Joseph Benedict Chifley was born at Bathurst on 22 September 1885, the eldest son of Patrick Chifley and his wife Mary Anne (nee Corrigan). He spent most of his early years on his grandfather’s farm. First employed in a local store, Chifley subsequently became a locomotive engine drive with the NSW Railways and an instructor at the Bathurst Railway Institute. His early political involvement was influenced by the Depression of the 1890s and the anti-conscription movement and labor turmoil during World War I. From 1912, he was frequently an advocate for his union, the Locomotive Engine-drivers, Firemen and Cleaners Association, and in 1920 became a member of the state general committee of the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen.
Following an unsuccessful bid for the federal seat of Macquarie (NSW) in 1925, Chifley gained the seat for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the 1928 election. During the ensuing Depression years he was a loyal supporter of the Scullin Government, and was Minister for Defence for a short period in 1931. Defeated at the December 1931 election, and again in 1934, Chifley became a prominent opponent of the NSW Lang Government. In 1935 he unsuccessfully contested Lang’s state seat of Auburn, but his role in this election campaign did contribute to the eventual revival of the federal ALP in NSW. The same year, Chifley was appointed by J A Lyons’ United Australia Party Government as the Labor representative on the Royal Commission on Monetary and Banking Systems. During this period, he was also a Councillor on the Abercrombie Shire Council (1933-47), and was Shire President in the early war years.
Following the outbreak of World War II, the Menzies Government appointed Chifley as a member of the Capital Issues Advisory Board (1939-40) and as Director of Labour Supply and Regulation within the Department of Munitions (1940). He resigned the latter position on regaining the seat of Macquarie in the September 1940 elections. One of few members of the Curtin Government with previous ministerial experience and despite being out of Parliament for several years, Chifley served as Treasurer (1941-49), Minister for Post-War Reconstruction (1942-45), and was a member of War Cabinet, the Advisory War Council, the Production Executive and the Food Executive. He ranked third in the ALP, and was acting Prime Minister during Curtin’s final illness (April-July 1945).
After Curtin's death, Chifley was elected ALP leader over F M (Frank) Forde and became Prime Minister on 13 July 1945. He retained the Treasury portfolio during his term of office, becoming one of Australia’s longest-serving Treasurers, and also acted as Minister for Defence and Minister for External Affairs on several occasions. His Government introduced several successful legislative measures relating to employment, education, returned service personnel benefits, trade and immigration. It established the Australian National University, Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and encouraged the manufacture of the Holden car. Chifley himself was greatly respected for his administrative ability, grasp of public finance, role in post-war planning, skilful management of Parliamentary business, handling of caucus and public accessibility. He remains one of Australia’s most loved Prime Ministers.
Despite Chifley’s famous ‘light on the hill’ speeches during the December 1949 general election campaign, his Government was defeated. The Liberal Party under R G (Bob) Menzies came to office, and Chifley was subsequently Leader of the Opposition. Both his personal health and influence in the ALP were weakening, however, and he died in June 1951.
Chifley was appointed a member of the Privy Council (PC) in June 1945 and given the Freedom of the City of Bathurst in 1949. A suburb in Canberra is named after him. He was outlived by his wife Elizabeth (CP 940), whom he had married in 1914. Their home at 10 Busby Street, Bathurst opened as a house museum in 1973.
This person registration was revised as part of the Prime Ministers Papers’ Project (July 2002).
Sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, 1940-1980, pp 412-420
Commonwealth Parliamentary Handbook, 10th ed (1938-1951), 11th ed (1945-1953)
Day, David, Chifley (Harper Collins, 2001)
McMullin, Ross, 'Joseph Benedict Chifley', in M Grattan (ed), Australian Prime Ministers (Sydney, New Holland, 2000). pp 246-268
Unregistered agencies associated with person
1920 – by 1928 : Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen, NSW State General Committee - Member
1933 – ?1945 : Abercrombie Shire Council – Councillor (and President)
1934 - ? : Australian Labor Party (NSW) - President
1937 – 1944 : Bathurst District Hospital - Chairman
Jan 1948 - Dec 1949 : International Monetary Fund and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development - Governor