Rt Hon Ben Chifley
16th Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1946, 1949, 1951
In office 13 July 1945 – 19 December 1949
Preceded by	Frank Forde
Succeeded by	Robert Menzies
Born	22 September 1885(1885-09-22) Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
Died	13 June 1951 (aged 65)
Political party	Labor

Joseph Benedict Chifley (22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951), Australian politician and 16th Prime Minister of Australia, was one of Australia's most influential Prime Ministers. Among his government's accomplishments were the post-war immigration scheme under Arthur Calwell, the establishment of Australian citizenship in 1949, the Snowy Mountains Scheme, the national airline TAA, a social security scheme for the unemployed, and the founding of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). One of the few successful referendums to modify the Australian Constitution took place during his term. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... Federal elections were held in Australia on September 28, 1946. ... Federal elections were held in Australia on December 10, 1949. ... Federal elections were held in Australia on April 28, 1951. ... is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Francis Michael Forde (18 July 1890 – 28 January 1983) was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. ... Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, FRS, QC (20 December 1894 – 15 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving eighteen and a half years. ... is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Bathurst is a regional centre in the state of New South Wales, Australia approximately 200km west of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council Local Government Area. ... NSW redirects here. ... is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... Rt Hon Arthur Calwell (with young migrant, 1949) Arthur Augustus Calwell (August 28, 1896 - July 8, 1973) Australian politician, was Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. ... Australian citizenship was created on 26 January 1949 by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 (later renamed the Australian Citizenship Act 1948). ... Talbingo Dam The Snowy Mountains Scheme is a hydro-electricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. ... Trans Australia Airlines or TAA (IATA TN, renamed Australian Airlines in 1986) was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its sale to Qantas in 1992. ... ASIO Central Office, Canberra. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (in full, An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia) is the primary constitutional text of the Commonwealth of Australia. ...

Early life (1885-1917)

Born in Bathurst, New South Wales, Chifley was the son of a blacksmith of Irish Catholic descent. He was one of four brothers and was raised mostly by his grandfather, who lost all his savings in the bank crash of 1892: Chifley acquired his lifelong dislike of the private banks early. He was educated at Catholic schools in Bathurst, and joined the New South Wales Railways at 15. Bathurst is a regional centre in the state of New South Wales, Australia approximately 200km west of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council Local Government Area. ... For other uses, see Blacksmith (disambiguation). ... Irish Catholics are persons of predominantly Irish descent who adhere to the Roman Catholic faith. ...

Ben Chifley became an engine driver, which was a skilled and responsible position. He was one of the founders of the AFULE (the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen)^[1] and an active member of the Labor Party. In 1914 he married Elizabeth Mackenzie. She was a Presbyterian; Chifley left the Roman Catholic Church to marry her and never returned. In 1917 he was one of the leaders of a prolonged strike which resulted in his being dismissed. He was reinstated by the Jack Lang New South Wales Labor government in 1920. He represented his union before industrial tribunals and taught himself industrial law. A Locomotive Engineer or train driver is a person who operates a railroad locomotive and train. ... ALP redirects here. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... John Thomas Lang (21 December 1876 - 27 September 1975), Australian politician, usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, familiarly known as Jack and nicknamed The Big Fella, was Premier of New South Wales for two terms (1925-27, 1930-32). ...

Early Political career (1928-44)

Chifley in the 1930s

In 1928, at his second try, Chifley won the Bathurst-based seat of Macquarie in the House of Representatives. He was in general a supporter of the James Scullin government's economic policies, and in 1931 he became Minister for Defence. At the 1931 general election, the Scullin government fell and Chifley lost his seat. During the Depression he survived on his wife's family's money and his part-ownership of the Bathurst newspaper the National Advocate. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Division of Macquarie is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. ... Type Lower house Speaker of the House David Hawker, Liberal since November 16, 2004 Members 150 Political groups Liberal Party (74) ALP (60) National Party (12) Country Liberal Party (1) Last elections 9 October 2004 Meeting place Parliament House, Canberra, ACT Web site House of Representatives Entrance to the House... James Henry Scullin (September 18, 1876 – January 28, 1953), Australian Labor politician and ninth Prime Minister of Australia. ... Federal elections were held in Australia on December 19, 1931. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

In 1935 the Lyons government appointed him a member of the Royal Commission on Banking, a subject on which he had become an expert. He submitted a minority report advocating that the private banks be nationalised. Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939), Australian politician, tenth Prime Minister of Australia. ...

