Chris Watson
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The Honourable Chris Watson |
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3rd Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1903, 1906 |
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In office 27 April 1904 – 18 August 1904 |
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| Monarch | Edward VII |
| Governor-General | Lord Northcote |
| Deputy | Gregor McGregor |
| Preceded by | Alfred Deakin |
| Succeeded by | George Reid |
| Treasurer of Australia | |
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In office 27 April 1904 – 17 August 1904 |
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| Prime Minister | Chris Watson |
| Preceded by | Sir George Turner |
| Succeeded by | Sir George Turner |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
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In office 20 May 1901 – 30 October 1907 |
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| Deputy | Gregor McGregor |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Fisher |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
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In office 18 August 1904 – 5 July 1905 |
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| Prime Minister | George Reid |
| Deputy | Gregor McGregor |
| Preceded by | George Reid |
| Succeeded by | George Reid |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for South Sydney | |
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In office 8 November 1906 – 13 April 1910 |
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| Preceded by | George Edwards |
| Succeeded by | Edward Riley |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Bland | |
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In office 30 March 1901 – 12 December 1906 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Christian Tanck c. 9 April 1867 Valparaíso, Chile |
| Died | 18 November 1941 (aged 74) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Political party | Australian Labour Party |
| Spouse(s) |
Ada Watson (died 1921) Antonia Mary Gladys Watson (married 1925) aged 23 |
| Children | 1 |
| Religion | Unitarianism |
John Christian Watson (born John Christian Tanck; 9 April 1867 – 18 November 1941), commonly known as Chris Watson, was an Australian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of Australia. He was the first prime minister from the Australian Labour Party, and the world's first Labour Party government at a national level. He was of Chilean birth, making him the only prime minister not born in Australia or the UK to date, with German and New Zealand ancestry.
Previously serving in state parliament for seven years, Watson was elected to federal parliament at the inaugural 1901 election, where the state Labour parties received a combined 15.8 percent of the first past the post primary vote against two more dominant parties. The Caucus chose Watson as the inaugural parliamentary leader of the Labour Party on 8 May 1901, just in time for the first meeting of parliament. Labour led by Watson increased their vote to 31 percent at the 1903 election and 36.6 percent at the 1906 election. From the first election, Labour held the balance of power, giving support to Protectionist Party legislation in exchange for concessions to enact the Labour Party policy platform.
Watson's term as Prime Minister was brief – only four months, between 27 April and 18 August 1904. The Watson Government did pass a handful of bills, but more importantly it set a Labour Party Prime Minister precedent. He resigned as Labour leader in 1907 and from Parliament in 1910. Labour led by Andrew Fisher would go on to win the 1910 election with over 50 percent of the primary vote, representing a number of firsts: it was Australia's first elected federal majority government; Australia's first elected Senate majority; the world's first Labour Party majority government at a national level; after the 1904 Watson minority government the world's second Labour Party government at a national level.
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