Sir George Reid | |
|---|---|
 Reid in 1915 | |
| 4thPrime Minister of Australia | |
| In office 18 August 1904 – 5 July 1905 | |
| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Governor-General | Lord Northcote |
| Preceded by | Chris Watson |
| Succeeded by | Alfred Deakin |
| 1stLeader of the Opposition | |
| In office 19 May 1901 – 17 August 1904 | |
| Prime Minister | Edmund Barton Alfred Deakin Chris Watson |
| Preceded by | New position |
| Succeeded by | Chris Watson |
| In office 7 July 1905 – 16 November 1908 | |
| Prime Minister | Alfred Deakin Andrew Fisher |
| Preceded by | Chris Watson |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Cook |
| 12thPremier of New South Wales | |
| In office 3 August 1894 – 13 September 1899 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Governor | Sir Robert Duff Lord Hampden |
| Preceded by | George Dibbs |
| Succeeded by | William Lyne |
| Leader of theFree Trade Party[a] | |
| In office 18 November 1891 – 16 November 1908 | |
| Deputy | William McMillan Dugald Thomson Joseph Cook |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Cook |
| Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom | |
| In office 1 January 1910 – 1 January 1916 | |
| Preceded by | New position |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Fisher |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forEast Sydney | |
| In office 29 March 1901 – 18 August 1903 | |
| Preceded by | Division created |
| In office 4 September 1903 – 24 December 1909 | |
| Succeeded by | John West |
| Member of theNew South Wales Parliament forEast Sydney | |
| In office 14 December 1880 – 3 August 1884 | |
| Preceded by | John Davies |
| Succeeded by | Sydney Burdekin |
| In office 2 March 1887 – 3 August 1894 | |
| Preceded by | George Griffiths |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Member of theNew South Wales Parliament forSydney-King | |
| In office 3 August 1894 – 30 March 1901 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Broughton |
| Member of the United Kingdom Parliament forWestminster St George's | |
| In office 11 January 1916 – 12 September 1918 | |
| Preceded by | Sír Alexander Henderson |
| Succeeded by | Sir Newton Moore |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1845-02-25)25 February 1845 Johnstone,Renfrewshire, Scotland |
| Died | 12 September 1918(1918-09-12) (aged 73) London, England |
| Resting place | Putney Vale Cemetery 51°26′26″N0°14′21″W / 51.440426°N 0.239237°W /51.440426; -0.239237 |
| Political party | None (before 1887) Free Trade[a] (1887–1909) Liberal (1909–1910) Conservative (UK) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Anne Fairbairn (granddaughter) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents |
|
| Education | Scotch College |
| Profession | Civil servant, barrister, diplomat, politician |
| Signature |  |
Sir George Houston Reid (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was a Scottish-born Australian politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourthprime minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905. He held office as the leader of theFree Trade Party, previously serving as the 12thpremier of New South Wales from 1894 to 1899,[1] and later as thehigh commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom from 1910 to 1916.
Reid was born inJohnstone,Renfrewshire, Scotland. He and his family immigrated to Australia when he was young. They initially settled inMelbourne, but moved toSydney when Reid was 13, at which point he left school and began working as a clerk. He later joined the New South Wales civil service, and rose through the ranks to become secretary of theAttorney-General's Department. Reid was also something of a public intellectual, publishing several works in defence ofliberalism andfree trade. He began studying law in 1876 and was admitted to the bar in 1879.In 1880, he resigned from the civil service to run for parliament, winning election to theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly.
From 1883 to 1884, Reid wasMinister of Public Instruction in the government ofAlexander Stuart. He joined the Free Trade Party ofHenry Parkes in 1887, but refused to serve in Parkes' governments due to personal enmity. When Parkes resigned as party leader in 1891, Reid was elected in his place. He became premier after the1894 election and remained in office for just over five years. Despite never winningmajority government, Reid was able to pass a number of domestic reforms concerning the civil service and public finances. He was an advocate offederation and played a part in drafting theConstitution of Australia, where he became known as a strong defender of his colony's interests.In 1901, he was elected to the newFederal Parliament representing theDivision of East Sydney.
