Editing Andrew Fisher (section)

==Prime Ministership==

===First term (1908–1909)===
[[File:Andrew Fisher 1908.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Fisher in 1908]]
Fisher formed his only [[minority government]] and the [[First Fisher Ministry]]. The government passed the [[Seat of Government Act 1908]], providing for the new federal capital to be in the [[Yass, New South Wales|Yass]]-[[Canberra]] area, passed the Manufacturers' Encouragement Act to provide bounties for iron and steel manufacturers who paid fair and reasonable wages,<ref name=adb/> ordered three [[torpedo boat]] [[destroyers]], and assumed local naval defence responsibility and placed the [[Australian Navy]] at the disposal of the [[Royal Navy]] in wartime.

Fisher committed Labour to amending the Constitution to give the Commonwealth power over [[Labour (economics)|labour]], wages and prices, to expanding the navy and providing compulsory [[military training]] for youths, to extending [[pension]]s, to a [[land tax]], to the construction of a [[Transcontinental railroad|transcontinental railway]], to the replacement of [[pound sterling]] with [[Australian currency]] and to [[tariff]]s to protect the sugar industry.<ref name=apmio>{{cite web  | title =Andrew Fisher, In office | work =Australia's Prime Ministers | publisher =National Archives of Australia | url =http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fisher/in-office.aspx | access-date = 9 February 2010 }}</ref>  In May 1909, the more conservative Protectionists and Freetraders merged to form the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]], while the more liberal Protectionists joined Labour. With a majority of seats, the CLP led by [[Alfred Deakin]] ousted Labour from office, with Fisher failing to persuade the Governor-General [[William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley|Lord Dudley]] to dissolve Parliament.<ref name=adb/>

===Second term (1910–1913)===
[[Image:AFisherFamily.jpg|thumb|left|A studio portrait of the prime ministerial family in 1910]]
At the [[1910 Australian federal election|1910 election]], Labour gained sixteen additional seats to hold a total of forty-two of the seventy-five House of Representatives' seats, and all eighteen Senate seats up for election to hold a total of twenty-two out of thirty-six seats. This gave Labour control of both upper and lower houses and enabled Fisher to form his [[Second Fisher Ministry]], Australia's first elected federal [[majority government]], Australia's first elected Senate majority, and the world's first [[List of Labour Parties|Labour Party]] majority government.<ref name=adb/> The 113 acts passed in the three years of the second Fisher government exceeded even the output of the second Deakin government over a similar period.<ref name=apmio/>

According to Labor MP and historian [[Denis Murphy (Australian politician)|Denis Murphy]], the second Fisher government represented "the culmination of Labor's involvement in politics", and was "a period of reform unmatched in the Commonwealth until the 1940s", under [[John Curtin]] and [[Ben Chifley]].<ref name=adb/> The Fisher government carried out many reforms in defence, finance, transport and communications, and social security, achieving the vast majority of their aims in just three years of government. These included extending old-age and disability pensions,<ref name=":0" /> introducing a [[maternity]] allowance and issuing Australia's first [[paper currency]], forming the [[Royal Australian Navy]], the start of construction of the [[Trans-Australian Railway]], expanding the bench of the [[High Court of Australia]], the founding of [[Canberra]], and the establishment of the state-owned [[Commonwealth Bank]].<ref name=apmio/> Fisher's second government also introduced uniform postal charges throughout Australia, carried out measures to break up land monopolies, put forward proposals for closer regulation of working hours, wages and employment conditions,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australianhistory.org/andrew-fisher.php |title=Andrew Fisher |publisher=Australianhistory.org |access-date=15 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114235217/http://australianhistory.org/andrew-fisher.php |archive-date=14 November 2010 |url-status=usurped  }}</ref>  and amended the 1904 Conciliation and Arbitration Act to provide greater authority for the court president, and to allow for Commonwealth employees' industrial unions, registered with the Arbitration Court.<ref name=adb/>

A land tax, aimed at breaking up big estates and give wider scope for small-scale farming, was also introduced, while coverage of the Arbitration system was extended to agricultural workers, domestics, and federal public servants. In addition, the age at which women became entitled to the old-age pension was lowered from sixty-five to sixty. The introduction of the maternity allowance was a major reform, because it enabled more births to be attended by doctors, thus leading to reductions in infant mortality rates.<ref>[[Ross McMullin]], The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991</ref> However, the maternity allowance was only available to white women, with the legislation barring "women who are Asiatic, or are aboriginal natives of Australia, Papua or the Pacific Islands" in line with the racial exclusions in the old-age pension.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Conditional Inclusion: Aborigines and Welfare Rights in Australia, 1900–47|first=John|last=Murphy|year=2013|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2013.791707|journal=Australian Historical Studies|volume=44|issue=2|page=210}}</ref> Compulsory preference to trade unionists in federal employment was also introduced,<ref>A New History of Australia edited by F.K. Crowley</ref> while the Seaman's Compensation Act of 1911<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Browse/Results/ByYearNumber/Acts/Historical/1911/0|title=ComLaw: Acts by Year / Number|work=comlaw.gov.au}}</ref> and the Navigation Act of 1912<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/1912/|title=1912 Commonwealth of Australia Numbered Acts|work=austlii.edu.au}}</ref> were enacted to improve conditions for those working at sea, together with compensatory arrangements for seamen and next of kin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freehill.com/articles/Maritime_Law-Twelve_Years_Into_the_Century.pdf |title=Maritime Law - Twelve Years Into the Century |access-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101223409/http://www.freehill.com/articles/Maritime_Law-Twelve_Years_Into_the_Century.pdf |archive-date=1 January 2015}}</ref> Eligibility for pensions was also widened. From December 1912 onwards, naturalised residents no longer had to wait three years to be eligible for a pension.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged1.htm|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040913140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/31911/20040914-0000/www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2004|title=Social Security Payments for the Aged, People with Disabilities and Carers 1909 to 2002|work=nla.gov.au}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> That same year, the value of a pensioner's home was excluded from consideration when assessing the value of their property.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged3.htm#concessions|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040913140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/31911/20040914-0000/www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged3.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2004|title=Social Security Payments for the Aged, People with Disabilities and Carers 1909 to 2002|work=nla.gov.au}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

