Ben Chifley

The Right Honourable Ben Chifley
Chifley in 1948
16th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 13 July 1945 – 19 December 1949
Monarch	George VI
Governors‑General	The Duke of Gloucester Sir William McKell
Deputy	Frank Forde Herbert Evatt
Preceded by	Frank Forde
Succeeded by	Robert Menzies
Leader of the Labor Party
In office 13 July 1945 – 13 June 1951
Deputy	Frank Forde Herbert Evatt
Preceded by	John Curtin
Succeeded by	Herbert Evatt
Treasurer of Australia
In office 7 October 1941 – 18 December 1949
Prime Minister	John Curtin Frank Forde Himself
Preceded by	Arthur Fadden
Succeeded by	Arthur Fadden
Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 December 1949 – 13 June 1951
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies
Deputy	Herbert Evatt
Preceded by	Robert Menzies
Succeeded by	Herbert Evatt
Minister for Postwar Reconstruction
In office 22 December 1942 – 2 February 1945
Prime Minister	John Curtin
Preceded by	Office Created
Succeeded by	John Dedman
Minister for Defence
In office 3 March 1931 – 6 January 1932
Prime Minister	James Scullin
Preceded by	John Daly
Succeeded by	George Pearce
Member of the Australian Parliament for Macquarie
In office 21 September 1940 – 13 June 1951
Preceded by	John Lawson
Succeeded by	Tony Luchetti
In office 17 November 1928 – 19 December 1931
Preceded by	Arthur Manning
Succeeded by	John Lawson
Personal details
Born	Joseph Benedict Chifley (1885-09-22)22 September 1885 Bathurst, Colony of New South Wales
Died	13 June 1951(1951-06-13) (aged 65) Canberra, Australia
Political party	Labor
Other political affiliations	Industrial Labor (1938–1939)
Spouse	Elizabeth McKenzie ​ (m. 1914)​
Education	Limekilns Public School Patrician Brothers' School, Bathurst
Occupation	Engine driver (New South Wales Railways)
Signature

This article is part of a series about Ben Chifley
Early life 1917 general strike Member for Macquarie (1928–1931) Member for Macquarie (1940–1951) Scullin Ministry First Curtin Ministry Second Curtin Ministry 1945 Labor Party leadership election Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1945–1949) Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 1946 14 Powers referendum QANTAS nationalisation 1946 Social Services referendum Commonwealth Employment Service Bank nationalisation 1948 rents and prices referendum Snowy Mountains Scheme 1949 Australian coal strike Ministries First Second Elections 1946 1949 The light on the hill
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Joseph Benedict Chifley (/ˈtʃɪfli/;^[1] 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician and train driver who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the treasurer of Australia under Prime Minister John Curtin and later himself from 1941 to 1949. He was notable for defining Australia's post-war reconstruction efforts.

Chifley was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, and joined the New South Wales Government Railways after leaving school, eventually qualifying as an engine driver. He was prominent in the trade union movement before entering politics, and was also a director of The National Advocate. After several previous unsuccessful candidacies, Chifley was elected to parliament in the 1928 federal election. In 1931, he was appointed Minister for Defence in the government of James Scullin. He served in cabinet for less than a year before losing his seat at the 1931 federal election, which saw the government suffer an electoral wipeout.

After his electoral defeat, Chifley remained involved in politics as a party official, siding with the federal Labor leadership against the Lang Labor faction. He served on a royal commission into the banking system in 1935, and in 1940 became a senior public servant in the Department of Munitions. Chifley was re-elected to parliament later that year, on his third attempt since 1931. He was appointed Treasurer in the new Curtin government in 1941, as one of the few Labor MPs with previous ministerial experience. The following year Chifley was additionally made Minister for Postwar Reconstruction, making him one of the most powerful members of the government. He became prime minister following Curtin's death in office in 1945, defeating caretaker prime minister Frank Forde in a leadership ballot.

At the 1946 Australian federal election, Chifley was re-elected with a slightly reduced majority – the first time that an incumbent Labor government had won re-election. The war had ended a month after he took office, and over the following three years his government embarked on an ambitious program of social reforms and nation-building schemes. These included the expansion of the welfare state, increased the post-war immigration to Australia, and the establishment of the Australian National University, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Some of the new legislation was successfully challenged in the High Court, and as a result the constitution was amended to give the federal government extended powers over social services.

Some of Chifley's more interventionist economic policies were poorly received by Australian business, particularly an attempt to nationalise banks. His government was defeated at the 1949 Australian federal election, which brought Robert Menzies' Liberal Party to power for the first time. He stayed on as Leader of the Opposition until his death, which came a few months after the 1951 Australian federal election; Labor did not return to government until 1972. For his contributions to post-war prosperity, Chifley is often regarded as one of Australia's greatest prime ministers. He is held in particularly high regard by the Labor Party, with his "light on the hill" speech seen as seminal in both the history of the party and the broader Australian labour movement.