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Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister Andrew Fisher was one of Australia's great nation-builders, yet his story is largely unknown. He left school early to work in the coalmines of Scotland, educating himself at night. In 1885, at the age of 22, he immigrated to Queensland where he found work as a miner and as a Sunday school teacher.
A staunch Presbyterian and fervent unionist, Fisher committed himself to politics and was soon elected to the Queensland parliament, then to the first federal parliament. In 1908 he became prime minister for the first of three stints in the job, serving Australia for longer than John Curtin, Ben Chifley, Gough Whitlam or Paul Keating.
As prime minister, Fisher launched a massive nation-building program, which included the establishment of a national capital, the Commonwealth Bank, old age pensions, and a transcontinental railway line. His most pressing concern was to populate and defend the new nation. To this end he famously pledged to back Britain in the Great War 'to the last man and the last shilling'—a commitment that came at the heavy cost of Gallipoli and the Western Front.
Andrew Fisher was a man who hated imperial honours, yet enjoyed the trappings of office, a leader who believed in world socialism, yet took Australians into the First World War. In this authoritative and immensely readable biography, David Day reveals the man, his politics and his remarkable legacy.
A staunch Presbyterian and fervent unionist, Fisher committed himself to politics and was soon elected to the Queensland parliament, then to the first federal parliament. In 1908 he became prime minister for the first of three stints in the job, serving Australia for longer than John Curtin, Ben Chifley, Gough Whitlam or Paul Keating.
As prime minister, Fisher launched a massive nation-building program, which included the establishment of a national capital, the Commonwealth Bank, old age pensions, and a transcontinental railway line. His most pressing concern was to populate and defend the new nation. To this end he famously pledged to back Britain in the Great War 'to the last man and the last shilling'—a commitment that came at the heavy cost of Gallipoli and the Western Front.
Andrew Fisher was a man who hated imperial honours, yet enjoyed the trappings of office, a leader who believed in world socialism, yet took Australians into the First World War. In this authoritative and immensely readable biography, David Day reveals the man, his politics and his remarkable legacy.
512 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
35 people want to read
About the author
David Day
21 books10 followersDavid Day has written widely on Australian history and the history of World War II. His biography of John Curtin won the 2000 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards Prize for History and was shortlisted for the 2000 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction, while his biography of Ben Chifley was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Award for History in 2002. David Day is currently an Honorary Associate with the History Program at La Trobe University and a visiting professor at the University of Aberdeen. He lives in Eltham, Victoria.
1986: Menzies and Churchill at War
1988: The Great Betrayal: Britain, Australia and the Onset of the Pacific War, 1939-42
1992: Reluctant Nation: Australia and the Allied Defeat of Japan, 1942-45
1992: Smugglers and Sailors: The Customs History of Australia, 1788-1901
1996: Contraband and Controversy: The Customs History of Australia from 1901
1996: Claiming a Continent: A New History of Australia
1999: John Curtin: A Life
2001: Chifley
2003: The Politics of War
2005: Conquest: A New History of the Modern World - ISBN 0732277655
2007: The Weather Watchers - ISBN 9780522852752
2008: Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia
1986: Menzies and Churchill at War
1988: The Great Betrayal: Britain, Australia and the Onset of the Pacific War, 1939-42
1992: Reluctant Nation: Australia and the Allied Defeat of Japan, 1942-45
1992: Smugglers and Sailors: The Customs History of Australia, 1788-1901
1996: Contraband and Controversy: The Customs History of Australia from 1901
1996: Claiming a Continent: A New History of Australia
1999: John Curtin: A Life
2001: Chifley
2003: The Politics of War
2005: Conquest: A New History of the Modern World - ISBN 0732277655
2007: The Weather Watchers - ISBN 9780522852752
2008: Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 19, 2019
I must admit I knew nothing of Andrew Fisher or indeed any of Australia's early Prime Ministers. I am surprised to find out how little documentation of his early life exists. I feel that the author has woven the known facts of his early life with what was historically occurring at that time in order to create a narrative. I suppose this occurs in all books on historical figures however he didnt live that long ago.
