Sir James Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 20th Governor of Western Australia | |
| In office 5 October 1948 – 30 June 1951 Acting governor: 11 July 1933 – 5 October 1948 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Premier | Sir Ross McLarty |
| Preceded by | Sir William Campion |
| Succeeded by | Sir Charles Gairdner |
| 13th Premier of Western Australia | |
| In office 17 May 1919 – 16 April 1924 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Governor | Sir William Ellison-Macartney Sir Francis Newdegate |
| Preceded by | Sir Hal Colebatch |
| Succeeded by | Philip Collier |
| In office 24 April 1930 – 24 April 1933 | |
| Monarch | George V |
| Governor | Sir William Campion None |
| Preceded by | Philip Collier |
| Succeeded by | Philip Collier |
| Constituency | Northam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1866-04-27)27 April 1866 Dardanup, Western Australia, Australia |
| Died | 26 July 1951(1951-07-26) (aged 85) Glen Mervyn, Western Australia, Australia |
| Political party | Nationalist |
| Spouse | Clara Robinson Spencer (m.1888–1949; her death) |
Sir James Mitchell,GCMG (27 April 1866 – 26 July 1951) was an Australian politician. He served aspremier of Western Australia from 1919 to 1924 and from 1930 to 1933, as leader of theNationalist Party. He then held viceregal office from 1933 to 1951, as acting governor from 1933 to 1948 andgovernor of Western Australia from 1948 until his death in 1951.
Mitchell was born to a farming family inDardanup, Western Australia. He became manager of theWestern Australian Bank'sNortham branch. He was first elected to theParliament of Western Australia in 1905 and held the seat ofNortham for nearly three decades. Mitchell rose quickly to ministerial office where he was a keen advocate of agricultural development. He favoured government support ofprimary industry and sought to useassisted migration andsoldier settlement to supply the necessary labour.
Mitchell first became premier in 1919 after a period of instability in state politics, governing in coalition with theCountry Party despite earlier conflict. His first term saw minor social reforms and development initiatives, but was primarily known for theGroup Settlement Scheme which established theSouth West dairy industry. Mitchell won the1921 state election but was defeatedin 1924. He returned as premierin 1930 at the height of theGreat Depression, but suffered a landslide defeat three years later and lost his own seat. He notably authoriseda secession referendum in 1933.
After losing office, Mitchell was appointed lieutenant-governor by his successorPhilip Collier. The office of governor was left vacant during the Great Depression as a cost-saving measure, with Mitchell serving as acting governor until being formally commissioned in the role in 1948. He died in office in 1951.
Mitchell was born on 27 April 1866 inDardanup, Western Australia. He was the oldest of thirteen children born to Caroline (née Morgan) and William Bedford Mitchell; his father was a farm manager andgrazier.[1]
Mitchell was educated inBunbury and joined theWestern Australian Bank in 1885. He was initially posted toGeraldton before becoming manager of the bank'sNortham branch in 1890. Both he and the bank prospered during theWestern Australian gold rushes, with Northam serving as a key staging point on theEastern Goldfields Railway. Mitchell's success allowed him to take up farming and he remained keenly interested in agricultural development throughout his political career. He was appointed as ajustice of the peace in 1897.[1]
Mitchell was elected to theWestern Australian Legislative Assembly at the1905 Western Australian state election, winning the seat ofNortham.[2] In parliament he "earnestly advocated agricultural settlement and deplored Western Australia's dependence on imported produce, seeking to place families on the land, particularly as the goldfields declined and miners looked elsewhere".[1] He was made aminister without portfolio inNewton Moore's government in 1906 and in 1909 was promoted toMinister for Agriculture andLands. He added theIndustries portfolio in 1910 whenFrank Wilson replaced Moore as premier.[2]
At the1911 state election, Wilson's government was defeated by theAustralian Labor Party (ALP) underJohn Scaddan. Mitchell as agriculture minister had presided over an expansion of the area of land under cultivation, with government support initiatives and the introduction ofsuperphosphate pushing out the eastern boundaries of theWheatbelt into theYilgarn. However, unusually low rainfall in the early 1910s led to the failure of many farms. Mitchell "was blamed for his bland optimism in allegedly throwing new settlers into the bush with just an axe". He was targeted by the newly formed Farmers' and Settlers' Association, which evolved into theCountry Party and won eight seats at the1914 state election. Wilson returned as premier in 1916 in an alliance with the Country Party, which refused to allow Mitchell to return as agriculture minister.[1] He was reappointed to the industries portfolio and also madeMinister for Railways andWater Supply.[2]
On 17 May 1919, PremierHal Colebatch resigned and Mitchell succeeded to the position. Mitchell won the1921 election and remained premier until 1924. During this period he garnered much publicity for his strong support for thesoldier settlement scheme in the south-west of Western Australia. As a result of his enthusiastic promotion of this scheme (which ultimately proved very costly in terms of money and resources) he was dubbed "Moo-Cow" Mitchell by the local press.[3] Nonetheless, the establishment of adairy industry in Western Australia can be largely credited to him. He also proved adept at dealing with the divisions between theNationalist Party and the Country Party.
