Who was Edmund Barton?
Barton, born in Sydney in 1849, trained as a barrister and entered the New South Wales parliament, where he rose to be Speaker. He was one of the main voices for uniting the colonies, and he helped write the Constitution of the new Commonwealth. On 1 January 1901 he became the first prime minister, and he stayed on after the first election by working with the Labor Party. In 1903 he left politics to become one of the first three judges of the High Court of Australia. He sat there until he died in 1920.
Political views
- He summed up federation as one nation for a whole continent.Source: en.wikipedia.org
- He called himself a protectionist and said that free trade was not workable for the new Commonwealth.Source: moadoph.gov.au
- His tariff plan was mild: it would earn money for the government and leave existing industries and jobs standing.Source: moadoph.gov.au
- He argued that direct taxation should stay with the states and not pass to the Commonwealth.Source: moadoph.gov.au
- He saw the High Court as the main protector of citizens' rights, and he planned old-age pensions.Source: moadoph.gov.au
- He steered the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 through parliament, which became the legal base of White Australia.Source: legislation.gov.au
- He told parliament that races were not equal and that non-white peoples were inferior.Source: en.wikipedia.org
- He took it for granted that Australian foreign policy was a matter for the British Empire.Source: en.wikipedia.org
Legacy
Barton is remembered as a founder of the Australian nation. Admirers credit him with guiding federation through the conventions and referendums, and with creating the High Court, the armed forces and a national civil service. His government gave women the federal vote in 1902. Critics stress that it also built the legal base of White Australia, a policy that limited non-European migration until it was taken apart from the 1960s. It also passed a law under which about 7,500 Pacific Islanders were sent home. His own remarks on racial inequality are now often quoted as proof of the racism built into the new country.
In their own words
“I am a Protectionist, and so are nearly all my colleagues.”