Backbencher, 1923-1933

Component identifier:

Series 29

Content Summary:

Following his resignation and replacement by Bruce in February 1923, Hughes returned to the backbenches and did not gain ministerial office for another 11 years. All of the letters Hughes received in his capacity as a parliamentarian, 1923-1934, have been brought together to form this series. Many have copies of Hughes' replies attached, and these 'files' and all of the individual letters have been arranged in date order. The bulk of the letters are requests for support or opposition to legislation before the Parliament or requests to investigate grievances.

The topics covered include the Oil Agreement Bill (1926), the entertainment tax proposals (1929), individual cases of applications for war pensions to the War Gratuity Board, certain decisions of the Tariff Board, applications for positions in the Commonwealth Public Service, the prickly pear plague, the sale of liquor in Canberra, the flights of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, and the duty on imported petrol and kerosene.

In addition there are papers of a purely parliamentary nature, such as reminders about Parliamentary Library Committee meetings, Senator Gardiner's testimonial, the rules covering travel allowances for parliamentarians, and papers on the visits of parliamentary delegations.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The W. M. Hughes Papers were presented to the National Library of Australia by Dame Mary Hughes in 1953. The collection was received in two consignments. One consisted of papers taken from the Perpetual Trustee Company comprising material from Hughes' Lindfield home and from his office rooms at the Commonwealth Offices, Sydney; the other came directly from Lindfield. Lists of the contents of both consignments are held in the Library's Manuscript Branch. With the agreement of the executors and the Library, much of the collection, was for a time, held at the Australian National University by Fitzhardinge. He was permitted sole access to the collection while writing the biography Hughes commissioned in 1951. Fitzhardinge's own papers documenting the writing of the biography are also held by the Library (MS 5400). The papers transferred to the Library in 1953 are by no means the total collection of Hughes' personal papers, although it is impossible to say what proportion has survived. (see Fitzhardinge, p.936).

Names:

Hughes, W. M. (1862-1952)

Contents

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