Australian politician (1867?1941)
Chris Watson
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/ChrisWatsonSepia_crop.jpg/220px-ChrisWatsonSepia_crop.jpg) |
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In office
27 April 1904 ? 18 August 1904
|
Monarch
| Edward VII
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Governor‑General
| Lord Northcote
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Preceded by
| Alfred Deakin
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Succeeded by
| George Reid
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In office
27 April 1904 ? 17 August 1904
|
Prime Minister
| Himself
|
---|
Preceded by
| Sir George Turner
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Succeeded by
| Sir George Turner
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|
In office
20 May 1901 ? 30 October 1907
|
Deputy
| Gregor McGregor
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Preceded by
| Position created
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Succeeded by
| Andrew Fisher
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|
In office
18 August 1904 ? 5 July 1905
|
Prime Minister
| George Reid
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Deputy
| Gregor McGregor
|
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Preceded by
| George Reid
|
---|
Succeeded by
| George Reid
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|
In office
30 March 1901 ? 12 December 1906
|
Preceded by
| Division created
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Succeeded by
| Division abolished
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In office
12 December 1906 ? 19 February 1910
|
Preceded by
| George Edwards
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Succeeded by
| Edward Riley
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In office
17 July 1894 ? 30 March 1901
|
Preceded by
| John Gough
and
James Mackinnon
|
---|
Succeeded by
| George Burgess
|
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|
|
Born
| Johan Cristian Tanck
9 April 1867
Valparaiso
,
Chile
|
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Died
| 18 November 1941
(1941-11-18)
(aged 74)
Double Bay
,
New South Wales
, Australia
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Political party
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Spouses
|
Antonia Dowlan
(
m.
1925)
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Children
| 1
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Education
| Weston School
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Occupation
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Signature
| ![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/John_Christian_Watson_signature.svg/128px-John_Christian_Watson_signature.svg.png) |
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John Christian Watson
(born
Johan Cristian Tanck
; 9 April 1867 – 18 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third
prime minister of Australia
from 27 April to 18 August 1904. He was the inaugural federal leader of the
Australian Labor Party
(ALP) from 1901 to 1907 and was the first member of the party to serve as prime minister.
[1]
Watson was born in
Valparaiso
,
Chile
, the son of a
German Chilean
seaman. He grew up on the
South Island
of
New Zealand
, taking the surname of his step-father when his Irish-born mother remarried. He left school at a young age, working in the printing industry as a
compositor
. Watson moved to
Sydney
in 1886 and became prominent in the local
labour movement
. He helped establish the
Labor Electoral League of New South Wales
and directed the party's campaign at the
1891 general election
. Watson was elected to the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
at the
1894 election
, aged 27, and quickly became a leading figure in the ALP. He and most party members opposed
Federation
on the grounds that the
proposed constitution
was undemocratic.
In 1901, Watson was elected to the
House of Representatives
at the
inaugural federal election
. He became a founding member of the
ALP caucus
in federal parliament and was elected as the party's inaugural leader. During the first term of parliament he supported the
Liberal Protectionist
governments of
Edmund Barton
and
Alfred Deakin
, and was a strong supporter of the
White Australia policy
. At the
1903 election
, the ALP secured the
balance of power
in the House and a strong position in the
Senate
. Watson formed a
minority government
in April 1904, aged 37, after the ALP withdrew its support from Deakin. He was one of the first socialists to head a government in a parliamentary system, attracting international attention, and remains Australia's youngest prime minister.
After less than four months in office, the
Watson government
lost a
confidence motion
and Watson was succeeded as prime minister by anti-socialist
George Reid
. He was
leader of the opposition
until 1905, when he helped reinstall Deakin as prime minister. The ALP continued to offer its support to Deakin after the
1906 election
, despite the opposition of some in the party. Watson resigned the party's leadership in 1907, citing family concerns, and left parliament at the
1910 election
. He was expelled from the ALP during the
1916 split over conscription
and became a
Nationalist
, although he never again stood for public office. He subsequently had a successful business career, including as president of the
NRMA
and chairman of
Ampol
.
While Watson did not succeed in passing legislation while in office, his term as prime minister is seen as significant as a demonstration that the ALP could form a competent government. His successor as party leader
Andrew Fisher
would lead the ALP to a majority government at the 1910 election, in which many of Watson's ministers played a key role.