What I find remarkable is that many of the political issues that Fisher was grappling with during his time in politics are still issues to this day. Issues like :-
- our relationship with the mother country. Yes even in the 21st century this is unresolved.
- while we don't have a white Australia policy today this concept is alive thanks to Tony Abbott, Pauline Hanson, John Howard and the Coalition in general.
-We fear boat people and immigration.
-Fisher was concerned with the Japanese invasion and military planning for it. That worry still exists and has been transferred to China and Cyber crime.
-We still have endless culture wars on what it is to be Australian. This issue is more focused now on Captain Cook and how to write historical wrongs with our indigenous communities.
- Fisher was able to build a transcontinental railway way over 100 years ago. This railway system has barely changed since it was built let alone any improvements made such as bullet train believe it or not.
I came away from this book really admiring Andrew Fisher, his vision for a new nation in particular. Australia was only created as a Federation in 1901. He seemed to have achieved a lot and has been to a large extent forgotten. His achievements like voting for all (including women), creation of some limited pensions, creation of an Australian military, arbitration systems, he seemed to have valued a balanced budget and fiscal responsibility, an Australian Currency, the Commonwealth Bank, a transcontinental railway and the creation of Canberra and a sense that the colonies were one nation.
I found the book at times quite dry but that is the nature of the topic. I cannot help but wonder how much more could have been achieved if WWI had not occurred when it did and how illness caused him to retire as PM so early. On the other hand I will ignore his support and encouragement for the white Australia Policy.
If only we could have politicians in Australia who acted with the same dignity, tried to create consensus, had a clear vision for our future like Andrew Fisher seemed to have had I think Australia would be a better place. From how he was portrayed he seemed like a true gentleman and a statesman.
Finally I am not a Labor voter.
What I find remarkable is that many of the political issues that Fisher was grappling with during his time in politics are still issues to this day. Issues like :-
- our relationship with the mother country. Yes even in the 21st century this is unresolved.
- while we don't have a white Australia policy today this concept is alive thanks to Tony Abbott, Pauline Hanson, John Howard and the Coalition in general.
-We fear boat people and immigration.
-Fisher was concerned with the Japanese invasion and military planning for it. That worry still exists and has been transferred to China and Cyber crime.
-We still have endless culture wars on what it is to be Australian. This issue is more focused now on Captain Cook and how to write historical wrongs with our indigenous communities.
- Fisher was able to build a transcontinental railway way over 100 years ago. This railway system has barely changed since it was built let alone any improvements made such as bullet train believe it or not.
I came away from this book really admiring Andrew Fisher, his vision for a new nation in particular. Australia was only created as a Federation in 1901. He seemed to have achieved a lot and has been to a large extent forgotten. His achievements like voting for all (including women), creation of some limited pensions, creation of an Australian military, arbitration systems, he seemed to have valued a balanced budget and fiscal responsibility, an Australian Currency, the Commonwealth Bank, a transcontinental railway and the creation of Canberra and a sense that the colonies were one nation.
I found the book at times quite dry but that is the nature of the topic. I cannot help but wonder how much more could have been achieved if WWI had not occurred when it did and how illness caused him to retire as PM so early. On the other hand I will ignore his support and encouragement for the white Australia Policy.
If only we could have politicians in Australia who acted with the same dignity, tried to create consensus, had a clear vision for our future like Andrew Fisher seemed to have had I think Australia would be a better place. From how he was portrayed he seemed like a true gentleman and a statesman.
Finally I am not a Labor voter.
October 27, 2020
This is both a necessary and disappointing book. Necessary, as it is to date the only full-length biography of Andrew Fisher, Australia's first Labor Prime Minister and the first socialist leader in history to be elected with a majority government; and disappointing, as I felt as a reader little wiser as to the inner workings of Fisher's mind or his governments when I finished the book.
