John Forrest - in Federal Politics

In Federal Politics

On 30 December 1900 Forrest accepted the position of Postmaster-General in Edmund Barton's federal government. Two days later he received news that he had been made a GCMG in recognition of services in connection with the Federation of Australian Colonies and the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia. Forrest was postmaster-general for only seventeen days; he resigned the position to take up the defence portfolio, which had been made vacant by the death of Sir James Dickson. On 13 February 1901, he resigned as premier of Western Australia and member for Bunbury. In the first federal election, held on 29 March 1901, he was elected unopposed, on a moderate protectionist platform, to the federal House of Representatives seat of Swan. Forrest held the defence portfolio for over two years. After a cabinet reshuffle on 7 August 1903, he became Minister for Home Affairs.

The federal election of December 1903 greatly weakened the governing party, and shortly afterwards it was defeated and replaced by a Labor government under Chris Watson. Forrest moved to the crossbenches, where he was a scathing critic of the Labour government's policies and legislation. After George Reid's Free Trade Party took office in August 1904, he remained on the crossbenches but largely supported the government. In June 1905, Alfred Deakin's Protectionist Party formed an alliance with Labor and ejected Reid's government. They formed a new government on 7 July, with Forrest appointed Treasurer, and fifth in seniority. After a ministerial reshuffle in October 1906, Forrest became third in cabinet precedence. Five months later, Deakin and his deputy William Lyne travelled to London to attend conferences, and Forrest was appointed acting Prime Minister from 18 March to 27 June 1907.

The alliance with Labor had put Forrest in a difficult position, for he had been consistently critical and even hostile towards them. Leading up to the federal election of December 1906, he continued to attack the Labor Party, despite sharing government with them and depending on their support. In the following months, Forrest was himself heavily criticised in the press for his willingness to work with the Labor Party, and his perceived hypocrisy in attacking them during election campaigns while depending on their support when cabinet was in session. He began to feel that his reputation in Western Australia and his personal standing in cabinet were being undermined. In response, he resigned as treasurer on 30 July 1907 and joined the crossbenches, where he was a critic of, but did not strongly oppose, the government.

A few months later, Labor withdrew its support for Deakin's government, forcing it to resign. Labor then formed government under Andrew Fisher. In the following months, Forrest and a number of other members worked to arrange a fusion of the Free Trade and Protectionist parties into a single party. Eventually, the Commonwealth Liberal Party was formed, with Deakin as leader. Fisher was then forced to resign, and the new Liberal Party took office on 2 June 1909, with Forrest as treasurer. Labor eventually reclaimed office in the federal election of April 1910.

Early in 1913, Deakin resigned as Leader of the Opposition. Forrest and Joseph Cook contested the leadership, with Cook winning by a single vote. Forrest was very disappointed, as Deakin, whom he considered a friend, had voted against him. Five months later, in the federal election of May 1913, the Liberal Party returned to power, with Cook as Prime Minister. Forrest was appointed treasurer for the third time. However, the government's majority of just one seat in the House of Representatives, along with Labor's large majority in the Senate, made it extremely difficult to govern, and very little was achieved. In June 1914, Cook asked the Governor-General for a double dissolution, and Australia was sent back to the polls. Forrest retained his seat, but the Liberal Party was soundly beaten, and Forrest was again relegated to the crossbenches.

In December 1916, a split in the Labor Party over conscription left Prime Minister Billy Hughes with a minority government. Hughes and his colleagues formed the National Labor Party, and the Liberal Party joined with them in the formation of a new government. For the fourth time, Forrest was appointed treasurer. The National Labor and Liberal parties easily won a combined majority at the federal election of May 1917, and shortly afterwards the two parties merged to form the Nationalist Party of Australia.

On 20 December, a referendum on conscription was defeated, and Hughes kept a promise to resign as prime minister if the referendum was lost. Forrest immediately declared himself a candidate for the position, but the governor-general found that Forrest did not have the numbers, and asked Hughes to form government again. Hughes accepted and the previous government was again sworn in.

On 6 February 1918, Forrest was informed that he was to be raised to the British peerage as Baron Forrest of Bunbury in the Commonwealth of Australia and of Forret in Fife in the United Kingdom. Despite the announcement, however, no Letters patent were issued before his death, so the peerage was not officially created. According to Rubinstein (1991), "his peerage is not mentioned or included in Burke's Peerage, The New Extinct Peerage, the Complete Peerage, or any other standard reference work on the subject."

Forrest had been suffering from a cancer on his temple since early in 1917 and by 1918 he was very ill. He resigned as treasurer but not from parliament on 21 March 1918, and shortly afterwards boarded ship for London, where he hoped to obtain specialist medical attention. He also hoped to be able to take his seat in the House of Lords. But on 2 September 1918, with his ship off the coast of Sierra Leone, he died. He was buried there, but his remains were later brought back to Western Australia and interred in Karrakatta Cemetery.