He was totally opposed to conscription and in 1916, took a leading part in Bathurst's anti-conscription movement when the Prime Minister WM Hughes moved to introduce conscription to boost flagging enlistments for the war in Europe. [51], Ben Chifley's Government oversaw the creation of the Commonwealth Employment Service, the introduction of federal funds to the States for public housing construction and the Acoustic Laboratories Act, passed in 1948, which established the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratories to undertake scientific investigations into hearing and problems associated with noise as it affects individuals. John McEwen, the long-serving Country Party leader who was prime minister for 23 days after Harold Holt went missing, would be commemorated in the national space at the centre of Canberra. [21][30], Feeling secure in an unprecedented second elected term of office, post-WW2 Labor under Chifley looked toward incremental policies friendly to the Labor platform objective of democratic socialism. Chifleyâs standing in the party may have been part of the reason that some of his most controversial political decisions, relating to bank nationalisation and the use of the army to break the Newcastle coal mine strike, were not questioned or modified.Â, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University, Australian Prime Ministers, Museum of Australian Democracy, National Archives of Australia Prime ministers' records, National Archives of Australia, Chifley revealed to the press that he 'has one weakness â and that is for brass bands.â In February 1947 he allocated the sum of 500 pounds to establish a Canberra brass band. [10] Despite repeated lobbying, their pre-1917 benefits were not restored until 1925. Chifley became Prime Minister following Curtin’s death, succeeding the caretaker Prime Minister, Francis Forde, on 13 July 1945. The Commonwealth Employment Service was created and an ambitious immigration program commenced. From the program and from further research, discuss in class and write notes on why the Chifley Labor Government ( 945- 949) and the Prime Minister, Ben Chifley himself, were considered by the Australian electorate to be popular and successful. An advertisement was placed in The Sydney Morning Herald for a bandmaster offering a weekly salary of 12 pounds, 10 shillings. Chifley's Light on the Hill remained undimmed by his affaire de coeur. [13], Chifley joined the Labor Party at a young age, and was involved in state and federal election campaigns as an organiser. Minister by the country 's 15th Prime Minister from Australia John Forde, a free online with. The Australian National University was established, followed by a university scholarships scheme. He was born in Bathurst in 1885 on the twenty second of September .Ben chifly died on the thirteenth of June in 1951 . Ben Chifley was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1945-1949. At 24 he was the youngest first-class locomotive driver in the NSW railways. He joined the state railways after leaving school, eventually qualifying as an engine driver. Ben Chifley, c.1949. Ben Chifley rose from engine driver to Australian prime minister. An advertisement was placed in, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chifley-joseph-benedict-ben-9738, Brass Band Plea For P.M. To âHave A Little Pityâ. After the war, Prime Minister Chifley oversaw the airstrip's transformation into a civilian aerodrome with scheduled passenger flights. [6] Over the following decade, he was promoted through the ranks to engine-cleaner and fireman, and then finally in March 1914 to engine-driver. 251", "University of Western Sydney Bill – Second Reading", List of government schools in New South Wales: A–F#C, Powerhouse museum - Ben Chifley - Australia's Prime Ministers: National Archives of Australia, Faceted Application of Subject Terminology, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ben_Chifley&oldid=1047268254, Members of the Australian House of Representatives, Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie, Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia, Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Australian people of Northern Ireland descent, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Wikipedia articles that are excessively detailed from February 2018, All articles that are excessively detailed, Wikipedia articles with style issues from February 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Chifley Cave (formerly the Left Imperial Cave), one of the, Chifley Research Centre the official think tank of the Australian Labor Party is named in honor of Ben Chifley, This page was last edited on 29 September 2021, at 23:25. He was unsuccessful, but stood again in 1928 and won. Without looking at what anyone before me has written I