Watson Government
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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 |
| Preceded by | Alfred Deakin |
| Succeeded by | George Reid |
The Watson Government was the third federal Executive Government of the Commonwealth of Australia. It was led by Prime Minister Chris Watson of the Australian Labour Party (later renamed Australian Labor Party) from 27 April 1904 to 18 August 1904. The Watson Government was the first Labor Party national government in both Australia and in the world. Watson was aged just 37 when he became Prime Minister of Australia, and remains the youngest person to have held the post.
The Australian Federal Parliament had come into being with the Federation of Britain's Australian colonies in 1901. Edmund Barton's Protectionists held power in coalition with Labour, until Barton was succeeded by Alfred Deakin. The short-lived first Deakin Government failed to pass any legislation in the fledgling Australian Federal Parliament, and its shaky coalition with the Labour Party did not long survive the December 1903 Election. By the resumption of Parliament in March 1904, the Deakin Government had fallen, amid a dispute over a Labour Party amendment to the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill.
Under Watson, Labour had adopted a policy of support for the Barton and Deakin Governments in return for concessions. However, the response of the conservative Victorian Government to a railway strike led Federal Labour to stridently pursue inclusion of state public servants within the ambit of the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, which Deakin was reluctant to accept. Labour made gains at the 1903 Election, and when Deakin sought to reintroduce his Bill following the election, the Labour amendment was again carried, leading Deakin to resign.
John Christian (Chris) Watson (1867–1941) was a trade unionist, company director, and politician who led Australia's—and the world's—first Labor national government.
Watson left school aged ten, worked as an assistant railway construction worker, farm hand, stable hand and compositor before becoming heavily involved in trade union politics. He was elected to the Trades and Labour Council in 1890, and the following year became involved with the newly formed Labor Party, entering the NSW Parliament as a Labour MP in 1894. He was active in arguing the Labour case for Federation, and joined Labor's opposition to the Australian Constitution put to referendum in the 1890s, though accepted the majority vote once obtained.
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