60,000 dead. How many do you speak for?" The British Dominions of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia argued their case to keep their occupied German possessions of German Samoa, German South West Africa, and German New Guinea respectively; these territories were given as " Class C Mandates " to
3549-747: The Reparations Committee, with Walter Cunliffe, 1st Baron Cunliffe and John Hamilton, 1st Viscount Sumner . When the Imperial Cabinet met to discuss the Hughes Report, Winston Churchill asked Hughes if he had considered the effects that reparations would have on working-class German households. Hughes replied that "the Committee had been more concerned in considering the effects upon the working-class households in Great Britain, or in Australia, if
3640-632: The WWF affiliated with the International Transport Workers Federation . In 1991, the WWF amalgamated with the Australian Foremen Stevedore Association but retained the name Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia. The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) was formed in October 1920, and achieved significant influence in the Australian trade union movement, especially in New South Wales. Members of
3731-420: The Waterside Workers' Federation were subject to official suspicion and scrutiny for many years. In the late 1930s union officials such as General Secretary Big Jim Healy and Brisbane Branch Secretary, Ted Englart, swallowed their pride and began recruiting members of their rival PCWLUA, which many union members regarded as "scabs". In 1936 the union shifted its head office from Melbourne to Sydney. In 1938
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3822-582: The age of 22, finding his prospects in London dim, Hughes decided to emigrate to Australia. Taking advantage of an assisted-passage scheme offered by the Colony of Queensland , he arrived in Brisbane on 8 December 1884 after a two-month journey. On arrival, he gave his year of birth as 1864, a deception that was not uncovered until after his death. Hughes attempted to find work with the Education Department, but
3913-415: The ambitious Hughes who wanted Australia to be firmly recognised on the world stage. By 1915 Fisher's health was suffering and, in October, he resigned and was succeeded by Hughes. In social policy, Hughes introduced an institutional pension for pensioners in benevolent asylums , equal to the difference between the 'act of grace' payment to the institution and the rate of IP. From March to June 1916, Hughes
4004-601: The award and organised strike action, which later resulted in riots and violence. Bruce pushed the Transport Workers Act through parliament in September, which gave the government unprecedented regulatory power in industrial relations. All waterfront workers now required federal licences, or "dog collars" as they were derisively known, to work. The act allowed the Commonwealth government to effectively control who worked on
4095-480: The blessing of the British, Hughes felt alarm at this turn of events. With reference to Hughes's actions at the Peace Conference, the historian Ernest Scott said that although Hughes failed to secure sovereignty over the conquered German islands or relief for Australia's war debts, "both he and his countrymen found satisfaction with his achievements. By characteristic methods he had gained single-handed at least
4186-528: The cabinet of the advantages that such a groundbreaking flight would offer Australia: "would be a great advertisement for Australia and would concentrate the eyes of the world on us." A month later, the acting prime minister of Australia, William Watt , announced: "With a view to stimulating aerial activity, the Commonwealth Government has decided to offer £10,000 for the first successful flight to Australia from Great Britain." The reward would go to
4277-530: The calling off of the strike and abandonment of the dispute about a central pickup. The strike action led to the formation in 1917 of the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia in opposition to the Waterside Workers' Federation. In 1928, the Nationalist government of Stanley Bruce amended the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act to require industrial courts to consider
4368-529: The clause was adopted, Hughes clarified his opposition by announcing at a meeting that "ninety-five out of one hundred Australians rejected the very idea of equality." Hughes offered to accept the clause so long as it did not affect immigration policy but the Japanese turned the offer down. Lloyd George said that the clause "was aimed at the restrictions and disabilities which were imposed by certain states against Japanese emigration and Japanese settlers already within their borders". Hughes had entered politics as
4459-759: The competition, was present to greet the crew of the Vimy when it landed. In 1919 Hughes, with former prime minister Joseph Cook , travelled to Paris to attend the Versailles Peace Conference . He remained away for 16 months, and signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of Australia – the first time Australia had signed an international treaty. At a meeting of the Imperial War Cabinet on 30 December 1918, Hughes warned that if they "were not very careful, we should find ourselves dragged quite unnecessarily behind
4550-525: The conference, as safe as it was on the day when it was first adopted. Japan was notably offended by Hughes's position on the issue. Like Jan Smuts of South Africa, Hughes was concerned by the rise of Japan. Within months of the declaration of the European War in 1914, Japan, Australia and New Zealand had seized all German territorial possessions in the Pacific. Though Japan had occupied German possessions with
4641-406: The defence of the nation. Hughes was seeking via a referendum to change the wording in the act to include "overseas". A referendum was not necessary but Hughes felt that in light of the seriousness of the situation, a vote of "Yes" from the people would give him a mandate to bypass the Senate. The Lloyd George Government of Britain did favour Hughes but only came to power in 1916, several months after
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#17328551073374732-410: The docks and nearly destroyed the Waterside Workers' Federation, earning the government deep unpopularity among organised labour. Employment of non-union labour and members of the Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia almost killed off the Waterside Workers' Federation. He then called the 1928 election for November, reviving the "red scare" pitch for the campaign. The stalwarts of
4823-459: The economic effects of its awards in addition to the welfare of workers. Immediate problems followed when a new award for waterside workers in 1928 worsened conditions for workers on economic grounds. The Waterside Workers Union again sought the abolition of the "bull" pickup system in a new award, but Justice George Beeby of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration handed down
4914-553: The farm of his widowed aunt (Margaret Mason), and "Plas Bedw", the neighbouring farm of his grandparents (Peter and Jane Morris). Hughes regarded his early years in Wales as the happiest time of his life. He was immensely proud of his Welsh identity, and he later became active in the Welsh Australian community, frequently speaking at Saint David's Day celebrations. Hughes called Welsh the "language of heaven", but his own grasp of it
5005-444: The first crew to complete the journey in under thirty days. Brothers Ross and Keith Smith , pilot and navigator, and mechanics Walter Shiers and Jim Bennett won the prize when their Vickers Vimy G-EAOU twin engine plane landed in Darwin on 10 December 1919. The flight set a record for distance travelled by aircraft, having flown 17,911 kilometres (11,129 mi), surpassing the previous record of 5,140 kilometres (3,190 mi) set
5096-407: The first referendum. The predecessor Asquith government greatly disliked Hughes considering him to be "a guest, rather than the representative of Australia". According to David Lloyd George : "He and Asquith did not get on too well. They would not. They were antipathetic types. As Hughes was never over-anxious to conceal his feelings or restrain his expression of them, and was moreover equipped with
5187-499: The formation on the Australian waterfront in September 1872 of two unions in Sydney, the Labouring Men's Union of Circular Quay and the West Sydney Labouring Men's Association , which merged ten years later to form the Sydney Wharf Labourers' Union . In 1884 the Melbourne Wharf Labourers' Union was formed with the support of Melbourne Trades Hall representatives, after shipowners refused to allow waterfront workers to attend Eight-hour Day celebrations. With Federation in 1901 and
5278-413: The head of the new National Labor Party , which after a few months merged with the Liberals to form the Nationalist Party . His government was re-elected with large majorities at the 1917 and 1919 elections . Hughes established the forerunners of the Australian Federal Police and the CSIRO during the war, and also created a number of new state-owned enterprises to aid the post-war economy. He made
5369-429: The history of the Commonwealth we are engaged in today [is] without the slightest trace of that race we have banished from the face of the earth." But he warned that "we must not be too proud lest we should, too, in time disappear." His abrasive manner (his chronic dyspepsia was thought to contribute to his volatile temperament) made his colleagues reluctant to have him as Leader. His on-going feud with King O'Malley ,
5460-441: The impending introduction of an arbitration system, the national Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia was formed in 1902 under the leadership of Billy Hughes . Hughes had been a member of the federal parliament and became Prime Minister in 1915. Hughes was expelled from the Australian Labor Party and the union in 1916 over conscription in Australia and then formed the Nationalist Party to continue in government. In 1917
5551-408: The loss of 28,000 men as casualties (killed, wounded and missing) in July and August 1916, Generals Birdwood and White of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) persuaded Hughes that conscription was necessary if Australia was to sustain its contribution to the war effort. However, a two-thirds majority of his party, which included Roman Catholics and trade union representatives as well as
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#17328551073375642-411: The mandates scheme went through. Hughes's frequent clashes with Wilson led to Wilson labelling him a "pestiferous varmint". Hughes, unlike Wilson or South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts , demanded heavy reparations from the German Empire , suggesting the sum of £24,000,000,000 of which Australia would claim many millions to off-set its own war debt. Hughes was a member of the British delegation on
5733-399: The many church schools established by the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts . He won prizes in geometry and French, receiving the latter from Lord Harrowby . After finishing his elementary schooling, he was apprenticed as a " pupil-teacher " for five years, instructing younger students for five hours a day in exchange for personal lessons from the headmaster and
5824-447: The moment. He seized it, put his own stamp on it, and pushed it through to the point of realization. Then, having established the machinery, he expected it to run itself while he turned his full energies elsewhere, and tended to be evasive or testy if he was called back to it. Yet his interest was genuine, and without his enthusiasm and drive the Commonwealth intervention would either not have come at all or would have been far slower". It
