John Storey (politician)
| John Storey | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 20th Premier of New South Wales Election: 1920 |
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In office 13 April 1920 – 5 October 1921 |
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| Preceded by | William Holman |
| Succeeded by | James Dooley |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 May 1869 Huskisson, New South Wales |
| Died | 5 October 1921 (aged 52) Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
John Storey (15 May 1869 – 5 October 1921) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in Sydney. His leadership enabled the New South Wales Labor Party to recover after the split over conscription and to allow it to continue to be a left-wing pragmatist rather than a socialist party.
Storey was born at or near Huskisson, New South Wales, Australia to English immigrant parents, William John, a shipbuilder, and Elizabeth Graham. His family moved to Balmain when he was six, but his father died soon afterwards. He was educated at Darling Road Superior Public School and at night school. At fourteen he was apprenticed to boilermaking with Perdriau and West and then worked at Mort's Dock. He helped found the Balmain Cricket Club in 1897 and was a leading all-rounder for its top grade team. He was a member of the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders of New South Wales. In 1908 Storey was a founder of the Balmain District Rugby League Football Club.
Storey joined the Labor Electoral League, the precursor of the Labor Party, on its foundation in 1891 and was elected to represent Balmain North in the Legislative Assembly in 1901. Although he was an effective parliamentarian, he was beaten for election to the recreated seat of Balmain by Walter Anderson in 1904, but defeated Anderson in 1907. The McGowen Labor Government came to power in 1910, but Storey did not nominate for election to Cabinet.
In 1916 the non-parliamentary party attempted to discipline Premier William Holman, and elected a Cabinet headed by Storey 27 April. The party reversed this decision on 4 May and Storey handed back power to Holman, although legally there had never been any transfer of power. However, the split in the party widened further with the dispute over conscription and, in November, Holman, along with Prime Minister Billy Hughes, were expelled from the party. The remnants of the Labor Party were now in opposition to Holman's Nationalist Government, but Storey refused to become party leader and Ernest Durack became leader. Durack resigned in February 1917 and Storey had no choice but to accept the leadership. His good public speaking and amiability helped to reduce the scale of Labor's defeat in the 1917 election. He worked hard in 1918 and 1919 to prevent socialists taking over the party and his policy speech for the 1920 election promised child endowment and suburban rail electrification rather than socialism.
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