Andrew Fisher

Andrew Fisher was an Australian Labor politician who served three nonconsecutive terms as prime minister between 1908 and 1915. His governments expanded national institutions and social welfare.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Australia’s national bank, established by federal legislation in 1911 and opened in 1912. Fisher’s government created the bank to provide public banking and savings services.
Crosshouse: A village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, where Andrew Fisher was born in 1862. Fisher’s birthplace preceded his migration to Australia as a young man.
Billy Hughes: An Australian Labor politician who succeeded Fisher as prime minister in 1915. Hughes served in Fisher’s cabinet before becoming his successor and later a party rival.
First Fisher ministry: The Australian federal government led by Andrew Fisher from November 1908 to June 1909. Fisher’s first ministry began when Labor took office after the Deakin government fell.
Royal Australian Navy: Australia’s naval service, established as a national force in 1911. His government developed the navy as a key element of Australian defence.
Scottish migration to Australia: The movement of people from Scotland to Australia across successive periods of migration. Fisher emigrated from Scotland to Queensland in 1885.
Alfred Deakin: An Australian statesman who served three terms as prime minister before the First World War. Deakin’s Liberal governments alternated with Fisher’s Labor governments in early federal politics.
Second Fisher ministry: The Australian federal government led by Andrew Fisher from April 1910 to June 1913. This was Fisher’s longest term and the first federal Labor government with a parliamentary majority.
Maternity Allowance Act 1912: Australian federal legislation that provided a one-time payment to eligible mothers after childbirth. The act made maternity support a national benefit under Fisher’s government.
Gympie: A city in Queensland that grew around a goldfield discovered in 1867. Fisher worked as a miner near Gympie and built his early political base there.

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William BirdwoodRelated: Fisher’s government supported Birdwood’s appointment to lead the Australian and New Zealand forces.