5915-408: The new code as it was seen as a strong social standpoint, politically, and it was an enthusiastic professional game, which made the politicians themselves appear in a similar vein, in their opinions anyway. Following the 1914 Australian federal election , the Labor Prime Minister of Australia, Andrew Fisher , found the strain of leadership during World War I taxing and faced increasing pressure from
6006-413: The outcome was advisory only . The narrow defeat (1,087,557 Yes and 1,160,033 No), however, did not deter Hughes, who continued to argue vigorously in favour of conscription. This revealed the deep and bitter split within the Australian community that had existed since before Federation, as well as within the members of his own party. Conscription had been in place since the 1910 Defence Act, but only in
6097-411: The points that were vital to his nation's existence". Joan Beaumont said Hughes became "something of a folk hero in later Australian historiography for his assertiveness at the Paris peace conference". Permanent %26 Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia The Permanent & Casual Wharf Labourers Union of Australia (PCWLU) was an Australian union for maritime labourers. The Union
6188-415: The respective Dominions. In a same-same deal Japan obtained control over its occupied German possessions north of the equator. At the meeting of 30 January, Hughes clashed with Wilson on the question of mandates, as Hughes preferred formal sovereignty over the islands. According to the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, Wilson was dictatorial and arrogant in his approach to Hughes, adding that "Hughes
6279-441: The seat by defeating the sitting Labor MP Alfred Hampson, and both marks the only time that a sitting prime minister had challenged and ousted another sitting MP for his seat along with him becoming the first of only a handful of Members of the Australian Parliament who have represented more than one state or territory . Hughes had promised to resign if his Government did not win the power to conscript. Queensland Premier T. J. Ryan
6370-515: The son of William Hughes and the former Jane Morris. His parents were both Welsh. His father, who worked as a carpenter and joiner at the Palace of Westminster , was from North Wales and was a fluent Welsh speaker. His mother, a domestic servant, was from the small village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain (near the English border), and spoke only English. Hughes was an only child ; at the time of their marriage, in June 1861, his parents were both 37 years old. Hughes's mother died in May 1869, when he
6461-456: The union, through the efforts of Port Kembla Branch Secretary Ted Roach , played a key role in the Dalfram dispute which drew attention to Japan's undeclared war in China and famously led to Robert Menzies being known as Pig Iron Bob . The union consolidated its strength with the labour shortages during World War II . During the Indonesian National Revolution , the WWF placed a "black ban" on Dutch colonial ships going to Indonesia as
6552-427: The waterfront. After five years of production, the work of the unit ended in 1958. Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I , and his influence on national politics spanned several decades. He was a member of the federal parliament from
6643-442: The wheels of President Wilson 's chariot". He added that it was intolerable for Wilson "to dictate to us how the world was to be governed. If the saving of civilisation had depended on the United States, it would have been in tears and chains to-day". He also said that Wilson had no practical scheme for a League of Nations and added: "The League of Nations was to him what a toy was to a child—he would not be happy till he got it". At
6734-407: The year before on a Cairo to Delhi flight. Hughes achieved his aim of garnering world press attention for Australia, while Australia's first, and one of the world's earliest airlines, Qantas , was founded in 1920, commencing international passenger flights in 1935. A cofounder of the airline, Hudson Fysh , who had been commissioned by the government to survey landing fields in northern Australia for
6825-501: Was Attorney-General in Andrew Fisher 's three Labor governments in 1908–09, 1910–13 and 1914–15. In 1913, at the foundation ceremony of Canberra as the capital of Australia, Hughes gave a speech proclaiming that the country was obtained via the elimination of the indigenous population. "We were destined to have our own way from the beginning..[and]..killed everybody else to get it," Hughes said, adding that "the first historic event in
6916-620: Was a key opponent to conscription, and violence almost broke out when Hughes ordered a raid on the Government Printing Office in Brisbane , with the aim of confiscating copies of Hansard that covered debates in the Queensland Parliament where anti-conscription sentiments had been aired. A second plebiscite on conscription was held in December 1917, but was again defeated, this time by a wider margin. Hughes, after receiving
7007-618: Was a one-time CPA member, then a member of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist) and later a member of the Australian Labor Party , and was General Secretary of the union from 1984 to 1992. With membership dwindling, partly as a result of containerisation , Bull steered the union towards an amalgamation with the Seamen's Union. He succeeding Charlie Fitzgibbon (1961–83) and Norm Docker (1983–84), another CPA member. In
7098-543: Was a scheme of Hughes' devising that set the scene for long-distance civil aviation in Australia. His interest in the possibilities of peacetime aviation was sparked by his flights travelling between London and Paris for the Paris Peace Conference. On a Christmas visit the year before, in 1918, to wounded servicemen convalescing in Kent, Hughes had met Australian pilots who were facing the seven-week sea voyage home and were eager to pioneer an air route and fly to Australia instead. Such