Early life
[
edit
]
Birth and family background
[
edit
]
Watson was born Johan Cristian Tanck on 9 April 1867 in
Valparaiso
, Chile. He was the only child of Martha (nee Minchin) and Johan Cristian Tanck, senior.
His father was also born in Valparaiso, a
German Chilean
whose ancestors had emigrated from the
Kingdom of Hanover
and established an import?export firm.
He worked as a merchant seaman, possibly a ship's carpenter, on trade routes across the Pacific.
He arrived in New Zealand aboard
La Joven Julia
on 24 December 1865 and married Martha Minchin in
Port Chalmers
less than a month later, on 19 January 1866.
Their marriage was later registered at Valparaiso's
Iglesia de la Matriz
.
Watson's mother was born in
County Tipperary
, Ireland, and was 16 years old at the time of her marriage to Tanck.
She joined him on board the
Julia
, which eventually returned to Chile and docked in Valparaiso a few days before Watson's birth. In the months after his birth the ship worked a regular route carrying timber between Valparaiso and
Chiloe Island
.
In 1868, Watson moved to New Zealand with his mother, returning to her family on the
South Island
. The fate of his father is uncertain, as no records of his death have been found.
On 15 February 1869, his mother married George Thomas Watson at the registry office in
Waipori
, describing herself as a widow. Her second husband was a 30-year-old miner born in
Ballymoney
, Ireland, who had come to New Zealand after several years working in Scotland.
Watson came to have nine half-siblings from his mother's second marriage, born between 1869 and 1887. He was treated as the biological child of George Watson, adopting his step-father's surname; his given names were also anglicised.
As an adult, Watson gave incorrect and contradictory information about the circumstances of his birth and the identity of his parents. He allowed some biographical profiles to list him as born in New Zealand, while his second wife and daughter understood that he had been born to British parents in
international waters
outside Valparaiso. On legal documents he listed George Watson as his biological father and provided an incorrect
maiden name
for his mother.
Watson's biographers have suggested he may have originally concealed his background for convenience, but later deliberately did so for political reasons, including concerns over parliamentary eligibility and possible xenophobia. Birth overseas to a non-British father would have made him an
alien
ineligible for election to federal parliament under
section 44(i) of the constitution
.
[10]
[11]
Childhood and move to Australia
[
edit
]
Watson attended the state school in
Oamaru
,
North Otago
,
New Zealand
until ten years of age when he left to become a
rail nipper
. Then after a period of helping on the family farm, at thirteen years of age he was apprenticed as a
compositor
at
The North Otago Times
, a newspaper run by prominent reformist politician
William Steward
, with the public affairs exposure augmenting his minor formal schooling. Following the death of his mother and the loss of his job, he migrated to
Sydney
in 1886 at nineteen years of age. He worked for a month as a stablehand at
Government House
, then found employment as a compositor for a number of newspapers including
The Daily Telegraph
,
Sydney Morning Herald
and
The Australian Star
. Through this proximity to newspapers, books and writers he furthered his education and developed an interest in politics and became active in the printing union. He married
Ada Jane Low
, a British-born Sydney seamstress, at the
Unitarian Church
on Liverpool Street in Sydney on 27 November 1889.
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
Colonial parliament
[
edit
]
In the months prior to the
1891 New South Wales colonial election
, Watson was a founding member of the
Labour Electoral League of New South Wales
which stemmed from the nascent
Australian labour movement
and would later develop into the Australian Labour (later Labor) Party. In the election, Labour won the
balance of power
and provided
confidence and supply
to the
Protectionist Party
minority government
led by
Premier
George Dibbs
which brought down the incumbent
majority government
of the
Free Trade Party
led by Premier
Henry Parkes
. Watson was an active trade unionist, and became vice-president of the
Sydney Trades and Labour Council
in January 1892. In June 1892, he settled a dispute between the Trades and Labour Council and the Labour Party and as a result became the president of the council and chairman of the party. In 1893 and 1894, he worked hard to resolve the debate over the solidarity pledge and established the Labour Party's basic practices, including the sovereignty of the party conference, caucus solidarity, the pledge required of parliamentarians and the powerful role of the extra-parliamentary executive. At the
1894 colonial election
which saw the defeat of the Protectionist Party government, Watson was elected to the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
for the country seat of
Young
.
