3rd PRIME MINISTER

27 APR 1904 - 17 AUG 1904

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‘Solidarity' is now the war-cry of Polish trade unionists but in 1894 it was a bone of contention between Labor aspirants to Australian parliaments. They argued whether a caucus outside Parliament, consisting largely of union leaders, should have the right to direct Labor's votes in Parliament. At least one man rejected the idea so determinedly that he left the Labor Party.

But Chris Watson was one of the majority who signed the pledge of Solidarity, believing: "If we don't hang together we'll hang separately' " Solidarity, then unique to Australia, was to buttress a powerful new force on the political scene.

Watson, son of a Scottish seaman who emigrated to New Zealand, was born while the immigrant family was en route. After primary education, enhanced by his mother's tuition, he became a 13-year-old compositor's apprentice on the North Otago Times. In 1886, as a skilled tradesman of 19, he crossed the Tasman in search of wider opportunities.

By 1894 he had the classic qualities and background of a Labor politician of that era. He was a shrewd, stubborn man with no more than basic education but high intelligence. He had hands-on experience on the shop floor and a reputation as a union activist. The Typographical Union appointed him delegate to the Sydney Trades and Labour Council. In 1894, he was Council President during the debates which established Solidarity as a Labor principle.

Capital-labour relationships were then like a rumbling volcano throughout the Western world. In Australia, the volcano had already erupted in the great but unsuccessful strikes of 1888-95 which colonial governments countered with a display of armed force. The battle lines were clearly drawn. Employers said they had the right to dictate conditions of employment. Workers replied that these conditions forced them into degrading poverty. In 1890, Labor decided to fight capitalism on the floors of Australian parliaments. The Labor parties of Queensland and New South Wales were only the third and fourth in the world, after Norway and Sweden, but they were quickly successful. In 1891, the NSW party won 37 of 141 seats in the Colonial Parliament and held the balance of power between the Free Trade and Protectionist parties.

In 1894, at the age of 27, Watson was elected as a Labor member. He soon proved an incisive speaker and shrewd tactician. A year later, he became President of the NSW Council of the Australian Labor Federation and of the General Council of the ALE Before he was 30, Labor men saw him as the personality who would lead them into the future.

He won the seat of Bland in the first election for the Commonwealth Parliament and was elected Labor Party leader in the House of Representatives. With 14 out of 75 seats, Labor once more held the balance of power and allied itself with the Protectionists, led first by Barton and then by Deakin.

Deakin's reformist policies were much in tune with Labor thinking. He and Watson worked well together, although opponents claimed that Deakin said "Yes, Mr Watson" to all Watson's requests. But with Labor slowly gaining more power, the party decided to make its own bid for government. Labor still had only 24 members in the House of Representitives but, on 2 March 1904, it joined the Opposition to carry a hostile amendment to the controversial Conciliation and Arbitration Bill. Deakin saw this as a vote of no confidence and resigned. The Governor-General asked Watson to form a government and, at 37, he became Australia's youngest-ever Prime Minister and leader of the world's first national Labor government.

Conservatives predicted a fearsome future in the hands of the 'socialists', but Watson proved to be a moderate leader with a firm belief in the parliamentary process. Deakin said that his sound judgement, clear arguments and fairness to opponents secured the confidence of the House. In fact, as a minority government, Labor could do little without the support of opponents. When the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill suffered yet another hostile amendment, Watson resigned.

Chris Watson's term as Prime Minister was brief but he played a vital role in forging the Labor Party's place in the Commonwealth Parliament. He helped create the machinery thatenabled the party to work as a disciplined body inside Parliament and he showed Australians that Labor could govern with common sense and moderation.

Ironically, the party was to expel him when he supported conscription during that great controversy of the First World War. But capitalism found a place for him, as director of various companies and he became chairman of the National Roads and Motorists' Association of New South Wales.

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