The Ministry of May 1901

Barton Ministry, May 1901 National Library of Australia The members of the ministry of May 1901, photographed after the appointment of Lord Tennyson as second Governor-General of Australia in 1902. Back row: Senator James Drake, Senator Richard O’Connor, Sir Philip Oakley Fysh, Charles Cameron Kingston, Sir John Forrest. Seated: Sir William Lyne, Edmund Barton, Lord Tennyson, Alfred Deakin, Sir George Turner.

The Constitution provided that members of the ministry were to be appointed from members of the Parliament.

Two of the ministers appointed on 1 January 1901 did not become members of the first Parliament. Sir Neil Lewis, the Premier of Tasmania, did not stand for election, and James Dickson, from Queensland, died on 10 January 1901. They were replaced by Sir Philip Fysh (Tasmania) and Senator James Drake (Queensland).

All members of the ministry of May 1901 supported the government’s program in the Parliament, although not all were clearly of the same political group or party.