NationMaster - Encyclopedia: King O'Malley

King O'Malley (July 1858 - 20 December 1953), Australian politician, was one of the more colourful characters of the early federal period of Australian political history. Image File history File links King OMalley File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links King OMalley File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Neither the date nor the place of O'Malley's birth is known with certainty. His biographers Larry Noye and Arthur Hoyle say he was born on 2 July, while the Australian Parliamentary Handbook says 4 July, which would be appropriate given O'Malley's American origins. O'Malley claimed all his life to have been born in Canada, which would have made him a British subject, but it is more likely that he was born at his parents' farm in northern Vermont. "King" was his mother's maiden name. He was educated at a primary school in New York City, then worked in a bank and as an insurance and real estate salesmen, travelling widely around the United States. Arthur Robert Hoyle (1922 - ) is an Australian historian and biographer. ... Jump to: navigation, search July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... The Australian Parliamentary Handbook (officially the Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia), is the official record of the Parliament of Australia. ... Jump to: navigation, search July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Green Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Governor Jim Douglas (R) Senators Patrick Leahy (D) Jim Jeffords (I) Official languages None Area 24,923 kmÂ² (43th) - Land 23,974 kmÂ² - Water 949 kmÂ² (3. ... New York City, officially named the City of New York, is the most populous city in the United States, the most densely populated major city in North America, and is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture. ...

In 1881 he married Rosy Wilmot, but she died in 1886. In 1889 he migrated to Queensland, probably to escape debt. In Australia he again worked as an itinerant insurance salesman, also preaching evangelical Christianity and temperance. In 1895 he settled in Gawler, South Australia, and in 1896 he was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly as a radical democrat, opposed to the wealthy landowners who then dominated colonial politics. Jump to: navigation, search 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Nickname: Sunshine State/Smart State Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Governor Premier Const. ... Jump to: navigation, search Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Temperance may refer to: Temperance (virtue) Temperance movement Temperance (Tarot card) Temperance (band) See also Astrud Gilberto, for the album Temperance This is a disambiguation page â€” a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Gawler is a town in the state of South Australia. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: United for the Common Wealth Nickname: Festival State Other Australian states and territories Capital Adelaide Government Governor Premier Const. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1896 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of South Australia. ...

O'Malley was defeated in 1899, and the following year he moved to Tasmania, the smallest and most parochial of the Australian colonies. Here a tall, fashionably dressed American preaching the Gospel and radical democracy drew immediate attention, and in 1901 he was elected as one of Tasmania's five members in the first Australian Parliament. Although there was no Labour Party in Tasmania at this time, he joined the Labour Caucus when the Parliament assembled in Melbourne. Jump to: navigation, search 1899 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Nickname: The Apple Isle Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Governor Premier Const. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... A caucus is most generally defined as being a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement. ... Jump to: navigation, search Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of 3. ...

Historian Gavin Souter describes O'Malley at this time:

O'Malley's monstrously overgrown persona seemed to be inhabited simultaneously by a spruiker from Barnum's three-run circus, a hell and tarnation revivalist, and a four-flushing Yankee Congressman. He was a moderately big man, auburn-haired with watchful grey eyes and a red-brown beard, wearing a wide-brimmed felt hat, blue-grey suit with huge lapels and a low-cut vest, loose cravat with a diamond collar stud, and in the centre of his cream silk shirt-front a fiery opal.

O'Malley was thus one of the most prominent and colourful members of the Parliament, but his radical ideas were not widely accepted, and many regarded him as a charlatan. He became a prominent advocate of a national bank as a means of providing cheap credit for farmers and small businessmen - one of the most common platforms of the late 19th century populism. He was not a member of Chris Watson's first Labor ministry in 1904, or of Andrew Fisher's first ministry in 1908. But in 1910 the Caucus elected him to the ministry of Fisher's second government. In the same year he married again, to Amy Horton. Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891), American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. ... Jump to: navigation, search The term Yankee has a variety of meanings. ... Jump to: navigation, search OPAL is also the name of one of the four detectors of the Large Electron-Positron Collider. ... The term national bank has several meanings: especially in developing countries, a bank owned by the state an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) In the past, the term national bank has been used synonymously with central bank, but it is... Hon Chris Watson John Christian Watson (9 April 1867(exact date uncertain) - 18 November 1941), Australian politician and third Prime Minister of Australia, usually known as Chris Watson, was born in ValparaÃso, Chile, probably on April 9, 1867. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rt Hon Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 1862 - 22 October 1928), Australian politician and fifth Prime Minister of Australia, was born in Crosshouse, a mining village near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, Scotland. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1910 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

