View source for Andrew Fisher

{{Short description|Three-time Australian prime minister (1862–1928)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix  = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name              = Andrew Fisher
| image             = Andrew Fisher 1912 (b&w).jpg
| caption           = Fisher in 1912
| order             = 5th
| office            = Prime Minister of Australia<!--No election dates.-->
| term_start        = 17 September 1914
| term_end          = 27 October 1915
| monarch           = [[George V]]
| governor-general  = [[Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson]]
| predecessor       = [[Joseph Cook]]
| successor         = [[Billy Hughes]]
| term_start2       = 29 April 1910
| term_end2         = 24 June 1913
| monarch2          = {{ubl|[[Edward VII]]|George V}}
| governor-general2 = {{ubl|[[William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley|Lord Dudley]]|[[Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman|Lord Denman]]}}
| predecessor2      = [[Alfred Deakin]]
| successor2        = Joseph Cook
| term_start3       = 13 November 1908
| term_end3         = 2 June 1909
| monarch3          = Edward VII
| governor-general3 = Lord Dudley
| predecessor3      = Alfred Deakin
| successor3        = Alfred Deakin
| office4           = [[Leader of the Opposition (Australia)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start4       = 8 July 1913
| term_end4         = 17 September 1914
| primeminister4    = Joseph Cook
| predecessor4      = Joseph Cook
| successor4        = Joseph Cook
| term_start5       = 2 June 1909
| term_end5         = 29 April 1910
| primeminister5    = Alfred Deakin
| predecessor5      = Alfred Deakin
| successor5        = Alfred Deakin
| office6           = [[Australian Labor Party#ALP Federal Parliamentary Leaders|Leader of the Labor Party]]
| term_start6       = 30 October 1907
| term_end6         = 27 October 1915
| deputy6           = {{ubl|[[Gregor McGregor]]|Billy Hughes}}
| predecessor6      = [[Chris Watson]]
| successor6        = Billy Hughes
| office7           = [[High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]]
| term_start7       = 1 January 1916
| term_end7         = 22 April 1921
| predecessor7      = [[George Reid|Sir George Reid]]
| successor7        = Joseph Cook
| parliament8       = Australian
| constituency_MP8  = [[Division of Wide Bay|Wide Bay]]
| term_start8       = 30 March 1901
| term_end8         = 26 October 1915
| predecessor8      = ''Seat created''
| successor8        = [[Edward Corser]]
| office9           = Member of the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]] for [[Electoral district of Gympie|Gympie]]
| term_start9       = 25 March 1899
| term_end9         = 9 May 1901
| alongside9        = [[George Ryland (Queensland politician)|George Ryland]]
| predecessor9      = [[Jacob Stumm]]
| successor9        = [[Daniel Mulcahy (Queensland politician)|Daniel Mulcahy]]
| term_start10      = 25 May 1893
| term_end10        = 11 April 1896
| alongside10       = [[William Smyth (Australian politician)|William Smyth]]
| predecessor10     = [[Matthew Mellor]]
| successor10       = Jacob Stumm
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1862|8|29|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Crosshouse]], Ayrshire, Scotland
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1928|10|22|1862|8|29|df=y}}
| death_place       = [[Hampstead]], London, England
| resting_place     = [[Hampstead Cemetery]]
| nationality       = Australian
| party             = [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| spouse            = {{marriage|[[Margaret Fisher|Margaret Irvine]]|1901}}
| children          = 6
| profession        = {{hlist|Miner|trade union official}}
| signature         = Andrew Fisher signature 1915.svg
}}

'''Andrew Fisher''' (29 August 1862{{spaced ndash}}22 October 1928) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the fifth [[prime minister of Australia]] from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913 and 1914 to 1915. He held office as the leader of the [[leader of the Australian Labor Party|Australian Labor Party]] (ALP), and was particularly notable for leading the party to its first federal election victory and first [[majority government]] at the [[1910 Australian federal election|1910 federal election]].

Fisher was born in [[Crosshouse]], Ayrshire, Scotland. He left school at a young age to work in the nearby coal mines, becoming secretary of the local branch of the [[Ayrshire Miners' Union]] at the age of 17. Fisher emigrated to Australia in 1885, where he continued his involvement with trade unionism. He settled in [[Gympie]], Queensland, and [[1893 Queensland colonial election|in 1893]] was elected to the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]] as a representative of the Labor Party. Fisher lost his seat [[1896 Queensland colonial election|in 1896]], but returned [[1899 Queensland colonial election|in 1899]] and later that year briefly was a minister in the government of [[Anderson Dawson]].

In 1901, Fisher was elected to the new [[Parliament of Australia|federal parliament]] representing the [[Division of Wide Bay]]. He was the [[Department of Trade and Customs|Minister for Trade and Customs]] for a few months in 1904, in the short-lived government of [[Chris Watson]]. Fisher was elected deputy leader of the ALP in 1905 and replaced Watson as leader in 1907. He initially provided support to the [[minority government]] of [[Protectionist Party|Protectionist]] leader [[Alfred Deakin]], but in November 1908 the ALP withdrew its support and Deakin resigned as prime minister. Fisher subsequently formed a minority government of his own. It lasted only a few months, as in June 1909 Deakin returned as prime minister at the head of a new anti-socialist [[Liberal Party (Australia, 1909)|Liberal Party]].

Fisher returned as prime minister after the [[1910 Australian federal election|1910 federal election]], which saw Labor attain majority government for the first time in its history. His second government passed wide-ranging reforms – old-age and disability pensions, enshrined new [[workers' rights]] in legislation, established the [[Commonwealth Bank]], oversaw the continued expansion of the [[Royal Australian Navy]], began construction on the [[Trans-Australian Railway]], and formally established what is now the [[Australian Capital Territory]]. However, at the [[1913 Australian federal election|1913 election]] the ALP narrowly lost its House of Representatives majority to the Liberal Party, with Fisher being replaced as prime minister by [[Joseph Cook]].

After just over a year in office, Cook was forced to call [[1914 Australian federal election|a new election]], the first [[double dissolution]]. Labor won back its majority in the House, and Fisher returned for a third term as prime minister. During the election campaign he famously declared that Australia would defend Britain "to the last man and the last shilling". However, he struggled with the demands of [[Military history of Australia during World War I|Australia's participation in World War I]] and in October 1915 resigned in favour of his deputy [[Billy Hughes]]. Fisher subsequently accepted an appointment as the [[High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom]], holding the position from 1916 to 1920. After a brief return to Australia, he retired to London, dying there at the age of 66. His cumulative total of just under five years as prime minister is the second-longest by an ALP leader, surpassed only by [[Bob Hawke]].