[16]
At the
1895 colonial election
the incumbent Free Trade Party minority government led by Premier
George Reid
increased their support but remained several seats short of a majority. Labour at this time had a policy of "support in return for concessions", and Watson voted with his colleagues to strategically provide such legislative support to the incumbent government. Following the
1898 colonial election
, despite a significant swing against the incumbent government, Watson and Labour leader
James McGowen
decided to allow the incumbent government to remain so that it could complete the work of establishing the
Federation of Australia
.
[12]
Federation
[
edit
]
Chris Watson
Watson was involved in shaping party policy regarding the movement for
Federation
from 1895, and was one of ten Labour candidates nominated for the Australasian Federal Convention on 4 March 1897, but none of these candidates managed to be elected. The party endorsed Federation, but nevertheless most leading party figures viewed the draft Commonwealth
Constitution
as undemocratic, and believed that the
Senate
as proposed was much too powerful, similar to the anti-reformist Colonial state upper houses and the UK
House of Lords
. When the draft was submitted to a referendum on 3 June 1898, Labour opposed it, with Watson prominent in the campaign, and saw the referendum rejected.
[12]
Watson was devoted to the idea of the referendum as an ideal feature of democracy. To ensure that Reid might finally bring New South Wales into national union on an amended draft constitution, Watson helped to negotiate a deal, involving the party executive, that included the nomination of four Labour members to the
New South Wales Legislative Council
.
[12]
At the March 1899 annual party conference,
Billy Hughes
and Holman moved to have those arrangements nullified and party policy on Federation changed, thus thwarting Reid's plans. Although rarely known to resort to anger, on this occasion Watson 'jumped to his feet in a most excited manner and in heated tones ... contended ... that they should not interfere with the referendum'. The motion was lost and the four party men were nominated to the council on 4 April. The bill approving the second referendum, to be held on 20 June 1899, was passed on 20 April.
[12]
Labour leaders, including Watson opposed the final terms of the
Commonwealth Constitution
. Nonetheless, they could not stop it from going ahead, and Watson, unlike Holman and Hughes, believed that it should be submitted to the people. Nevertheless, Watson joined all but two of the Labour parliamentarians in campaigning against the 'Yes' vote at the referendum. When the Constitution was accepted, he agreed that 'the mandate of the majority will have to be obeyed'.
[12]
Federal parliament
[
edit
]
Signed photograph of Watson
Watson was elected to the new
federal Parliament of Australia
at the inaugural
1901 federal election
, representing the rural
House of Representatives
rural seat of
Bland
.
[17]
Watson arrived in
Melbourne
, which at the time served as the temporary seat of government, in May 1901. Watson was elected the first leader of the
Federal Parliamentary Labor Party
(usually known as the Caucus) on 8 May 1901, the day before the opening of the parliament.
[12]
[18]
Watson pursued the same policy as Labor had done in New South Wales, where Labor was the smallest of the three parties but held the
balance of power
. Under Watson, Labor provided
confidence and supply
to the
Protectionist Party
minority governments
of
Edmund Barton
and
Alfred Deakin
in exchange for legislation enacting the Labour platform, such as the immensely popular
White Australia policy
which left the
free Trade Party
led by
George Reid
to form the
opposition
.
[12]
[18]
Watson, as a Labor moderate, genuinely admired Deakin and shared his liberal views on many subjects. Deakin reciprocated this sentiment. Deakin wrote in one of his anonymous articles in a London newspaper that "The Labour section has much cause for gratitude to Mr Watson, the leader whose tact and judgement have enabled it to achieve many of its Parliamentary successes."
[12]
White Australia
[
edit
]
Watson was a
white nationalist
and
white supremacist
who played a key role in the creation of the
White Australia policy
. According to
Hearn (2007)
, the "ideal of a white Australia stood at the centre of Watson's political ideology, a touchstone of Australian identity that Watson repeatedly stressed in interviews, speeches and articles". However, some of his biographers have noted that his racial views were widespread among Australians at the time and that all three major parties supported White Australia.
