BILLY HUGHES

Party

Hughes once attacked Deakin in 1909 saying ‘in his hands, at various times, have rested the banners of every party in the country. He has proclaimed them all, he has held them all, and he has betrayed them all.’

This statement could equally have applied to Hughes. After losing the conscription referendum on 28 October 1916 the Labor Party split, with 24 members  siding with Hughes. Hughes formed a government consisting of his own breakaway followers supported by the opposition Liberal Party.

By February 1917 a formal merger was concluded and the new Nationalist Party created. Hughes won the 1917 election comfortably and, in November of that year, launched a second conscription referendum. Hughes resigned on 8 January 1918 after the second referendum was lost.

Hughes was sworn in again the next day when no viable alternative emerged. Hughes continued to retain command of the hybrid Nationalist Party, despite reservations, due to the desire for a ‘win-the-war’ alliance and to keep Labor from office. Hughes lost his majority at the 1922 election with the Country Party holding the balance of power. They refused to accept Hughes as leader, and he was forced to resign on 2 February 1923.    

Partnerships

Hughes usually had a pet project related to technological advancement in the pipeline. He proposed that Australia should manufacture its own aircraft and, linked to his other enduring interest in defence, argued a strong aviation industry was needed to ensure Australia would not be cut off from supplies in any emergency.

Hughes told Parliament, ‘I am – if honourable members care to say so – a fanatic in my belief in aviation.’ The Premiers’ Conference held in May 1920 agreed the federal government should  have the authority to control aviation, resulting in the establishment of the Department of Aviation to regulate air safety and navigation and build an air mail service.

At the Imperial Conference in 1921, Hughes pitched for the creation of a fortnightly Anglo-Australian airship service where ‘the country which is brought within ten days of the United Kingdom assumes altogether a new aspect in the eyes of the intending settler.’

Despite Hughes enlisting the support of aviators Ross and Keith Smith, the scheme was short-lived, with the British government announcing the scrapping of the airships under commission and the disbanding of the crews in March 1922.  

People

While visiting Australian troops in France in September 1918, Hughes was swamped with complaints from the troops regarding Army regulations.

He gave the soldiers his personal assurance that if they had a just grievance they could write to him. This interference was resented by Australian Imperial Force headquarters who referred to the offer as ‘The Billy Hughes Stunt’. It was reported that some 20,000 letters were received.

Percy Deane, private secretary to Hughes, and himself a discharged soldier, recalled Hughes personally responded to as much of the correspondence as possible. Some reflected typical Australian larrikinism, ‘Dear Mr Hughes – Do you see any chance of the war ending? If not for God’s sake send us a cook. The present cook is an undertaker by trade.’

There was also the request from a soldier in the 19th Battalion for Hughes to intervene over his field punishment and fine because he had refused to carry out an order to assist with the crucifixion of a prisoner of war. After Hughes died, an empty chair with a slouch hat and rosemary continued to be placed near the Sydney Cenotaph where he stood for 20 years watching Anzac Day marches.  

Publications

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

Geoffrey Bolton, William Morris Hughes, 27 October 1915 – 9 February 1923, in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland Publishers, Sydney, 2000 

Carl Bridge, William Hughes: Australia, Haus Publishing Ltd, London, 2011

L.F. Fitzhardinge, The Little Digger 1914 – 1952: William Morris Hughes A Political Biography Volume II, Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney, 1979

Donald Horne, Billy Hughes Prime Minister of Australia 1915 – 1923, Black Inc., Sydney, 2000

Aneurin Hughes, Billy Hughes: Prime Minister and Controversial Founding Father of the Australian Labor Party, John Wiley & Sons, Sydney, 2005

The Townsville Daily Bulletin, Where ‘Billy’ Stood, 27 April, 1953

The Sun, Diggers Troubles, 8 July, 1919

The Age, Airships for Australia, 10 October, 1921

The Hobart Mercury, The Imperial Airship Service, 1 November, 1922