==Early life==
===Birth and family background===
[[Image:Fisher1.JPG|left|upright|thumb|Memorial [[cairn]] in [[Crosshouse]], Fisher's birthplace in rural Scotland]]
Fisher was born on 29 August 1862 in [[Crosshouse]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2YqjfHLyyj8C&pg=PA417|title=World War I: Encyclopedia|last=Tucker|first=Spencer|date=2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851094202|pages=417|language=en}}</ref> a mining village {{convert|2|mi|km}} west of [[Kilmarnock]], Scotland. He was the second of eight children born to Jane (née Garven or Garvin) and Robert Fisher; he had one older brother, four younger brothers, and two younger sisters.{{sfn|Day|2008|page=2}} His younger sister died at the age of 10 in 1879, the only one of the siblings not to live to adulthood.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Bastian|publisher=UNSW Press|title=Andrew Fisher: An Underestimated Man|year=2009|page=1}}</ref> Fisher's mother was the daughter of a blacksmith and worked as a domestic servant.{{sfn|Day|2008|page=2}} On his father's side, he was descended from a long line of [[Ayrshire]] coalminers. According to family tradition, his paternal grandfather was persecuted for his involvement in the fledgling union movement, and on one occasion was left homeless with five young children.<ref name="day5">Day (2008), p. 5.</ref> Although he was probably only partially literate,{{efn|On his marriage certificate, Fisher's mother signed her name but his father signed an "X". He may have been able to read, however, as schools in the early 19th century sometimes charged separately for reading and writing.}} Fisher's father was prominent in the local community and involved with various community organisations. He was the leader of a [[temperance society]],{{sfn|Bastian|2009|page=15}} and in 1863 was one of ten miners who co-founded a [[cooperative society]].<ref name=day5/> He and his family were active members of the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church of Scotland]].{{sfn|Bastian|2009|page=12}}

===Childhood===
Fisher spent most of his childhood living in a miners' row, which had an earthen floor and no running water.<ref name=bas6>Bastian (2009), p. 6.</ref> He was kicked in the head by a cow as a small child, leaving him mostly deaf in one ear. The injury may have contributed to a childhood speech impediment and his reserved nature as an adult.<ref name=bas5>Bastian (2009), p. 5.</ref> As a boy, Fisher and his brothers fished in Carmel Water, a tributary of the [[River Irvine]], and enjoyed long walks across the countryside.<ref>Day (2008), p. 10.</ref> He was athletic, helping form a local football team, and stood {{convert|178|cm|ftin}} as an adult, above the average at the time.<ref name=bas5/> In later life, Fisher recalled attending four schools as a boy. The exact details are uncertain, but he is known to have finished his schooling in Crosshouse and to have attended a school in nearby [[Dreghorn]] for a period.<ref name=day89>Day (2008), pp. 8–9.</ref>{{efn|Fisher recounted in 1911 that he had begun his education at "a little private school", before attending "the old schoolhouse" in Crosshouse, the village school in Dreghorn, and then a new school in Crosshouse. He probably also attended Sunday school.<ref name=day89/>}} The standard of public education in Scotland was relatively high at the time, and his schoolmaster in Crosshouse had received formal training in Edinburgh; the main focus of the curriculum was on [[the three Rs]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 9.</ref> He later supplemented his limited formal education by attending night school in Kilmarnock and reading at the town library.{{sfn|Bastian|2009|page=7}}

The exact age at which Fisher left school is uncertain, but he could have been as young as nine or as old as thirteen.{{efn|Bastian believes that Fisher left when he was nine years old, and may have exaggerated his leaving age as an adult because he was self-conscious about his lack of education. He suggests that he was withdrawn from school early to avoid the provisions of the newly enacted ''Education (Scotland) Act 1872'', which mandated compulsory attendance until the age of 13. The price of coal and miners' wages increased during the [[Franco-Prussian War]], which may have provided a financial incentive for younger children to begin work; however, it would still have been illegal for a nine-year-old to work in the mines.{{sfn|Bastian|2009|pages=18–19}} Day instead argues that Fisher remained in school until he was thirteen. His parents were known to value education and could afford to have him stay in school until the legal leaving age. He notes a 1911 interview in which Fisher gave his leaving age as thirteen, and suggests that references to him being underground at an earlier age are ambiguous, as he could have simply been visiting his father and older brother rather than actually working.{{sfn|Day|2008|page=18}}}} He is believed to have begun his working life as a [[coal trapper]], opening and closing the trapdoors that allowed for ventilation and the movement of coal. He was later placed in charge of the [[Pit pony|pit ponies]], and finally took his place performing "pick-and-shovel work" at the coalface. When he was 16, he was promoted to air-pump operator, which required additional training and was seen as a relatively prestigious position.<ref>Bastian (2009), p. 20.</ref> Fisher's father had [[black lung disease]], and gave up mining around the same time as his oldest sons began working. He subsequently became the manager of the foodstore at the local cooperative, and the family moved out of miners' row. They later lived in [[Kilmaurs]] for a period, but eventually returned to Crosshouse and leased a small farm. Fisher's father then worked as a gardener and apiarist, supplementing his income with contract work repairing the machinery at local mines.<ref name=bas6/> He died of lung disease in 1887, aged 53.<ref>Day (2008), p. 17.</ref>

=== Early political involvement ===
In 1879, aged 17, Fisher was elected secretary of the Crosshouse branch of the [[Ayrshire Miners' Union]]. He soon came into contact with [[Keir Hardie]], a leading figure in the union and a future leader of the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]]. The pair met frequently to discuss politics and would renew their acquaintance later in life.<ref>Day (2008), p. 23.</ref> Fisher and Hardie were leaders of the 1881 Ayrshire miners' strike, which was widely seen as a failure. The ten-week strike resulted in only a small pay rise rather than the 10 percent that had been asked for; many workers depleted their savings and some cooperatives came close to bankruptcy. Fisher had originally been opposed to the strike, and unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a compromise with mine-owners. He lost his job, but soon found work at a different mine.<ref>Day (2008), pp. 24–25.</ref> Like many miners, Fisher was a supporter of Gladstone's [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]], in particular the "[[Liberal-Labour (UK)|Liberal-Labour]]" candidates who had the support of the unions. In 1884, he chaired a public meeting in Crosshouse in support of the [[Representation of the People Act 1884|Third Reform Bill]]. He subsequently wrote a letter to Gladstone and received a reply thanking him for his support.<ref>Day (2008), p. 26.</ref> The following year, Fisher was involved in another miners' strike. He was not only sacked but also [[Blacklist (employment)|blacklisted]]. He was left with little future in Scotland and decided to emigrate; his older brother John had already left for England a few years earlier, becoming a police constable in [[Liverpool]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 27.</ref>

