Edmund Barton

Rt Hon Sir Edmund Barton
1st Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1901
In office 1 January 1901 – 24 September 1903
Preceded by	None
Succeeded by	Alfred Deakin
Puisne Justice of the High Court of Australia
In office 5 October 1903 – 7 January 1920
Preceded by	none
Succeeded by	Sir Hayden Starke
Personal details
Born	(1849-01-18)18 January 1849 Glebe, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died	7 January 1920(1920-01-07) (aged 70) Medlow Bath, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Protectionist

Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, QC (18 January 1849 – 7 January 1920), Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia.

As the first Prime Minister of Australia, Barton has become something of a national icon, and is remembered for his statement that "For the first time, we have a nation for a continent, and a continent for a nation."

His greatest contribution to Australian history was his management of the federation movement through the 1890s. Elected at the inaugural 1901 federal election, Barton resigned from the position of Prime Minister of Australia in 1903 and became a judge of Australia's High Court.

Early life

Barton aged 17

Barton was born in the Sydney suburb of Glebe, the ninth child of William Barton, a stockbroker, and Mary Louise Barton. He was educated at Fort Street High School and Sydney Grammar School, where he was twice dux and School Captain and met his life-long friend and later fellow Justice of the High Court of Australia, Richard O'Connor. He graduated with first class honours and the University Medal in classics from the University of Sydney, where he also demonstrated considerable skill at batting (but not in fielding) at cricket. Barton became a barrister in 1871. On a cricket trip to Newcastle in 1870, he met Jane Mason Ross, whom he married in 1877.

In 1879, Barton umpired a cricket game at Sydney Cricket Ground between New South Wales and an English touring side captained by Lord Harris. After a controversial decision by Barton's fellow umpire, the crowd spilled onto the pitch, leading to international cricket's first riot. Barton helped to defuse the situation, and gained much favourable publicity for his efforts, which some argue helped him politically.

State politics

Barton aged 23

In 1876 Barton stood for the Legislative Assembly in the poll of the graduates of the University of Sydney (who were required to wear gowns for the occasion), but was beaten by William Charles Windeyer 49 votes to 43. He was defeated again for the same seat in 1877, but won in August 1879. When it was. abolished in 1880, he became the member for Wellington, from November 1880 to 1882, and East Sydney, from November 1882 to January 1887. At this stage he considered it "almost unnecessary" to point out his support for free trade. In 1882, he became Speaker of the Assembly and, in 1884, was elected President of the University of Sydney Union. In 1887, Barton was appointed to the Legislative Council at the instigation of Sir Henry Parkes. In January 1889, he agreed to being appointed Attorney General in George Dibbs's Protectionist government, despite his previous support for free trade. This government only lasted until March, when Parkes formed government again.

Campaign for federation

Barton aged 34

1891 National Australasian Convention

Barton was an early supporter of federation, which became a serious political agenda after Henry Parkes' Tenterfield Oration, and was a delegate to the March 1891 National Australasian Convention. At the convention he made clear his support for the principle that "trade and intercourse … shall be absolutely free" in a federal Australia. He also advocated that, not just the lower house, but the upper house should be representative and that appeals to the Privy Council should be abolished. He also took part in producing a draft constitution, which was substantially similar to the Australian Constitution enacted in 1900.

Nevertheless, the protectionists were lukewarm supporters of federation and in June 1891, Barton resigned from the Council and stood for election to East Sydney and announced that "so long as Protection meant a Ministry of enemies to Federation, they would get no vote from him". He topped the poll and subsequently voted with Parkes, but refused to take a position in his minority government. After the Labor Party withdrew support and the government fell in October 1891, Parkes persuaded him to take over the leadership of the Federal movement in New South Wales.

Attorney General for the second time

Dibbs formed a Protectionist government and Barton agreed to be Attorney General with the right of carry out private practice as a lawyer. His agreement was based on Dibbs agreeing to support federal resolutions in the coming parliamentary session. His attempt to draft the federal resolutions was delayed by a period as acting premier, when he had to deal with the 1892 Broken Hill miners strike, and his carriage of a complex electoral reform bill. He introduced the federal resolutions into the House on 22 November 1892 but was unable to get them considered in committee. Meanwhile, he began a campaign to spread support for federation to the people with meetings in Corowa and Albury in December 1892. Although, he finally managed to get the federal resolutions considered in committee in October 1893, he then could not get them listed for debate by the House. In December, he and Richard O'Connor, the Minister for Justice, were questioned about their agreement to act as private lawyers against the government in Proudfoot v. the Railway Commissioners. While Barton resigned the brief, he lost a motion on the right of ministers to act in their professional capacity as lawyers in actions against the government, and immediately resigned as Attorney General.

In July 1894, Barton stood for re-election for Randwick (the multi-member electorate of East Sydney had been abolished) and lost. He did not stand for election in the 1895 elections, because of the need to support his large family during a period when parliamentarians were not paid. However, he continued to campaign for federation and during the period between January 1893 to February 1897, Barton addressed nearly 300 meetings in New South Wales, including in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield where he declared that "For the first time in history, we have a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation". By March 1897 he was considered "the acknowledged leader of the federal movement in all Australia".

Australasian Federal Convention and referenda

In 1897 Barton topped the poll of the delegates elected from New South Wales to the Constitutional Convention which developed a constitution for the proposed federation. Although Sir Samuel Griffith wrote most of the text of the Constitution, Barton was the political leader who carried it through the Convention.

