Chris Watson

Politician

• Born: April 9, 1867
• Birthplace: Valparaiso, Chile
• Died: November 18, 1941
• Place of death: Double Bay, New South Wales

Also known as: Johan Cristian Tanck; John Christian Tanck; John Christian Watson

Significance: Chris Watson was instrumental in shaping the formation and direction of the Australian Labor Party and served as Australia’s third prime minister. Although his administration lasted only a few months in 1904, it made history as the first Labor government in the world.

Background

Chris Watson was born Johan Cristian Tanck on April 9, 1867, in Valparaiso, Chile. At the time of his birth, his parents, Johan Christian Tanck and Martha Minchin, were aboard a ship on which his father was the chief officer. Watson’s name was changed to John Christian Watson after his mother married George Watson in 1869.

Watson grew up in New Zealand, where his stepfather had a farm. He attended school at Cave Valley until he was ten, and then went to work on a railway construction site. When he was thirteen, he began a printer’s apprenticeship at the North Otago Times. Upon earning his typographical trade certificate in 1886, Watson briefly worked as a compositor at the Oamaru Mail. He later joined the local typographers’ union. Later that year he moved to Sydney, New South Wales, where he worked as a stable hand at the Government House before finding work at the Daily Telegraph, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Australian Star.

Political Career

In Australia, Watson became involved in the trade union movement and politics, gradually taking leadership roles in various groups. He became active in the Typographical Association of New South Wales and was its delegate to the Sydney Trades and Labor Council in 1890. The following year he helped form the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales and served as the first secretary of its West Sydney branch. He was elected vice president of the Sydney Trades and Labour Council in 1892 and its president in 1893. As a prominent labor leader, he helped establish the foundational principles of what became the Australian Labor Party, including the role of the executive and a solidarity pledge, or commitment to vote with the caucus majority.

Watson entered the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the seat of Young in 1894. He became a leader of the Labor parliamentarians, and as the depression of the 1890s continued, he campaigned for government support for the unemployed and formed a cooperative village settlement. In 1895 Watson became the president of the Australian Labor Federation. He played a key role in the 1900 conference that established the federal platform of the nascent Australian Labor Party.

In 1901 Watson resigned from the Parliament of New South Wales to enter the race for the first federal election, in March of that year. He won a seat in the federal parliament as the Labor member for Bland and in May 1901 was elected the leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party. He helped steer the young party through a complex and tumultuous political landscape, generally aligning with the Protectionist Party led by Alfred Deakin. This support helped Deakin become prime minister in 1903.

Under Watson’s leadership, Labor gained seats in the second federal election in December 1903. However, Deakin lost Labor’s support and resigned as prime minister in early 1904. Watson became prime minister and treasurer on April 27, 1904. He led the first Labor government in both Australian and world history. His government was unable to accomplish, however, much as Labor held fewer than one-third of the seats in Parliament. Watson ultimately resigned on August 18, 1904, after less than four months in office and was succeeded by George Reid of the Free Trade Party. The most notable achievement of Watson’s tenure was the enactment of six bills, mostly concerning money and finance, that were later passed by Reid’s government.

Watson served as the leader of the opposition from August 1904 to 1905. After Deakin regained the government in 1905, Watson supported his Protectionist government and worked with it to enact the Customs Tariff Act 1908. In the December 1906 election, Watson ran for the seat of South Sydney as an electoral redistribution had eliminated the Bland seat. He resigned as party leader in October 1907 due to poor health and retired in April 1910.

After leaving parliament, Watson worked in business and was the director of several companies, including Labor Papers Ltd. He remained active in politics and union affairs. From 1910 to 1911 and from 1913 to 1915, he served on the New South Wales executive of the Australian Labor Party. Heavily involved with the Australian Workers Union, he helped publish its publication Worker and was working to launch a daily newspaper before the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) derailed that plan. In 1916 the issue of conscription into the Australian military became a major controversy, and Watson was expelled from the Labor Party for his support of the practice. He then helped William Morris Hughes found the National Party.

In 1920 Watson joined the National Roads Association (later the National Roads and Motorists Association) and served as its president for the rest of his life. He also helped found the Australian Motorists Petrol Co. Ltd. in the 1930s.

Watson died on November 18, 1941, in Double Bay, New South Wales.

Impact

Despite his short term as prime minister, Watson demonstrated that the Australian Labor Party was a viable party that could lead the government. This solidified the reputation and credibility of the party and allowed it to become one of Australia’s major political parties. He is remembered as a key figure in the early days of Australian federal politics.

Personal Life

Watson married Ada Jane Low in 1889. After her death in 1921, he married Antonia Mary Gladys Dowlan in 1925. They had one daughter, Jacqueline.

Bibliography

Carrol, Brian. “Chris Watson: The Pioneer.” Australia’s Prime Ministers: From Barton to Howard, Rosenberg Publishing, 2004.

“Chris Watson.” Australia’s Prime Ministers, National Archives of Australia, primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/watson. Accessed 2 June 2020.

“Chris Watson.” Australian Prime Ministers, Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House, primeministers.moadoph.gov.au/prime-ministers/chris-watson. Accessed 2 June 2020.

“Chris Watson.” National Museum of Australia, www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/prime-ministers/chris-watson. Accessed 2 June 2020.

Hawkins, John. “Chris Watson: Australia’s Second Treasurer.” The Treasury, Australian Government, treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-03/06‗Chris‗Watson.pdf. Accessed 2 June 2020.

MacMullin, Ross. So Monstrous a Travesty: Chris Watson and the World’s First National Labour Government. Scribe, 2004.

Nairn, Bede. “Watson, John Christian (Chris) (1867–1941).” Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1990, adb.anu.edu.au/biography/watson-john-christian-chris-9003. Accessed 2 June 2020.