==Immigration to Australia==
[[File:Andrew Fisher 1899.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Fisher as a young man in Queensland]]
Fisher and his younger brother James arrived in [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland]], on 17 August 1885, after a two-month steamship journey from London.<ref>Bastian (2009), p. 35.</ref> He first saw Australia during a stopover at [[Thursday Island]], where whites were a minority and there was a large Japanese population. His biographer [[David Day (historian)|David Day]] has speculated that this initial first impression may have contributed to his later opposition to non-white immigration.<ref>Day (2008), p. 33.</ref> Fisher's path to Australia was virtually identical to that of [[Billy Hughes]], who had arrived less than a year earlier in December 1884 – both men took assisted passage, arrived at the age of 22, and travelled from London to Brisbane.<ref>Day (2008), p. 142.</ref> Unlike Hughes, Fisher never lost his original accent and retained a thick Scottish "brogue" for the rest of his life.<ref>Bastian (2009), p. 230.</ref>

After arriving in Brisbane, Fisher made his way to the [[Burrum River]] coalfields where there were already a number of Scottish miners. He began as an ordinary miner and joined the local miners' union, but after successfully sinking a new shaft at [[Torbanlea, Queensland|Torbanlea]], he was employed as a mine manager.<ref>Day (2008), p. 35.</ref> Prospering financially for the first time in his life, he built a timber cottage at [[Howard, Queensland|Howard]] and began investing in shares.<ref>Day (2008), pp. 37–38.</ref> Fisher moved to the larger gold-mining town of [[Gympie, Queensland|Gympie]] in 1888, initially working in the No. 1 North Phoenix mine and then in the South Great Eastern Extended.<ref>Day (2008), p. 41.</ref> He continued his involvement in unionism, helping form the Gympie branch of the Amalgamated Miners' Association (AMA) and serving terms as secretary and president.<ref>Day (2008), p. 49.</ref> He obtained an engine-driver's certificate in 1891, and was elected president of the related [[craft union]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 51.</ref> This new job allowed him to work above-ground, operating the machinery that raised and lowered the cages in the mineshaft.<ref>Day (2008), p. 52.</ref> During his time in Gympie, Fisher stayed in a boardinghouse in [[Red Hill, Queensland|Red Hill]]; it is now heritage-listed as "[[Andrew Fisher's Cottage]]". He would eventually marry his landlady's daughter, [[Margaret Fisher|Margaret Irvine]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 53.</ref>

Within years of arriving in the town, Fisher had become "an important figure in the Gympie labour movement, straddling both its political and industrial wings".<ref>Bastian (2009), p. 57.</ref> He was a founding member of the Gympie cooperative, and in 1891 became the secretary of the Gympie Joint Labour Committee, the local [[labour council]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 54.</ref> He helped establish a branch of the [[Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)|Workers' Political Association]], the forerunner of the Labor Party, and was the inaugural branch president with [[George Ryland (Queensland politician)|George Ryland]] as secretary. In 1892, he represented Gympie at the Labour-in-Politics Convention in Brisbane.<ref>Day (2008), p. 55–56.</ref> He was sacked from his engine-driving job in the same year, and subsequently devoted his full attention to politics.<ref>Day (2008), p. 57.</ref>

== Queensland politics ==
[[Image:Andrewfisher.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Fisher as a Queensland MP, {{circa|1899}}]]
In 1891, Fisher was elected as the first president of the Gympie branch of the [[Australian Labor Party|Labour Party]]. In 1893, he was elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Queensland]] as Labour member for the [[Electoral district of Gympie]] and by the following year had become Labour's deputy leader in the Legislative Assembly. In his maiden speech, he pushed for a 50% decrease in military spending and declared support for a federation.{{sfn|Day|2008}} He was also active in the Amalgamated Miners Union, becoming President of the Gympie branch by 1891.<ref name = "Fisher16">Fisher, Kathleen (2006) "From pit boy to prime minister: Andrew Fisher", in ''National Library of Australia News'', XVI (9), June 2006, p. 16</ref> Another policy area that captured his attention during this term, was the employment of workers from the Pacific Islands in sugar plantations, a practice that Fisher and Labour both strongly opposed. He lost his seat in 1896 following a campaign in which he was charged by his opponent [[Jacob Stumm]] with being a dangerous revolutionary and an anti-Catholic, accusations that were propagated by the newspaper ''Gympie Times''.{{sfn|Day|2008}}

The 1896 establishment of the ''Gympie Truth'', a newspaper that he was to partly own,<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography  |first=D. J. |last=Murphy |author-link=Denis Murphy (Australian politician) |title=Fisher, Andrew (1862–1928) |id2=fisher-andrew-378 |year=1981 |access-date=14 August 2022}}</ref> was part of his response. Intended as a medium to broadcast Labour's message, the newspaper played a vital role in Fisher's return to parliament in 1899. This time, he was the beneficiary of a scare campaign, in which conservative candidate Francis Power was consistently painted by the ''Gympie Truth'' as being a supporter of black labour and the alleged economic and social ills that accompanied it.{{sfn|Day|2008}} In that year he was Secretary for Railways and Public Works in the seven-day government of [[Anderson Dawson]], the first parliamentary Labour government in the world.<ref name=adb/>

== First years in federal politics ==
[[Image:Labor 1901b.jpg|right|thumb|Labour Party MPs elected at the inaugural [[1901 Australian federal election|1901 election]], including [[Chris Watson|Watson]], Fisher, [[Billy Hughes|Hughes]], [[King O'Malley|O'Malley]], and [[Frank Tudor|Tudor]]]]
The state Labour parties and their MPs were mixed in their support for the [[Federation of Australia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Federation Political Groups – to 1901 and beyond  |work=[[National Library of Australia]]  |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/guides/federation/politics.html  |access-date=31 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830162636/http://www.nla.gov.au/guides/federation/politics.html  |archive-date=30 August 2007 |url-status=live 
}}</ref> However Fisher was a firm believer in federation, supporting the union of the Australian colonies and campaigned for the 'Yes' vote in Queensland's 1899 referendum.<ref name=adb/>  Fisher stood for the [[Division of Wide Bay]] at the inaugural [[1901 Australian federal election]] and won the seat, which he held continuously for the rest of his political career.<ref name = "Fisher16"/> At the end of 1901, Fisher married [[Margaret Fisher|Margaret Irvine]], his previous landlady's daughter.<ref name=apmb>{{cite web | title =Andrew Fisher, Before office | work =Australia's Prime Ministers | publisher =[[National Archives of Australia]] | url =http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fisher/before-office.aspx | access-date =9 February 2010 | archive-date =23 September 2009 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090923003840/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fisher/before-office.aspx | url-status =dead }}</ref>

Fisher supported the [[White Australia policy]] but also argued that any Kanaka who had converted to Christianity and married should be allowed to remain in Australia.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

Labour improved their position at the [[1903 Australian federal election|1903 election]], gaining enough seats to be on par with the other two, a legislative time colloquially known as the "three elevens". When the Deakin government resigned in 1904, [[George Reid]] of the [[Free Trade Party]] declined to take office, resulting in Labour taking power and [[Chris Watson]] becoming Labour's first prime minister for a four-month period in 1904. Fisher established and demonstrated his ministerial capabilities as [[Minister for Trade (Australia)|Minister for Trade and Customs]] in the [[Watson Ministry]]. The fourth Labour member in the ministry after Watson, Hughes, and [[Lee Batchelor]], Fisher was promoted to Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1905.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

