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John Storey (politician)
Encyclopedia
John Storey was an Australia
n politician who was Premier of New South Wales from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in Sydney
. His leadership enabled the New South Wales Labor Party
to recover after the split over conscription and to allow it to continue to be a left-wing pragmatist rather than a socialist party.
, New South Wales
, Australia
to English immigrant parents, William John, a shipbuilder, and Elizabeth Graham. His family moved to Balmain
when he was six, but his father died soon afterwards. He was educated at Darling Road Superior Public School and at night school. At fourteen he was apprenticed to boilermaking with Perdriau and West and then worked at Mort's Dock. He helped found the Balmain Cricket Club in 1897 and was a leading all-rounder for its top grade team. He was a member of the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders of New South Wales.
in the Legislative Assembly
in 1901. Although he was an effective parliamentarian, he was beaten for election to the recreated seat of Balmain
by Walter Anderson in 1904, but defeated Anderson in 1907. The McGowen
Labor Government came to power in 1910, but Storey did not nominate for election to Cabinet.
In 1916 the non-parliamentary party attempted to discipline Premier William Holman
, and elected a Cabinet headed by Story 27 April. The party reversed this decision on 4 May and Story handed back power to Holman, although legally there had never been any transfer of power. However, the split in the party widened further with the dispute over conscription
and, in November, Holman, along with Prime Minister Billy Hughes
, were expelled from the party. The remnants of the Labor Party were now in opposition to Holman's Nationalist Government
, but Story refused to become party leader and Ernest Durack
became leader. Durack resigned in February 1917 and Storey had no choice but accept the leadership. His good public speaking and amiability helped to reduce the scale of Labor's defeat in the 1917 election. He worked hard in 1918 and 1919 to prevent socialists taking over the party and his policy speech for the 1920 election promised child endowment and suburban rail electrification
rather than socialism.
(made up of life appointees) and attacks of nephritis
made his job hard. His private secretary at this time was V. Gordon Childe
, later internationally famous in the field of archaeology
, who wrote the book How Labor Governs, based on his experience as Storey's secretary. In June 1920, he appointed Judge Norman Ewing
to carry out a royal commission
in to the imprisonment of twelve IWW members
in 1916 for treason
, arson
, sedition
and forgery
. On Ewing's recommendation, ten were released in August. In early 1921, he prorogued Parliament to prevent his Government being overthrown during a six months to visit financiers and a Harley Street
doctor in London
. Despite the warnings of his doctor, he undertook heavy work in London and on his return to Sydney in July. He was admitted to hospital and died at Clermont Private Hospital, Darlinghurst
and was survived by his wife, three sons and two of his three daughters.
In 1926, Premier John Lang
opened the John Storey Memorial Dispensary in Little Regent Street, Chippendale, New South Wales
. It served as a practical memorial to John Storey and still functions as a pathology clinic.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician who was Premier of New South Wales from 12 April 1920 until his sudden death in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. His leadership enabled the New South Wales Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
to recover after the split over conscription and to allow it to continue to be a left-wing pragmatist rather than a socialist party.
Early life
Storey was born at or near HuskissonHuskisson, New South Wales
Huskisson is a town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven, on the shores of Jervis Bay. It is 24 km south-east of Nowra.Situated alongside Currambene Creek which serves also as an anchorage and fishing port...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to English immigrant parents, William John, a shipbuilder, and Elizabeth Graham. His family moved to Balmain
Balmain, New South Wales
Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....
when he was six, but his father died soon afterwards. He was educated at Darling Road Superior Public School and at night school. At fourteen he was apprenticed to boilermaking with Perdriau and West and then worked at Mort's Dock. He helped found the Balmain Cricket Club in 1897 and was a leading all-rounder for its top grade team. He was a member of the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron Ship Builders of New South Wales.
Elected to Parliament
Storey joined the Labor Electoral League, the precursor of the Labor Party, on its foundation in 1891 and was elected to represent Balmain NorthElectoral district of Balmain North
Balmain North was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1894 to 1904, when it was reabsorbed into the district of Balmain.-Members for Balmain North:...
in the Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
in 1901. Although he was an effective parliamentarian, he was beaten for election to the recreated seat of Balmain
Electoral district of Balmain
Balmain is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's Inner West. It includes the suburbs and localities of Annandale, Balmain, Balmain East, Birchgrove, Forest Lodge, Glebe, Glebe Island, Haberfield, Leichhardt, Lilyfield, Rozelle,...
by Walter Anderson in 1904, but defeated Anderson in 1907. The McGowen
James McGowen
James Sinclair Taylor McGowen was an Australian politician and the first Labor Premier of New South Wales from 21 October 1910 to 30 June 1913.-Early life and family:...
