King O'Malley
King O'Malley (* July 1854; † December 20, 1953 in Melbourne) was an Australian politician. A member of the Australian Labor Party is one of the most colorful political figures in Australia in the early 20th century and was Interior Minister from 1910 to 1913 as well as 1915 until 1916. He sat down decisively to ensure that Canberra was determined as the site of the future capital, and gave the impetus for the founding of the state Commonwealth Bank ( privatized in 1996 ).
Enigmatic origin
Neither O'Malley nor the birth place of birth are known with certainty. His biographer Larry Noye and Arthur Hoyle indicate that he was born on July 2. He called the 3rd or 4th of July. His whole life was O'Malley fact he was born on the Stanford farm in the Eastern Townships in Quebec, Canada, and thus was subject to the British Crown. More likely, however, that he came to his parents' farm in Valley Falls in the State of Kansas to the world. According to information his parents were called William and Mary ( née King) O'Malley. It is unlikely that "King O'Malley " was his real name. Accurate information about its origin can not be found because it was never recorded before the emigration to Australia from the U.S. census.
Emigration and policy
O'Malley visited in New York City elementary school and then worked in the bank of his uncle. From 1880 he worked as an insurance agent and real estate agent, said he traveled across the United States. In 1881 he married Rosy Wilmot, who already died five years later. In October 1888, he emigrated to Australia, probably to escape debts. He also worked as an insurance agent and moved because of his professional activity to often. In addition, he preached evangelical Christianity and moderation.
From 1895 he lived in Gawler, South Australia. A year later he was elected as representative of the radical Democrats in the House of Representatives of South Australia. To be recognized as eligible to vote, he had to be a British subject; Therefore, he claimed to be born in Canada but grew up in the United States. He was a staunch opponent of the wealthy landowners who then dominated the politics of the colony. O'Malley was voted out of office in 1899 and moved the following year to Tasmania. The tall, fashionably dressed North Americans with Beard, who preached the Gospel and radical democracy, provided there quite a stir. In 1901 he was elected one of the five Tasmanian members of the newly created House of Representatives. In the same year he joined the Australian Labor Party.
O'Malley was one of the more prominent and conspicuous deputies, but his radical ideas encountered little support and many considered him a charlatan. He sat down in vain for the establishment of a central bank a to farmers and small businessmen grant cheap loans can - one of the most common populist demands of the early 20th century. He was neither in the government of Chris Watson represented (from 1904), still in the first government of Andrew Fisher ( 1908 ). However, in April 1910, the party meeting elected him Minister of the Interior in Fishers second government. In the same year he married Amy Garrod.
Secretary of the Interior
As interior minister O'Malley played a significant role in the selection process for the location of the new capital, and fought for Canberra. He also chose the winner of the design competition, the American architect Walter Burley Griffin. On February 20, 1913, he hit a first survey stakes and a few weeks later, on March 12, he was present at the official city baptism. As a staunch teetotaler, he was responsible for ensuring that the extremely unpopular alcohol prohibition was introduced in the Australian Capital Territory. He also laid the foundation stone for the transaustralische railway from Port Augusta to Perth.
O'Malley's claims led to the creation in 1911 of the Commonwealth Bank, a government saving and investment bank (even if he was not solely responsible, as he always claimed in later years ). Another heritage O'Malley was the spelling of the party name, with " laboratory " in American style. He was a supporter of spelling reform and convinced the party that " laboratory " modern look than usual in British English " Labour ". The American spelling was in Australia not stand up, but the term " laboratory " remained.
The Labor Party was defeated in the elections in June 1913. When she got back to power in October 1914, O'Malley was not part of the government. In October 1915, however, Andrew Fisher resigned and O'Malley was again Minister of the Interior, in the first government of Billy Hughes. Only one year later he fell out with the Prime Minister. Hughes tried to introduce conscription to support the United Kingdom during the First World War. O'Malley resigned in protest and became a fierce opponent of the military service.
Hughes called in May of 1917 elections and O'Malley was defeated in his constituency Tasmanian almost a candidate of the Nationalist Party of Australia. He ran again in 1919 and 1922, both times but managed not to get elected. At the time of his defeat, he was 59 years old; He moved to Melbourne and spent a lot of time trying to make himself a living legend - especially when it comes to his role in the founding of the Commonwealth Bank - and to write polemical newspaper articles. When he died at 99 years, he was the last surviving members of the first all- Australian Parliament and was given a state funeral.
Aftereffect
O'Malley has played a significant role in the development of the capital Canberra, the district O'Malley is therefore named after him. Also his name carries a Pub in Canberra, the King O'Malley 's Irish Pub in the city center. This is to be understood rather as an ironic allusion to the repealed until 1928 unpopular ban on alcohol in the Australian Capital Territory. He is also the main character in the musical The Legend of King O'Malley by Bob Ellis and Michael Boddy.
His fortune and that of his second wife died in 1958 were transferred to the King & Amy O'Malley Trust, a foundation that awards 30 scholarships to students of the science budget every year.