[[File:Andrew_Fisher_1904.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.9|Fisher in 1904, around the time of the [[Watson government]]]]
George Reid adopted a strategy of trying to reorient the party system along Labour vs non-Labour lines – prior to the [[1906 Australian federal election|1906 election]], he renamed his [[Free Trade Party]] to the Anti-Socialist Party. Reid envisaged a spectrum running from socialist to anti-socialist, with the [[Protectionist Party]] in the middle. This attempt struck a chord with politicians who were steeped in the [[Westminster system|Westminster tradition]] and regarded a [[two-party system]] as very much the norm.<ref>[https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2015/04/images/stories/policy-magazine/2009-autumn/25-1-09-charles-richardson.pdf Fusion: The Party System We Had To Have? – by Charles Richardson CIS 25 January 2009]</ref>

=== Ascent to party leadership ===
At the 1906 election, Deakin remained prime minister even though Labour gained considerably more seats than the Protectionists. When Watson resigned in 1907, Fisher succeeded him as Labour leader, although Hughes and [[William Spence]] also stood for the position. Fisher was considered to have a better understanding of economic matters, was better at handling caucus, had better relations with the party organisation and the unions, and was more in touch with party opinion. He did not share Hughes' passion for free trade or that of Watson and Hughes for defence (and later conscription). In political terms he was a radical, on the left-wing of his party, with a strong sense of Labour's part in British working-class history.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

At the 1908 Labour Federal Conference, Fisher argued for female representation in parliament:

{{cquote|I trust that not another Federal election will take place without there being a woman endorsed as a Labour candidate for the Senate.<ref name=adb />}}

With a majority of seats in the Labour-Protectionist government, Labour caucus by early 1908 had become restive as to the future of the Deakin minority government. With the Deakin ministry in trouble, Deakin spoke to Fisher and Watson about a possible coalition, and following a report agreed to it providing Labour had a majority in cabinet, that there was immediate legislation for old-age [[pension]]s, that New Protection was carried and that at the following election the government would promise a progressive [[land tax]]. No coalition was formed, however the pressure from Labour brought about productive change by Deakin: he agreed to a [[royal commission]] into the post office, old-age pensions were to be provided from the surplus revenue fund and £250,000 set aside for ships for an [[Australian Navy]]. New Protection was declared invalid by the High Court in June, Fisher found the tariff proposals of Deakin unsatisfactory, while caucus was also dissatisfied with the old-age pension proposals. Without Labour support the Deakin government collapsed in November 1908.<ref name=adb/>

During the parliamentary ballots that selected Yass-Canberra as the site of the national capital, in October 1908, Fisher voted consistently for [[Dalgety, New South Wales|Dalgety]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=9 October 1908|title=Capital Site |work=Argus|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10169204|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>

==Prime minister, 1908–1909==
===Appointment and government formation===
[[File:Andrew Fisher 1908.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Fisher in 1908]]
On 5 November 1908, the ALP caucus voted to withdraw its support from the Deakin government, with parliament passing a [[motion of no confidence]] on 10 November. Fisher was sworn in as prime minister on 13 November at the head of a [[minority government]], with the support of Deakin and the Protectionists. He also appointed himself [[Treasurer of Australia|treasurer]], with the other members of [[First Fisher ministry|his ministry]] elected by the ALP caucus and assigned portfolios by Fisher.{{sfn|Day|2008|pp=152-153}}

===Legislation and policy agenda===
Fisher was reliant on the support of other parties to pass legislation, with only 26 seats out of 75 in the House of Representatives and only five senators. He sought to "push on with some of the measures that had been initiated but not completed by Deakin",{{sfn|Day|2008|p=156}} including passing the Manufacturers' Encouragement Act to provide bounties for iron and steel manufacturers who paid fair and reasonable wages.<ref name=adb/> His aim was to ensure Deakin's continued support to remain in office, buying time to build up public support for the ALP's agenda at the next election.{{sfn|Day|2008|p=156}} A month after Fisher's appointment, parliament finally passed the ''[[Seat of Government Act 1908]]'' to establish [[Canberra]] as the site of the new national capital, following years of debate. He had originally favoured [[Dalgety, New South Wales]], as the site for the capital.{{sfn|Day|2008|p=155}}

Fisher committed Labour to amending the Constitution to give the Commonwealth power over [[Labour (economics)|labour]], wages and prices, to expanding the navy and providing compulsory [[military training]] for youths, to extending [[pension]]s, to a [[land tax]], to the construction of a [[Transcontinental railroad|transcontinental railway]], to the replacement of [[pound sterling]] with [[Australian currency]] and to [[tariff]]s to protect the sugar industry.<ref name=apmio>{{cite web  | title =Andrew Fisher, In office | work =Australia's Prime Ministers | publisher =National Archives of Australia | url =http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fisher/in-office.aspx | access-date = 9 February 2010 }}</ref>

===Ouster===
In early 1909, during the parliamentary recess, Deakin and Anti-Socialist Party leader [[Joseph Cook]] began negotiations to merge their respective parties and form a single anti-Labor party.{{sfn|Day|2008|p=177}} Fisher and Deakin simultaneously fell out over Fisher's refusal to recall parliament, which Deakin regarded as a broken promise.{{sfn|Day|2008|pp=166-167}}

Fisher eventually recalled parliament for 26 May 1909 and presented a [[throne speech]] proposed reforms, delivered by Governor-General [[William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley|Lord Dudley]]. On the same date, the Protectionists and Anti-Socialists agreed to form a united opposition under the leadership of Deakin. The new [[Liberal Party (Australia, 1909)|Liberal Party]] held a clear majority of seats in both the House and Senate. Fisher did not immediately resign as prime minister, but instead advised Dudley to dissolve parliament and call an early election. Dudley refused, on the grounds that Deakin could form a stable government, and Fisher correspondingly resigned as prime minister on 1 June.{{sfn|Day|2008|pp=178-179}}

==Prime minister, 1910–1913==
[[Image:AFisherFamily.jpg|thumb|left|A studio portrait of the prime ministerial family in 1910]]
At the [[1910 Australian federal election|1910 election]], Labour gained sixteen additional seats to hold a total of forty-two of the seventy-five House of Representatives' seats, and all eighteen Senate seats up for election to hold a total of twenty-two out of thirty-six seats. This gave Labour control of both upper and lower houses and enabled Fisher to form his [[Second Fisher Ministry]], Australia's first elected federal [[majority government]], Australia's first elected Senate majority, and the world's first [[List of Labour Parties|Labour Party]] majority government.<ref name=adb/> The 113 acts passed in the three years of the second Fisher government exceeded even the output of the second Deakin government over a similar period.<ref name=apmio/>

