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William Morris Hughes!
William Morris Hughes was Australia's eleventh Prime Minister. William was born in England. He spent his childhood in England. After becoming a teacher he migrated to Australia. While in Australia he worked as a Drover, seaman, shopkeeper, cook, in factories and on farms. William's nickname was 'The Little Digger'.
His Political Parties were The Australian Labor, The National Labor and The National.
William's major achievements were -
he sent soldiers to World War 1
he thought Australia should be an Independent Nation and
he supported young men that wanted to be in the Army.
Hughes was Prime Minister from 27th of October 1915 to the 9th of February 1923.
He sadly died at Lindfield N.S.W on the 28th of October 1952.
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 15:33:12 +1100
From: Geoff Skelton <gds@si1.dod.gov.au>
Organization: Department of Defence (Australia)
To: elanora@zip.com.au
Subject: Hughes
Dear Teacher and Students,
I have to inform you that Hughes made Australia independent on the 28 October 1919, and this is how he did it.
King George V declared war on Germany on Australia's behalf because in 1914 we were a UK colony (covering clause 2 of the Australian Constitution also known as An Act to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia 1900). William Morris Hughes, the Australian Prime Minister sent Australian soldiers to WW1. The other allied independent countries were so impressed with Australia's war efforts that they recognised Australia at the Paris Peace Conference after WW1. On 28 June 1919, Hughes, Prime Minister and Federal Attorney General and Joseph Cook signed the Treaty of Versailles as an "independent belligerent nation", supported by George Clemenceau of France, Woodrow Wilson of the US and Lloyd George of the UK. The Treaty incorporated the Covenant of the League of Nations, which was formally established on 10 January 1920. Article 10 of the Covenant guarantees Australia its "political independence" and article 20 says that if there is any conflict with
existing laws then the Covenant will prevail.
After a debate in Federal parliament in Melbourne during September 1919, a vote on 1 October 1919 (Commonwealth Parliament Hansard) passed the Treaty of Peace (Germany) Act 1919. This was assented to on 28 October.
Thus the Covenant of the League of Nations was adopted by federal parliament and became domestic law. Sovereignty transferred from the UK see covering clause 2 of the Australian Constitution, to the people of Australia.
I hope this explains why William Morris Hughes is such a significant Prime Minister. He guided Australia to independence on 28 October 1919.
(Australia Day on the 26 January is more of a colonial foundation day when the UK first established its colonies.)
Geoff Skelton
Elanora Heights Primary School Computer Co-ordinator : 
Judith Bennett
This page was created on 23rd September, 1998 and last modified on 28th March, 1999