Chifley finally won his seat back in 1940, and the following year he became Treasurer (finance minister) in John Curtin's Labor government. Although Frank Forde was Curtin's deputy, Chifley became the minister Curtin most relied on, and he controlled most domestic policy while Curtin was preoccupied with the war effort. He presided over the massive increases in government expenditure and taxation that accompanied the war, and imposed a regime of economic regulation that made him very unpopular with business and the press. Federal elections were held in Australia on September 21, 1940. ... This article is about the Australian Prime Minister. ... Francis Michael Forde (18 July 1890 – 28 January 1983) was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. ...

Prime Minister (1945-49)

Chifley (left) meets with Premier of South Australia Tom Playford (centre) and Governor of South Australia Baron Norrie (right) in 1946

Chifley (middle) and Herbert Evatt (left) with Clement Attlee (right) at the Dominion and British Leaders Conference, London, 1946

When Curtin died in July 1945, Forde became (very briefly) Prime Minister, but Chifley defeated him in the leadership ballot and replaced him six days later. Once the war ended, normal political life resumed, and Chifley faced Robert Menzies and his new Liberal Party in the 1946 election, which Chifley comfortably won. In the post-war years, Chifley maintained wartime economic controls including the highly unpopular petrol rationing. He did this partly to help Britain in its postwar economic difficulties. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... This is a list of Premiers of South Australia. ... Sir Thomas Playford KCMG (July 5, 1896 – 16 June 1981) served as Premier of South Australia from November 5, 1938 to March 10, 1965, which at 26 years and 125 days, remains a British Commonwealth record for the longest time someone has served as a democratically elected national or regional... See Governors of the Australian states for a description and history of the office of Governor. ... Lieutenant General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie, 1st Baron Norrie, GCMG, GCVO, CB, DSO, MC (1893–1977) was an Australian-New Zealand general and political figure. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Rt Hon Dr H.V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt (April 30, 1894 - November 2, 1965), Australian jurist, politician and writer (popularly known as Doc Evatt or H.V. Evatt) was born in Maitland, New South Wales, to a working-class family of Anglo-Irish origin. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, FRS, QC (20 December 1894 – 15 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving eighteen and a half years. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party. ... Federal elections were held in Australia on September 28, 1946. ...

Feeling secure in power, Chifley decided it was time to advance towards Labor's objective of democratic socialism. In 1947 he announced the government's intention to nationalise the banks. This provoked massive opposition from the press, and middle-class opinion turned against Labor. The High Court of Australia eventually found Chifley's legislation to be unconstitutional. Democratic socialism advocates socialism as a basis for the economy and democracy as a governing principle. ... Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

In the winter of 1949 a prolonged and bitter strike in the coal industry caused unemployment and hardship. 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 the army to break the strike. Despite this, Menzies exploited the rising Cold War hysteria to portray Labor as soft on Communism. The 1949 Australian coal strike is notable as being the first time that Australian military forces were used during peacetime to break a Trade union strike. ... The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... This article is about the form of society and political movement. ...

These events, together with a perception that Chifley and Labor had grown increasingly arrogant in office, led to the sweeping Liberal election victory of December 1949. Chifley was now aged 64 and in poor health (like Curtin he was a lifelong smoker), but he refused to retire. Labor had retained control of the Senate and Chifley intended frustrating the Menzies government and returning to power. But in 1951 Menzies introduced his bill to ban the Communist Party, which Chifley opposed on civil liberties grounds. Federal elections were held in Australia on December 10, 1949. ... Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In modern usage, the term communist party is generally used to identify any political party which has adopted communist ideology. ...

Menzies exploited this issue to call a double dissolution election in April 1951, and succeeded in winning control of both Houses at the election. A few weeks later Chifley died of a heart attack in his room at the Kurrajong Hotel in Canberra (he had lived there throughout his Prime Ministership, having refused to reside at The Lodge). Menzies heard of Chifley's demise while attending an official function at the Albert Hall in Canberra, to mark fifty years of Australian Federation. Normally impassive, "Ming the Merciless" (as his foes called him) had difficulty on this occasion in fighting back tears; and he ordered that the function be brought to an end, as a mark of respect to his predecessor and adversary. This article deals with elections to the Australian Parliament. ... Federal elections were held in Australia on April 28, 1951. ... For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federated on 1 January 1901, to form the Commonwealth of Australia, of which they became component states. ...