According to Labor MP and historian [[Denis Murphy (Australian politician)|Denis Murphy]], the second Fisher government represented "the culmination of Labor's involvement in politics", and was "a period of reform unmatched in the Commonwealth until the 1940s", under [[John Curtin]] and [[Ben Chifley]].<ref name=adb/> The Fisher government carried out many reforms in defence, finance, transport and communications, and social security, achieving the vast majority of their aims in just three years of government. These included extending old-age and disability pensions,<ref name=":0" /> introducing a [[maternity]] allowance and issuing Australia's first [[paper currency]], forming the [[Royal Australian Navy]], the start of construction of the [[Trans-Australian Railway]], expanding the bench of the [[High Court of Australia]], the founding of [[Canberra]], and the establishment of the state-owned [[Commonwealth Bank]].<ref name=apmio/> Fisher's second government also introduced uniform postal charges throughout Australia, carried out measures to break up land monopolies, put forward proposals for closer regulation of working hours, wages and employment conditions,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.australianhistory.org/andrew-fisher.php |title=Andrew Fisher |publisher=Australianhistory.org |access-date=15 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114235217/http://australianhistory.org/andrew-fisher.php |archive-date=14 November 2010 |url-status=usurped  }}</ref>  and amended the 1904 Conciliation and Arbitration Act to provide greater authority for the court president, and to allow for Commonwealth employees' industrial unions, registered with the Arbitration Court.<ref name=adb/>

A land tax, aimed at breaking up big estates and give wider scope for small-scale farming, was also introduced, while coverage of the Arbitration system was extended to agricultural workers, domestics, and federal public servants. In addition, the age at which women became entitled to the old-age pension was lowered from sixty-five to sixty. The introduction of the maternity allowance was a major reform, because it enabled more births to be attended by doctors, thus leading to reductions in infant mortality rates.<ref>[[Ross McMullin]], The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991</ref> However, the maternity allowance was only available to white women, with the legislation barring "women who are Asiatic, or are aboriginal natives of Australia, Papua or the Pacific Islands" in line with the racial exclusions in the old-age pension.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Conditional Inclusion: Aborigines and Welfare Rights in Australia, 1900–47|first=John|last=Murphy|year=2013|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2013.791707|journal=Australian Historical Studies|volume=44|issue=2|page=210}}</ref> Compulsory preference to trade unionists in federal employment was also introduced,<ref>A New History of Australia edited by F.K. Crowley</ref> while the Seaman's Compensation Act of 1911<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Browse/Results/ByYearNumber/Acts/Historical/1911/0|title=ComLaw: Acts by Year / Number|work=comlaw.gov.au}}</ref> and the Navigation Act of 1912<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/1912/|title=1912 Commonwealth of Australia Numbered Acts|work=austlii.edu.au}}</ref> were enacted to improve conditions for those working at sea, together with compensatory arrangements for seamen and next of kin.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.freehill.com/articles/Maritime_Law-Twelve_Years_Into_the_Century.pdf |title=Maritime Law - Twelve Years Into the Century |access-date=6 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101223409/http://www.freehill.com/articles/Maritime_Law-Twelve_Years_Into_the_Century.pdf |archive-date=1 January 2015}}</ref> Eligibility for pensions was also widened. From December 1912 onwards, naturalised residents no longer had to wait three years to be eligible for a pension.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged1.htm|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040913140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/31911/20040914-0000/www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged1.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2004|title=Social Security Payments for the Aged, People with Disabilities and Carers 1909 to 2002|work=nla.gov.au}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> That same year, the value of a pensioner's home was excluded from consideration when assessing the value of their property.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged3.htm#concessions|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20040913140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/31911/20040914-0000/www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/aged3.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2004|title=Social Security Payments for the Aged, People with Disabilities and Carers 1909 to 2002|work=nla.gov.au}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

[[File:Aussie pm Andrew Fisher cropped from naming of Canberra.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.9|Andrew Fisher at the naming of [[Canberra]] ceremony, 1913{{efn|The Governor-General, [[Thomas Denman, 3rd Baron Denman|Lord Denman]], is standing to the left of Fisher, while [[King O'Malley]], [[Minister for Home Affairs (Australia)|Minister for Home Affairs]], is at the far left of the photo (conversing with Lady Denman who was given the honour of pronouncing the new capital's name for the first time).}}]]
Fisher wanted additional Commonwealth power in certain areas, such as the [[nationalisation]] of [[monopolies]]. A [[1911 Australian referendum|constitutional referendum was initiated in 1911]] which aimed to increase the federal government's legislative powers over trade and commerce and over monopolies. Both questions were defeated, with around 61 per cent voting 'No'. The Fisher government made another attempt, holding a [[1913 Australian referendum|referendum in 1913]] which asked for greater federal powers over trade and commerce, corporations, industrial matters, trusts, monopolies, and railway disputes. All six questions were defeated, with around 51 per cent voting 'No'. At the [[1913 Australian federal election|1913 election]], the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]], led by [[Joseph Cook]], defeated the Labor Party by a single seat.<ref name=adb/>

==Prime minister, 1914–1915==
Labor retained control of the [[Australian Senate]] despite defeat. In 1914, Cook, frustrated by the Labor-controlled Senate's rejection of his legislation, recommended to the new Governor-General [[Ronald Munro Ferguson, 1st Viscount Novar|Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson]] that both houses of the parliament be dissolved and elections called.  This was Australia's first [[double dissolution]] election, and the only one until the [[1951 Australian federal election|1951 election]]. The [[First World War]] had [[July Crisis|broken out in the middle of]] the [[1914 Australian federal election|1914 election]] campaign, with both sides committing Australia to the British Empire. Fisher campaigned on Labor's record of support for an independent Australian defence force, and pledged that Australia would "stand beside the mother country to help and defend her to the last man and the last shilling". Labor won the election with another absolute majority in both houses and Fisher formed [[Third Fisher Ministry|his third government]] on 17 September 1914.<ref name=adb/><ref name="SajBoll">{{cite web |url=http://elections.uwa.edu.au/mindetail.lasso?keyvalue=10&fromlist=yes |title=Commonwealth Government of Australia beginning 17 September 1914 – period in office of Prime minister Fisher, Andrew |publisher=[[University of Western Australia]] |access-date=16 September 2019}}</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld 1 178907 Hon. Andrew Fisher and his party visit the Army camp, 1914.jpg|thumb|left|Fisher and his party visit the Army camp in 1914]]
Fisher and his party were immediately underway in organising urgent defence measures for planning and implementing Australian war effort. Fisher visited New Zealand during this time which saw [[Billy Hughes]] serve as acting prime minister for two months.  Fisher and Labor continued to implement promised peacetime legislation, including the ''River Murray Waters Act 1915'', the ''Freight Arrangements Act 1915'', the ''Sugar Purchase Act 1915'', the ''Estate Duty Assessment'' and the ''Estate Duty'' acts in 1914.  Wartime legislation in 1914 and 1915 included the ''War Precautions'' acts (giving the Governor-General power to make regulations for national security), a ''Trading with the Enemy Act'', ''War Census'' acts, a ''Crimes Act'', a ''Belgium Grant Act'', and an ''Enemy Contracts Annulment Act''.<ref name=apmio/> In December 1914, a War Pensions Act was passed to provide for the grant of Pensions upon the death or incapacity of Members of the Defence Force of the Commonwealth and Members of the Imperial Reserve Forces residents in Australia whose death or incapacity resulted from their employment in connection with warlike operations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C1914A00034|title=War Pensions Act 1914|work=comlaw.gov.au|date=21 December 1914 }}</ref>

