Everything about Joseph Cahill totally explained
» For the IRA Volunteer see Joe Cahill.
John Joseph Cahill (
21 January,
1891 –
22 October,
1959) was
Premier of New South Wales from 1952 to 1959. He is best remembered as the Premier who approved construction on the
Sydney Opera House, and for his work increasing the authority of local government in the state.
Early years
Joe Cahill as he was popularly known, was born in
Redfern, and was educated at St Brigid's convent school,
Marrickville and the Patrician Brothers' College, both in Sydney. He became an apprentice at the
Eveleigh workshops of the contemporary equivalent of
NSW RailCorp in 1916.
Politically active even at the age of fifteen, he was even more politically active during his twenties. He opposed
Conscription in 1916, and lost his railway job in 1917 after taking part in a
workers' strike and had difficulty finding permanent employment afterwards, working in many small jobs (including selling
insurance for a year). In 1922, he married Esmey Mary Kelly.
Political career
Cahill ran on an
Australian Labor Party ticket for the
Legislative Assembly seat of
Dulwich Hill in 1917, but won
St George in 1925. His progress in the party was delayed by false rumours that he'd been bribed to help bring down the
Lang government, repeated by Lang's
Labor Daily. With the abolition of St George in 1930, he ran for
Arncliffe and was appointed
party whip. He failed to be re-elected in 1932 in the anti-Lang landslide.
In 1935, Cahill returned to Parliament, again as Member for Arncliffe. He remained in Parliament for the rest of his career, although on Arncliffe's abolition in 1941, he switched his seat to the new electorate of
Cook's River. He was also appointed Secretary for Public Works that year, and promoted in 1944 to Minister for Local Government, a position he'd hold for eight years; he used this position to augment local governments' powers. He established the State Dockyard at
Newcastle and the State Brickworks at
Homebush Bay. He also supervised the establishment of the Electricity Authority, which brought electricity to much of rural New South Wales and the Cumberland County Council plan. In 1949,
James McGirr appointed him as Deputy Premier.
[
]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 wasn't completed and opened to the public until fourteen years after he'd 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. [
]Honours
Cahill received an honorary LL.D from the University of Sydney in 1952, a D.Litt from the University of New England in 1956, and a D.Sc from the New South Wales University of Technology in 1956.[Further Information]
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