ALFRED DEAKIN

Party

Deakin’s ability to serve three terms as prime minister, against a backdrop of fluid party alliances, illustrated his skill as a political strategist and powerbroker.

From the 1903 election until Deakin negotiated ‘fusion’ between his Liberal Protectionist Party  and the Liberal Free Trade Party in 1909 there had been what Deakin described as the equivalent of ‘three elevens’ on a cricket field.

All three parties, Liberal Protectionist, Liberal Free Trade and Labour had near equal numbers and could not form a workable majority without creating an alliance.

Throughout this period, Deakin governed with the support of Labour. This was not without tension, Treasurer Sir John Forrest resigned in 1907 after advocating a break with Labour. Deakin’s numbers were dwindling and in 1908 he lost office after Labour leader Andrew Fisher withdrew his support.

In response to the growing strength of Labour, Deakin negotiated a ‘Fusion’ with the Liberal Free Traders in 1909, providing him with the numbers to assume office for the final time.

Deakin acknowledged the irony of the situation saying, ‘behind me sit the whole of my opponents since Federation’. His political opportunism was not well understood by many colleagues and the electorate contributing to his defeat at the 1910 election.  

Partnerships

In May 1908 Deakin secured the approval of Parliament for the creation of the Australian Men of Letters Fund, later renamed The Commonwealth Literary Fund.

The scheme provided modest pensions for aged or infirm authors, authors unable to continue working for financial reasons and support for the families of writers who had died in poverty. Deakin was a passionate and voracious reader, he reflected that ‘measuring happiness by quantity, its fullest source for me has come from books.’

He consumed on average 96 books a year, a rate of nearly two per week throughout his public life. His personal library at the time of his death consisted of 1500 books on subjects such as history, philosophy, biography, health, agriculture, poetry, literature and literary criticism.

As a younger man, Deakin wrote poetry, dramas and prayers and, after meeting the proprietor of The Age newspaper in May 1878, began to write political editorials. Remarkably, as Deakin was about to become a minister, he accepted an offer to become the Sydney political correspondent for the London Morning Post newspaper.

He continued as an anonymous correspondent for 13 years and, on occasion, was critical of himself as prime minister.        

People

Deakin was a persuasive orator, described as being ‘silver-tongued’ and vividly reported in The Australian as someone who ‘can throw a halo of attraction around the orifice of Hades.’

Deakin needed to draw upon all his considerable skills as an orator in addressing a hostile crowd in Brunswick on 4 April 1910, towards the end of the federal election campaign. A large part of the crowd felt betrayed by Deakin because he had entered into an alliance with his former political enemies the Liberal Free Trade Party.

The address to an audience of 6000 people, was held in what was described as ‘a large iron building, barn-like, rough, dimly lit – a nail factory once…’  Deakin, attempting to address the crowd, was greeted with shouts of ‘Judas, Australia’s traitor and loafer’ along with counting from one to ten that concluded with a cry of ‘out’.

This was followed by a refrain of ‘We’ll hang old Deakin on a sour apple tree.’ Deakin was reported as ‘smiling and self-contained’ and, with a voice pushed to its limit said, ‘the decent electors of Australia would assess such conduct as was being witnessed that evening at its true value, and would express their opinion of it at the ballot box.’  

Publications

Norman Abjorensen, The Manner Of Their Going: Prime Ministerial Exits from Lyne to Abbott, Australian Scholarly Publishing, North Melbourne, 2015

Al Gabay, The Mystic Life of Alfred Deakin, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1992

J.A. La Nauze, Alfred Deakin: A Biography, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1979 

Stuart Macintyre, Alfred Deakin, 24 September 1903 – 27 April 1904. 5 July 1905 – 13 November 1908, 2 June 1909 – 29 April 1910 in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland Publishers, Sydney, 2000 

Walter Murdoch, Alfred Deakin: Prime Minister of Australia, Bookman Press, Melbourne, 1999

R. Norris, Deakin, Alfred (1849-1920) Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1988

John Rickard, A Family Romance: The Deakins at Home, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1996

The Age, Furious meeting at Brunswick – Prime Minister howled down – Bitter feeling and wild talk, 4 April, 1910

The Argus, Rowdyism at Brunswick – Prime Minister’s reception – ‘The Bear Cage’, 4 April, 1910

The Australian, Alfred Deakin. Orator and Statesman, 27 November, 1907