The Australian Labor Party Federal Caucus is 100 years old today.
At the first federal elections held on March 28 and 29, 1901, fourteen members of the Labor Party were elected to the House of Representatives and eight to the Senate. Another two members of the House joined the Labor Party before the parliament met for the first time on May 9, 1901.
According to the official minutes, “a preliminary meeting of member of the Federal Parliament favourable to the formation of a Commonwealth Labour Party was held at Parliament House on Tuesday the 7th May 1901.”
This meeting fixed the following day as the first official meeting of the Labour Caucus.
The first Caucus meeting was attended by:
House of Representatives
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Senate
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A motion by Mr. McDonald, “That we form ourselves into a Federal Labour Party”, was seconded by Mr. Ronald and carried.
The minutes then record:
“Mr. Thomas moved that the members of each House select one man to speak for the party temporarily. Seconded by Mr. Fisher and carried.
Mr. McGregor was chosen to represent the party in the Senate, and Mr. Watson in the House of Representatives.”
The meeting then moved to support various candidates for parliamentary positions such as Speaker. A committee was also established to draft a Party constitution and rules of debate.
Thus was the Australian Labor Party born. It is the only party to have existed continuously in the Federal Parliament since 1901.
The Caucus and the Party have split on three famous occasions:
- 1917 – Conscription
- 1931 – Economic Policy
- 1955 – Communism
Since 1901 the Labor Caucus has achieved government for a total period of 32 years, 6 months, 12 days.
| Federal Labor Prime Ministers 1901-2001 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Prime Minister | Dates | Length |
| John Christian Watson | 27 April 1904 – 17 August 1904 | 3 months, 21 days | |
| Andrew Fisher | 13 Nov 1908 – 2 June 1909 29 April 1910 – 24 June 1913 17 Sept 1914 – 27 Oct 1915 |
4 years, 9 months, 28 days | |
| William Morris Hughes | 27 Oct 1915 – 14 Nov 1916 | 1 year, 18 days | |
| James Scullin | 22 Oct 1929 – 6 Jan 1932 | 2 years, 2 months, 16 days | |
| John Curtin | 7 Oct 1941 – 5 July 1945 | 3 years, 8 months, 29 days | |
| Frank Forde | 6 July 1945 – 13 July 1945 | 8 days | |
| Ben Chifley | 13 July 1945 – 19 Dec 1949 | 4 years, 5 months, 7 days | |
| Gough Whitlam | 5 Dec 1972 – 11 Nov 1975 | 2 years, 11 months, 7 days | |
| Bob Hawke | 11 Mar 1983 – 20 Dec 1991 | 8 years, 9 months, 9 days | |
| Paul Keating | 20 Dec 1991 – 11 Mar 1996 | 4 years, 2 months, 20 days | |
| Kevin Rudd | 03 Dec 2007 – 24 Jun 2007 27 Jun 2013 – 18 Sep 2013 |
2 years, 6 months, 21 days 2 months, 22 days |
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| Julia Gillard | 24 Jun 2010 – 27 Jun 2013 | 3 years, 3 days | |
Sources: Caucus Minutes 1901-1949, Volume 1, ed. Patrick Weller, (MUP 1975)
