General business notice of motion No. 1 lapsed.

Mr NAGLE (Auburn) [2.30 p.m.]: I move:

That the General Business Notice of Motion (General Notice) given by the member for Auburn this day (Military force for service in South Africa) have precedence on Thursday 21 October.

The Anglo-Boer War was debated in the New South Wales colonial Legislative Assembly from 17 to 20 October 1899. For 24 hours over those four days the New South Wales Legislative Assembly debated whether to send colonial troops to the Anglo-Boer War.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the honourable member for Coffs Harbour to order.

Mr NAGLE: The debate a century ago was notable for three reasons: New South Wales was the last Australian colony to commit forces to the Anglo-Boer War; it was the only colonial Parliament to seriously debate the issue; and no fewer than four future Australian Prime Ministers and six Premiers contributed to the debate in the Legislative Assembly. The three most vehement opponents to the sending of troops to the Anglo-Boer War were Labor’s William Morris Hughes, William Arthur Holman and Arthur Griffith - all three would leave the Labor Party 16 years later because of their support for conscription.

A century ago this week that lengthy and acrimonious debate took place in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Chamber. In almost 24 hours of speeches the Parliament debated vehemently this important issue. Although all six Australian colonies sent 16,000 troops to the war, only this Parliament seriously debated the issue. As I said earlier, contributing to debate were four future Prime Ministers, namely, Barton, Reid, Cook and Hughes, and six Premiers, namely, Lyne, See, Waddell, Carruthers, McGowen and Holman. This is an important issue because for the first time in our history Australian soldiers - men - were sent off to a foreign land to fight. It was the beginning of the Anzac. The Opposition may not be interested but this issue is important for the people of New South Wales.

The debate took place even though at the time the colony was preoccupied with other issues: there was a hung Parliament led by the Labor Party, and in the middle of September of that year the Reid Government lost the confidence of the Parliament and was replaced by the Lyne administration. Parliament was in recess at the end of September when the Imperial Government asked for troops, and as a consequence, on 17 October, Premier Lyne moved a motion to equip a force for South Africa. There is something strangely familiar about all this. The debate was expected to be over that evening but almost 24 hours of speeches followed. The debate was not to follow the loose, party lines approach of the day; it went in every direction. The motion was carried in the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council passed a similar motion without dissent. [Time expired.]

Page 1664

Question - That the motion be agreed to - put.

The House divided.

Ms Allan Mr McBride
Mr Amery Mr McManus
Ms Andrews Mr Martin
Mr Aquilina Ms Meagher
Mr Ashton Ms Megarrity
Mr Bartlett Mr Mills
Mrs Beamer Mr Moss
Mr Black Mr Nagle
Mr Brown Mr Newell
Ms Burton Ms Nori
Mr Campbell Mr Orkopoulos
Mr Carr Mr Price
Mr Crittenden Dr Refshauge
Mr Debus Ms Saliba
Mr Face Mr Scully
Mr Gaudry Mr W. D. Smith
Mr Gibson Mr Stewart
Mr Greene Mr Tripodi
Mrs Grusovin Mr Watkins
Ms Harrison Mr Whelan
Mr Hickey Mr Woods
Mr Hunter Mr Yeadon
Mr Iemma
Mr Knight Tellers,
Mrs Lo Po’ Mr Anderson
Mr Lynch Mr Thompson

Mr Armstrong Mr O’Farrell
Mr Barr Mr D. L. Page
Mr Brogden Mr Piccoli
Mrs Chikarovski Mr Richardson
Mr Debnam Mr Rozzoli
Mr George Ms Seaton
Mr Glachan Mrs Skinner
Mr Hartcher Mr Slack-Smith
Mr Hazzard Mr Souris
Ms Hodgkinson Mr Stoner
Mr Humpherson Mr Tink
Dr Kernohan Mr Torbay
Mr Kerr Mr J. H. Turner
Mr McGrane Mr R. W. Turner
Mr Maguire Mr Webb
Mr Merton Mr Windsor
Ms Moore Tellers,
Mr Oakeshott Mr Fraser
Mr O’Doherty Mr R. H. L. Smith

Mr Markham Mr Collins

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.