Achievements of the Price government included free state secondary schools,the formation of wages boards and a minimum wage,establishing the Municipal Tramways Trust through nationalisation,the costly administration of the Northern Territory was surrendered to the Federal government,and reform (though limited) of the upper house. The government also attained successive budget surpluses and reduced the accumulated public debt.
Early life
Tom Price was born in Brymbo,Denbighshire,Wales in 1852 to John and Jane Price. His family moved to Liverpool in 1853 where Tom grew up.[2] Tom Price emigrated to South Australia with his family in 1883.[3] He was a stonecutter,teacher,lay preacher,businessman,stonemason and clerk-of-works. As a stonemason,Price helped to build the Parliament House of South Australia,a building he would later serve in as an elected politician.[2][3]
Price came to power at the 1905 state election in a minority government,the Price-Peake administration,after increasing his party's representation from five to 15 in the 42-member lower house,with a primary vote of 41.3 percent,an increase of 22.2 percent. With the support of eight liberals headed by Archibald Peake,Price forced conservative Premier Richard Butler to resign. Price retained the premiership at the 1906 double dissolution election with an additional five Labor seats in the House of Assembly,just two short of a parliamentary majority in their own right,with a primary vote of 44.8 percent,an increase of 3.5 percent. It was the world's first stable Labor government,and was so successful that,following the 1910 election,Labor,led by John Verran,formed the first of the state's many majority governments. On Price's death in 1909,Peake formed a minority government until 1910.
Price introduced many reforms,including free state secondary schools,the formation of wages boards,the institution of a minimum wage,and the establishment of the Municipal Tramways Trust through nationalisation. The costly administration of the Northern Territory was surrendered to the Federal government,and there was limited reform of the Legislative Council. Price obtained a double dissolution on the issue of the reform of the upper house. Nevertheless,the Council continued to be intransigent regarding its reform,and Price accepted its compromise proposal of a £17 householder franchise. Labor's left wing criticised him for the concession.
The Price Government enacted a number of laws relating to social matters:the suppression of brothels and gaming,the control and care of drunkards,and the consolidation of legislation on the supply of alcohol and local option in liquor licensing.[2] The government also achieved successive budget surpluses and reduced the accumulated public debt.[5]
In 2015 a biography of Thomas Price was published and the book launch was attended by South Australian politicians from both sides of politics.[3] At the launch,PremierJay Weatherill labelled Price "a Labor hero".[3]
In 2019,one hundred and ten years after Price's death,a plaque was officially placed at Brownhill Creek Recreation Park in his honour.[8]
Personal life
Price married Anne Elizabeth Lloyd (c.1860 –1 September 1950) on 14 April 1881 at St David's Welsh Church of England in Liverpool.[2] Anne played an active role in Price's election campaigns[9] She was a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union for many years.[9] After Price's death,Anne was one of four women appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1915,the first in Australia.[10] She considered her duties as a JP an important privilege.[9] She was invited to sit on the Bench,in an unofficial capacity,at the local court by the commissioner James George Russell,and she was the first woman to do so.[9] Due to an accident while on a trip to Britain,Anne withdrew from taking an active part in public life in 1925.[9]
Price and Ann had seven children.
John Lloyd Price (14 February 1882 –23 April 1941) MHA for Port Adelaide 1915–1925 and MHR.[2]
Edward Hugh Price (1884–1954),engineer with the Harbors Board
Walter Davies PriceMC (24 March 1886 –29 July 1944) distinguished soldier and public servant.
(Thomas) Arthur Price (1888–1942),a railways employee,[11]
Annie Mary "Ann" Price (1890–1985),married Ernest A. Pengelley in 1914 in Brisbane.[12]
Ada Olive "Olive" Price (1891–1952) married Horace Wicks in 1915.[13]
Florence Gwendoline "Flo" Price (1894–1957) married Alfred Charles Clarke in 1920.[14]
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