Most Australians - if they know anything at all about Fisher - will recall his famous statement that Australia would support Britain in World War One "to the last man and the last shilling" (which, I discovered in the book, was delivered in Colac, Victoria, not far from my home). The War was in many ways the undoing of Fisher and his hopes for Labor, with the necessity to provide men and treasure ham-stringing government initiatives and dividing the party.
Fisher came from a Scottish mining family, with a father who was politically active, so it's no surprise to learn that he was an active organiser in Ayrshire before he emigrated (with his brother) to Queensland. He quickly found work in the mines there, and almost as quickly began moving in socialist circles. A stint in the Queensland Parliament saw him a minister in the first Labor government in the world, Anderson Dawson's short-lived Queensland Government in 1899.
Fisher was elected to the Federal Parliament in the first Australian election in 1901, running on a platform that mainly consisted of championing White Australia. Day is quite embarrassed about this fact and tries to skim over it as much as he can during the book - he may have been better served to explain a little more than he does how the fear of miscegenation and of takeover by Asian races had a hold on the population as a whole and that Fisher was giving the people what they wanted, as well as obviously believing it himself as well. His support of the White Australia policy, and especial fear of Japan's expansion into a poorly populated Australia, remained with him for his whole political career, even after Australia and Japan fought side-by-side in World War One.
As for his socialism Fisher understood, perhaps better than some of his comrades, the need to tread carefully and not scare the general populace. Once he became Prime Minister, he was especially careful to not overspend, to ensure Australia's defence, and attempt to develop the North as well as enshrine pensions, arbitration, and other more socialist policies. He came to be seen as a "safe pair of hands" as Prime Minister.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was to begin to move Australia along the path to being Australia. It is easy to forget that when he took the reins of power the country was barely ten years old, the Premiers of each State still wielded enormous power, and weren't prepared to give it up to the Commonwealth without a fight. Fisher realised early that the Federal Government needed more fiscal power than that provided for in the Constitution, and his unceasing and unsuccessful referendum campaigns took up much of his time.
Day skims the surface of much of this history: it seems that Fisher did not leave much behind him, no diary or copies of his letters, so it would have been hard for Day to get to Fisher's thoughts at times, but I do wonder whether he could have mined the papers of Fisher's contemporaries more to provide more context. Day began his career as a historian of war, and this comes out in the book with a focus on the Dardanelles Campaign, of which Fisher had little knowledge and even less say. Less pages on this and more on the machinations of the Labor Party and Billy Hughes in particular, may have helped flesh out not only Fisher's life in politics, but the milieu he worked in.
Day paints Fisher as a man of high principle and a man of the people, a worker running a worker's government. While this was no doubt the case, it strikes one on reading the book that Fisher was a canny Scot when it came to money, and a proud one when it came to his position as Prime Minister. As was noted by the Sun newspaper, Fisher had "a Scotsman's regard for a profitable contract."
In the end it was Fisher's health that was his undoing, rather than the machinations of Hughes or the conservatives: he left at a time of his own choosing, to become High Commissioner in London. What could have been another high point of his career turned out to be but a highly-paid sinecure, as Hughes' megalomania didn't allow Fisher any freedom of movement, and his own declining health reduced his ability to be effective. His fall into dementia in his last years was a sad end to an amazing life.
There is no doubt that Australians should know more about Andrew Fisher. David Day in this book has begun that process, but I feel the definitive biography is yet to be written.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
Most Australians - if they know anything at all about Fisher - will recall his famous statement that Australia would support Britain in World War One "to the last man and the last shilling" (which, I discovered in the book, was delivered in Colac, Victoria, not far from my home). The War was in many ways the undoing of Fisher and his hopes for Labor, with the necessity to provide men and treasure ham-stringing government initiatives and dividing the party.
Fisher came from a Scottish mining family, with a father who was politically active, so it's no surprise to learn that he was an active organiser in Ayrshire before he emigrated (with his brother) to Queensland. He quickly found work in the mines there, and almost as quickly began moving in socialist circles. A stint in the Queensland Parliament saw him a minister in the first Labor government in the world, Anderson Dawson's short-lived Queensland Government in 1899.