Reid retained the leadership of the Free Trade and Liberal Association after federation, and consequently became Australia's firstLeader of the Opposition. For the first few years, theProtectionist Party governed with the support of theAustralian Labor Party.Alfred Deakin's Protectionistminority government collapsed in April 1904, and he was briefly succeeded by Labor'sChris Watson, who proved unable to govern and resigned after four months. As a result, Reid became prime minister in August 1904, heading yet another minority government. He included four Protectionists inhis cabinet, but was unable to achieve much before his government was brought down in July 1905. One notable exception was the passage of the landmarkCommonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904, which dealt with industrial relations.
At the1906 election, Reid secured the most votes in theAustralian House of Representatives and the equal-most seats, but was well short of a majority and could not form a government. He resigned as party leader in 1908, after opposing the formation of theCommonwealth Liberal Party (a merger with the Protectionists). Reid accepted an appointment as Australia's firstHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1910, and remained in the position until 1916. He subsequently won election to theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom, serving until his sudden death two years later.
Reid was born on 25 February 1845 inJohnstone,Renfrewshire, Scotland. He was the fifth of seven children born to Marion (née Crybbace) andJohn Reid; he had four older brothers and two younger sisters.[2] He was named afterGeorge Houstoun, a formerConservative MP for theRenfrewshire constituency who had died a few years earlier.[3] Reid's father, the son of a farmer, was born inTarbolton,Ayrshire. At the time of George's birth, he was a minister in theChurch of Scotland, which he had joined in 1839 after previously ministering in various secessionist Presbyterian churches; he remained loyal to the established church in theDisruption of 1843.[4] In 1834, he had married the daughter of another minister, Edward Crybbace; she was about nine years his junior.[2]
In April 1845, Reid and his family moved toLiverpool, England, where his father had been appointed minister of an expatriate Presbyterian congregation. His two younger sisters were born there. The family struggled financially, and his father made the decision to emigrate to Australia. Reid arrived inMelbourne in May 1852,[2] and his father subsequently led congregations inEssendon andNorth Melbourne. He moved the family toSydney in 1858.[5] Reid received his only formal schooling at the Melbourne Academy, now known asScotch College. He received a classical education, and in later life recalled that he had "no appetite for that wide range of metaphysical propositions which juveniles were expected to comprehend"; he found Greek a "lazy horror".[6] He left school aged about 13, when the family settled in Sydney, and began working as a junior clerk in a merchant'scounting house.[7] At the age of 15, he joined the debating society at theSydney Mechanics' School of Arts, and according to his autobiography, "a more crude novice than he had never begun the practise of public speaking".[8] In Sydney, Reid's father became a colleague ofJohn Dunmore Lang at theScots Church, and then from 1862 until his death in 1867 was the minister of the Mariners' Church onGeorge Street. His mother, who died in 1885, was involved in theragged schools movement.[5] In later life, Reid praised his parents for his good upbringing.[7]
In 1864, Reid joined the New South Wales Civil Service as an assistant accountant in theColonial Treasury, with an annual salary of £200. He was promoted to clerk of correspondence and contracts in 1868, and then chief clerk of correspondence in 1874 on a salary of £400.[7] In 1876, he began to study law seriously, which would provide the independent income necessary to pursue a parliamentary career (given that parliamentary service was unpaid at the time). He became head of the Attorney-General's Department in 1878.[1] In 1879, Reid qualified as abarrister.[6] He made a name for himself by publishing pamphlets on topical issues. In 1875, he published hisFive Essays on Free Trade, which brought him an honorary membership of theCobden Club, and in 1878 the government published hisNew South Wales, the Mother Colony of the Australians, for distribution in Europe.[8]
Reid's career was aided by his quick wit and entertaining oratory; he was described[who?] as being "perhaps the best platform speaker in the Empire",[9] both amusing and informing his audiences "who flocked to his election meetings as to popular entertainment".[10] In one particular incident his quick wit and affinity for humour were demonstrated when a heckler pointed to his ample paunch and exclaimed "What are you going to call it, George?" to which Reid replied: "If it's a boy, I'll call it after myself. If it's a girl I'll call it Victoria. But if, as I strongly suspect, it's nothing but piss and wind, I'll name it after you."[11] His humour, however, was not universally appreciated.Alfred Deakin detested Reid, describing him as "inordinately vain and resolutely selfish"[11] and their cold relationship would affect both their later careers.[citation needed]
Reid was elected top of the poll to theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly as a member for the four-memberelectoral district of East Sydney in the1880 New South Wales colonial election.[12] He was not very active at first, as he was building up his legal practice, although he was concerned to reform theRobertson Land Acts, which had not prevented 96 land holders from controlling eight million acres (32,000 km2) between them.Henry Parkes andJohn Robertson attempted to make minor amendments to the land acts but were defeated and at thesubsequent election Parkes' party lost many seats.
