Hughes, William Morris

Hughes, William Morris, 1862–1952, Australian statesman, b. England. He emigrated in 1884 and after a varied career entered the New South Wales legislature (1894) and, with confederation, the first federal Parliament (1901). In 1904 he became minister for external affairs in the first Labour government and later was attorney general (1908–9, 1910–13, 1914–21). As prime minister of the commonwealth (1915–23), he gave great support to the British throughout World War I and upheld the position of Australia at the Paris Peace Conference. He held many cabinet posts during the 1930s and was (1940–41) minister of the navy. His writings include Splendid Adventure: A Review of Empire Relations (1929) and Policies and Potentates (1950).