In October 1915, journalist [[Keith Murdoch]] reported on the situation in [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli]] at Fisher's request, and advised him, "Your fears have been justified". He described the [[Dardanelles Expedition]] as being "a series of disastrous underestimations" and "one of the most terrible chapters in our history" concluding: "What I want to say to you now very seriously is that the continuous and ghastly bungling over the Dardanelles enterprise was to be expected from such a general staff as the British Army possesses ... the conceit and self complacency of the red feather men are equalled only by their incapacity."<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacArthur |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DelAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT121 |title=For King And Country: Voices from the First World War |date=2014-02-27 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=978-0-349-14049-0 |language=en}}</ref>[[File:AndrewFisher.jpg|thumb|upright|Fisher in 1915]]
Fisher passed this report on to Hughes and to Defence Minister [[George Pearce]], ultimately leading to the evacuation of the Australian troops in December 1915. The report was also used by the [[Dardanelles Commission]] on which Fisher served, while [[High Commission of Australia in London|High Commissioner in London]].<ref name=apmio/>

Fisher resigned as prime minister and from Parliament on 27 October 1915 after being absent from parliament without explanation for three sitting days.<ref name=apmio/> Three days later, Labor Caucus unanimously elected [[Billy Hughes]] leader of the Federal Parliamentary Party.<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Fitzhardinge |first=L. F. |year= 1983 |id=A090395b|title= Hughes, William Morris (Billy) (1862–1952) |access-date= 30 August 2007}}</ref>  Fisher's seat was narrowly won by the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]] on a 0.2% margin at the [[1915 Wide Bay by-election]].

==High Commissioner to the United Kingdom==
[[Image:AndrewFisher3.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Australia's second [[List of Australian High Commissioners to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]]]]
Fisher was Australia's second [[List of Australian High Commissioners to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]] from 1 January 1916 until 1 January 1921. Fisher opposed conscription which made his dealings with Billy Hughes difficult.  Hughes asked Fisher for support by cable three weeks before the first referendum, but Fisher cabled back "Am unable to sign appeal. Position forbids."  He subsequently refused to publicly comment on the issue.  Hughes' [[Australian plebiscite, 1916|1916 referendum]] on conscription had a No vote of around 52 per cent, while the [[Australian plebiscite, 1917|1917 referendum]] had a No vote of around 54 per cent. Fisher visited Australian troops serving in Belgium and France in 1919, and later presented Pearce with an album of battlefield photos from 1917 and 1918, showing the horrendous conditions experienced by the troops.<ref name=apma>{{cite web |title=Andrew Fisher, After office |work=Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=National Archives of Australia |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fisher/after-office.aspx |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-date=11 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811011544/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/fisher/after-office.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Dardanelles Commission]], including Fisher, interviewed witnesses in 1916 and 1917 and issued its final report in 1919. It concluded that the expedition was poorly planned and executed and that difficulties had been underestimated, problems which were exacerbated by supply shortages and by personality clashes and procrastination at high levels. Some 480,000 Allied troops had been dedicated to the failed campaign, with around half in casualties. The report's conclusions were regarded as insipid with no figures (political or military) heavily censured. The report of the commission and information gathered by the inquiry remain a key source of documents on the campaign.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battles: The Gallipoli Front - An Overview |publisher=Firstworldwar.com |date=18 August 2002 |url=http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/overview_gf.htm |access-date=30 August 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fisher |first=Mackensie |author2=Cawley |author3=Clyde |author4=Gwynn |author5=May |author6=Nicholson, Lord |author7=Pickford |author8=Roch |title=First report (of the Dardanelles Commission) (Abstract) |publisher=British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service |date=February 1917 |url=http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref7720.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004655/http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref7720.html |archive-date=27 September 2007 |access-date=12 May 2011}}</ref>

==Final years and death==
[[File:Grave of Andrew Fisher, Australian Prime Minister, in West Hampstead Cemetery.JPG|right|thumb|Fisher's grave in [[Hampstead Cemetery]]]]
Fisher's term as High Commissioner officially ended on 22 April 1921, although it concluded with three months' paid leave and he left for Australia on 29 January.<ref>Day (2008), p. 401.</ref> He arrived back in Melbourne with no firm plans for his future, but the rapturous receptions he received at labour movement gatherings led him to contemplate a return to active politics. He was the only remaining former prime minister in the Labor Party, which had lost many experienced MPs in the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1916|1916 party split]]. The party's leader [[Frank Tudor]] had had frequent bouts of ill health, and [[T. J. Ryan]], who was widely seen as Tudor's heir apparent, died suddenly of pneumonia in August 1921. Fisher seriously considered standing in [[1921 West Sydney by-election|the resulting by-election]], but found there was no guarantee that the local party would accept him as a candidate. He was unwilling to actively campaign for preselection, and decided he would only stand if he were drafted, which did not happen.<ref>Day (2008), pp. 402–406.</ref>

With little else to keep them in Australia, Fisher and his wife decided to return to London to be closer to their children.<ref>Day (2008), p. 406.</ref> They rented a property in [[Highgate]] for a period, and then in October 1922 bought a home on [[South Hill Park, London|South Hill Park]] near [[Hampstead Heath]].<ref>Day (2008), p. 407.</ref> He explored the possibility of standing for the [[British House of Commons]], but eventually opted for a permanent retirement from politics. By the time he was 60, Fisher's family and friends had begun to notice a decline in his mental faculties, which was probably a form of early-onset [[dementia]]. It was judged unsafe for him to be out alone in public, and in 1925 his assets were placed in trust. By 1928, he was unable to sign his own name, and his children were seriously considering having him institutionalised.<ref>Day (2008), pp. 408–410.</ref> Fisher contracted a severe case of influenza in September 1928, and eventually died from complications of the disease on 22 October, aged 66.<ref name=adb/> He is one of only three Australian prime ministers to die overseas, and he and [[George Reid]] are the only ones who both began and ended their lives outside Australia.<ref>Day (2008), pp. 410–411.</ref>

