William Kidston facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Kidston
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| 17th Premier of Queensland | |
| In office 19 January 1906 – 19 November 1907 |
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| Preceded by | Arthur Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Robert Philp |
| Constituency | Rockhampton |
| In office 18 February 1908 – 7 February 1911 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Philp |
| Succeeded by | Digby Denham |
| Constituency | Rockhampton |
| 19th Treasurer of Queensland | |
| In office 1 December 1899 – 7 December 1899 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Philp |
| Succeeded by | Robert Philp |
| Constituency | Rockhampton |
| In office 17 September 1903 – 19 November 1907 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas Bridson Cribb |
| Succeeded by | Robert Philp |
| Constituency | Rockhampton |
| Leader of the Opposition of Queensland | |
| In office 19 November 1907 – 15 February 1908 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Philp |
| Succeeded by | Robert Philp |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Rockhampton |
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| In office 4 April 1896 – 7 February 1911 Serving with George Curtis, Kenneth Grant
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| Preceded by | Archibald Archer |
| Succeeded by | John Adamson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
William Kidston
17 August 1849 Falkirk, Scotland, UK |
| Died | 25 October 1919 (aged 70) Greenslopes, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Resting place | South Rockhampton Cemetery |
| Political party | Liberals |
| Other political affiliations |
Labour, Kidstonites |
| Spouse | Margaret Johnston Scott (m.1875 d.1910) |
| Occupation | Bookseller |
William Kidston (born August 17, 1849 – died October 25, 1919) was an important Australian politician. He started his career as a bookseller. He later became the Premier of Queensland, which is like being the leader of the state government. He served as Premier twice: from January 1906 to November 1907, and again from February 1908 to February 1911.
Contents
Early Life and New Beginnings
William Kidston was born in Falkirk, Scotland, on August 17, 1849. His father worked with iron. When William was 13, he started learning to be an ironmoulder. He married Margaret Scott in 1874.
Not happy with his job, he and his family moved to New South Wales, Australia, in 1882. A year later, in 1883, they moved again to Rockhampton in Queensland. In Rockhampton, William started a new job as a bookseller.
Supporting Workers' Rights
In the early 1890s, there was a lot of unrest between workers and the government. Workers had formed trade unions to fight for better conditions. The government, led by Thomas McIlwraith, was very traditional. There were many strikes, including a big one by shearers in 1891. The government even used military forces against the strikers.
William Kidston was part of the local militia (a group of citizens who can be called to help). He strongly supported the striking workers. He was even put on trial by the military because he refused to join a special police force against the strikers.
Joining Parliament
After the workers lost their strikes, many people in the labour movement decided they needed to be in Parliament to make changes. The Australian Labour Federation (ALF) wanted to get rid of old laws that were used against strikers. William Kidston wrote a poem called The Ballot is the Thing to support these goals.
Kidston became a key figure for the ALF in Rockhampton. He worked hard for electoral reform. This meant changing voting rules to make them fairer. He wanted to end "plural voting," where some people could vote more than once. He also wanted more people to have the right to vote.
Early Political Steps
Besides workers' rights, Kidston also supported groups in Rockhampton that wanted Central Queensland to become its own separate colony. He tried to get elected as a candidate for this cause in 1893 but didn't win. However, in the 1896 elections, he was elected as a Labor candidate.
In Parliament, Kidston pushed for different political groups to work together. He wanted to defeat the traditional government, which had been in power for a long time. He hoped this would help achieve electoral reform. But both the Labor and Liberal groups were not very keen on working together at first.
In 1899, he was re-elected. He spoke out against Federation, which was the plan to unite the Australian colonies into one country. He thought the new Constitution would not be good for Queensland financially. He was also disappointed that new states could only be created by existing state parliaments. He was re-elected again in 1902. By this time, the idea of Central Queensland becoming a separate colony was fading.
Becoming Treasurer
The government was struggling, and when Robert Philp resigned as Premier, Kidston briefly became Treasurer in 1899. This was part of the world's first parliamentary labour government, led by Anderson Dawson. However, this government only lasted one week before it was defeated in Parliament. This experience showed Kidston that he needed support from outside the Labor party to make big changes.
In 1903, a group of unhappy government members, Liberals, and the ALF joined forces. They brought down Philp's government and replaced him with Arthur Morgan. Kidston, who was a close friend of Morgan, became Treasurer again. He was one of only two Labor members in this new government. After the other Labor member died in 1904, Kidston became the most important Labor minister.
The Parliament was very balanced, with equal numbers for Morgan's group and the old government members. This made it hard to govern, so an election was called. Labor became the biggest party, but Kidston let Morgan remain the main leader of their team. Kidston defended working with Morgan, saying it led to new public projects and fairer taxes and voting systems.
Leading Queensland as Premier
By 1905, some parts of the Labor movement criticized Kidston for working with non-Labor groups. When the Labor party officially supported a socialist goal in May, Kidston strongly disagreed. In January 1906, Hugh Nelson died, and Morgan took his place in the Queensland Legislative Council. This meant William Kidston became the Premier of Queensland.
Challenges and Reforms
In his first years as Premier, Kidston faced a big challenge from the conservative Queensland Legislative Council. This Council often rejected his new laws. In 1908, Kidston asked the governor, Lord Chelmsford, to appoint more Council members who would support his laws. When the governor refused, Kidston resigned in protest.
Robert Philp was then asked to be Premier, but he didn't have enough support in the Legislative Assembly (the main Parliament) to govern. The governor tried to dissolve the Assembly, but the Assembly stopped money from being spent. This led to a political standstill. To fix this, the governor dissolved the Assembly and called an election.
Kidston's party won the most seats in the election. They formed a government with the support of the Labor party. Kidston immediately worked to reduce the power of the Legislative Council. He also passed laws for electoral reform and created Wages Boards, which helped set fair wages for workers.
Changing Alliances
However, Kidston lost Labor's support when he allowed private companies to build railways in the state. But he stayed in power because Philp's conservative group supported him. In late 1908, Kidston's party and Philp's party joined together to form one big anti-Labor force. This was similar to a big political merger happening in the national Parliament.
After some of his former supporters left him, Kidston called another election in October 1909. His new Liberal Party won easily.
Lasting Impact
After long talks, Kidston successfully made changes to the Commonwealth Constitution. These changes made sure that states received money back from customs and excise taxes. He also made more electoral reforms. He changed how voting areas were drawn, got rid of areas that elected two members, and made sure that each vote had equal value. This idea, called "one vote one value," was later changed by other governments. As of 2020, William Kidston is the last person to become Premier of Queensland again after losing the position.
In 1911, he resigned from politics. He took on a new role as President of the Land Court, which he held until 1919. He passed away in October 1919 in Coorparoo and was buried in South Rockhampton Cemetery.