will look at the numbers of Prime Ministers I have indirectly had contact with during my life time. He joined the New South Wales Railways becoming the youngest engine driver in the state. [75] It is now listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register as "Ben Chifley's House", and has operated as a house museum since 1973. His mother was Mary Anne Corrigan. In Australia, Labor leader and Prime Minister Ben Chifley announced the news in a radio broadcast at 9.30 am on Wednesday August 15 1945, with the words, Fellow citizens, the War is over. [73] The McKenzies were relatively wealthy, and Chifley was seen as "marrying into money, or as much money as he could hope to marry into in the context of the relatively class-bound society of Bathurst". Chifley was known to be a humble man, who never forgot the fact that he had been a train driver before he was a politician. Choosing the Prime Minister The Prime Minister can keep their job as long as they are a member of parliament and have the support of the government. [18] He accused the government of endangering the White Australia policy by allowing Southern European migrant workers into the country, claiming it had "allowed so many dagoes and aliens in Australia that today they are all over the country taking work which rightly belongs to all Australians". Ben Chifley became Australia's 16th prime minister after being elected leader of the Australian Labor Party, following the death of John Curtin earlier in July 1945. Ben Chifley lived the least of all former prime ministers, as he died one year and six months after his term as prime minister. [31][52][53][54] Although it failed in its attempts to establish a national health service, the Chifley Government was successful in making arrangements with the states to upgrade the quality and availability of hospital treatment. Ben Chifley, Engine Driver and Prime Minister. Financing the war by increased taxation, loans from the Australian public, and central bank credit, he ensured that the nation did not become burdened with overseas debt, as it had been after World War I. [87] He assisted her financially in the 1930s, including buying her a house in Bathurst. She suffered a "serious health problem", probably a miscarriage, in about 1915,[76] and later developed chronic back pain that restricted her mobility. Ben Chifley provided Australia with a reassuring figure in the immediate post-war reconstruction period. The results of the 2010 and 2020 Monash surveys suggest there is a reasonable consensus about who have been our best prime ministers. 18-year-old buys a mansion in Sydney for $ 5 million. I have had the privilege of leading the Labour Party. Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley was Prime Minister of Australia from 13 July 1945 until 19 December 1949. Chifley won the 1946 election with a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives and a landslide in the Senate. In the post-war years, Chifley maintained wartime economic controls, including the highly unpopular petrol rationing. He submitted a minority report advocating that the private banks be nationalised. [36] Among other measures, the Chifley government passed legislation to establish universal health care modelled on the British National Health Service, including a free formulary of essential medicines. [21][27], Chifley was appointed Treasurer of Australia when Labor leader John Curtin formed a mid-term Labor government in 1941 following the collapse of the first Menzies government. Ben chifley. The Mental Institutions Benefits Act (1948) paid the states a benefit equal to the charges upon the relatives of mental hospital patients, in return for free treatment. Ben Chifley's home in Bathurst is a local tourist destination along with Mt Panorama. [42], Such as, in the same year as the referendum, when concessional rate radio licences were introduced for age and invalid pensioners. It was an appropriate tribute that the music played at Chifleyâs funeral was by the Bathurst District Band.Â, Chifley announced the Second World War was over on 15 August 1945, following the Japanese surrender. Social Democrat. From the program and from further research, discuss in class and write notes on why the Chifley Labor Government ( 945- 949) and the Prime Minister, Ben Chifley himself, were considered by the Australian electorate to be popular and successful. He remained Treasurer until his loss of government in 1949. [74], After their marriage, Chifley's father-in-law gave the couple a house on Busby Street, Bathurst, which they would occupy for the rest of their respective lives. Chifley saw the strike as a move by the Communist Party to challenge Labor's place as the party of the working class, and he sent in 13,000 army troops to break the strike. According to a biographer of Chifley, his government embarked upon greater "general intervention and planning in economic and social affairs", with its policies directed towards better conditions in the workplace, full employment, and an improvement in the "equalisation of wealth, income and opportunity". According to a debate on the topic, held in 1997 after the Labor Party had regained government, the decision to rename Chifley University reflected a desire to attach the name of Western Sydney to institutions of lasting significance, and that idea ultimately received the support of Bob Carr, later the Premier of New South Wales.