John Earle (politician)

John Earle

John Earle (born November 15, 1865 in Bridgewater , Tasmania , † February 6, 1932 in Kettering , Tasmania) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), who from October 20 to 27, 1909 and again between 1914 and 1916 was Prime Minister of Tasmania . He was Tasmania's first Prime Minister from the Labor Party.

Life

Earle was elected as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party on March 29, 1906 in the constituency of Waratah for the first time to a member of the House of Representatives (Tasmanian House of Assembly) , the lower house of the Tasmanian Parliament. After the dissolution of this constituency, he ran in the elections on April 30, 1909 in the Franklin constituency and represented it until his resignation on March 1, 1917 in the House of Representatives.

In June 1909 he became opposition leader and held this position until October 20, 1909. He then succeeded Prime Minister Elliott Lewis of the Conservatives on October 20, 1909 , but only held this post for a week and was replaced on October 27, 1909 by Elliott Lewis, who was now the Commonwealth Liberal that emerged from the Anti-Socialist Party Party (CLP) represented. During his one-week tenure, he also assumed the office of Attorney General and Minister for Education .

He was then again leader of the opposition in parliament from October 1909 to April 1914. In the April 30, 1912 election, Prime Minister Lewis’s Commonwealth Liberal Party got 40,252 votes (54.48 percent) and 16 seats, while Earles Labor Party received 33,634 votes (45.52 percent) and 14 seats.

In the subsequent early elections on January 23, 1913, there were no changes in the distribution of seats. The CLP, now under Prime Minister Albert Solomon , won 36,157 votes (52.58 percent) and 16 seats and the Labor Party received 31,633 votes (46 percent) and 14 seats in the 30-member House of Assembly.

After there was a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Solomon in April 1914 and the Governor of Tasmania , William Ellison-Macartney , refused to dissolve parliament again in order to hold early elections, Earle became Prime Minister for the second time on April 6, 1914 and held this office until May 15 April 1916. At the same time he was again Minister of Justice. Previously, the Commonwealth Liberal Party received 35,939 (48.23 percent) and the Labor Party 36,118 votes (48.47 percent) in the elections of March 23, 1916. However, due to the existing suffrage, the Liberals got 15 seats and Labor 14 seats while one seat went to a non-party . Thereupon Walter Lee first became Prime Minister as chairman of the party with the most seats.

Earle then acted again as opposition leader from April to November 1916, before he resigned his mandate on March 1, 1917 and was elected a member of the Australian Senate for a six-year term until 1923 .

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the Parliament of Tasmania
• Ministers - House of Assembly - 1856 to 1950