Sir George Warburton Fuller (22 January 1861 – 22 July 1940) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

, in office from 1922 to 1925 and for one day in December 1921. He previously served in the federal

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1901 to 1913, representing the

Division of Illawarra The Division of Illawarra was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It covered part of the Illawarra region, after which it was named. The Division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 75 divisions ...

, and was

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

under

Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...

from 1909 to 1910.

Early life

Fuller was born in

Kiama, New South Wales Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and n ...

. He was the son of

George Lawrence Fuller George Lawrence Fuller (1832–1917) was an Australian farmer, quarry owner and shopkeeper. Biography He was born on 29 November 1832 in Dunmore, Galway, Ireland. He lived his entire life in Shell harbour district of Kiama, New South ...

. He was educated at Kiama Public School,

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

and at St Andrew's College at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in 1879, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1882 from the

. He studied law under Sir

William Patrick Manning Sir William Patrick Manning (18 November 1845 – 20 April 1915) was an Australian financier and politician. Early life Manning was born at Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, to baker John Manning and Margaret ...

(eminent judge and university

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

) and became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in 1884.

Colonial politics

Fuller served in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

for over 18 years. Initially he represented

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

from 1889 to 1894, but was defeated in 1894 and again in 1898.

Federal politics

Fuller was the first member for

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

in the new

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

between 1901 and 1913. He was

in 1909 and 1910 in

Commonwealth Liberal Party The Liberal Party was a parliamentary party in Australian federal politics between 1909 and 1917. The party was founded under Alfred Deakin's leadership as a merger of the Protectionist Party and Anti-Socialist Party, an event known as the Fu ...

government and was responsible for making

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

the national capital. In 1911 he was an Australian representative at the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

State politics

From 1915 to 1928 Fuller represented

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is part of the Macarthur and Blue Mountains regions. The Wol ...

for the Liberal Party and, from 1916, the Nationalist Party. In the part of 1916 and 1917, he was a leader of New South Wales' Nationalist Party and he became Colonial Secretary (the second most important cabinet position) in 1916. In 1917, his heavy-handed handling of a strike by rail and tramway workers against the introduction of time cards antagonised the unions and led to a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

. His promise of higher pay and improved seniority benefits to workers returning to work split the rail unions for most of the twentieth century and the different employment conditions lasted until the Lang Government was elected. His action was seen by supporters as the decisive leadership required in wartime. In 1919, he expanded the state-owned

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

fleet "to provide cheap fish for the mass of the population". On 3 June 1919, he was appointed as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

for his service as Colonial Secretary.

Premier

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

won the 1920 election and Fuller became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. In 1921 he took advantage of the death of John Storey to defeat James Dooley's Government on a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

and as a result was asked to form a government. But Fuller himself had to give up the Premiership after only seven hours, after losing another motion of no confidence and Dooley returned to office. In the 1922 state election, Dooley was defeated and Fuller became Premier once again. His government began the construction of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

. This time his tenure lasted till the 1925 state election, won by Labor's Jack Lang.

Later years

Shortly after Lang's victory, Fuller resigned from the Nationalist leadership in favour of

Thomas Bavin Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, (5 May 1874 – 31 August 1941) was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia at the age of 15, where he stud ...

. From 1928 to 1931 he was the state's Agent-General in London. He died in the Sydney suburb of

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, George 1861 births 1940 deaths People educated at Sydney Grammar School University of Sydney alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Illawarra Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Free Trade Party members of the Parliament of Australia Commonwealth Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian federationists Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Premiers of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Agents-General for New South Wales Leaders of the opposition in New South Wales Treasurers of New South Wales People from Kiama, New South Wales Australian MPs 1901–1903 Australian MPs 1903–1906 Australian MPs 1906–1910 Australian MPs 1910–1913