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Reid
was elected to the first federal Parliament
as the Member for East Sydney at
the 1901
election.
The Free Trade Party won 28 out of 75
seats in the House of
Representatives,
and 17 out of 36 seats in the Senate.
Labour no longer trusted Reid and gave
their support to the Edmund
Barton Protectionist
Party government,
so Reid became the first Leader of the Opposition,
a position well-suited to his robust
debating style and rollicking sense of
humour. In the long tariff debate Reid was
at a disadvantage as parliament was
sitting in Melbourne and
he could not entirely neglect his practice as
a barrister in Sydney, as his parliamentary
income was less than a tenth of his income
from his legal practice. With the rise of the
Labour Party, the Free Trade Party had lost
much of the middle ground to Barton and his
followers, and it was increasingly dependent
on conservatives, including militant
Protestants.
| Portfolio |
Minister |
| Prime
Minister and Minister
for External Affairs |
Rt Hon Edmund
Barton, KC MP |
| Attorney-General |
Hon Alfred
Deakin, MP |
| Minister
for Home Affairs |
Hon Sir William
Lyne, KCMG MP (to 11 August 1903)
Rt Hon
Sir John Forrest, GCMG
MP (from 11 August 1903)
|
| Minister
for Trade and Customs |
Rt Hon Charles
Kingston, KC MP (to 24 July 1903)
Hon Sir William Lyne, KCMG
MP (from 11 August 1903)
|
| Treasurer |
Rt Hon Sir George
Turner, KCMG MP |
| Minister
for Defence |
Hon Sir James
Dickson, KCMG (to 10 January 1901)[2]
Rt Hon
Sir John Forrest, GCMG
MP (17 January 1901 to 10 August 1903)
Senator
Hon James Drake (from
10 August 1903)
|
| Postmaster-General |
Rt Hon Sir John
Forrest, GCMG MP (to 17 January
1901)
Senator
Hon James Drake (5
February 1901 to 10 August 1903)
Hon Sir Philip Fysh, KCMG
MP (from 10 August 1903)
|
| Vice-President
of the Executive Council |
Senator Hon Richard
O'Connor, KC |
| Ministers without
portfolios |
Hon Elliott
Lewis (to 23
April 1901)[3]
Hon Sir Philip Fysh, KCMG
MP (26 April 1901 to 10 August 1903)
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- Jump up
- Jump up^ Dickson was Premier of Queensland 1898-99.
He was intending to seek election to the
Commonwealth Parliament but died on 10
January 1901.
- Jump up^ Lewis was Premier of Tasmania 1899-1903,
1909, 1909-12. He did not seek election to
the Commonwealth Parliament.
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