George Reid

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under George Reid (disambiguation) .

George Reid

Sir George Houstoun Reid , GCB , GCMG (born February 25, 1845 in Johnstone , Scotland , † September 12, 1918 in London , England ) was an Australian politician and the country's 4th Prime Minister . His term of office lasted from August 18, 1904 to July 5, 1905. He was opposition leader from May 9, 1901 to August 18, 1904 and from July 7, 1905 to November 16, 1908.

Before he became Prime Minister (until August 1904)

George Reid was born the youngest of seven children to John and Marian Reid. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman. In 1852, when he was just 7 years old, his family immigrated to Melbourne , Victoria . There he went to school at Melbourne Academy , later Scotch College .

Since the economic situation of the families did not improve, his parents and their youngest three siblings, including George, moved to Sydney , New South Wales, in 1858 . There he, now 13 years old, took a job as an office worker.

At the age of 15 he joined the debating club of a university, where many social and economic issues were discussed. During this time he also met Edmund Barton , who later became Prime Minister , whom he promoted among others for joining the club.

At the age of 19 he moved to a position with the colonial financial administration of New South Wales. There he quickly rose to the position of branch manager of the tax authorities. From the beginning of the 1870s he began to qualify professionally in law . As early as 1878 he made it to the office of chief prosecutor. Up to this point in time, he had also published three papers that dealt with current political issues and received a lot of attention. On September 19, 1879 he was admitted to the bar ( barrister ) in high courts. This professional position enabled him to leave his public administration position within a year to become a candidate for the East Sydney constituency .

In November 1880 he finally moved with a mandate in the colonial parliament of New South Wales. Apart from a brief period in 1884 and 1885, he was able to maintain this mandate until the completion of the Australian Confederation in 1901.

On November 5, 1891, the now 46-year-old George Reid married the 21-year-old Florence (Flora) Ann Brumby, with whom he had three children, Thelma (1893), Douglas (1895) and Clive (1899).

Shortly after his wedding, he became party leader of the Free Trade Party (FT) and thus opposition leader in the colonial parliament of New South Wales in November . His party won a large majority in the July 1894 elections, but still needed the support of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to form the government. He was the colony's premier for the next five years . His cabinet, for example, included Joseph Cook , who in 1913 became the 6th Prime Minister of Australia. He had to give up his office in 1899 after the ALP withdrew his support.

In 1897 George Reid was knighted while in London.

George Reid was in favor of merging the Australian colonies into a federation, but his position seemed contradictory for the time being. Above all, he saw the interests of the states take precedence over those of the federal government itself. In 1898, in the run-up to a vote in New South Wales on the merger and the future Australian constitution, he announced at a meeting that he wanted to vote "Yes". At the same time, however, he made it clear why one should actually vote against the vote. When the referendum actually failed in June of that year, it was referred to as Yes-No Reid . As a result of the failed vote, George Reid was able to obtain further advantages for the future states. It has also now been agreed that the future capital will be built on the territory of what was then New South Wales. The amended draft constitution was subsequently approved by the electorate in June 1899 in a new vote.

George Reid was elected to the House of Representatives in the first general election on March 29, 1901 in the East Sydney constituency. Since the ALP under Chris Watson and the Protectionist Party (PROT) under Edmund Barton continued to show no political trust in him or the Free Trade Party , Edmund Barton was able to form the first government in Australia . So George Reid became the first opposition leader. This role was made for him because of his gripping and humorous debating style.

In the parliamentary elections in December 1903 he was able to keep the share of the vote for his Free Trade Party stable, while the Protectionist Party , now under Alfred Deakin , lost votes to the ALP . The three major parties now each had almost the same number of seats. After the Deakin government toppled six weeks later through the passage of the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill , Chris Watson was tasked with forming a government to prevent George Reid from being prime minister. But when Chris Watson stumbled upon the same bill five months later, the way was clear for George Reid as head of government.

The time as Prime Minister (August 1904 to July 1905)

George Reid formed a government with parts of the Protectionist Party . With a majority of only one vote, however, it was to be regarded as insecure from the start and so ultimately doomed to failure. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the ALP and the Protectionist Party resolved their differences. He therefore enjoyed his time in office. At least his government was able to pass the law that his two predecessors failed to pass. Finally, on July 5, 1905, George Reid was elected from office.

The time after he was Prime Minister (from July 1905)

George Reid continued his parliamentary work now again as opposition leader. His party, the Free Trade Party , was able to record an increase in votes in the December 1906 elections, but still missed its own majority .

In November 1908 he finally gave up the chairmanship of the Free Trade Party to enable the party to merge with the Protectionist Party to form the Commonwealth Liberal Party under Alfred Deakin. This merger took place at the beginning of the following year.

Prime Minister Alfred Deakin asked him to go to London in December 1909 as Australia's first High Commissioner . George Reid was happy to fulfill this call . On December 24, 1909, he gave up his parliamentary seat. To his great disappointment, Prime Minister Andrew Fisher denied him a second term as high commissioner. Immediately after leaving this office, George Reid was able to move into the English House of Commons on January 10, 1916 as a non-party member of parliament.

He died unexpectedly on September 12, 1918 at the age of 73 in London.

The Reid Glacier in Antarctica is named after him .

Web links

Commons : George Houstoun Reid  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (English)