In May 1897 Barton was appointed for the second time to the Legislative Council on Reid's recommendations to take charge of the federation bill in the Upper House. This gave Reid's Attorney General, John Henry Want a free hand to oppose the bill. In September 1897 the convention met in Sydney to consider 286 proposed amendments from the colonies. It finalised its draft constitution in March 1898 and Barton went back to New South Wales to lead the campaign for a yes vote in the June referendum. Although it gained majority support, it only achieved 71,595 of the minimum 80,000 required to pass.

In July 1898 Barton resigned from the Upper House to stand against Reid for election to the Legislative Assembly, but narrowly lost. In September, he won a by-election for Hastings and Macleay and was immediately elected leader of the opposition, which consisted of a mixture of pro-federation and anti-federation protectionists. In January 1899 Reid gained significant concessions from the other states and he joined Barton in campaigning for the second referendum in June 1899, with Barton campaigned all over the state. It passed 107,420 votes to 82,741.

In August 1899 when it became clear that the Labor Party could be maneuvered into bringing down the Reid Government, Barton resigned as leader of the opposition, as he was unacceptable to Labor, and William Lyne took his place. He refused an offer to become Attorney General again. He resigned from Parliament in February 1900 so that he could travel to London with Alfred Deakin and Charles Kingston to explain the federation bill to the British Government. The British Government was adamant in its opposition to the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council as incorporated in the draft constitution—eventually Barton agreed that constitutional (inter se) matters would be finalised in the High Court, but other matters could be appealed to the Privy Council.

First Prime Minister

Photo in 1898 of the future 1st Prime Minister of Australia Edmund Barton aged 49 and 2nd Prime Minister of Australia Alfred Deakin

Few people doubted that Barton, as the leading federalist in the oldest state, deserved to be the first Prime Minister of the new federation. But the newly arrived Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, instead invited Sir William Lyne, the premier of New South Wales, to form a government. Since no federal Parliament had yet been established, the usual convention of appointing the leader of the largest party in the lower house could not and did not apply. Hopetoun's decision, known as the Hopetoun Blunder, can be defended on grounds that Lyne had seniority, but as an opponent of federation Lyne was unacceptable to prominent federalists such as Deakin, who refused to serve under him. After tense negotiations Barton was appointed Prime Minister and a ministry was formed.

The main task of Barton's ministry was to organise the conduct of the first federal elections, which were held in March 1901. His government consisted of himself as Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs, George Turner as Treasurer, Alfred Deakin as Attorney General, John Forrest as Minister for Defence, William Lyne as Minister for Home Affairs, Charles Kingston as Minister for Trade, Customs and James Drake as Post-Master General, Richard O'Connor as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Elliott Lewis as minister without portfolio. Barton was elected unopposed to the seat of Hunter in the new Parliament and his Protectionist Party won enough seats to form a government with the support of the Labor Party. All his ministers were elected, except for Elliott Lewis, who did not stand for election and was replaced by Sir Philip Fysh.

The Barton government's first piece of legislation was the Immigration Restriction Act, which put the White Australia Policy into law. The Labor Party's required legislation to limit immigration from Asia as part of its agreement to support the government, although in fact Barton had promised the introduction of the White Australia Policy in his election campaign. Barton stated "The doctrine of the equality of man was never intended to apply to the equality of the Englishman and the Chinaman". One notable reform was the introduction of women's suffrage for federal elections in 1902.

For much of 1902 Barton was in England for the coronation of King Edward VII. This trip was also used to negotiate the replacement of the naval agreements between the Australian colonies and the United Kingdom (under which Australia funded Royal Navy protection from foreign naval threats) by an agreement between the Commonwealth and the United Kingdom. Deakin disliked this arrangement and discontinued it and moved to substantially expand Australia's own navy in 1908.

Barton was a moderate conservative, and advanced liberals in his party disliked his relaxed attitude to political life. A large, handsome, jovial man, he was fond of long dinners and good wine and was given the nickname "Toby Tosspot" by The Bulletin. In September 1903, Barton left Parliament to become one of the founding justices of the High Court of Australia. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Deakin on 24 September.

Judicial career

Barton in 1903 aged 54 as second Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Barton aged 65

On the bench Barton was considered a good and "scrupulously impartial" judge and adopted the same position of moderate conservatism he had taken in politics. Along with his colleagues Griffith and O'Connor, he attempted to preserve the autonomy of the States and developed a doctrine of "implied immunity of instrumentalities", which prevented the States from taxing Commonwealth officers, and also prevented the Commonwealth from arbitrating industrial disputes in the States' railways. They also narrowly interpreted the Federal Government's powers in commercial and industrial matters. After 1906 Barton increasingly clashed with Isaac Isaacs and H.B. Higgins, the two advanced liberals appointed to the court by Deakin.

Death and family

Barton died of heart failure at the Hydro Majestic Hotel, Medlow Bath, New South Wales. He was survived by his wife and six children:

• Edmund Alfred (29 May 1879 - 13 November 1949), a New South Wales judge
• Wilfrid Alexander (1880–), first NSW Rhodes Scholar (1904)
• Jean Alice (1882–), married Sir David Maughan (1873–1955) in 1909
• Arnold Hubert (3 January 1884 –)
• Oswald (8 January 1888 – 6 February 1956), medical doctor
• Leila Stephanie (1892–)

Honours

Barton refused knighthoods in 1887, 1891 and 1899, but agreed to be made a Knight Grand Cross of St Michael and St George in 1902. He received an honorary LL.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1900.

References

• Serle, Percival (1949). "Barton, Edmund". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
• Bolton, Geoffrey (2000). Edmund Barton: The One Man for the Job. St. Leonards, N.S.W: Allen and Unwin. p. 385. ISBN 1865084093.
• Papers of Sir Edmund Barton / digitised and held by the National Library of Australia

See also

• George Burnett Barton, elder brother of Sir Edmund Barton.

Template:Persondata