Fisher was buried at [[Hampstead Cemetery]] on 26 October 1928. On the same day, a memorial service was held at [[St Columba's Church, London]], which was attended by representatives of King [[George V]] and Prime Minister [[Stanley Baldwin]], as well as [[Arthur Henderson]] representing the British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. In February 1930, Prime Minister [[Ramsay MacDonald]] unveiled a granite obelisk above Fisher's grave. His widow eventually moved back to Australia, dying there in 1958.<ref>Day (2008), p. 411.</ref>

==Evaluation==
{{See also|Historical rankings of Prime Ministers of Australia}}
[[File:Andrew Fisher, 1913 (E. Phillips Fox).png|thumb|left|[[Parliament House, Canberra|Parliament House]] portrait of Fisher by [[E. Phillips Fox]], 1913]]
Despite the length of Fisher's service as prime minister, for many years he and his government were given relatively little scholarly attention. His decision to retire to England placed him out of the public eye, while his mental deterioration and early death deprived him of the opportunity to dictate his own legacy. Writers interested in the post-Federation era did not generally view him as an attractive biographical subject, which has been attributed to the relative orthodoxy of his political views and a reputation for propriety to the point of dullness.<ref name=humphreys>{{cite thesis|author=Edward W. Humphreys|title=Some aspects of the federal political career of Andrew Fisher|publisher=University of Melbourne|year=2005|type=MA thesis|url=https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/36691/274419_Humphreys%2C%20E%20W_Thesis.pdf}}</ref> Fisher's 1981 entry in the ''[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]]'' was written by [[Denis Murphy (Australian politician)|Denis Murphy]], who had planned a full-length biography but died in 1984 before completing it. Clem Lloyd also began a biography in the 1990s, which was unfinished at the time of his death in 2001.<ref>Day (2008), p. 414.</ref> The first complete biographies of Fisher did not emerge until the 100th anniversary of his prime ministership. These were [[David Day (historian)|David Day]]'s ''Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia'' (2008) and Peter Bastian's ''Andrew Fisher: An Underestimated Man'' (2009), as well as a shorter volume by Edward Humphreys, ''Andrew Fisher: The Forgotten Man'' (2008).<ref name=matchett>{{cite journal|journal=Sydney Institute Quarterly|volume=35|year=2009|author=Stephen Matchett|title=Review of the reviewers}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=History Australia|volume=6|issue=1|year=2009|title=Review of Edward W. Humphreys' ''Andrew Fisher: The Forgotten Man''|author=David Day|author-link=David Day (historian)}}</ref>

Obituarists of Fisher generally emphasised his modesty, integrity, and dedication to the labour movement. Writing for ''[[The Australian Worker]]'', [[Henry Ernest Boote]] praised him as "loyal to his class, courageous in the advocacy of their cause, and absolutely incorruptible".<ref>Day (2008), p. 412.</ref> In the decades after his death, a general view emerged of Fisher as a competent rather than brilliant leader. He was praised for successfully managing the conflicting personalities within his own party, but as a leader of his country was often compared unfavourably with Deakin and Hughes. In general, his prime ministership was seen as a relatively inconsequential interlude. However, beginning in the 1970s a different view of Fisher began to emerge, which coincided with more of his personal papers becoming available to researchers. His more recent biographers have credited Fisher with establishing Labor as a viable party of government and demonstrating that the party's platform did not have to be sacrificed for political expediency, and argued that he deserves the primary credit for the political and electoral accomplishments of his governments.<ref name=humphreys/> He is now generally seen as one of the most significant figures in the early years of his party.<ref name=matchett/>

==Honours==
[[Image:Andrew Fisher bust.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Bust of Andrew Fisher by sculptor Wallace Anderson located in the [[Prime Ministers Avenue]] in the [[Ballarat Botanical Gardens]]]]

At the end of the First World War, [[France]] awarded him the [[Légion d'honneur]], but he declined it; he did not like decorations of any kind and adhered to this view throughout his life.<ref name=adb/> In 1911 Fisher declined the offer of [[honorary degree]]s from the universities of [[Oxford University|Oxford]], [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]], [[University of Glasgow|Glasgow]] and [[University of Birmingham|Birmingham]], although he did accept the [[Freedom of the City]] from the cities of [[Glasgow]], [[Edinburgh]] and [[Bristol]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175073791 |title=Hon. A. Fisher. |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland |date=12 May 1911 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article185030719 |title=Hon. Andrew Fisher |newspaper=[[The Week (Brisbane)|The Week]] |location=Queensland|date=16 June 1911 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72367468 |title=Let Glasgow Flourish |newspaper=[[The Worker (Brisbane)|Worker]] |location=Queensland |date=15 July 1911 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=17 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Another honour Fisher did accept was appointment to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] on his visit to the UK in 1911 for the [[Coronation of King George V]] and the [[1911 Imperial Conference|Imperial Conference]] at the same time as New Zealand Prime Minister [[Joseph Ward|Sir Joseph Ward]] and Governor [[John Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington|Lord Islington]], granting him use of "[[The Right Honourable]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88840857 |title=Mr. Andrew Fisher  |newspaper=[[The Chronicle (South Australia)|Chronicle]] |location=South Australia |date=1 August 1914 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=44 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article190883906 |title=Latest Telegrams |newspaper=[[Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette]] |location=Queensland |date=8 July 1911 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Public reaction to his appointment was positive, with the ''[[Truth (Brisbane newspaper)|Brisbane Truth]]'' noting it would not change his humble nature: "To plain Andrew Fisher, who lately refused to-be decorated with empty, unearned University degrees, a Privy Councillorship has been awarded. This is an honor to which our Prime Minister is justly entitled by reason of his inclusion in the secret councils of the Imperial Conference, which secrets include the private advice, tendered by him to the administrators of and in the administration of his Majesty's Imperial Government."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201755013 |title=On Honors|newspaper=Truth |location=Queensland |date=25 June 1911 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175064750 |title=Pointed Pars |newspaper=[[Telegraph (Brisbane)|The Telegraph]] |location=Queensland |date=21 June 1911 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Although admitted as a Privy Counsellor ''in absentia'' on 6 July 1911, it wasn't until 14 February 1916 when he was High Commissioner in London that he formally took his oath of office.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20065581 |title=Right Hon. Andrew Fisher |newspaper=[[The Brisbane Courier]] |location=Queensland |date=17 February 1916 |access-date=26 September 2021 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The federal electorate of [[Division of Fisher|Fisher]] was named after him. A Canberra suburb, [[Fisher, Australian Capital Territory|Fisher]], was also created in his memory, with its streets reflecting a mining theme in honour of Fisher's occupation before entering public life.  [[Ramsay MacDonald]], Britain's first [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] Prime Minister, unveiled a memorial to Fisher in Hampstead Cemetery in 1930. A memorial garden was also dedicated to Fisher at his birthplace in the late 1970s.<ref name=apma/>

