Hugh Mahon

Hugh Mahon

Hugh Mahon (born January 6, 1857 in Killurin , Ireland , † August 28, 1931 in Melbourne ) was an Australian politician and, among other things, foreign minister of the country.

Early life

Mahon was born in Killurin, Ireland, and emigrated with his family to the United States in 1867 , where he learned to print. He returned to Ireland in 1880 and was imprisoned with members of the Irish National Land League in 1881 , but released because of his poor health. In 1882 he emigrated to Australia to avoid further arrest. He worked for various newspapers in Goulburn and Sydney before buying a newspaper in Gosford . In 1888 he married Mary Alice L'Estrange and immediately sold his newspaper because he wanted to follow her to her hometown of Melbourne . In 1895 he and his wife moved to Coolgardie in Western Australia .

Political career

The first attempt at the seat for the constituency Coolgardie failed in 1897. In the first federal election in 1901, however, he was able to win him for the Australian Labor Party . He was what Postmaster General in the government of Chris Watson in 1904 and Secretary of the Interior in the tenure of Andrew Fisher 1908-09. After the dissolution of his constituency Coolgardie, Mahon failed in 1913 in the election for a seat in Dampier. After the death of Charles Frazer , Mahon received the seat for the Kalgoorlie district unopposed on December 22, 1913. From December 1914 until the failure of the Labor government in 1916, he was the foreign minister of Australia.

After another election defeat and the loss of his seat in 1917, he was able to win it back in 1919. Mahon attacked the British government following the death of Irish nationalist Terence MacSwiney , who went on hunger strike in Ireland because of the British government. At a public meeting in Melbourne on November 7, 1919, there was a scandal. Acting Prime Minister Billy Hughes expelled him from his government and on November 12th he was also expelled from the Australian House of Representatives for his "disloyal behavior" to the government. He was the only MP in Australian history ever to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (It has not been possible since 1987). In the December 18 elections, with 48.64% of the vote in the race with his opponent, he narrowly missed the return to his seat in government.

After traveling to Europe and Ireland, Mahon died in Melbourne in 1931, leaving behind his wife and four children.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} H. J. Gibbney: Mahon, Hugh ( 1857-1931 ) . In: Australian Dictionary of Biography . Australian National University. Retrieved August 12, 2007.
2. ^ Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia (29th ed) . Commonwealth of Australia, 2002, p. 436, ISSN 0813-541X.
3. ^ Australian Electoral Office : Commonwealth By-elections 1901-1982 . Commonwealth of Australia, 1983, pp. 31, 182, ISBN 0-644-02369-4 .