The new premier,Alexander Stuart, offered Reid the position of Colonial Treasurer in January 1883, but he thought it wiser to accept the junior office of Minister of Public Instruction. He served 14 months in this office and succeeded in passing a much improved Education Act, which included the establishment of the first government high schools in the leading towns, technical schools (which became a model for the other colonies)[6] and the provision of evening lectures at the university.[8]
In February 1884, Reid lost his seat in parliament owing to a technicality; The Elections and Qualifications Committee held that the Governor had already issued five proclamations prior to the appointment ofFrancis Suttor to the office ofMinister of Public Instruction thus both Suttor and his successor Reid were incapable of being validly appointed.[13] At theresulting by-election Reid was defeated by a small majority as a result of the government's financial hardships due to the loss of revenue from the suspension of land sales. In1885, he was re-elected in East Sydney and took a great part in the free trade or protection issue. He supported Sir Henry Parkes on the free trade side but, when Parkes came into power in1887, declined a seat in his ministry. Parkes offered him a portfolio two years later and Reid again refused. He did not like Parkes personally and felt he would be unable to work with him. When payment of members of parliament was passed, Reid, who had always opposed it, paid the amount of his salary into the treasury.[8] Reid had become one of Sydney's leading barristers by impressing juries by his cross-examinations and was made aQueen's Counsel in 1898.[6] In May 1891 four free traders, Reid,Jack Want,John Haynes andJonathan Seaver, voted against theFifth Parkes ministry in a motion of no confidence, which was only defeated by the casting vote of theSpeaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.[14] Whilst the government survived the motion, parliament was dissolved on 6 June 1891.
In September1891, the Parkes ministry was defeated, theDibbs government succeeded it, and Parkes retired from the leadership of theFree Trade Party. Reid was elected leader of the opposition in his place. In 1891, he marriedFlorence (Flora) Ann Brumby, who was 23 years old to his 46. He managed to form his party into a coherent group although it "ran the whole gamut from conservative Sydney merchants through middle-class intellectuals to reformers who wished to replace indirect by direct taxation for social reasons."[6]
At the1894 election Reid made the establishment of a real free trade tariff with a system of direct taxation the main item of his policy, and had a great victory.Edmund Barton and other well-known protectionists lost their seats,Labor was reduced from 30 to 18, and Reid formed hisfirst cabinet. One of his earliest measures was a new lands bill which provided for the division of pastoral leases into two-halves, one of which was to be open to the free selector, while the pastoral lessee got some security of tenure for the other half. Classification of crown lands according to their value was provided for, and the free selector, or his transferee, had to reside on the property.[8]
At an early stage of the session, Parkes pressed the question of federation, and in response Reid invited the premiers of the other colonies to meet in conference on 29 January 1895. This resolved in favour of an elected Australasian Federal Convention, that would draw up a federal constitution, which would then to be subject of a referendum in each colony. Meanwhile, Reid had great trouble in passing his land and income tax bills. When he did get them through the Assembly theNew South Wales Legislative Council threw them out. Reid obtained a dissolution, was victorious at the polls, and heavily defeated Parkes for the new single-memberelectoral district of Sydney-King. He eventually succeeded in passing his acts, which were moderate, but was strenuously opposed by the council, and it was only the fear that the chamber might be swamped with new appointments that eventually wore down the opposition. Reid was also successful in bringing in reforms in the keeping of public accounts and in the civil service generally. Other acts dealt with the control of inland waters, and much needed legislation relating to public health, factories, and mining, was also passed.[8] In five years he achieved more than any of his predecessors.[6]
On four occasions between December 1895 and May 1899 Reid was temporarily appointed to the vacant position ofSolicitor General for New South Wales to allow him to deputise for theAttorney General of New South Wales,Jack Want, in his absence.[15][16] Reid took on the position of Attorney-General in addition to being Premier in the last months of his government.
