Philip Collier
Labor Party in Western Australia | |
---|---|
In office 16 April 1917 – 16 August 1936 | |
Preceded by | John Scaddan |
Succeeded by | John Willcock |
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia | |
In office 27 October 1905 – 18 October 1948 | |
Preceded by | John Hopkins |
Succeeded by | Charlie Oliver |
Constituency | Boulder |
Personal details | |
Born | Labor | 21 April 1873
Philip Collier (21 April 1873 – 18 October 1948) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th
Collier was born in
As premier, Collier enjoyed a stability that had been absent from previous Labor administrations in Western Australia. His government was on good terms with trade unions, and its improvements to
Early life
Philip Collier was born at Woodstock near Melbourne on 21 April 1873. The son of a farmer of the same name, he was educated locally but left school at the age of 16. He spent some time gold mining at Steiglitz, Victoria and then in New South Wales, and was later construction foreman of the Greater Melbourne Sewage Company at Northcote. On 27 June 1900, he married Ellen Heagney, with whom he had two sons and two daughters.
Collier began to take an interest in the labor movement, joining the Labor Party and becoming founding secretary of the Northcote branch of the Political Labor Council. He was campaign director for at least three Labor candidates in State and Federal election, including Frank Anstey.
In 1904 Collier moved to Western Australia. He worked in the mines of the Perseverance Goldmining Company for around a year, becoming a member of the Boulder branch of the Amalgamated Workers' Association, and vice-president of the Goldfields Trades and Labour Council.
Politics
On 27 October 1905, Collier was elected to the
Collier retained the leadership of the Labor party throughout the Liberal and
On 17 April 1924, the Labor party had a landslide election victory, and Collier became Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Forests. The Labor party was defeated by Mitchell in the election of 23 April 1930, whereupon Collier resumed as Leader of the Opposition. He won another term as Premier in the election of 24 April 1933. Simultaneously with the election, a referendum had been held in which the people of Western Australia had overwhelmingly voted in favour of secession from the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the Labor party opposed secession, Collier nonetheless agreed to act on the result of the referendum by petitioning the British government for secession. The British government's refusal to act can be partly attributed to the fact that any action taken would have been in opposition to the new Government's wishes.
During Collier's time as premier, much was done to foster rural development. Construction of bridges, roads, and railways was accelerated, water supply in areas of agriculture was increased, and an Agricultural bank was set up, which provided generous loans to farmers. In addition, both the annual wheat harvest and the area under crop more than doubled, workers' compensation benefits and entitlements were increased, and industrial safety requirements were made more stringent. A state basic wage award was also introduced, together with regulations on the working conditions of timber workers, coal miners, and employees in other designated industries. In addition, although the Legislative Council rejected the introduction of a 44-hour workweek and preference to unionists, the Collier government was able to introduce both measures for most of its own employees through the use of administrative action.
Collier resigned as premier and leader of the Labor party on 19 August 1936, handing over to John Willcock. His 19-year term as parliamentary leader of the Australian Labor Party remains the longest ever, as does his 9-year term as Labor premier. Victor Courtney (1956) describes him as "the only person Labor [sic] produced in State politics who could fairly claim to have approached statesmanship". Mitchell and Collier are together credited with achieving an unusual degree of friendship and cooperation between parties during the 1920s and 1930s, which was most clearly demonstrated by Collier recommending Mitchell's appointment as Lieutenant-Governor in 1933.
Although no longer serving as a minister, Collier remained in parliament for a further twelve years, and was Father of the House from March 1939. He died at Mount Lawley on 18 October 1948, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery. Collier Road in the north-eastern suburbs of Perth is named after Collier.[1][2]
Notes
- ^ Following the end of William Campion's term in 1931, it was decided not to appoint another governor, to save money during the Depression. The lieutenant-governor exercised viceregal authority until 1948, when a new governor was appointed. The two lieutenant-governors during Collier's second term as premier were John Northmore and James Mitchell.
References
- ISBN 0730738140.
- Courtney, Victor (1956). All I May Tell: A Journalist's Story. Sydney: Shakespeare Head Press.
- ISBN 0-85564-214-9.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Ross McMullin, The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891-1991
- ^ Sewell, Margaret (1972). Bayswater ... and 75 years. Shire of Bayswater. p. 43.
- ^ "Street Name Origins in the Town of Bassendean" (PDF). Town of Bassendean. 3 June 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
Further reading
The following sources were not used in the writing of this article:
- Black, David (1959). "The Collier Government, 1924–1930". University Studies in History. 3 (3): 58–70.