As a member of the Alfred Deakin Lecture Trust for two decades, and particularly as a Victorian and Melburnian myself, it is a particular pleasure to be here and launch this monograph today.
As his most recent biographer has outlined, Alfred Deakin is very much a man of Melbourne.
He was an Australian Liberal, when liberalism was the defining philosophy in Australian political debate, whose first visit to the United Kingdom was prior to the catastrophic British Liberal split over Irish home rule.
His conversion to protection and a more statist liberalism courtesy of David Syme was a precursor to, in one way it may have even foretold, the end of Gladstonian free trade liberalism amongst UK Liberals later that century.
In many ways, Deakin can be seen as Australia’s Alexander Hamilton.
Credit for drafting the US and Australian Constitutions primarily went to others, in the United States James Madison, in Australia, Sir Samuel Griffith.
But they were both the leading prosecutors of the case for the establishment and adoption of the new national constitution, and both seized the levers of power and built the new nation, dominating the institutions in early years.
In the United States, Hamilton drove the development of US finances and the establishment of the central power as a force in national life.
In Australia, Deakin was the first Attorney-General, established the High Court as the “keystone of the federal arch” and then as Prime Minister implemented those policies that subsequently became the Deakin or Australian Settlement, and that defined the new nation for decades.
Deakin was a fascinating man and character, especially when considering how he navigated the political environment of the time, how he managed to achieve his objectives often without a pre-existing majority.
Few have ever had Deakin’s impact on our nation.
I would like to thank the Library and congratulate David for adding to the work on this extraordinary man.
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