[[File:Aussie pm Andrew Fisher cropped from naming of Canberra.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Andrew Fisher at the naming of [[Canberra]] ceremony, 1913{{efn|The Governor-General, [[Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman|Lord Denman]], is standing to the left of Fisher, while [[King O'Malley]], [[Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)|Minister for Home Affairs]], is at the far left of the photo (conversing with Lady Denman who was given the honour of pronouncing the new capital's name for the first time).}}]]
Fisher wanted additional Commonwealth power in certain areas, such as the [[nationalisation]] of [[monopolies]]. A [[1911 Australian referendum|constitutional referendum was initiated in 1911]] which aimed to increase the federal government's legislative powers over trade and commerce and over monopolies. Both questions were defeated, with around 61 per cent voting 'No'. The Fisher government made another attempt, holding a [[1913 Australian referendum|referendum in 1913]] which asked for greater federal powers over trade and commerce, corporations, industrial matters, trusts, monopolies, and railway disputes. All six questions were defeated, with around 51 per cent voting 'No'. At the [[1913 Australian federal election|1913 election]], the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]], led by [[Joseph Cook]], defeated the Labor Party by a single seat.<ref name=adb/>

===Third term (1914–1915)===
Labor retained control of the [[Australian Senate]] despite defeat. In 1914, Cook, frustrated by the Labor-controlled Senate's rejection of his legislation, recommended to the new Governor-General [[Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar|Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson]] that both houses of the parliament be dissolved and elections called.  This was Australia's first [[double dissolution]] election, and the only one until the [[1951 Australian federal election|1951 election]]. The [[First World War]] had [[July Crisis|broken out in the middle of]] the [[1914 Australian federal election|1914 election]] campaign, with both sides committing Australia to the British Empire. Fisher campaigned on Labor's record of support for an independent Australian defence force, and pledged that Australia would "stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to the last man and the last shilling". Labor won the election with another absolute majority in both houses and Fisher formed [[Third Fisher Ministry|his third government]] on 17 September 1914.<ref name=adb/><ref name="SajBoll">{{cite web |url=http://elections.uwa.edu.au/mindetail.lasso?keyvalue=10&fromlist=yes |title=Commonwealth Government of Australia beginning 17 September 1914 – period in office of Prime minister Fisher, Andrew |publisher=[[University of Western Australia]] |access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld 1 178907 Hon. Andrew Fisher and his party visit the Army camp, 1914.jpg|thumb|left|Fisher and his party visit the Army camp in 1914]]
Fisher and his party were immediately underway in organising urgent defence measures for planning and implementing Australian war effort. Fisher visited New Zealand during this time which saw [[Billy Hughes]] serve as acting prime minister for two months.  Fisher and Labor continued to implement promised peacetime legislation, including the ''River Murray Waters Act 1915'', the ''Freight Arrangements Act 1915'', the ''Sugar Purchase Act 1915'', the ''Estate Duty Assessment'' and the ''Estate Duty'' acts in 1914.  Wartime legislation in 1914 and 1915 included the ''War Precautions'' acts (giving the Governor-General power to make regulations for national security), a ''Trading with the Enemy Act'', ''War Census'' acts, a ''Crimes Act'', a ''Belgium Grant Act'', and an ''Enemy Contracts Annulment Act''.<ref name=apmio/> In December 1914, a War Pensions Act was passed to provide for the grant of Pensions upon the death or incapacity of Members of the Defence Force of the Commonwealth and Members of the Imperial Reserve Forces residents in Australia whose death or incapacity resulted from their employment in connection with warlike operations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C1914A00034|title=War Pensions Act 1914|work=comlaw.gov.au|date=21 December 1914 }}</ref>

In October 1915, journalist [[Keith Murdoch]] reported on the situation in [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli]] at Fisher's request, and advised him, "Your fears have been justified". He described the [[Dardanelles Expedition]] as being "a series of disastrous underestimations" and "one of the most terrible chapters in our history" concluding: "What I want to say to you now very seriously is that the continuous and ghastly bungling over the Dardanelles enterprise was to be expected from such a general staff as the British Army possesses ... the conceit and self complacency of the red feather men are equalled only by their incapacity."<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacArthur |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DelAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT121 |title=For King And Country: Voices from the First World War |date=2014-02-27 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-0-349-14049-0 |language=en}}</ref>[[File:AndrewFisher.jpg|thumb|upright|Fisher in 1915]]
Fisher passed this report on to Hughes and to Defence Minister [[George Pearce]], ultimately leading to the evacuation of the Australian troops in December 1915. The report was also used by the [[Dardanelles Commission]] on which Fisher served, while [[High Commission of Australia in London|High Commissioner in London]].<ref name=apmio/>

Fisher resigned as prime minister and from Parliament on 27 October 1915 after being absent from parliament without explanation for three sitting days.<ref name=apmio/> Three days later, Labor Caucus unanimously elected [[Billy Hughes]] leader of the Federal Parliamentary Party.<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Fitzhardinge |first=L. F. |year= 1983 |id=A090395b|title= Hughes, William Morris (Billy) (1862–1952) |access-date= 30 August 2007}}</ref>  Fisher's seat was narrowly won by the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]] on a 0.2% margin at the [[1915 Wide Bay by-election]].