During the debate over what became the
Immigration Restriction Act 1901
, Watson stated that the issue of racial purity was "the larger and more important one" for the passage of the bill, where some speakers had emphasised concerns over the economic impact of cheap foreign labour. He opposed the government's
dictation test
provision on the grounds that it could be easily circumvented, and that "education does not eliminate the objectionable qualities of the Baboo Hindoo". He instead sought to explicitly ban any Asian or African from entering Australia.
During the same debate he spoke of "racial contamination" and referred to Chinese people using a racial slur,
rhetorically asking "whether we would desire that our sisters or our brothers should be married into any of these races to which we object".
In 1905, Watson drafted a new plank for the ALP platform calling for "an Australian sentiment based upon the maintenance of racial purity". He successfully moved for its adoption at both state and federal conferences, stating that the party should "cleanse their own doorstep with the hope that thus the street would be cleansed".
Prime Minister in 1904
[
edit
]
Watson c. 1904
Labour under Watson doubled their vote at the
1903 federal election
and continued to hold the
balance of power
despite all three parties holding about the same number of seats. In April 1904, however, Watson and Deakin fell out over the issue of extending the scope of industrial relations laws concerning the
Conciliation
and
Arbitration
Bill to cover state public servants, the fallout causing Deakin to resign. Reid declined to take office, which saw Watson become the first Labour
Prime Minister of Australia
, the world's first Labour head of government at a national level (
Anderson Dawson
had led a short-lived Labour government in Queensland in December 1899), indeed the world's first
socialist
or
social democratic
government at a national level.
[1]
He was aged only 37, and remains the youngest Prime Minister in Australia's history.
[12]
Billy Hughes
later recalled the first meeting of the Labour Cabinet with characteristic sharp wit:
[22]
Mr Watson, the new Prime Minister entered the room, and seated himself at the head of the table. All eyes were riveted on him; he was worth going miles to see. He had dressed for the part; his Vandyke beard was exquisitely groomed, his abundant brown hair smoothly brushed. His morning coat and vest, set off by dark striped trousers, beautifully creased and shyly revealing the kind of socks that young men dream about; and shoes to match. He was the perfect picture of the statesman, the leader.
The
Watson Ministry
, 1904
Despite the apparent fitness of the new Prime Minister for his role, the government hung on the fine thread of Deakin's promise of 'fair play'. The triumph of the historic first Australian Labour government was a qualified one ? Labour did not have the numbers to implement key policies. The 'three elevens' ? the lack of a definite majority in the parliament after the second federal election ? dogged Watson just as it had Deakin.
[22]
Six bills were enacted during Watson's brief government. All but one ? an amended
Acts Interpretation Act 1904
? were
supply bills
. The most significant legislative achievement of the Watson government was the advancement of the troublesome
Conciliation and Arbitration Bill
.
[23]
Another accomplishment was the appointing of a Royal Commission on a Bill related to Navigation and Shipping, whose report (presented a couple of years later) led to "major redrafting of the Navigation Act"
[24]
and improvements in conditions for Australian seamen.
[25]
Once he became the Prime Minister Watson recognised the limitations of his position in the Labour caucus and endorsed the concept of a deputy leader. Andrew Fisher won the position by one vote over the more dynamic Billy Hughes.
[26]
Defeat and final years as leader
[
edit
]
Watson in 1908
Although Watson sought a dissolution of parliament so that an election could be held, the
Governor-General
Lord Northcote
refused. Unable to command a majority in the House of Representatives, Watson resigned the premiership less than four months after taking office, his term ending on 18 August 1904 (Deakin was later defeated on a similar bill).
[27]
Reid became Prime Minister and four months later his government managed to pass the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill after compromising to extend the scope to state public servants as Watson had proposed.
[12]
[28]
Deakin again became Prime Minister after Reid lost confidence of the parliament in July 1905. Watson led Labour to the
1906 federal election
and improved their position again. At this election the seat of Bland was abolished, so he shifted to the seat of
South Sydney
. But in October 1907, recognising his work for the foundation of the parliamentary party was complete and also due to fatigue and concern over the health of his wife Ada, he resigned the Labour leadership in favour of
Andrew Fisher
.
