William Morris (Billy) Hughes

Seventh Prime Minister of Australia (1862 – 1952)

About William Morris (Billy) Hughes

Australia’s seventh Prime Minister William Morris (Billy) Hughes spent 58 years in state and federal politics, representing four different parties, 3 of which expelled him.

Billy pursued the interests of the fledgling Australian nation at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and established predecessors to the CSIRO and the Australian Federal Police while Prime Minister. Remembered by many as the ‘Little Digger’, Billy nevertheless remains a controversial figure in Australia’s political history.

Location

Street address:6 Richardson Street, East Lane Cove, Sydney 2066
Traditional name:Lane Cove is on the land of the Cammeraygal people.

Accessibility

Wheelchair accessible

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Black and white portrait of Billy Hughes wearing a suit and tie with a book in-hand. — The Right Honourable William Morris Hughes. National Archives of Australia A5954, 1299/2 PHOTO PL251/4.

A future PM’s early days in Sydney

Billy Hughes was born in London in 1862 and moved to Wales at age 7. He migrated to Australia in his early twenties, living in Brisbane before moving to Sydney.

Billy's political career began in 1894 with his election as a Labor member for Sydney-Lang in the New South Wales Parliament. He was elected as Member for West Sydney in the new federal parliament in 1901 and held this seat through the next 5 elections.

Billy was known for his witty speeches, which he sometimes made from the balcony of his residence ‘Osborne Park’ in Lane Cove. When Andrew Fisher resigned as Prime Minister in 1915, the Labor Party unanimously elected Hughes to succeed him.

The ‘win-the-war’ policy

As Prime Minister, Billly mounted a vigorous ‘total war’ policy. In 1916 he flew to London to represent Australia in war Cabinet meetings. He then toured the Australian forces on the Western Front, becoming hugely popular with servicemen and revelling in the nickname they gave him – ‘the Little Digger’. Billy proved less popular in the two unsuccessful referendum campaigns for conscription he led in 1916 and 1917.

Establishment of the Commonwealth Police Force

While campaigning in Queensland during the 1917 referendum, Billy was ‘egged’ by anti-conscription protestors. Incensed that the police refused to arrest the offenders because they only enforced state laws, Billy established the Commonwealth Police Force. The incident was widely reported in the press with some accounts suggesting Billy had overreacted. Although disbanded in 1919, the Commonwealth Police Force was Australia’s first federal police force and inspired later federal law enforcement agencies.

Support for science and industry

Inspired by technological developments in Europe and recognising the importance of science in building Australia as a nation, Billy established the Advisory Council on Science and Industry in 1916. The Council was created to commission and fund research projects on key science and industry issues in Australia. Intended to be a temporary body, the Council represented a first iteration of today’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Representing Australia at the Paris Peace Conference

In the aftermath of the First World War, Billy represented Australia at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Billy believed that Australia’s disproportionately high war casualty rate had earned the country its own seat at the table, rather than being spoken for by the British Government. He successfully negotiated with Britain for Australia to have independent representation at the conference on the specific issues that affected Australia.

Using this platform, Billy asserted Australia’s interests, such as fighting for German reparations of Australia’s large war debt and protecting Australian security interests in the region. He also used the forum to defend controversial contemporary immigration policies.

After achieving mixed success at the conference, he returned home to a hero’s welcome.

A lasting record

Billy died in Lindfield on 28 October 1952. His state funeral in Sydney was one of the largest in Australian history.

Billy maintains the record for the longest continuous parliamentary service and is the only Australian to have been Prime Minister on both sides of politics.

Remembered for his strong leadership during the First World War, as well as his steadfast support for conscription, Billy remains a controversial figure in death, as he was in life.