Premier
Cahill succeeded McGirr as New South Wales Premier in 1952, and held the position until his death in office. He won the state elections of 1953, 1956, and 1959. It was in November 1954 that he first began to champion the idea of an opera house in Sydney, though the building was not completed and opened to the public until fourteen years after he had died.
His political skills, his determination to avoid another Jack Lang-style split in the party, and - in particular - his government's close alliance with Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal Norman Gilroy, ensured that Labor in New South Wales avoided the devastating divisions which forced the party out of office in Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland during the 1950s Split. No earlier premier of New South Wales had remained in office as long as Cahill did, and none would manage to surpass the length of Cahill's tenure until Sir Robert Askin in the 1970s.
Cahill died at Sydney Hospital of a myocardial infarction and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney. His wife, two daughters, and three sons survived him. One of his sons, Thomas James Cahill, was similarly a Member of the Legislative Assembly.
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