Everything about Philip Collier totally explained
Philip Collier (
21 April 1873–
18 October 1948) was
Premier of Western Australia for nine years, the longest ever term for an
Australian Labor Party premier.
Philip Collier was born at
Woodstock near
Melbourne,
Victoria on
21 April 1873. The son of a farmer of the same name, he was educated locally but left school at the age of 16. He spent some time
gold mining at
Steiglitz, Victoria and then in
New South Wales, and was later construction foreman of the Greater Melbourne Sewage Company at
Northcote. On
27 June 1900, he married Ellen Heagney, with whom he'd have two sons and two daughters.
Collier began to take an interest in the labor movement, joining the
Labour Party and becoming founding secretary of the Northcote branch of the Political Labor Council. He was campaign director for at least three Labour candidates in
State and Federal election, including
Frank Anstey.
In 1904 Collier moved to
Western Australia. He worked in the mines of the Perseverance Goldmining Company for around a year, becoming a member of the
Boulder branch of the Amalgamated Workers' Association, and vice-president of the Goldfields Trades and Labour Council.
On
27 October 1905, Collier was elected to the
Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the
seat of Boulder. He would retain the seat until his death nearly 43 years later. He was appointed Minister for Mines and Minister for Railways in the
Scaddan ministry on
7 October 1911, exchanging the Railways portfolio for Water Supplies on
23 November 1914. He retained these portfolios until the defeat of the
Scaddan government on
17 July 1916. In April the following year, Scaddan resigned from the Australian Labor Party in support of
Billy Hughes's pro-conscriptionist stance, and on
9 May Collier was elected to take his place as Leader of the Labor Party and therefore
Leader of the Opposition.
Collier retained the leadership of the Labor party throughout the Liberal and
nationalist governments of
Frank Wilson,
Henry Lefroy,
Hal Colebatch and
James Mitchell. During this time Collier joined with
John Curtin and
J. J. Simons in leading an anti-
conscription campaign. His public comments got him in trouble with
censors a number of times, and on one occasion he was fined under the
War Precautions Act for making statements likely to discourage recruiting.
On
17 April 1924, the Labor party had a landslide election victory, and Collier became Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Forests. The Labor party was defeated by Mitchell in the election of
23 April 1930, whereupon Collier resumed as Leader of the Opposition. He won another term as Premier in the election of
24 April 1933. Simultaneously with the election, a
referendum had been held in which the people of Western Australia had overwhelmingly voted in favour of
secession from the
Commonwealth of Australia. Although the Labour party opposed secession, Collier nonetheless agreed to act on the result of the referendum by petitioning the British government for secession. The British government's refusal to act can be partly attributed to the fact that any action taken would have been in opposition to the new Government's wishes.
Collier resigned as premier and leader of the Labor party on
19 August 1936, handing over to
John Willcock. His 19 year term as parliamentary leader of the Australian Labor Party remains the longest ever, as does his 9 year term as Labor premier.
Victor Courtney (1956) describes him as "the only person Labour [sic] produced in State politics who could fairly claim to have approached statesmanship". Mitchell and Collier are together credited with achieving an unusual degree of friendship and cooperation between parties during the 1920s and 1930s, which was most clearly demonstrated by Collier recommending Mitchell's appointment as
Lieutenant-Governor in 1933.
Although no longer serving as a minister, Collier remained in parliament for a further twelve years, and was
Father of the House from March 1939. He died at
Mount Lawley on
18 October 1948, and was buried in
Karrakatta Cemetery.
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