Preceded by Edward Archer Nationality Australian Succeeded by Frank Forde Name William Higgs | Preceded by Frank McDonnell Role Australian Politician Succeeded by John McMaster Resting place Cremation | |
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Born 18 January 1862
Wingham, New South Wales ( 1862-01-18 ) Other political
affiliations Independent (1920)
Nationalist (1920–22) Died June 11, 1951, Melbourne, Australia Political party Australian Labor Party (1901–1920) | ||
William Guy Higgs (18 January 1862 – 11 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. He was a Senator for Queensland from 1901 to 1906, and then represented the Division of Capricornia in the House of Representatives from 1910 to 1922. Higgs served as Treasurer of Australia from 1915 to 1916, under Billy Hughes.
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Early life
William Higgs was born on 18 January 1862 at Wingham, New South Wales, the son of a Cornish storekeeper, William Guy Higgs.
Politics
Higgs' political career began first by being elected to the North Ward of the Brisbane City Council in February 1899 and then winning the electorate of Fortitude Valley in the Parliament of Queensland later in the same year.
After Federation of the Australian states, Higgs became a Senator for Queensland from 30 March 1901 until 31 December 1906. He served as Chairman of Committees from 1903 to 1906, the first member of the Labor Party to hold the position. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1910 general election as the member for Capricornia, Queensland. He was the first former Senator to be elected to the House of Representatives, and the first Queenslander to have served in both houses of federal parliament.
He served as Treasurer in the ministry of Billy Hughes from 1915 to 1916, until he resigned due to his opposition to Hughes' support for conscription during World War I. Hughes and the other pro-conscriptionists were expelled from the party soon afterward. However, Higgs was somewhat troubled by the expulsion of many of his old friends. He was also concerned that Labor was taking an increasingly radical turn. Despite this, he remained with Labor, even becoming deputy leader in 1918. However, in 1919, when Labor opposed Hughes' plans to increase the federal government's powers over industry and commerce, Higgs supported them and was expelled from the party in January 1920. After eight months as an independent, he joined Hughes' Nationalist Party. However, Capricornia was naturally a Labor seat, and at the 1922 election, he was soundly defeated by Labor's Frank Forde.
Life after politics
Higgs later became a campaigner for the plight of the mentally ill and was the Honorary president of the Society for the Welfare of Mental Patients. He wrote books on the subject; petitioned the Government of Victoria to improve conditions in Victorian Mental Hospitals and proposed changes to the Victorian Lunacy Act.