Editing Alfred Deakin (section)

==Early political career==
[[File:Deakin caricature 1886.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Caricature of Deakin in 1886]]
Deakin stood for the largely rural seat of [[Electoral district of West Bourke|West Bourke]] in the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]] in February 1879, as a supporter of [[Victorian Legislative Council]] reform, protection to encourage manufacturing and the introduction of a land tax to break up the big agricultural estates, and won by 79 votes. Due to a number of voters being disenfranchised by a shortage of voting papers, he used his maiden speech to announce his resignation; he lost the subsequent by-election by 15 votes, narrowly lost the seat in the February 1880 general election, but won it in yet another early general election in July 1880.<ref name=vbio>{{cite re-member |num2=231 |name=Alfred Deakin |access-date=8 February 2019}}</ref> The radical premier, [[Graham Berry]], offered him the position of [[Attorney-General of Victoria]] in August, but Deakin turned him down.<ref name=dab/><ref name=adb/>

During the 1880s, Deakin became involved in a number of organisations relating to public affairs, including the [[National Anti-Sweating League]].<ref name="adb" />

In 1882, Deakin married [[Pattie Deakin|Elizabeth Martha Anne ("Pattie") Browne]], daughter of a well-known spiritualist. They lived with Deakin's parents until 1887, when they moved to "Llanarth", in Walsh Street, South Yarra. They had three daughters, [[Ivy Brookes|Ivy]] (b. 1883), Stella (b. 1886), and [[Vera Deakin|Vera]] (b. 1891).<ref name=apmb>{{cite web |title=Alfred Deakin, before |publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]] |work=Australia's Prime Ministers |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/deakin/before-office.aspx |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-date=29 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229060212/http://www.primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/deakin/before-office.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Deakin became Commissioner for Public Works and [[Minister for Water (Victoria)|Water Supply]] in 1883, and the following year became [[Solicitor-General of Victoria|Solicitor-General]] and [[Minister of Public Works (Victoria)|Minister of Public Works]].<ref name="gazette 1883 2569">{{Gazette VIC |year=1883 |page=2569 |title=Appointment Solicitor-General Alfred Deakin MLA |date=12 March 1883}}</ref> In 1885 Deakin secured the passage of the colony's pioneering Factories and Shops Act, enforcing regulation of employment conditions and hours of work.<ref name=apmb/> In December 1884 he went to the United States to investigate irrigation, and presented a report in June 1885, ''Irrigation in Western America''. [[Percival Serle]] described this report as "a remarkable piece of accurate observation, and was immediately reprinted by the United States government".<ref name=dab/> In June 1886, he introduced legislation to nationalise water rights and provide state aid for irrigation works that helped establish [[irrigation in Australia]].<ref name=adb/>

In 1885, Deakin became Chief Secretary and Commissioner for [[Minister for Water (Victoria)|Water Supply]] and from 1890 [[Minister for Health (Victoria)|Minister for Health]] and, briefly, Solicitor-General.<ref name="gazette 1890 3537">{{Gazette VIC |year=1890 |page=3537 |title=Appointment Solicitor-General Alfred Deakin MLA |date=1 September 1890}}</ref> In 1887 he led Victoria's delegation to the [[First Colonial Conference|Imperial Conference in London]], where he argued forcibly for reduced colonial payments for the defence provided by the [[Royal Navy|British Navy]] and for improved consultation concerning the [[New Hebrides]]. In 1889, he became the member for the Melbourne seat of [[electoral district of Essendon and Flemington|Essendon and Flemington]].<ref name=dab/><ref name=vbio /><ref name=apmb/>

The government was brought down in 1890, over its use of the militia to protect non-union labour during the [[1890 Australian maritime dispute|maritime strike]]. In addition, Deakin lost his fortune and his father's fortune in the property crash of 1893, and had to return to the bar to restore his finances. In 1892, he unsuccessfully defended the mass murderer [[Frederick Bailey Deeming]] and assisted the defence in the 1893–94 libel trial of [[David Syme]].<ref name=dab/><ref name=adb/>

===Road to Federation===
[[File:Alfred Deakin.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Alfred Deakin in 1898]]
After 1890, Deakin refused all offers of cabinet posts and devoted his attention to the movement for federation. He was Victoria's delegate to the Australasian Federal Conference, convened by Sir [[Henry Parkes]] in Melbourne in 1890, which agreed to hold an intercolonial convention to draft a federal constitution. He was a leading negotiator at the [[Constitutional Convention (Australia)|Federal Conventions of 1891]], which produced a draft constitution that contained much of the [[Constitution of Australia]], as finally enacted in 1900. Deakin was also a delegate to the second Australasian Federal Convention, which opened in Adelaide in March 1897 and concluded in Melbourne in January 1898. He was somewhat out of sympathy with the tendency of the convention, and sided with the majority in only 55 percent of divisions; fewer occasions than all but five delegates.<ref>William Coleman,''Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889–1914'', Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p. 306.</ref> He supported wide taxation powers for the federal government, successfully opposed conservative plans for the indirect election of senators, and attempted to weaken the powers of the [[Australian Senate|Senate]], in particular seeking to prevent it from being able to defeat money bills.<ref name=adb/><ref name=apmb/> He had told the National Australasian Convention of 1891 'To introduce an American Senate into a British constitution is to destroy both'.<ref>William Coleman,''Their Fiery Cross of Union. A Retelling of the Creation of the Australian Federation, 1889–1914'', Connor Court, Queensland, 2021, p. 165.</ref> Deakin often had to reconcile differences and find ways out of apparently impossible difficulties. Between and after these meetings, he travelled through the country addressing public meetings and he was partly responsible for the large majority in Victoria at each referendum.<ref name=dab/>

