Walter Lee

Sir Walter Lee

Sir Walter Henry Lee KCMG (born April 27, 1874 in Longford , Tasmania , † June 1, 1963 in Westbury , Tasmania) was a politician of the Anti Socialist Party (ASP), the Commonwealth Liberal Party (CLP), the Nationalist Party of Australia and most recently the Liberal Party of Australia , which was Prime Minister of Tasmania between 1916 and 1922 and briefly in 1923 and 1934 .

Life

MP and opposition leader

Lee was elected for the first time on April 30, 1909 as a candidate for the Anti Socialist Party in the Wilmot constituency as a member of the House of Representatives (Tasmanian House of Assembly) , the lower house of the Tasmanian parliament, and was a member of this until his resignation on November 23, 1946. In September 1915 he became opposition leader of the Commonwealth Liberal Party, which emerged from the ASP, and as such was the CLP's top candidate in the parliamentary elections on March 23, 1916.

In this election, the CLP won 35,939 votes (48.23 percent) and thus had 15 seats in the 30-member parliament, while the Australian Labor Party under the previous Prime Minister John Earle received 36,118 votes (48.47 percent), but because of the Electoral system could only provide 14 seats. A mandate fell to the independent MP Joshua Whitsitt , who was later a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1922 to 1925 , where he represented the constituency of Darwin .

Prime Minister 1916 to 1922

Lee then became the first Prime Minister of Tasmania on April 15, 1916 as the leader of the largest faction and held that office for more than six years until August 12, 1922.

At the same time, he took over the office of Minister for Education in his cabinet on April 15, 1916 . At the same time he also acted as chief secretary of the cabinet from April 15, 1916 to March 31, 1922.

In the parliamentary elections on May 31, 1919, he stood as prime minister and top candidate of the Nationalist Party of Australia, which emerged from the CLP, which achieved 37,677 votes (55.20 percent) and had an absolute majority in the House of Representatives with 16 seats. The Labor Party, which had been under the leadership of Joseph Lyons since November 1916, received 28,286 votes (41.44 percent) and only received 13 seats.

For his many years of service, Lee was initially beaten to a Knight Bachelor degree in 1920 and from then on carried the suffix "Sir". In 1922 he was also Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George .

As part of a cabinet reshuffle on April 1, 1922, he also took over the office of Minister of Finance (Treasurer) and held this position until October 25, 1923.

General election 1922, resignation and Prime Minister 1923

In the parliamentary elections of June 10, 1922 there was a massive loss of votes on the part of Lee's Nationalist Party of 14.25 percentage points, so that she got only twelve of the 30 seats in the House of Assembly with 27,816 votes (40.96 percent). However, the Lyons Labor Party also lost 4.7 percentage points and also received twelve seats with 24,956 votes (36.74 percent). The actual election winner and, due to the stalemate, tipped the scales was the Country Party of Australia , newly founded in 1920 , which, with its top candidate Ernest Blyth, received 9,498 votes (13.98 percent) from the stand and had five MPs.

Despite surviving a vote of no confidence , Lee resigned on August 12, 1922. Blyth then organized a meeting between the Nationalist Party and the Country Party, which led to the fact that John Hayes of the Nationalist Party was new Prime Minister on August 12, 1922 and together with the Country Party formed the first coalition government of Tasmania. In his cabinet, Lee served as finance and education minister and minister for railways (Minister for Railways) .

After a year in office, Hayes resigned as Prime Minister on August 14, 1923 to take a vacant seat in the Senate. Lee then became Prime Minister for the second time and continued to serve as Finance Minister and Minister for Railways in his cabinet.

He retained these offices until his replacement by Joseph Lyons on October 25, 1923, after a vote of no confidence initiated by the Labor Party against Lee had been successful shortly before.

Founding of the Liberal Party (Lee) and elections in 1925 and 1928

After Lee subsequently resigned from the Nationalist Party, he initially remained as a non-party in the House of Assembly. In the parliamentary election of June 3, 1925, he entered with his own party, the Liberal Party (Lee), and immediately became the third strongest force. In this election, the Labor Party under Prime Minister Lyons received 36,631 votes (48.47 percent) and had an absolute majority with 16 seats after a gain of 11.73 percentage points. The Nationalist Party, which was now led by Edward Hobbs , lost 11.93 percentage points and had only seven members of parliament with 21,932 votes (29.02 percent). Lee's Liberals came from a standstill to 7,815 votes and thus had four MPs in the 30-member House of Representatives.

In the general election of May 30, 1928, the candidates of the Liberal Party Lees switched back to the John McPhee- led Nationalist Party, which received 37,432 votes (42.2 percent) and had 15 MPs. The Labor Party of Prime Minister Lyons won 41,829 votes (47.15 percent), but only had 14 MPs due to the existing electoral law. Thereupon McPhee succeeded Lyons as Prime Minister on June 15, 1928.

In his cabinet Lee became Minister for Agriculture on June 15, 1928 and held this ministerial office until March 23, 1932. At the same time he was Minister for Settlement and Soldier Settlement from June 15, 1928 to March 15, 1934 (Minister for Closer and Soldier Settlement) and at the same time also Minister for Lands and Works .

Prime Minister 1934

After Prime Minister McPhee resigned on March 14, 1934 for health reasons, Lee was his successor on March 15, 1934 and thus took over the office of Prime Minister of Tasmania for the third time. In his cabinet he again took over the office of Minister of Finance and also acted as Minister for the Administration of the Agricultural Bank (Minister administering the Agricultural Bank) and as Minister for the Administration of the Hydro-Electric Department .

In the elections that followed on June 9, 1934, the Nationalist Party under Lee achieved 54,549 votes (46.72 percent) and thus lost 9.68 percentage points, so that they could only have 13 instead of 19 members. The Labor Party now received 53,454 votes (45.78 percent) and thus gained 10.85 percentage points, so that it was now able to provide 14 members due to the existing electoral law. Three mandates accounted for independents , of which George Carruthers supported the Labor Party. This made Ogilvie the new Prime Minister of the state on June 22, 1934.

Lee took over the position of opposition leader again after the election defeat and held this until his replacement by Henry Baker in July 1936. He then remained a member of the House of Assembly, before he was on November 23, 1946 after more than 37 years in parliament Resigned.

Web links

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