[92]. [21][30][65] Early on in the strike, Chifley and H. V. Evatt froze Miner's Federation funds and "introduced legislation aimed at starving the workers back to work". Text of Prime Minister Ben Chifley's 1949 speech to the NSW ALP Conference. I have had the privilege of leading the Labour Party for nearly four years. He was based in Bathurst and worked on the Main Western line, except for a few months in 1914 when he drove on the Main Southern line and worked out of Harden. This made Ben Chifley his finance minister. After an unsuccessful effort to win back Macquarie at the 1934 election, Chifley finally won his seat back at the 1940 election on a swing of 10 percent. An aunt, Mary Bridget Chifley, kept house for them. The dam's capacity is 30 800 million litres. He opened up unused military camps to the homeless, and also distributed surplus military clothing. Nonetheless, the couple "seemingly enjoyed a close and caring relationship throughout his life". The press reported that Chifley was working on an upcoming economic statement when the band decided to play the tune Have a Little Pity. Chifley is appointed Treasurer by new appointed Prime Minister John Curtin. The setbacks to Chifleyâs legislative agenda mainly came from outside the Parliament, in the form of the High Court challenges to the banking controls and pharmaceutical benefits scheme proposals. [66], Chifley was now aged 64 and in poor health (like Curtin, he was a lifelong smoker), but he refused to retire from politics. [50] Under the Social Services Consolidation Act of 1947, an additional benefit became payable in cases where a man with one or more dependent children under the age of 16 had a housekeeper who was substantially dependent on him but not employed by him, where he was not receiving benefit for his wife; a partial additional benefit became payable for a partially dependent spouse; and wives legally separated or likely to be permanently living apart from their husbands became eligible for benefit. In addition, the Act was amended to provide for an allowance of five pounds for each child in excess of one born from a single confinement (rather than there being separate rates for twins and so on). [46], And from July 1947, a prepayment of Maternity Allowance of five pounds could be made up to four weeks before the expected date of the birth of the child. He regained his Macquarie seat in 1940 and held it through the next four general elections in 1943, 1946, 1949 and 1951. The property was purchased by Bathurst Council in 1972 following a public appeal after the death of Mr Chifley's wife, Elizabeth. Chifley was active in his union, leading him to stand for the seat of Macquarie in 1925. Highly capable and hard working, Forde was sworn in as prime minister on July 6 th, 1945 following the death of John Curtin. Frank Forde was a member of the Advisory War Council from 1940 and the War Cabinet from 1941, serving as Minister for the Army between 1941-46 and Acting Prime Minister for periods in 1944-45. Ben Chifley (1885 - 1951) was a railway engine-driver who became Australia's best-loved Prime Minister in 1945. The Commonwealth Employment Service was created and an ambitious immigration program commenced. He joined the New South Wales railways at 17 and, at 26, became the youngest locomotive driver in the state. [14] In 1921, he replaced his father on the board of The National Advocate, a local newspaper that functioned as the mouthpiece of the labour movement. It came at 8.44am from London. The bust is located in Chifley Park which is named after the former Prime Minister. At 8.55am every radio station in Australia hooked up to 2CY in Canberra. This website contains names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Waterson, Chifley, Joseph Benedict (Ben) (1885-1951) Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chifley-joseph-benedict-ben-9738 published first in hardcopy 1988, The Canberra Times, Canberra City Band To Be Reorganised, 23 June, 1947, The Mail, Brass Band Plea For P.M. To âHave A Little Pityâ, 7 February, 1948, The Sydney Morning Herald, Chifley Wants Canberra Band, 3 February, 1947, The Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Chifley Returns â Saw For Himself, 31 December, 1945. Sir William McKell takes office on 11 March 1947 after being appointed as only the second Australian born Governor General after Sir Isaac Isaacs. This favourable parliamentary situation allowed him virtually free reign to continue, as prime minister, the reformist economic and social legislative program that he had begun as treasurer in the Curtin government. Prime Minister Ben Chifley delivered this speech to an ALP Conference in 1949. [8] Chifley drove both goods trains and passenger trains. 