.jpg)
Reid supported the federation of the Australian colonies, but since the campaign was led by hisProtectionist opponentEdmund Barton he did not take a leading role. He was dissatisfied by the draft constitution, especially the power of a Senate, elected on the basis of States rather than population, to reject money bills.
Following the Adelaide session in 1897 of theNational Australasian Convention, Colonial SecretaryJoseph Chamberlain sent the Colonial Office's extensive and sometimes critical comments on the current draft of the federal constitution to Reid (then in London forQueen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee), for his "private & independent" consideration. At the Sydney and Melbourne sessions of the Convention in 1897 and 1898, Reid moved amendments based on those comments, covertly obtaining several concessions to British wishes. He denied a suggestion that he had been "talking with ‘Joe’". Reid did copy Chamberlain's comments to a select few other delegates, but they never revealed this. They includedEdmund Barton, chair of the Drafting Committee, which accommodated some of Chamberlain's more technical points.[17]
In the aftermath of the Convention, Reid made his famous "Yes-No" speech at Sydney Town Hall, on 28 March 1898. He told his audience that he intended to deal with the bill "with the deliberate impartiality of a judge addressing a jury". After speaking for an hour and three-quarters the audience was still uncertain about his verdict. He concluded by declaring "my duty to Australia demands me to record my vote in favour of the bill".[18] Barton congratulated him on stage, but later he and other Federationists were frustrated by Reid saying that, while he felt he could not desert the cause, he would not recommend any course to the electors: "Now, I say to you, having pointed out my mind, and having shown you the dark places as well as the light places of this constitution, I hope every man in this country, without coercion from me, without any interference from me, will judge for himself."[19] He consistently kept this attitude until the poll was taken on 3 June 1898. This earned him the nickname "Yes-No Reid". Thereferendum in New South Wales resulted in a small majority in favour, but the yes votes fell about 8000 short of the required 80,000.[8] Subsequently, Reid was able to secure greater concessions for New South Wales.
At the general election held soon after, Barton challenged Reid in the premier's seat of Sydney-King. Reid was re-elected, receiving 761 votes to Barton's 651, but his party came back with a reduced majority.[20] Reid fought for federation at the second referendum and it was carried in New South Wales, with 56.5 percent of valid votes cast for 'Yes'. "A bizarre combination of the Labor Party, protectionists, Federation enthusiasts and die-hard anti-Federation free traders" censured Reid for paying the expenses ofJohn Neild who had been commissioned to report on old-age pensions, prior to parliamentary approval. GovernorBeauchamp refused Reid a dissolution of parliament, and Reid was defeated in a no confidence motion, 75 to 41, in September 1899.[6] By this time Reid had grown extremely overweight and sported a walrus moustache and a monocle, but his buffoonish image concealed a shrewd political brain.
.png)
Reid was elected to the first federal Parliament as the Member for theDivision of East Sydney at the1901 Australian federal election. The Free Trade Party won 28 out of 75 seats in theAustralian House of Representatives, and 17 out of 36 seats in theAustralian Senate. Labor no longer trusted Reid and gave their support to theEdmund BartonProtectionist Party government, so Reid became the firstLeader of the Opposition, a position well-suited to his robust debating style and rollicking sense of humour. In the long tariff debate Reid was at a disadvantage as parliament was sitting inMelbourne and he could not entirely neglect his practice as a barrister in Sydney, as his parliamentary income was less than a tenth of his income from his legal practice. In their old stronghold of New South Wales free traders had won 12 seats, but Labor won six, and the old compact between Labor and Reid was a thing of the past.[6][8]
On 18 August 1903, Reid resigned (the first member of the House of Representatives to do so) and challenged the government to oppose his re-election on the issue of its refusal to accept a system of equal electoral districts.[6] On 4 September he successfully contested the1903 East Sydney by-election against a Labor opponent.[21] He was the only person in Australian federal parliamentary history to win back his seat at a by-election triggered by his own resignation, untilJohn Alexander in 2017.