Fisher was elected to the Federal Parliament in the first Australian election in 1901, running on a platform that mainly consisted of championing White Australia. Day is quite embarrassed about this fact and tries to skim over it as much as he can during the book - he may have been better served to explain a little more than he does how the fear of miscegenation and of takeover by Asian races had a hold on the population as a whole and that Fisher was giving the people what they wanted, as well as obviously believing it himself as well. His support of the White Australia policy, and especial fear of Japan's expansion into a poorly populated Australia, remained with him for his whole political career, even after Australia and Japan fought side-by-side in World War One.
As for his socialism Fisher understood, perhaps better than some of his comrades, the need to tread carefully and not scare the general populace. Once he became Prime Minister, he was especially careful to not overspend, to ensure Australia's defence, and attempt to develop the North as well as enshrine pensions, arbitration, and other more socialist policies. He came to be seen as a "safe pair of hands" as Prime Minister.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was to begin to move Australia along the path to being Australia. It is easy to forget that when he took the reins of power the country was barely ten years old, the Premiers of each State still wielded enormous power, and weren't prepared to give it up to the Commonwealth without a fight. Fisher realised early that the Federal Government needed more fiscal power than that provided for in the Constitution, and his unceasing and unsuccessful referendum campaigns took up much of his time.
Day skims the surface of much of this history: it seems that Fisher did not leave much behind him, no diary or copies of his letters, so it would have been hard for Day to get to Fisher's thoughts at times, but I do wonder whether he could have mined the papers of Fisher's contemporaries more to provide more context. Day began his career as a historian of war, and this comes out in the book with a focus on the Dardanelles Campaign, of which Fisher had little knowledge and even less say. Less pages on this and more on the machinations of the Labor Party and Billy Hughes in particular, may have helped flesh out not only Fisher's life in politics, but the milieu he worked in.
Day paints Fisher as a man of high principle and a man of the people, a worker running a worker's government. While this was no doubt the case, it strikes one on reading the book that Fisher was a canny Scot when it came to money, and a proud one when it came to his position as Prime Minister. As was noted by the Sun newspaper, Fisher had "a Scotsman's regard for a profitable contract."
In the end it was Fisher's health that was his undoing, rather than the machinations of Hughes or the conservatives: he left at a time of his own choosing, to become High Commissioner in London. What could have been another high point of his career turned out to be but a highly-paid sinecure, as Hughes' megalomania didn't allow Fisher any freedom of movement, and his own declining health reduced his ability to be effective. His fall into dementia in his last years was a sad end to an amazing life.
There is no doubt that Australians should know more about Andrew Fisher. David Day in this book has begun that process, but I feel the definitive biography is yet to be written.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
August 11, 2022
Like many of us here in Australia, I knew virtually nothing about three-time PM Andrew Fisher. However, David Day's splendid biography vividly portrays the life and ideas of one of the nation's foremost political architects. However, perhaps most fascianting is the way in which Day captures the beliefs and motivations of the times, (late 18th/early 20th centuries), and does so with a commendable lack of 21st century moral judgement. In doing this, he is able to create a real sense of the times and the people involved in the extraordinary Fisher tale. When history and biography are this good - this readable - they are able to give us that rarest of things; namely, perspective.
March 21, 2025
A very well research and well written book about our 5th prime minister. I enjoyed learning more about the man who saw Australia through the beginning of WWI.
February 7, 2012
It's sad to reflect how few Australians (let alone non-Australians) can name Australia's second prime minister after federation, and the world's first Labor prime minister. The early 1900s were a time of great change in politics, and the rise in power of the workers altered the political landscape forever. Andrew Fisher took Australia into World War I, founded Canberra, set the strategic direction for Australia's navy and armed services. This very well researched biography provides insights into how the son of a coal miner from Kilmarnock Scotland rose to the leadership of Australia through some of its most tempestuous times. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews