George Fuller (Australian politician)

Sir George Warburton Fuller KCMG (22 January 1861 – 22 July 1940) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd Premier of New South Wales, in office from 1922 to 1925 and for one day in December 1921. He previously served in the federal House of Representatives from 1901 to 1913, representing the Division of Illawarra, and was Minister for Home Affairs under Alfred Deakin from 1909 to 1910.

The Honourable Sir George Fuller KCMG
22nd Premier of New South Wales Elections: 1922, 1925
In office 13 April 1922 – 17 June 1925
Governor	Walter Edward Davidson Dudley de Chair
Preceded by	James Dooley
Succeeded by	Jack Lang
In office 20 December 1921 – 20 December 1921
Governor	Walter Edward Davidson
Preceded by	James Dooley
Succeeded by	James Dooley
Federal Minister for Home Affairs
In office 2 June 1909 – 29 April 1910
Prime Minister	Alfred Deakin
Preceded by	Hugh Mahon
Succeeded by	King O'Malley
Member of the Australian Parliament for Illawarra
In office 30 March 1901 – 31 May 1913
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	George Burns
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
In office 16 September 1915 – 7 February 1928
Preceded by	Frank Badgery
Succeeded by	Mark Morton
Constituency	Wollondilly
In office 9 February 1889 – 25 June 1894
Preceded by	Frank Badgery
Succeeded by	Mark Morton
Constituency	Kiama
Personal details
Born	(1861-01-22)22 January 1861 Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
Died	22 July 1940(1940-07-22) (aged 79) Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Anti-Socialist (1901–1909) Commonwealth Liberal (1909–1913) Liberal Reform (1915–1917) Nationalist (from 1917)
Spouse	Ada Louisa King ​ (m. 1892)​
Education	Sydney Grammar School University of Sydney
Profession	Lawyer

Early life

Fuller was born in Kiama, New South Wales. He was the son of George Lawrence Fuller. He was educated at Kiama Public School, Sydney Grammar School and at St Andrew's College at the University of Sydney. He received a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in 1879, and a Master of Arts in 1882 from the University of Sydney. He studied law under Sir William Patrick Manning (eminent judge and university chancellor) and became a barrister in 1884.

Colonial politics

Fuller served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for over 18 years. Initially he represented Kiama from 1889 to 1894, but was defeated in 1894 and again in 1898.

Federal politics

Fuller c. 1901.

Fuller was the first member for Illawarra in the new Australian House of Representatives between 1901 and 1913. He was Minister for Home Affairs in 1909 and 1910 in Alfred Deakin's Commonwealth Liberal Party government and was responsible for making Canberra the national capital. In 1911 he was an Australian representative at the coronation of George V.

State politics

From 1915 to 1928 Fuller represented Wollondilly for the Liberal Party and, from 1916, the Nationalist Party. In the part of 1916 and 1917, he was a leader of New South Wales' Nationalist Party and he became Colonial Secretary (the second most important cabinet position) in 1916.

In 1917, his heavy-handed handling of a strike by rail and tramway workers against the introduction of time cards antagonised the unions and led to a general strike. His promise of higher pay and improved seniority benefits to workers returning to work split the rail unions for most of the twentieth century and the different employment conditions lasted until the Lang Government was elected. His action was seen by supporters as the decisive leadership required in wartime. In 1919, he expanded the state-owned fishing trawler fleet "to provide cheap fish for the mass of the population".

On 3 June 1919, he was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for his service as Colonial Secretary.

Premier

See also: Fuller ministry (1921) and Fuller ministry (1922–1925)

Caricature of Fuller by Len Reynolds (published 1925)

Labor won the 1920 election and Fuller became Leader of the Opposition. In 1921 he took advantage of the death of John Storey to defeat James Dooley's Government on a motion of no confidence and as a result was asked to form a government. But Fuller himself had to give up the Premiership after only seven hours, after losing another motion of no confidence and Dooley returned to office.

In the 1922 state election, Dooley was defeated and Fuller became Premier once again. His government began the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This time his tenure lasted till the 1925 state election, won by Labor's Jack Lang.

Later years

Shortly after Lang's victory, Fuller resigned from the Nationalist leadership in favour of Thomas Bavin. From 1928 to 1931 he was the state's Agent-General in London. He died in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst.