ALP 1899 Anderson Dawson
1899
ALP 1899 Anderson Dawson
Anderson Dawson was the very first leader of a Labor government in the world, becoming Queensland Premiere in 1899.
Other topics in Foundations
Colonial Origins
The prehistory of the Australian Labor Party can be traced well back into the 19th Century, notably with the beginnings of the trade union movement in mid-century and spasmodic attempts to give workers some representation in colonial Parliaments. In most colonies in the second half…
Organisational Stresses
Although the Labor Party had been founded by the trade union movement, it very soon developed a life of its own, so that stresses between the party and unions were already evident in the 1890s. In New South Wales, the TLC lost control of the…
Socialists and Labor
Its trade union origins gave the new party its own distinct progressive character. Hence, the name of 'Labour' or 'Labor' party that was almost universally used, even when not the formal title, because it was meant to represent workers. The original ideological mixture in the…
A National Party
The early Labor Party had to identify its social base if it wanted to have continuing and improving electoral success. Obviously it made an appeal to trade unionists. However, most workers were not unionists at this time. Even many trade union members in the various…