William Webster (7 June 1860 – 3 October 1936) was an Australian politician. He began his career in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

(ALP), serving a single term 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 ...

(1901–1903) before winning election to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

at the 1903 federal election. He served as

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsible ...

in the Hughes Government from 1915 to 1920. He left the ALP during the 1916 party split and remained in parliament as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

until his defeat in 1919.

Early life

Born in Everton, Lancashire, England, he was the son of John Webster, a labourer, and Elizabeth, née Poynton. Leaving school at 13, Webster migrated 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 1879 and, having quarried stone at Pyrmont and saved prodigiously, was able to bring the rest of his family to Sydney. By the next year he was financial secretary of the Trades and Labor Council. He married Jane Buckney on 7 June 1883 at

Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local gove ...

, and the firm he founded, Webster Bros, was one of the first in New South Wales to observe the standard wage and

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the ...

Politics

Webster was a member of Marrickville Municipal Council from 1887, and stood for the

seats of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, Petersham, Wickham, and

, only to be defeated in all of them. Although he had opposed

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

, he contested the seat of Gwydir in 1901 in an attempt to enter the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

, but was unsuccessful. However, from 1901 to 1903 he was the first

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 ...

member for Moree in the Legislative Assembly, and as a result of his success was elected to the seat of Gwydir in 1903. He was known for always answering letters and requests from his constituents personally. His role in the royal commission on postal services was significant, and was in part responsible for the downfall of the Deakin government. On 9 July 1909, as part of these pursuits, Webster delivered a renowned speech lasting 10 hours and 57 minutes, a record which, under new time limits, can never be broken. As a result of this he became known as "the man with the iron jaw". He was

in the first Hughes government, and together with his

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

he left the Labor Party in 1916 over conscription to join the new

Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by Prime Min ...

. He retained his place in the government until the 1919 election, at which he was defeated.

Later life

Webster retired to

Wentworthville Wentworthville is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wentworthville is located 27 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Wentworthville is split ...

and played no further part in politics. He died at

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

on 8 October 1936 and was survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, William Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gwydir Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1860 births 1936 deaths National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians English emigrants to Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Politicians from Liverpool