Hughes, William Morris (b. 25 Sept. 1864, d. 28 Oct. 1952). Prime Minister of Australia 1915–23 Born in London of Welsh origin, he immigrated to Australia in 1884, and finally settled in Balmain (Sydney) in 1890. He soon became active in the Labor movement (Australian
Labor Party), and was elected to the parliament of New South Wales in 1894, where he proved to be a clever tactician and effective orator. Despite his opposition to the establishment of the Australian Federation on the actual terms, he became involved in federal politics and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1901. Following his qualification as a barrister in 1903 he became Attorney-General in
Fisher's Cabinets from 1908, supporting the latter in reducing the power of the individual states. He managed to realize this as Prime Minister, by using the exigencies of World War I to strengthen the powers of the federal government. He misjudged public opinion and opinion within his own party by advocating conscription for overseas military service in 1916. For this, he was expelled from the Labor Party, together with other proponents such as
Watson. With his followers, he merged with the opposition to form the
Nationalist Party, which won a resounding victory in the 1917 elections, though in this new environment, cut off from his political grass roots, he never commanded the authority or adulation which he had enjoyed with Labor. Nevertheless, his position was still strong enough to survive another defeat on the conscription issue in December 1917.
At the
Paris Peace Conference he successfully advocated Australia's interests, securing control over German New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) and the maintenance of a
White Australia policy. After performing badly in the 1922 elections he was forced to resign by the refusal of
Page to support him. Increasingly critical of the
Bruce-Page ministry, he brought down the government in 1929, leading to its defeat in the ensuing general elections. In return, he was expelled from the Nationalist Party and attempted to form a new party, the
Australia Party, but in 1934 he joined the
Lyons ministry as member of the
United Australia Party (
UAP). Forced to resign in 1935 owing to his open disagreement with the government over its handling of Italy's invasion of Abyssinia, he returned as minister in 1937. In 1941, he became leader of the UAP, but soon found it easier to cooperate with the Labor government than with his own party. Expelled from his party yet again in 1944, he joined the
Liberal Party in 1945, and remained in the House of Representatives until his death.