In 1972 he was honoured on a [[postage stamp]] bearing his portrait issued by [[Australia Post]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.australianstamp.com/images/large/0009980.jpg |title=Australia Post stamp – Andrew Fisher |access-date=15 November 2010}}</ref> In 1992, his home in Gympie ([[Andrew Fisher's Cottage]]) was listed on the [[Queensland Heritage Register]].<ref name="qhr">{{cite QHR|15312|Andrew Fishers Cottage|600537|access-date=1 August 2014}}</ref> In 2008, Labor Prime Minister [[Kevin Rudd]], a fellow Queenslander, launched a biography titled ''Andrew Fisher'', written by David Day. In turn, Rudd was presented with an item that once belonged to Fisher – a slightly battered gold pen engraved with Fisher's signature, which had been held in safekeeping for 80 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.theage.com.au/national/rudd-launches-biography-of-expm-fisher-20081029-5b8n.html |title=Rudd launches biography of ex-PM Fisher|publisher=News.theage.com.au – The Age|date=29 October 2008 |access-date=15 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/QL2S6/upload_binary/ql2s61.pdf;fileType=application/pdf|format=PDF|title= Prime Minister launches biography of Andrew Fisher (Full speech) |publisher=Australian Government |access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[First Fisher Ministry]]
*[[Second Fisher Ministry]]
*[[Third Fisher Ministry]]

==References==

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite journal |last=Anderson |first=W. K. |title=Andrew Fisher: 'a proud, honest man of Scotland' |journal=Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society |year=2001 |volume=87 |issue=2 |pages=189–208 |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/IELAPA.200116650}}
*{{cite journal |last=Attard |first=Bernard |title=Andrew Fisher, the High Commissionership and the Collapse of Labor |journal=Labour History |publisher=Liverpool University Press |date=1995 |number=68 |pages=115–131 |doi=10.2307/27516357 |jstor=27516357 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516357|url-access=subscription }}
*{{cite book |last=Bastian |first=Peter |title=Andrew Fisher: An Underestimated Man |publisher=UNSW Press |year=2009 |isbn=9781742231822}}
*{{cite book |last=Day |first=David |authorlink=David Day (historian) |title=Andrew Fisher: Prime Minister of Australia |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2008 |isbn=9780732276102}}
*{{cite book |last=Grattan |first=Michelle |title=Australian Prime Ministers |year=2013 |publisher=New Holland Publishers |location=Chatswood, N.S.W. |edition=Revised and updated |isbn=978-1-74257-429-5}}
*{{cite journal |last=Hawkins |first=John |title=Andrew Fisher: a reforming treasurer |journal=Economic Roundup |publisher=Department of the Treasury |date=2008 |url=https://cdn.treasury.gov.au/uploads/sites/1/2017/06/07_Andrew_Fisher.pdf |number=2 |pages=105–114}}
* {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Colin A. |year=1976 |title=Mr Prime Minister. Australian Prime Ministers 1901–1972 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Melbourne, Victoria |chapter=Chapter 6 |author-link=Colin Hughes |isbn=0-19-550471-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Humphreys |first=Edward W. |title=Andrew Fisher: The Forgotten Man |publisher=Sports and Editorial Services Australia |year=2008 |isbn=9780975197059}}
*{{cite book |last=Murdoch |first=John R. M. |title=A Million to One Against: A Portrait of Andrew Fisher |publisher=Minerva |year=1998 |isbn=0754101398}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Andrew Fisher}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090602063532/http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1396/HTML/docshell.asp?URL=07_Fisher.htm Andrew Fisher: a reforming treasurer – treasury.gov.au]
*[http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/andrew_fisher Prime Ministers of Australia: Andrew Fisher] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408031609/http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/andrew_fisher |date=8 April 2018 }}, [[National Museum of Australia]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070809201952/http://www.gavmag.com/austpm/pm_fisher.htm Andrew Fisher – Scaramouche]

{{S-start}}
{{S-par|au-qld}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of Gympie|Gympie]]|years=1893–1896|alongside=[[William Smyth (Australian politician)|William Smyth]]}}
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{{s-bef|before = [[Jacob Stumm]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of Gympie|Gympie]]|years=1899–1901|alongside=[[George Ryland (Queensland politician)|George Ryland]]}}
{{s-aft|after = [[Daniel Mulcahy (Queensland politician)|Daniel Mulcahy]]}}
{{S-par|au}}
{{S-new|division}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Division of Wide Bay|Member for Wide Bay]]|years=1901–1915}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Edward Corser]]}}
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{{s-bef|before= [[William Lyne]]}}
{{s-ttl|title= [[Minister for Trade (Australia)|Minister for Trade and Customs]]|years=1904}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Allan McLean (Australian politician)|Allan McLean]]}}
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{{S-aft|after=[[Alfred Deakin]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[William Lyne|Sir William Lyne]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Treasurer of Australia]]|years=1908&ndash;1909}}
{{S-aft|after=[[John Forrest|Sir John Forrest]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Alfred Deakin]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Australia]]|years=1910&ndash;1913}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Joseph Cook]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[John Forrest|Sir John Forrest]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Treasurer of Australia]]|years=1910&ndash;1913}}
{{S-aft|after=[[John Forrest|Sir John Forrest]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Joseph Cook]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Australia]]|years=1914&ndash;1915}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Billy Hughes]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[John Forrest|Sir John Forrest]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Treasurer of Australia]]|years=1914&ndash;1915}}
{{S-aft|after=[[William Higgs (politician)|William Higgs]]}}
{{S-ppo}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Chris Watson]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Australian Labor Party|Leader of the Australian Labor Party]]|years=1907&ndash;1915}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Billy Hughes]]}}
{{S-dip}}
{{S-bef|before=[[George Reid|Sir George Reid]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of Australian High Commissioners to the United Kingdom|Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]]|years=1916–1920}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Joseph Cook|Sir Joseph Cook]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Prime Ministers of Australia}}
{{Leaders of the Australian Labor Party}}
{{Australian Labor Party}}
{{Treasurers of Australia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Andrew}}
[[Category:Prime ministers of Australia]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Australia]]
[[Category:Treasurers of Australia]]
[[Category:Members of the Cabinet of Australia]]
[[Category:Leaders of the opposition (Australia)]]
[[Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia]]
[[Category:Australian federationists]]
[[Category:Australian miners]]
[[Category:Australian white nationalists]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Queensland]]
[[Category:Politicians from the Colony of Queensland]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wide Bay]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives]]
[[Category:People from Crosshouse]]
[[Category:People from Gympie]]
[[Category:Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia]]
[[Category:Scottish white nationalists]]
[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:High commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Australian Labor Party]]
[[Category:Australian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Australian Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Queensland]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1901–1903]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1903–1906]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1906–1910]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1910–1913]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1913–1914]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1914–1917]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian diplomats]]