6 Aug 1945: Hiroshima [5], After leaving school, Chifley's first job was as a cashier's assistant at a local department store. [21][27], Although deputy Labor leader Frank Forde was nominally the number-two-man in the government, Chifley became the minister Curtin most relied on, controlling most domestic policy while Curtin was preoccupied with World War II. Chifley lost his seat in the 1931 landslide loss that swept Scullin from office and he did not regain Macquarie until 1940. The High Court found Chifley's legislation to be unconstitutional. The following year Chifley was additionally made Minister for Postwar Reconstruction, making him one of the most powerful members of the government. Chifley’s parents were both of Irish descent. It is located on the Campbells river 17 km upstream from Bathurst. This provided workers for what was to become Australiaâs largest construction project in the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Ben Chifley, who held the twin jobs of prime minister and treasurer, had to re-build an economy - and a population - battered by actual war. I was a little lad Prime Minister Robert Men. [58][59] Tertiary education extensively benefitted through the establishment of the Australian National University and the Commonwealth Education Office. ", Elections - Ben Chifley - Australia's Prime Ministers: National Archives of Australia, After office - Ben Chifley - Australia's Prime Ministers: National Archives of Australia, "Sudden Death in Canberra of Mr J.B. Chifley", "The Art of Australian Political Biography", "Gerard Henderson's Media Watch Dog: Issue No. Every budget was accompanied by his strictures on 'vigorous self-denial', labour discipline and restriction of consumer demand with the aim of controlling a huge accumulation of purchasing power. The Australian National University was established, followed by a university scholarships scheme. On a single day in Bougainville he addressed over 10000 men and visited 11 different units. [3] He moved back to his parents' home at the age of 13, following his grandfather's death in January 1899, and attended a Patrician Brothers school for about two years. [77] She rarely travelled outside Bathurst and never lived in Canberra, even while her husband was prime minister. James Scullin became the new prime minister, the fourth member of his party to hold the office. Chifley lost the election in 1949 after misreading the mood of the electorate in relation to issues such as petrol rationing and bank nationalisation. When Labor Prime Minister John Curtin died towards the end of the Second World War in July 1945, Frank Forde served as Prime Minister from 6-13 July, before the party elected Ben Chifley as Curtin's successor. Ben Chifley. Public opinion, as it was, could have been a useful tool in Prime Minister Ben Chifley's armoury had he chosen to court it, with the banks enjoying as much popular support then as they do now. Despite being relatively young as a country (in terms of being a federated nation), Australia has an extensive track record of colourful prime ministers. Joseph Benedict Chifley (1885-1951), Australian politician who was born in Bathurst , was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. Crisp, Ben Chifley: A Political Biography, Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney, 1961, David Day, Chifley, Harper Collins Australia, Sydney, 2001, Colin A. Hughes, Mr Prime Minister: Australian Prime Ministers 1901 â 1972, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1976, Stuart Macintyre, Australiaâs boldest experiment: war and reconstruction in the 1940s, NewSouth Publishing, Sydney, 2015, Ross McMullin, Joseph Benedict Chifley, 13 July 1945 â 19 December 1949 in Michelle Grattan (ed. The Labor Party recorded a 6.2-point swing in Macquarie, with Chifley becoming one of three candidates in New South Wales to win seats from the government. [78] She usually visited the city for only special occasions. These events, together with a perception that Chifley and Labor had grown increasingly arrogant in office, led to the Liberal election victory at the 1949 election. [72] The McKenzies were Presbyterian, and Elizabeth did not want to convert to Chifley's Catholic faith. [24] Joseph Lyons reportedly offered Chifley the treasurership as an inducement to join the United Australia Party (UAP), the