7189-475: Was able to open a small shop selling general merchandise. The income from the shop was not enough to live on, so he also worked part-time as a locksmith and umbrella salesman, and his wife as a washerwoman. One of Hughes's acquaintances in Balmain was William Wilks , another future MP, while one of the customers at his shop was Frederick Jordan , a future Chief Justice of New South Wales . In Balmain, Hughes became
7280-528: Was either not offered a position or found the terms of employment to be unsuitable. He spent the next two years as an itinerant labourer, working various odd jobs. In his memoirs, Hughes claimed to have worked variously as a fruitpicker, tally clerk, navvy , blacksmith's striker , station hand , drover , and saddler 's assistant, and to have travelled (mostly on foot) as far north as Rockhampton , as far west as Adavale , and as far south as Orange, New South Wales . He also claimed to have served briefly in both
7371-403: Was elected deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party in 1914. Hughes became prime minister in October 1915, when Fisher retired due to ill health. The war was the dominant issue of the time, and his support for sending conscripted troops overseas caused a split within Labor ranks. Hughes and his supporters were expelled from the party in November 1916, but he was able to remain in power at
7462-584: Was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1894, as a member of the New South Wales Labor Party , and then transferred to the new federal parliament in 1901. Hughes combined his early political career with part-time legal studies, and was called to the bar in 1903. He first entered cabinet in 1904, in the short-lived Watson government , and was later the Attorney-General of Australia in each of Andrew Fisher 's governments. He
7553-566: Was elected to the first federal Parliament as Labor MP for the Division of West Sydney . He opposed the Barton government 's proposals for a small professional army and instead advocated compulsory universal training. In 1903, he was admitted to the bar after several years part-time study. He became a King's Counsel (KC) in 1909. In 1911, he married Mary Campbell . He was Minister for External Affairs in Chris Watson 's first Labor government. He
7644-593: Was established in opposition to the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia . Branches were founded by "loyalists" in Sydney in response to the General Strike of 1917 and amalgamated in 1919. The union was not affiliated with Trades Hall , and was subsequently registered in 1926 under the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Act (1904) , and reregistered in the following year. Conflict between
7735-527: Was in Britain, where he delivered a series of speeches calling for imperial co-operation and economic warfare against Germany. These were published under the title The Day—and After , which was a bestseller. His biographer, Laurie Fitzhardinge, said these speeches were "electrifying" and that Hughes "swept his hearers off their feet". According to two contemporary writers, Hughes's speeches "have in particular evoked intense approbation, and have been followed by such
7826-542: Was intended only as a temporary body to be replaced with "Bureau of Science and Industry" as soon as possible. However, due to wartime stresses and other considerations the council endured until 1920, at which point an act of parliament was passed transforming it into a new government agency, the Institute of Science and Industry. According to Fitzhardinge: "The whole affair was highly typical of Hughes's methods. An idea coming from outside happened to chime with his preoccupation of
7917-442: Was not to be used for the purpose of immigration or of impairing our rights of self-government in any way, [the Japanese delegate] Baron Makino was unable to agree". When the proposal failed, Hughes reported in the Australian parliament: The White Australia is yours. You may do with it what you please, but at any rate, the soldiers have achieved the victory and my colleagues and I have brought that great principle back to you from
8008-510: Was patchy. Like many of his contemporaries, he had no formal schooling in Welsh, and had particular difficulties with spelling. Nonetheless, he received and replied to correspondence from Welsh-speakers throughout his political career, and as prime minister famously traded insults in Welsh with David Lloyd George . At the age of eleven, Hughes was enrolled in St Stephen's School, Westminster , one of
8099-570: Was prone to corruption. (See Wailing Wall .) In Sydney, workers would walk from wharf to wharf in search of a job, often failing to find one. (See The Hungry Mile .) In 1917, waterside workers went on strike over the issue of the pickup and demanded the establishment of a single central pickup point at the Flinders Street Extension and that their remuneration should include the time taken to travel to and from their assigned ships. The impending arrival of strikebreakers from Sydney resulted in
8190-692: Was six years old. His father subsequently sent him to be raised by relatives in Wales. During the school term, he lived with his father's sister, Mary Hughes, who kept a boarding house in Llandudno named "Bryn Rosa". He earned pocket money by doing chores for his aunt's tenants and singing in the choir at the local church. Hughes began his formal education in Llandudno, attending two small single-teacher schools. He spent his holidays with his mother's family in Llansantffraid. There, he divided his time between "Winllan",
8281-496: Was the last man I would have chosen to handle in that way". Lloyd George described how, after Hughes stated his case against subjecting the islands conquered by Australia to a mandate: President Wilson pulled him up sharply and proceeded to address him personally in what I would describe as a heated allocution rather than an appeal. He dwelt on the seriousness of defying world opinion on this subject. Mr. Hughes, who listened intently, with his hand cupped around his ear so as not to miss
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