In 1900 Deakin travelled to London with Edmund Barton and Charles Kingston to oversee the passage of the federation bill through the Imperial Parliament, and took part in the negotiations with [[Joseph Chamberlain]], the Colonial Secretary, who insisted on the right of appeal from the [[High Court of Australia]] to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|Privy Council]]. Eventually a compromise was reached, under which constitutional (''[[inter se]]'') matters could be finalised in the High Court, but other matters could be appealed to the Privy Council.<ref name=adb/>

Deakin defined himself as an "independent Australian Briton", favouring a self-governing Australia but loyal to the [[British Empire]]. He certainly did not see federation as marking Australia's independence from Britain. On the contrary, Deakin was a supporter of closer empire unity, serving as president of the Victorian branch of the [[Imperial Federation]] League, a cause he believed to be a stepping stone to a more spiritual world unity.

=== Attorney-General ===
[[File:EBarton2.jpg|thumb|right|Photo in 1898 of the future 1st Prime Minister of Australia [[Edmund Barton]] and 2nd Prime Minister of Australia Alfred Deakin]]
[[File:ac.bartonministry.jpg|thumb|right|The first and second Prime Ministers of Australia, Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin, amongst the 1901 cabinet]]
In [[1901 Australian federal election|1901]] Deakin was elected to the first federal Parliament as MP for the [[Division of Ballaarat]],<!-- NOTE: Spelt BALLAARAT until 1977 election, do not change --> and became [[Attorney-General of Australia]] in the ministry headed by [[Edmund Barton]]. He was active, especially in drafting bills for the Public Service, arbitration and the High Court. His second reading speech on the Immigration Restriction Bill to implement the [[White Australia policy]] was notable for its blatant racism,<ref name=pard>{{Cite web  | title =Commonwealth Parliamentary Debate – The case for national racial unity
  | publisher =[[National Archives of Australia]]  | work=Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates House of Representatives, 12 September 1901, Vol. 4  | url =http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/deakin_1.pdf  | access-date = 11 January 2018 }}</ref> including arguing that it was necessary to exclude the Japanese because of their good qualities, which would place them at an advantage over European Australians. His March 1902 speech in favour of the bill establishing the High Court of Australia helped overcome significant opposition to its establishment.<ref name=adb/>

Deakin attempted to resign from cabinet in April 1902, writing two letters of resignation to Barton. The primary cause was his opposition to the government's proposed 50% pay rise for MPs, but his wife had also been in poor health. He wrote to Barton that "my retirement will be a relief from a strain which has been severe at times",{{sfn|Brett|2017|p=271}} and hoped to still assist the government as a backbencher. Barton replied that his departure would "break my heart" and "wreck the ministry". He agreed to drop the proposed pay rise and Deakin agreed to continue as a minister.{{sfn|Brett|2017|p=272}}

In May 1902, Barton left the country to attend the [[coronation of Edward VII]] and [[1902 Colonial Conference]]. Deakin was [[Acting Prime Minister of Australia]] until Barton's return in October 1902.{{sfn|Brett|2017|p=272}} During this time he dealt with the resignation of Governor-General [[John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun|Lord Hopetoun]] over a salary dispute and conflict with the South Australian government over the [[external affairs power]], which was resolved in favour of the federal government.{{sfn|Brett|2017|pp=273–275}} He also secured the passage of the ''Customs Tariff 1902'', which the Senate had twice returned to the House with a series of proposed amendments. In view of the urgent need for government revenue, Deakin successfully convinced the House and his fellow ministers to accept the amendments, but in a way that avoided setting a new constitutional precedent over [[money bill]]s.{{sfn|Brett|2017|pp=275–277}}

Deakin continued his efforts to establish a federal judiciary when parliament resumed in May 1903. The government eventually passed a compromise bill, the ''[[Judiciary Act 1903]]'', which established a High Court of three judges. Concessions were made on the number of judges (three rather than five) as well as their salary and pension entitlements.{{sfn|Brett|2017|p=281}} In July 1903, Deakin was tasked with securing the passage of the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill which had been drafted by [[Charles Kingston]]. He made the [[second reading]] speech on the bill at short notice, following Kingston's surprise resignation from cabinet. He argued the bill, which would introduce a [[compulsory arbitration]] scheme for industrial disputes, would "bring both employer and employee before the bar of a tribunal which would mete out even-handed justice".{{sfn|Brett|2017|pp=282–283}} However, in early September the government unexpectedly abandoned the bill. The ALP, with the "mischievous support" of the opposition, had passed an amendment extending its provisions to state railway workers, which Deakin regarded as unconstitutional. He received much of the criticism for the decision to withdraw the bill.{{sfn|Brett|2017|pp=283–284}}