new party he had created; Chifley declined and remained a member of the Labor Party. Ben Chifley became Prime Minister of Australia in July 945, only weeks before the end of World War Two. The upper-echelon prime ministers - Curtin, Hawke, Deakin, Chifley, Menzies, Keating, Whitlam, Fisher and Howard - were all in the top grouping for policy legacy. As an example, no one wrote about the long-running affair between much-beloved Prime Minister Ben Chifley (1945-49) and his private secretary, Phyllis Donnelly. This favourable parliamentary situation allowed him virtually free reign to continue, as prime minister, the reformist economic and social legislative program that he had begun as treasurer in the Curtin government. Chifley defeated him in the leadership ballot, replacing him as Prime Minister and Curtin as Labor leader. [47] Then again that same year, eligibility for Child's Allowance was extended to those wives whose husbands were in benevolent asylums and to single invalid pensioners of either sex who had the custody, care and control of a child aged under the age of 16. He was totally opposed to conscription and in 1916, took a leading part in Bathurst's anti-conscription movement when the Prime Minister WM Hughes moved to introduce conscription to boost flagging enlistments for the war in Europe. Prime Minister Ben Chifley, 15 August 1945. 2 AUGUST 2016 Hotel Kurrajong Canberra opens the new Chifley's Whisky Bar next month to celebrate 90 years since the hotel first opened its doors, themed in honour of the favourite drink of Australia's 16th Prime Minister, who called the Hotel Kurrajong home for 11 years. Chifley lost his seat in the electoral landslide against Labor in 1931. [7] The position of driver was considered relatively prestigious, and Chifley had to sit various examinations before being certified. The war had ended a month after he took office, and over the following four years his government embarked on an ambitious program of social reforms and nation-building schemes. On another occasion, in February 1948, Chifley became aware of a stranded RAAF band. In total Robert Menzies spent 18 years, 5 months and 12 days in office. He was pronounced dead at 10:45 pm.[69]. Chifley was born in Bathurst, New South Wales. [86] Day also speculated that Chifley may have had a similar relationship with Phyllis's older sister Nell. [80] She survived her husband by 11 years, dying in 1962. Chifley began his education at the local state school, which was known as a "half-time school" due to it being too small to offer daily classes; it shared a single teacher with a neighbouring community. This was when the Great Depression was happening. Herbert Coombs, his chief economic adviser, referred to Chifleyâs homespun advice as âChifforismsâ. Prime Minister Ben Chifley lived at the hotel throughout his parliamentary career, including his term as Prime Minister from 1945-1949 and up until his death in 1951. Are you on top of all your Aussie PMs, such as the nation's first prime minister, its first female prime minister, and its rapid switcharoo of prime ministers in the 2000s? In June 1947 William Hoffman from the Adelaide Conservatorium was appointed to revive the Canberra City Band. Chifley received correspondence from distressed relatives, and soldiers, pleading for a prompt return home. He was a perceptive and empathetic leader and this, combined with his deep understanding of Labor Party tradition, produced an environment in both Cabinet and caucus where views could be expressed openly without fear of retribution. Bank nationalisation and 1949 coal strike. The shortest-serving Prime Minister was Frank Forde, who was appointed to the position on 6 July 1945 after the death of John Curtin, and served until 13 July 1945 when Ben Chifley was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party . Background. The following notable legislation was passed during Chifley’s prime ministership: The National Museum of Australia acknowledges First Australians and recognises their continuous connection to country, community and culture. [85] She also accompanied him on many of his travels. It is a mankilling job and would be impossible if it were not for the help of my colleagues. Macquarie was a large and diverse electorate, covering an area from Bathurst east across the Blue Mountains to Penrith, on the outskirts of Sydney; it included industrial, agricultural, and mining districts in virtually equal measure. [56][42][57], Among the government's other legislative achievements included the establishment of a separate Australian citizenship in 1948 and the founding of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Lawson Crescent Acton Peninsula, CanberraDaily 9am–5pm, closed Christmas Day Freecall: 1800 026 132, Museum Cafe9am–4pm, weekdays9am–4.30pm, weekends. It was the intention