Labor Government came to power in 1910, but Storey did not nominate for election to Cabinet.
In 1916 the non-parliamentary party attempted to discipline Premier William Holman
William Holman
William Arthur Holman was an Australian Labor Party Premier of New South Wales, Australia, who split with the party on the conscription issue in 1916 during World War I, and immediately became Premier of a conservative Nationalist Party Government.-Early life:Holman was born in St Pancras, London,...
, and elected a Cabinet headed by Story 27 April. The party reversed this decision on 4 May and Story handed back power to Holman, although legally there had never been any transfer of power. However, the split in the party widened further with the dispute over conscription
Conscription in Australia
Conscription in Australia, or mandatory military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood...
and, in November, Holman, along with Prime Minister Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
, were expelled from the party. The remnants of the Labor Party were now in opposition to Holman's Nationalist Government
Nationalist Party of Australia
The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
, but Story refused to become party leader and Ernest Durack
Ernest Durack
Ernest Durack was an Australian politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1913 until 1917 and the leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales for 3 months until February 1917.Durack was born near Bathurst. He was the son of a storekeeper and was...
became leader. Durack resigned in February 1917 and Storey had no choice but accept the leadership. His good public speaking and amiability helped to reduce the scale of Labor's defeat in the 1917 election. He worked hard in 1918 and 1919 to prevent socialists taking over the party and his policy speech for the 1920 election promised child endowment and suburban rail electrification
Railways in Sydney
Sydney, the largest city in Australia, has an extensive network of passenger and freight railways. The passenger network is a hybrid metro-suburban railway with a central underground core running at metro style frequencies, which branches out into a suburban commuter type network...
rather than socialism.
Premier
Labor won the 1920 election with a majority of one and Storey became Premier. His thin majority, combined with a substantial minority in Legislative CouncilNew South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
(made up of life appointees) and attacks of nephritis
Nephritis
Nephritis is inflammation of the nephrons in the kidneys. The word "nephritis" was imported from Latin, which took it from Greek: νεφρίτιδα. The word comes from the Greek νεφρός - nephro- meaning "of the kidney" and -itis meaning "inflammation"....
made his job hard. His private secretary at this time was V. Gordon Childe
Vere Gordon Childe
Vere Gordon Childe , better known as V. Gordon Childe, was an Australian archaeologist and philologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. A vocal socialist, Childe accepted the socio-economic theory of Marxism and was an early proponent of Marxist archaeology...
, later internationally famous in the field of archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, who wrote the book How Labor Governs, based on his experience as Storey's secretary. In June 1920, he appointed Judge Norman Ewing
Norman Ewing
Norman Kirkwood Ewing , Australian politician, was a member of three parliaments: the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the Australian Senate, and the Tasmanian House of Assembly...
to carry out a royal commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
in to the imprisonment of twelve IWW members
Sydney Twelve
The Sydney Twelve were members of the Industrial Workers of the World arrested on 23 September 1916 in Sydney, Australia, and charged with treason under the Treason Felony Act , arson, sedition and forgery....
in 1916 for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
and forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
. On Ewing's recommendation, ten were released in August. In early 1921, he prorogued Parliament to prevent his Government being overthrown during a six months to visit financiers and a Harley Street
Harley Street
Harley Street is a street in the City of Westminster in London, England which has been noted since the 19th century for its large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery.- Overview :...
doctor in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Despite the warnings of his doctor, he undertook heavy work in London and on his return to Sydney in July. He was admitted to hospital and died at Clermont Private Hospital, Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...
and was survived by his wife, three sons and two of his three daughters.
In 1926, Premier John Lang
John Lang
John Lang may refer to:*John Lang , sailor in the United States Navy*John Lang , Australian rugby league player and coach*John Lang , member of the New South Wales Parliament...
opened the John Storey Memorial Dispensary in Little Regent Street, Chippendale, New South Wales
Chippendale, New South Wales
Chippendale is a small inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Chippendale is located on the southern edge of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
. It served as a practical memorial to John Storey and still functions as a pathology clinic.