Sir William John Lyne
KCMG KCMG may refer to
* KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China
* Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour
* KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA
* KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...
(6 April 1844 – 3 August 1913) was an Australian politician who served as
Premier of New South Wales
The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...
from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton, (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician and judge who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903, holding office as the leader of the Protectionist Party. He resigned to ...
and
Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...
. He is best known as the subject of the so called "
Hopetoun Blunder", unexpectedly being asked to serve as the first
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
but proving unable to form a government.
Lyne was born in
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...
, the son of a pastoral farmer. When he was 20, he and cousin took up a
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
in
North West Queensland
The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...
. However, he moved back home after a few years and found work in local government. Lyne moved to
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
in 1875, buying a station near
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
and becoming prominent in community affairs. He was elected to the colonial
Legislative Assembly in 1880, and first entered cabinet in 1885 under
George Dibbs
Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions.
Early years
Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the ...
. He was a member of the
Protectionist Party
The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australi ...
, and a major opponent of
free-traders Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...
and
George Reid
Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales f ...
.
Lyne was elected leader of the Protectionists in 1895, and became
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
in New South Wales. He stood aside in 1898, but returned as leader the following year and became premier at the head of a coalition with the
Labor Party. Lyne led an energetic and progressive government, instituting a number of major social reforms. He considered the
draft constitution to be too unfavourable to New South Wales and supported the "no" vote at the
1898 and 1899 referendums.
In 1900, Lyne was asked by
Lord Hopetoun
John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, (25 September 1860 – 29 February 1908) was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1901 to 1902. He wa ...
(the incoming
governor-general
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
) to lead Australia's first national government. Hopetoun was relying on the precedent established at
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...
, where the premier of the largest colony became the prime minister of the new federation. However, Lyne had no support from leading federationists and was forced to relinquish the honour to
Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton, (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician and judge who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903, holding office as the leader of the Protectionist Party. He resigned to ...
. Lyne became
Minister for Home Affairs
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...
in Barton's government, and was later
Minister for Trade and Customs and
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
under Alfred Deakin. Lyne opposed the formation of the new
Commonwealth Liberal Party
The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fus ...
in 1909 and spent the rest of his career as a
crossbencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
, supporting
Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party ...
's
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
government. He lost his seat at the
1913 election and died a few months later.
Early life
![William Lyne - Charles Woolley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/William_Lyne_-_Charles_Woolley.jpg)
Lyne was born at Great Swanport,
Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...
(what is now
Swansea, Tasmania). He was the eldest son of John Lyne, a pastoral farmer who would serve in the
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.
The Assembly has 25 m ...
from 1880 to 1893. He was educated at
Horton College
thumbnail, 1937 sketch of the school
Horton College was a 19th-century independent Wesleyan methodist boys' boarding school, at Mona Vale near , Tasmania, Australia. Founded by Captain Samuel Horton in 1855, the College closed in 1894; and duri ...
,
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
, and subsequently by a private tutor.
In the mid 1860s, he left
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
at 20 to take up land in northern
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. He journeyed with Henry Steiglitz and camped on the
Gregory River before heading to George Sutherland's Rocklands lease on the
Georgina River
The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in Central West Queensland, that also flows through a portion of the Northern Territory, in central Australia. Part of the Lake Eyre basin, the Geor ...
. At this place, Lyne participated in a skirmish with the local Aboriginal people where one of the group fired a shot, hitting a group of boomerangs which scared the Aboriginal people into fleeing. Finding the climate did not suit him, he returned to Tasmania a year later. He became a clerk at
Glamorgan Council. After 10 years, Lyne left for the mainland again in 1875 and took up land at Cumberoona near
Albury
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
New South Wales politics
Lyne was the member for
Hume in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
from 1880. A
Protectionist
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...
, he was Secretary for Public Works in 1885 and from 1886 to 1887 and Secretary for Lands in 1889.
From 1891 to 1894, he became Secretary for Public Works again in the third ministry of
George Dibbs
Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions.
Early years
Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the ...
. Lyne was a strong protectionist and fought hard for a high tariff. He also strongly supported
railway expansion and pressed on with the building of the
Culcairn to Corowa line in his own electorate.
George Reid
Sir George Houston Reid, (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was an Australian politician who led the Reid Government as the fourth Prime Minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905, having previously been Premier of New South Wales f ...
won the 1895 election on behalf of free traders, and Lyne became Leader of the Opposition as Dibbs had lost his seat. In September 1898 Lyne vacated the leadership of the opposition to Edmund Barton on the latter's entry into parliament. But within twelve months the fracturing of George Reid's free trade government by the issue of Federation made possible a protectionist minority government as long as Lyne replaced Barton, and accordingly Lyne resumed leadership of protectionists in August 1899. Lyne was hastened into the premiership by scandal. Reid had entrusted
John Cash Neild with a preparation of a report upon old age pensions, and he had promised the leader of the
Labor Party that he would give Neild no payment for this without the sanction of Parliament. Finding that the work was much greater than he expected, Neild had asked for and obtained an advance in anticipation of a vote. Lyne, by a clever amendment of a vote of want of confidence, made it practically impossible for the Labor party to support Reid, thus aligning the Labor Party who held the balance of power against Reid. Lyne became Premier by agreeing to reforms proposed by the Labor Party.
[ Lyne promised the Labor Party specific reforms and he passed 85 Acts between July and December 1900, including early closing of retail shops, coal mines regulation and miners' accident relief, old-age pensions and graduated death duties.][
In the constitutional debates of the 1890s Lyne favoured unification of the Australian colonies over their federation. He was one of the representatives of New South Wales at the 1897-8 convention, and sat on its finance committee, but was absent from 49 percent of its divisions, the worst record of any delegate but one. He publicly advocated No in the referendum of 1898, and in the second referendum of 1899, the only New South Wales convention representative still dissatisfied with the amended bill. George Reid, the premier, had declared himself whole-heartedly on the side of federation, and the second referendum showed a substantial majority on the "Yes" side.][ Lyne protested the contamination of the result by ballot fraud, but soon reconciled himself to the new political reality.
