Rt Hon William Morris Hughes CH KC PC 1862-1952

Hughes migrated to Australia in 1884, entering the Labor movement in its early days. An opponent of federation, he entered federal parliament at its beginning, supporting immigration restriction, protectionism and military conscription, and had the External Affairs ministry in the first brief Labor government, and in 1915 became Prime Minister.

He was fully behind the war and war effort, but foundered after defeat of his conscription referendum, being expelled from the Labor Party. He then amalgamated into a National Party and won the next election, and attended the Imperial War Conference, then the postwar canferences, on the way meeting President Wilson and called for a 'Monroe Doctrine' to keep Japan out of the Pacific. His persistence at the conferences gained points of benefit to Australia, even if he had offended Wilson.

In the postwar era, he lost to a coalition headed by S.M. Bruce, and managed to get himself expelled from the Nationalists, eventually joind a Depression-era governmet of the United Australia Party, where his theme bacame preparation for an inevitable war. A member of the Menzies government, he remained on the War Advisort Council under the Curtin Labor government, and was expelled from the UAP for this. Admitted to Menzies new Liberal Party after the war, he remained a loose canon within the Menzies government until his death.

His ethos was to fight for the underdog and defend Australia's democracy. He was known as the Little Digger for his support of servicemen and national security.