Mitchell took steps to develop theNorth-West, including the appoint of a resident commissioner to encourage cotton-growing and tropic agriculture. Together with his senior ministersHal Colebatch,John Scaddan, andWilliam George, Mitchell pursued interventionist economic policies, and thereby "antagonized conservative businessmen by their pragmatic willingness to maintain state-owned industries and state intervention in price-fixing and other industrial activities".[1]
In his first term as premier, Mitchell's attorney-generalThomas Draper introduced legislation to allow women to stand for parliament and to liberalise the state's divorce laws. Draper was subsequently defeated byEdith Cowan at the 1921 state election, who became the first Australian woman elected to parliament.[4] In 1922, Mitchell supported Cowan's successfulprivate member's bill to allow mothers to inherit an equal share from their children who diedintestate. He also supported her anti-sex discrimination bill to allow women to be admitted to the legal profession, although he opposed a clause eliminating themarriage bar.[5]
Beginning with the 1919–20 summer, Perth faced a severe water shortage owing to a failure to expand the water supply in line with rapid growth in suburban areas. Mitchell's government introducedwater restrictions in January 1920 and again in December 1920, including bans on sprinklers and street watering (widely used fordust suppression). In March 1923, Mitchell announced the Hills Water Supply Scheme, which provided for the creation of new reservoirs in thePerth Hills – includingCanning Dam,Churchman Brook Dam, andWungong Dam – but was estimated to take six years to complete. In the summer of 1923–24, elevated areas of Perth again experienced severe water shortages and had to rely on water carting. Mitchell and his government, who primarily represented rural electorates, were seen as unsympathetic and the crisis contributed to the government's defeat at the1924 election.[6]
Mitchell's election to a second term in office at the1930 election coincided with the onset of theGreat Depression. Facing substantial unemployment, his government providedsustenance work via irrigation schemes (notably the diversion of theHarvey River) and other public works, and also introduced anentertainment tax and theState Lotteries Commission to bring in additional revenue.[1]
In November 1930, Mitchell declared his personal support for thesecession of Western Australia. The movement for secession, led by the Dominion League of Western Australia, had accelerated following the Great Depression in response to perceived inaction by the federal government, with Mitchell describing himself as a "federalist who could not pay the price".[7] In November 1931, his government introduced a bill fora secession referendum, which was ultimately passed as theSecession Referendum Act 1932. The referendum was held at the same time as the 1933 election and saw Western Australia vote to secede by nearly two-thirds, although it was ultimately unsuccessful.[8]
Mitchell's government was defeated at the1933 elections, in addition to which he became the first Western Australian premier to lose both a state election and his parliamentary seat (of Northam).[1]
As a result of financial difficulties during the Great Depression,Tasmania had appointed alieutenant governor in the 1930s. With the approval of the major political parties, in July 1933 Mitchell was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia. This meant that, although he resided inGovernment House, Perth, and was governor in all but name, he drew no salary, thus making a reduced demand on the public purse at a time when ordinary people were under severe restraint. He held the position until he was finally appointedGovernor of Western Australia in 1948. Mitchell was the first Australian-born Governor of Western Australia; he remains the only person to have served as both premier and governor of the state. He retired from the post in June 1951.
In 1888, Mitchell married Clara Robinson Spencer, the daughter of Bunbury mayorWilliam Spencer. The couple had three sons and a daughter; three of his children predeceased him and he was widowed in 1949.[1]
Mitchell died on 26 July 1951, aged 85, in his personal railway carriage while stopped at the small siding atGlen Mervyn south ofCollie, while on a tour of the southwest of the state.[9][10][11] He was granted astate funeral and buried atKarrakatta Cemetery.[1][12]
TheMitchell Freeway was named in his honour, as wasSir James Mitchell Park inSouth Perth andSir James Mitchell National Park. The botanistCharles Gardner named the rapier featherflowerVerticordia mitchelliana in his honour.[13]
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Premier of Western Australia 1919–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of Western Australia 1930–1933 | |
| Government offices | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Sir William Campion | Governor of Western Australia 1948–1951 | Succeeded by |
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