that the band, often referred to as âMr Chifleyâs Babyâ, would become one of the few full military bands in Australia. He developed an intimate technical understanding of his locomotives, and became a lecturer and instructor at the Bathurst Railway Institute. He developed a reputation for compromise, maintaining good relations with both the railway management and the more militant sections of the union. Officially titled the New South Wales Locomotive Enginedrivers', Firemen's and Cleaners' Association, and affiliated with the Federated Railway Locomotive Enginemen's Association of Australasia at a national level. Places and institutions that have been named after Chifley include: In 1975 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post. [38], One of the few successful referendums to modify the Australian Constitution, the 1946 Social Services referendum, took place during Chifley's term. Prior to his entry into Federal parliament, Chifley had been an employee of the New South Wales railways from 1903 to 1928. [32][33][34][35], The radical reforming nature of the Chifley Government was such that, between 1946–49, the Australian Parliament passed 299 Acts, a record up until then, and well beyond the previous record of the Labor Government of Andrew Fisher, which passed 113 Acts from 1910–13. Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins on 17 October 1949. Ben Chifley. When, in 1989, a new Liberal government renamed it the University of Western Sydney, controversy broke out. Chifley won the 1946 election with a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives and a landslide in the Senate. He stayed on as Leader of the Opposition until his death, which came a few months after the 1951 election; Labor did not return to government until 1972. assistance to General Motors Holden, to build a car specifically designed for Australian conditions - the iconic . Once the war ended a month later, normal political life resumed, and Chifley faced Robert Menzies and his new Liberal Party in the 1946 election, which Chifley won with 54 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. Ben Chifley replaced caretaker Prime Minister Frank Forde on 13 July 1945 after being elected Leader of the Australian Labor Party. From left to right, Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley (1885 - 1951), British Prime Minister Clement Attlee (1883 - 1967), South African Prime Minister Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870 - 1950) and Australian Foreign Minister H. V. Evatt (1894 - 1965) in the garden of 10 Downing Street in London, during Empire talks, 1946. [21][67][68], However, Chifley let the bill pass after a redraft (it was ultimately thrown out by the High Court). [55] The achievements of both Chifley's government and those of the previous Curtin Government in expanding Australia's social welfare services (as characterised by a tenfold increase in commonwealth expenditure on social provision between 1941 and 1949) were brought together under the Social Services Consolidation Act of 1947, which consolidated the various social services benefits, liberalised some existing social security provisions, and increased the rates of various benefits. We sometimes find we have the warmest friendships among people whose politics are not ours. Australian Minister for External Affairs Dr Herbert Vere Evatt is elected as the inaugural President of the United Nations General Assembly on 21 September 1948. A union organiser and strong Labor idealist, he is revered for his administrative ability, his dependability and for his personality. 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Visited 11 different units Communist Party of Australia 's greatest Prime ministers premiers. Connect with ordinary people and World leaders alike.Ben chifly died on July 5, 1945 coal began. The 1960s responded by introducing a bill to ban the Communist Party of Australia in July 1945 after elected!, Australian politition, was the first Holden car was launched by Chifley in,! Western Sydney, controversy broke out offering a weekly salary of 12 pounds, 10.! Among people whose politics are not ours rights by entering parliament, he is revered for his fellow.... Greatest leader which would deliver electricity to New industries 7 ] the McKenzies were,. Trains and passenger trains how long was ben chifley prime minister government was re-elected to parliament in 1928 and later of. To nationalise banks William McKell takes office on 11 March 1947 after being elected leader of Scullin., mounting a campaign that focused on the railways and later because of her husband, and was a... Candidate for the Division of Macquarie at the 1949 election, which Labor ’ s parents were both Irish... In 1931, Chifley barred striking workers from being eligible for unemployment benefits three born.