O'Malley drives in first peg of Canberra

O'Malley at the naming of Canberra ceremony

O'Malley became Minister for Home Affairs, and played a prominent role in selecting the site of the future capital of Australia, Canberra. He was present at the ceremony for the naming of Canberra on 12 March 1913; he also drove in the first peg which marked the start of development of the city in February 1913. As a teetotaller he was responsible for the highly unpopular ban on alcohol in the Australian Capital Territory. He could also claim credit for beginning the building of the Transcontinental Railway from Melbourne to Perth. Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2139x1503, 2923 KB) King OMalley drives first peg in at Canberra. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2139x1503, 2923 KB) King OMalley drives first peg in at Canberra. ... Jump to: navigation, search Canberra is the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia and, with a population of just over 323,000, is also Australias largest inland city. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links King_Omalley_cropped_from_naming_of_canberra. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links King_Omalley_cropped_from_naming_of_canberra. ... The Cabinet of Australia (whose members also serve in the Executive Council of Australia) is the council of senior ministers, responsible to parliament. ... Jump to: navigation, search In politics a capital (also called capital city or political capital â€” although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... Jump to: navigation, search Canberra is the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia and, with a population of just over 323,000, is also Australias largest inland city. ... Teetotalism is the principle or practice of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Pro Rege, Lege et Grege (For the Queen, the Law and the People) Nickname: (none) Other Australian states and territories Capital Canberra Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ... A transcontinental railroad is a railway across a significant portion of a continent. ... Jump to: navigation, search Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the state of Victoria, and the second largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of 3. ... Jump to: navigation, search Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. ...

He also agitated for the establishment of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a state-owned savings and investment bank, although he was not the bank's sole inspirer as he later liked to claim. He later wrote that he had led a "torpedo squad" in Caucus to force a reluctant Cabinet to establish the bank, but historians do not accept this. Prime Minister Fisher was the bank's principal architect. Partly to allay fears of "funny money" aroused by O'Malley's populist rhetoric, Fisher ensured that the bank would be run on firmly "sound money" principles, and the bank as established did not provide easy credit for farmers as the radicals desired. The Commonwealth Bank is the second largest bank in Australia, after National Australia Bank. ...

O'Malley's other legacy was the spelling of "Labor" in the Australian Labor Party's title in the American style. He was a spelling reform enthusiast and persuaded the party that "Labor" was a more "modern" spelling than "Labour." Although the American spelling has not become established in Australia, Labor has preserved the spelling. The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... Natural languages often develop cumbersome manners of spelling words. ...

Labor was defeated at the 1913 elections, and when it returned to office in 1914 O'Malley was not re-elected to the Cabinet. In 1915, however, Fisher retired and O'Malley returned to office in the first ministry of Billy Hughes, again as Minister for Home Affairs. But within a year the government split over the determination of Hughes to introduce conscription for Australia's contribution to World War I. O'Malley resigned from Hughes's Cabinet in protest and became an outspoken anti-conscriptionist. Jump to: navigation, search 1913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Rt Hon Billy Hughes William Morris Billy Hughes (September 25, 1862 - October 28, 1952), Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia, the longest-serving member of the Australian Parliament, and one of the most colourful figures in Australian political history. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ...

Hughes called an election in 1917, and O'Malley was very narrowly defeated in his northern Tasmanian seat by a Nationalist candidate. He stood for the seat again in 1919, and for another seat in 1922, but he never returned to elective office. Although he was only 59 at the time of his defeat, he retired to Melbourne and devoted his time to building up his own legend, particularly in relation to the Commonwealth Bank, and to polemical journalism on a variety of pet causes. He lived to be 95, outliving his nemesis Hughes. At the time of his death he was the last surviving member of the first Australian Parliament. Jump to: navigation, search 1917 was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

A popular pub in Canberra, King O'Malley's Irish Pub in Civic, is named after him [1] - this is a tongue-in-cheek reference to his above-mentioned role in an unpopular alcohol ban in the Australian Capital Territory. The Canberra suburb of O'Malley is also named after him. City Walk, a pedestrian mall in Civic is a focus of retail activity and outdoor dining. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Pro Rege, Lege et Grege (For the Queen, the Law and the People) Nickname: (none) Other Australian states and territories Capital Canberra Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ... OMalley (postcode: 2606) is a suburb in the Canberra district of Woden Valley. ...

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