William McKell

The Right Honourable Sir William McKell GCMG
12th Governor-General of Australia
In office 11 March 1947 – 8 May 1953
Monarch	George VI Elizabeth II
Preceded by	HRH The Duke of Gloucester
Succeeded by	Sir William Slim
27th Premier of New South Wales
In office 16 May 1941 – 6 February 1947
Governor	The Lord Wakehurst Sir John Northcott
Deputy	Jack Baddeley
Preceded by	Alexander Mair
Succeeded by	James McGirr
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Redfern
In office 24 March 1917 – 18 February 1920
Preceded by	James McGowen
Succeeded by	District abolished
In office 8 October 1927 – 6 February 1947
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	George Noble
Personal details
Born	26 September 1891(1891-09-26) Pambula, New South Wales
Died	11 January 1985(1985-01-11) (aged 93) Sydney, New South Wales Australia

Sir William John McKell GCMG (26 September 1891 – 11 January 1985), Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died.

Early life

McKell was born in Pambula, New South Wales, the son of a butcher. He was educated in Sydney at Bourke Street Public School and became a boilermaker, and was state secretary of the Boilermakers' Union from 1915.

Political career

He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a Labor member for Redfern in 1917 and retained the seat until he resigned to become Governor-General in 1947, except for the period of proportional representation (1920–1927), when he was a member for Botany. In 1920 he married Mary Pye. While in Parliament he studied law, and became a barrister in 1925. In Jack Lang's Labor governments of 1925-27 and 1931-32 he was Minister for Justice, and was also Minister for Local Government in 1930-31.

During the 1930s McKell became a leader of the opposition within the Labor Party to what was felt to be Lang's dictatorial rule and his electoral failures. In 1939 he displaced Lang as Labor leader and Leader of the Opposition.

Premier of New South Wales

In 1941 he became Premier when he led Labor to a convincing victory in the state elections, mainly by concentrating on country seats.

During World War II he became a close collaborator of Labor Prime Ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley, being a particularly close friend of the latter. In February 1947 Chifley gained formal agreement from King George VI for McKell's appointment as Governor-General. At the time the appointment was announced, McKell was still Premier of New South Wales, although he had already decided to retire from active politics.

Chifley was determined that the Governor-General who succeeded the Duke of Gloucester should be an Australian, and he seems to have deliberately chosen a Labor man with a working-class background to make a political point. There was an outcry from the Liberal opposition and the conservative press: Robert Menzies called the appointment "shocking and humiliating". There was some resistance in London; but the days when the King could question an Australian Prime Minister on this matter had passed. McKell kept a dignified silence on the matter of his appointment, rather than conducting a public defence of it. Nevertheless Chifley publicly argued that any suitable Australian should be capable of being chosen as governor-general.

Governor-General

Once McKell took office, however, the continuing respect for the Crown and its representative meant that there was no further criticism. McKell carried out the usual round of his formal duties with dignity, and succeeded in winning over all but the most inflexible anglophiles. When Menzies succeeded Chifley as Prime Minister in December 1949, his relations with McKell were cordial, if not exactly friendly.

The most controversial moment in McKell's career came in March 1951, when Menzies asked him for a double dissolution election. Labor had retained control of the Senate after the 1949 election, and the Senate had referred the government's banking bill to a committee. Menzies argued that this constituted "failure to pass" in terms of Section 57 of the Australian Constitution.

Many in the Labor Party, though not Chifley, thought that McKell should and would refuse Menzies a double dissolution, but the Governor-General agreed (with little hesitation) to provide one. McKell took the view that it was for the voters, not the Governor-General, to determine whether the Senate or Menzies was right: he saw it as his duty to act on the advice of his Prime Minister.

On 13 November 1951, McKell accepted a knighthood (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George) from King George VI, who personally invested him at Buckingham Palace while McKell was on an official visit to the United Kingdom. This caused considerable controversy in the Labor Party, as it was Labor policy to have nothing to do with knighthoods (a policy confirmed by the case of Queensland union leader Jack Egerton a generation afterwards); but there was nothing Labor could do about it, since McKell had severed all connections with the party on assuming office. Also it was unprecedented, and was still considered somewhat inappropriate, for a governor-general not to be at least a knight (if not a peer). McKell was the only Australian governor-general to be knighted during his term.

His Official Secretary for the first few weeks was Sir Leighton Bracegirdle, whose retirement was overdue after serving McKell's three predecessors over 16 years. He was succeeded by Murray Tyrrell.

Later life

McKell retired in May 1953. From June 1956 to 1957 he served as a member of the Reid Commission, which was responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia).

McKell lived in Sydney for another 30 years, becoming considered one of the grand old men of the New South Wales Labor Party, although he never resumed any party or political activity. He died in Sydney in January 1985. His widow, Lady (Mary) McKell, died in July 1985.

External links

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by James McGowen	Member for Redfern 1917 – 1920	District abolished
Preceded by Thomas Mutch	Member for Botany 1920 – 1927 With: Burke, Hickey/Ratcliffe, Lee, Mutch	Succeeded by Thomas Mutch
New district	Member for Redfern 1927 – 1947	Succeeded by George Noble
Political offices
Preceded by Edward McTiernan	Minister for Justice 1920 – 1921	Succeeded by Thomas Bavin
Preceded by Thomas Bavin	Minister for Justice 1921 – 1922	Succeeded by Thomas Ley
Preceded by Thomas Ley	Minister for Justice 1925 – 1927	Succeeded by Andrew Lysaght
New title	Assistant Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales 1925 – 1927	Succeeded by Robert Cruickshank
Preceded by Michael Bruxner	Minister for Local Government 1930 – 1931	Succeeded by James McGirr
Preceded by Joseph Lamaro	Minister for Justice 1931 – 1932	Succeeded by Daniel Levy
Preceded by Jack Lang	Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales 1939 – 1941	Succeeded by Alexander Mair
Preceded by Alexander Mair	Premier of New South Wales 1941 – 1947	Succeeded by James McGirr
Preceded by Athol Richardson	Colonial Treasurer of New South Wales 1941 – 1947
Party political offices
Preceded by Jack Lang	Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales 1939 – 1947	Succeeded by James McGirr
Government offices
Preceded by HRH The Duke of Gloucester	Governor-General of Australia 1947 – 1953	Succeeded by Sir William Slim