Reid-McLean government

The Watson Administration: in back (from left) Fisher, Dawson, McGregor, Mahon; front (from left) Higgins, Watson, Lord Northcote, Hughes, Batchelor

The Reid-McLean government was the fourth government of Australia . It was in office from August 18, 1904 to July 5, 1905. It was the first Australian government under the leadership of the Free Trade Party .

Your previous government, a minority government of the Australian Labor Party under Prime Minister Chris Watson and supported by the Protectionist Party , failed, like the Deakin I government , in the dispute over the details of the conciliation and arbitration bill . George Reid , leader of the Free Trade Party, became the new Prime Minister of a coalition of the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party. Alfred Deakin , the leader of the Protectionists, supported the government but refused to join the cabinet. The issue of government support split the Protectionists, about half of whom support the Labor opposition, leaving the government with a majority of one vote in the House of Representatives . In June 1905 Deakin withdrew his support from the government and formed a new government, tolerated by the Labor Party.

List of ministers

Office	minister	Political party	Term of office	image
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister	George Reid	Free Trade Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Minister for Trade and Customs	Allan McLean	Protectionist Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Attorney General	Josiah Symon	Free Trade Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Treasury minister	George Turner	Protectionist Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Interior minister	Dugald Thomson	Free Trade Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Defense Minister	James Whiteside McCay	Protectionist Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Postmaster General	Sydney Smith	Free Trade Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905
Vice President of the Executive Council	James Drake	Protectionist Party	August 18, 1904 - July 5, 1905

Web links

• Parliamentary Handbook for the 45th Parliament. (PDF; 13.4 MB) Part 6: Historical information on the Australian Parliament - Ministries and Cabinets. Parliament of Australia, p. 520 , accessed April 14, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bede Nairn: Watson, John Christian (Chris) (1867-1941) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 12. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1990, ISBN 0-522-84437-5 (English).
2. ^ R. Norris: Deakin, Alfred (1856-1919) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 8. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1981, ISBN 0-522-84219-4 (English).
3. ^ WG McMinn: Reid, Sir George Houstoun (1845-1918) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 11. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1988, ISBN 0-522-84380-8 (English).