Alfred Deakin took over from Barton as prime minister and leader of the Protectionists. At the1903 election, the Free Trade Party won 24 seats, with the Labor vote increasing mainly at the expense of the Protectionists.
 | This section has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
In August 1904, when theWatson government resigned, Reid became prime minister. He was the first former state premier to become Prime Minister (the only other to date beingJoseph Lyons). Reid did not have a majority in either House, and he knew it would be only a matter of time before the Protectionists patched up their differences with Labor, so he enjoyed himself in office while he could. In July 1905 the other two parties duly voted him out, and he left office with good grace.
Reid adopted a strategy of trying to reorient the party system alongLabor vs. non-Labor lines – prior to the1906 election, he renamed hisFree Trade Party to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with theProtectionist Party in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in theWestminster tradition and regarded atwo-party system as very much the norm.[22] Zachary Gorman has argued that this attempt to impose clear 'lines of cleavage' in Federal politics was inspired by Reid's friendJoseph Carruthers who had achieved a political realignment in New South Wales that destroyed the Progressive middle party and created a Liberal-Labor divide.[23] For Reid, anti-socialism was a natural product of his long-standing belief inGladstonian liberalism.[24]
Reid referred to Labor publicly using a damaging visual negative image of Labor as a hungry socialist tiger that would devour all.[25] The anti-socialist campaign led to the Protectionist vote and seat count dropping significantly at the 1906 election, while both Reid's party and Labor won 26 seats each. The Deakin government continued with Labor support for the time being, despite only holding 16 seats after losing 10, although with another 5 independent Protectionists. Reid's anti-socialist campaign had nevertheless laid the groundwork for the desired realignment, andliberalism would come to sit on thecentre-right ofAustralian politics.[24]
In 1907–1908, Reid strenuously resisted Deakin's commitment to increase tariff rates. When Deakin proposed theCommonwealth Liberal Party, a "Fusion" of the two non-Labor parties, Reid resigned as party leader on 16 November 1908. The following day,Joseph Cook was made leader until the parties merged.[26]
On 24 December 1909 Reid resigned from Parliament (he was the first Member to have resigned twice), however his seat was left vacant until the1910 election. His seat of East Sydney was won by Labor'sJohn West, in an election which saw Labor win 42 of 75 seats, against the CLP on 31 seats. Labor also won a majority in the Senate.
In 1910, Reid was appointed as Australia's firstHigh Commissioner in London.[6]
Reid was extremely popular in Britain, and in 1916, when his term as High Commissioner ended, he was elected unopposed to theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom for the seat ofSt George, Hanover Square as aUnionist candidate, where he acted as a spokesman for the self-governingDominions in supporting the war effort. He died suddenly in London on 12 September 1918,[27][28] aged 73, ofcerebral thrombosis, survived by his wife and their two sons and daughter.[6] His wife had become DameFlora ReidGBE in 1917. He is buried inPutney Vale Cemetery.[6]
Reid's posthumous reputation suffered from the general acceptance of protectionist policies by other parties, as well as from his buffoonish public image. In 1989 W. G. McMinn publishedGeorge Reid, a serious biography designed to rescue Reid from his reputation as a clownish reactionary and attempt to show his Free Trade policies as having been vindicated by history.[9]
In 1897 Reid was made anHonoraryDoctor of Civil Law (DCL) byOxford University. Reid was also appointed a member ofHis Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (1904), aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (1911) and aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1916).[6]
One of the oldest suburbs withinCanberra, the suburb ofReid, was named after George Reid.
The federal electoralDivision of Reid, created in 1922, in Western Sydney bears his name.
In 1969 he was honoured on apostage stamp bearing his portrait issued byAustralia Post.[29]
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg)