[12]
From August 1906, Watson was an early influential supporter of
Canberra
, as the site of the national capital.
[29]
[30]
Watson retired from politics, aged only 42, prior to the
1910 federal election
, at which Labour won with 50 percent of the primary vote. It was the first time a party had been elected to
majority government
in the
House of Representatives
, it was also the first time a party won a
Senate
majority, and it was the world's first
Labour Party
majority government at a national level. The ALP vote had risen rapidly, going from 15 percent against two larger and more established parties in 1901, to 50 percent in 1910, after a majority of the Protectionist Party merged with the
Anti-Socialist Party
, creating the
Commonwealth Liberal Party
which received 45 percent.
[12]
Later life
[
edit
]
Political activities
[
edit
]
In the
Australian Labor Party split of 1916
, numerous Labor MPs were expelled from the party for supporting
World War I conscription in Australia
. Watson sided with ex-Labor Prime Minister
Billy Hughes
and the conscriptionists and had his party membership terminated as a result. Watson remained active in the affairs of Hughes'
Nationalist Party
until 1922, but after that he drifted out of politics altogether.
[31]
In 1931 he was state president of the
Australian Industries Protection League
and supported the
Scullin government
's high-tariff policies.
Business activities
[
edit
]
Parliament House
portrait of Watson by
John Longstaff
, 1915
In December 1910, Watson was recruited by a syndicate of Sydney businessmen to lead a gold-seeking expedition in South Africa. He also engaged in land speculation in
Sutherland
, but development did not occur rapidly enough. He was appointed as a director of Labor Papers Limited, the publisher of the AWU's official newspaper
The Australian Worker
.
Watson joined the council of the newly established
National Roads Association
(NRA) in March 1920,
[12]
and in August was elected as the association's inaugural president. The NRA was intended as a
peak body
for New South Wales motorists, lobbying the state government to create a
Main Roads Board
and borrow money to improve local highways. It was initially hampered by its small membership and lack of financial resources, with a budget of only £15 per week.
Watson was able to attract publicity through the launch of a magazine and a successful campaign to raise
speed limits
. He was again chosen as president in 1923 when the NRA was reorganised into the
NRMA
,
and would retain the position for the rest of his life.
By the end of the following year the organisation had grown from 550 to 5,000 members. It subsequently expanded into vehicle insurance and
motor touring
, acquiring a series of properties for camping.
As well as his involvement with the NRMA, Watson also was a director of a taxi company, Yellow Cabs of Australia, and as chairman of the state government's Traffic Advisory Committee. In 1936, he became the inaugural chairman of petrol retailer
Ampol
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Watson's first wife Ada died in 1921.
[31]
On 30 October 1925 he married Antonia Mary Gladys Dowlan in the same church as his first wedding. She was a 23-year-old waitress from Western Australia whom he had met when she served his table at a Sydney club.
[1]
[12]
In 1927, they had one daughter, Jacqueline Dunn nee Watson.
[10]
[11]
[37]
Watson and his second wife moved to a villa in
Double Bay
in 1934. In retirement he became a keen
bridge
player and was also a regular attendee at
Randwick Racecourse
and the
Sydney Cricket Ground
, serving on the
Sydney Cricket Ground Trust
. He visited the United States for business reasons and also returned to New Zealand on a number of occasions in a private capacity.
After several weeks of ill health, Watson died at his home in Double Bay on 18 November 1941, aged 74.
He was granted a
state funeral
at
St Andrew's Cathedral
, with
Joseph Cook
,
Albert Gardiner
,
John Curtin
and
William McKell
serving as pallbearers. His ashes were interred at the
Northern Suburbs Crematorium
.
Evaluation and honours
[
edit
]
Bust of Chris Watson by sculptor Wallace Anderson located in the
Prime Ministers Avenue
in the
Ballarat Botanical Gardens
According to
Percival Serle
, Watson "left a much greater impression on his time than this would suggest. He came at the right moment for his party, and nothing could have done it more good than the sincerity, courtesy and moderation which he always showed as a leader".
[40]
Alfred Deakin
wrote of Watson: "The Labour section has much cause for gratitude to Mr Watson, the leader whose tact and judgement have enabled it to achieve many of its Parliamentary successes".