"Chifley legend"

Chifley in the 1940s

Like Curtin, Chifley has been made a secular saint by the labour movement, but the basis of the "Chifley legend" is somewhat different. Curtin is remembered mainly for his wartime leadership and forging the US-Australia Alliance. Chifley is remembered by the left as the only Labor Prime Minister who tried to implement the party's socialist objective. The fact that this preceded an electoral defeat and 23 years in opposition has not detracted from this esteem. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Many religions keep lists of departed holy people or saints who are revered. ...

More than 30 years after his death, Chifley's name still aroused partisan passions. In 1987 the New South Wales Labor government decided to name the planned new university in Sydney's western suburbs Chifley University. When, in 1989, a new Liberal government renamed it the University of Western Sydney, controversy broke out. According to a (see [1]) 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 Chifley to institutions of lasting significance, and that idea ultimately received the support of Bob Carr, later the Premier of New South Wales. NSW redirects here. ... The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then. ... The University of Western Sydney (UWS) is a large, multi-campused and comprehensive metropolitan University with 35,000 students and 2,500 staff members. ... For other persons named Bob Carr, see Bob Carr (disambiguation). ... List of Premiers of New South Wales Before the 1890s there was no formal party system in New South Wales. ...

Other namings of places and institutions after Chifley have proved more successful. There is an Australian hotel chain, a central Sydney building and square, and two suburbs (in Canberra and Sydney), named after him. Several public high schools in Western Sydney are now known as Chifley College. Many of his reforms also remain in place. For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ... The New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET) is a department of the Government of New South Wales. ... For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ...

Chifley had lived apart from his wife for many years: his secretary, Phyllis Donnelly, was with him when he died. Long-held suspicions that she had been his lover were confirmed in David Day's 2001 biography. David Day (born 1949, Melbourne) is an Australian historian. ...

The light on the hill

"I try to think of the Labour movement, not as putting an extra sixpence into somebody's pocket, or making somebody Prime Minister or Premier, but as a movement bringing something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people. We have a great objective - the light on the hill - which we aim to reach by working the betterment of mankind not only here but anywhere we may give a helping hand. If it were not for that, the Labour movement would not be worth fighting for." Excerpt from The light on the hill speech, 12 June 1949. The light on the hill is a phrase used to describe the objective of the Australian Labor Party. ... is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Popular culture

• In the 1988 mini series True Believers, Chifley was portrayed by Ed Devereaux.
• In the 2007 film Curtin, he was portrayed by Geoff Morrell.

Ed Devereaux (1925 - December 17, 2003) was an Australian actor, who was best known for playing the part of Matt Hammond in the Australian childrens television series Skippy. ... Curtin is a telemovie about the wartime Prime Minister of Australia, John Curtin. ... Geoff Morrell is an Australian film and theatre actor. ...

See also

• First Chifley Ministry
• Second Chifley Ministry
• 1949 Australian coal strike
• The light on the hill

The First Chifley Ministry was the thirty-third Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 13th July 1945 to 1st November 1946. ... The Second Chifley Ministry was the thirty-fourth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 1st November 1946 to 19th December 1949. ... The 1949 Australian coal strike is notable as being the first time that Australian military forces were used during peacetime to break a Trade union strike. ... The light on the hill is a phrase used to describe the objective of the Australian Labor Party. ...

Notes and references

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• Ben Chifley, Things Worth Fighting For (collected speeches), Melbourne University Press, 1952
• L F Crisp, Ben Chifley: A Political Biography, Longman, Green and Co, 1961
• David Day, Chifley, HarperCollins, 2001
• Duncan Waterson, Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol. 13 A-D pp. 412-420, Melbourne University Press, 1993

External links

• Ben Chifley - Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia
• Chifley Research Centre
• Chifley College, Sydney

Prime Ministers of Australia
Barton | Deakin | Watson | Reid | Fisher | Cook | Hughes | Bruce | Scullin | Lyons | Page | Menzies | Fadden | Curtin | Forde | Chifley | Holt | McEwen | Gorton | McMahon | Whitlam | Fraser | Hawke | Keating | Howard

v • d • e Leaders of the Australian Labor Party
Watson | Fisher | Hughes | Tudor | Charlton | Scullin | Curtin | Chifley | Evatt | Calwell | Whitlam | Hayden | Hawke | Keating | Beazley | Crean | Latham | Beazley | Rudd