]
Federal politics
As Premier of the largest colony, Lyne considered himself entitled to be the first Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
when the colonies federated in January 1901. This was in accordance with the precedent established at Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...
three decades earlier.
The Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
, Lord Hopetoun
John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, (25 September 1860 – 29 February 1908) was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1901 to 1902. He wa ...
, was also of this mind, and offered the post to Lyne in December 1900, heading an interim government that would serve until the first federal election. However, since Lyne had opposed federation, most senior politicians, notably Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...
, told Hopetoun that they would not serve under Lyne. When it was apparent that Lyne would not be able to form a government, he returned his commission to Hopetoun. Eventually, Hopetoun was forced to accept the majority view that Edmund Barton
Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton, (18 January 18497 January 1920) was an Australian politician and judge who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903, holding office as the leader of the Protectionist Party. He resigned to ...
, the leader of the federation movement, should be Prime Minister. Lyne's failure to form a government is known as the " Hopetoun Blunder."
Lyne became Minister for Home Affairs
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...
in Barton's cabinet on 1 January 1901 and was elected to the first federal Parliament as member for the Division of Hume
The Division of Hume is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed ...
in March 1901. He was responsible for the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902
The ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'' was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined a uniform national criteria of who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act established, in time for the 1903 Australian feder ...
(preceded the Commonwealth Electoral Act), including the introduction of women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
and the establishment of the Commonwealth Public Service.[ He remained Minister for Home Affairs until ]Charles Kingston
Charles Cameron Kingston (22 October 1850 – 11 May 1908) was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was a radical liberal Premier of South Australia, occupying this office with the support of Labor, which in the House of Assembly ...
left the cabinet, and became Minister for Trade and Customs in his stead on 7 August 1903. He retained this position when Deakin became Prime Minister towards the end of September. The general election held in December 1903 resulted in the return of three nearly equal parties, and Deakin was forced to resign in April 1904 but came back into power in July 1905 with Lyne in his old position.
In April 1907 Lyne accompanied Deakin to the colonial conference and endeavoured to persuade the British politicians that they were foolish in clinging to their policy of free trade. Deakin and Lyne returned to Australia in June, and when Sir John Forrest resigned his position as Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
at the end of July 1907, Lyne succeeded him.[
Lyne's name is associated with the 'Lyne Tariff'— the Customs Tariff Act of 1908—which significantly increased levels of protection for local industry. It represented the final triumph of politicians favouring ]protection
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
, over those advocating free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
, and brought to an end the main political divergence of pre-Federation Australia.
Fusion government
In November 1908, the Labor party withdrew its support from Deakin, and Fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
succeeded him and held office until June 1909, when Deakin and Cook
Cook or The Cook may refer to:
Food preparation
* Cooking, the preparation of food
* Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food
* Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry
* ...
joined forces and formed the so-called "Fusion" government. Lyne accused Deakin of betrayal and thereafter sat as an independent Protectionist. His bitter denunciations of his one-time friend continued during the 11 months the ministry lasted but Deakin did not respond. The Labor Party came in with a large majority in the April 1910 election, and Lyne was elected as a pro-Labor independent. However, Lyne lost his seat in the May 1913 election when the Labor Party lost to the opposition Commonwealth Liberal Party.
Personal life
Following the death of his first wife Martha née Shaw, Lyne remarried in 1911, to Sarah Jane Olden.
Sir William Lyne died in the Sydney suburb of Double Bay, in 1913. He was survived by one son and three daughters of the first marriage and by his second wife and her daughter.[ On 8 April 1960, Lady Sarah Lyne presented a lithograph portraying the opening of the first Federal Parliament to the then newly opened ]Lyneham High School
Lyneham High School is a public secondary school in the Australian capital of Canberra that was founded in 1959. Located in the suburb of Lyneham, it is one of the only large public high schools in the immediate area. The school has a performin ...
. Lady Lyne died in Canberra in 1961 and is buried in Woden Cemetery
The Woden Cemetery is the main cemetery in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is located adjacent to the Woden Town Centre.
The cemetery opened in 1936 as the Canberra General Cemetery.
It closed for burials in 1979, but was re-opened in M ...
.
Assessment
The 1949 Dictionary of Australian Biography assessed Lyne as:[
His reputation has been sullied by ]Alfred Deakin
Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime ministe ...
's description of him as "a crude, sleek, suspicious, blundering, short-sighted, backblocks politician".
Lyne was also largely responsible for pushing through Parliament the bounty scheme that brought the Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) to its extinction. In extensive reviews of the bounty scheme payments and official sheep farming records, Lyne's insistence of the threat posed by the native marsupial to sheep seems to have been largely at odds with the facts https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305944075_Robert_Paddle_2000_The_Last_Tasmanian_Tiger_The_History_and_Extinction_of_the_Thylacine_Cambridge_University_Press_Oakleigh_Victoria. >
Honours
Lyne was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1900. The Federal electoral Division of Lyne
The Division of Lyne is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed ...
and the Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
suburb of Lyneham are named after him.
See also
* Australian Commonwealth ministries 1901-2004
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyne, William
Protectionist Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Independent members of the Parliament of Australia
Premiers of New South Wales
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Members of the Cabinet of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hume
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Treasurers of Australia
Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
1844 births
1913 deaths
Treasurers of New South Wales
20th-century Australian politicians