[12]
In April 2004 the Labor Party marked the centenary of the Watson government with a series of public events in
Canberra
and Melbourne, attended by then party leader
Mark Latham
and former ALP Prime Ministers
Gough Whitlam
,
Bob Hawke
and
Paul Keating
. Watson's daughter, Jacqueline Dunn, 77, was guest of honour at these functions. The
Canberra
suburb
Watson
and the federal electorate of
Watson
are named after him. In 1969 he was honoured on a
postage stamp
bearing his portrait issued by
Australia Post
.
[41]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"A perfect picture of the statesman: John Christian Watson ? Museum of Australian Democracy"
. Moadoph.gov.au. 30 April 2013
. Retrieved
30 June
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Abjorensen, Norman (21 August 2017).
"Former prime minister Chris Watson and King O'Malley almost certainly fell foul of Section 44"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. Retrieved
30 June
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Abjorensen, Norman (2 November 1993).
"Watson a British subject"
.
The Canberra Times
. Retrieved
30 June
2018
– via Trove.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
Nairn, Bede (1990).
"Watson, John Christian (1867?1941)"
.
Australian Dictionary of Biography
. Canberra: National Centre of Biography,
Australian National University
.
ISBN
978-0-522-84459-7
.
ISSN
1833-7538
.
OCLC
70677943
. Retrieved
9 February
2010
.
- ^
"Chris Watson: Australia's second Treasurer ? Australian Treasury"
. Archive.treasury.gov.au. Archived from
the original
on 22 April 2018
. Retrieved
30 June
2018
.
- ^
"Chris Watson, Early years"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 29 September 2009
. Retrieved
9 February
2010
.
- ^
"Chris Watson, Ada Watson"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 6 June 2010
. Retrieved
9 February
2010
.
- ^
"Mr (Chris) John Christian Watson (1867?1941)"
.
Former members of the
Parliament of New South Wales
. Retrieved
21 May
2019
.
- ^
"Chris Watson, Elections"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 8 June 2010
. Retrieved
9 February
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Chris Watson, Federal Labour leader 1901"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 29 September 2009
. Retrieved
9 February
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Chris Watson, The first national Labour government"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 18 February 2016
. Retrieved
10 February
2010
.
- ^
"John Christian Watson, Prime Minister 27 April to 17 August 1904"
(PDF)
.
Museum of Australian Democracy
.
- ^
Brian Carroll (2004).
Australia's Prime Ministers: From Barton to Howard
. Rosenberg Publishing Pty, Limited. p. 59.
ISBN
978-1-877058-22-6
.
- ^
"Achievements"
. Australian Web Archive. 5 June 2018. Archived from
the original
on 22 July 2010
. Retrieved
30 June
2018
.
- ^
Julian Fitzgerald
On Message: Political Communications of Australian Prime Ministers 1901?2014
Clareville Press 2014 p 54
- ^
"Chris Watson, In office"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 18 February 2016
. Retrieved
10 February
2010
.
- ^
"Chris Watson, The fall of the Watson government"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 18 February 2016
. Retrieved
10 February
2010
.
- ^
Wood, Greg.
"Canberra: Maps and Makers"
(PDF)
. p. 19. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 28 September 2021
. Retrieved
1 October
2021
.
- ^
"CAPITAL SITE"
.
The Argus
. 9 October 1908
. Retrieved
10 October
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Chris Watson, After office"
.
Australia's Prime Ministers
.
National Archives of Australia
. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2009
. Retrieved
10 February
2010
.
- ^
"Fast facts ? Chris Watson"
. Australia's Prime Ministers: National Archives of Australia. Archived from
the original
on 25 November 2017
. Retrieved
30 June
2018
.
- ^
Serle, Percival
(1949).
"Watson, John Christian"
.
Dictionary of Australian Biography
. Sydney:
Angus & Robertson
. Retrieved
9 April
2010
.
- ^
"Stamp"
. Australian Stamp and Coin Company
. Retrieved
9 February
2010
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
- The last page of a secret despatch
from Australia's Governor-General to Britain's Colonial Secretary 23 April 1904, detailing circumstances that created the first Labor Prime Minister in the British Empire (and the world).
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Shadow cabinets
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State branches
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Party institutions
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Factions
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History
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Leadership votes
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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