Political Career
Between 1894 and 1897, Vosper was the organiser and travelling spokesman for a number of political movements. In Coolgardie in December 1894, he established the Anti-Asiatic League, which aimed to maintain living standards by excluding "cheap coloured labour". In November 1895 he was spokesman for the National League, which agitated for increased political representation for the goldfields. He became a leading figure in the Gold Diggers' Union and the Goldfields Protection and Advancement League, and was founder and spokesperson for the Electoral Registration League, which sought to help remotely located miners to register to vote.
On 4 May 1897, Vosper was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in the seat of North-East Coolgardie as an independent. At the time he was well known throughout the Eastern Goldfields; according to Jaggard (1979), he was the most widely known public figure apart from the premier, John Forrest.
In order to take his seat in parliament, Vosper moved to Perth. On 11 November 1897 he married a widow named Venetia Ann Nicholson, and shortly afterwards he used her capital to establish The Sunday Times. He became its editor after his partner Edward Ellis died in 1898.
Vosper joined the Parliamentary Goldfields Party almost immediately after his election, agreeing to work for payment of members, restriction of Asian immigration, better electoral representation for the goldfields, reductions in tariffs and amendments of mining laws. In addition to working for this goals, Vosper also pushed for the construction of a railway between Esperance and Coolgardie, votes for women, and compulsory arbitration. From May 1898, Vosper pushed for an inquiry into mental health policy and the treatment of female patients at the Fremantle Asylum. He became chairman of the select committee that was established in October 1900, whose findings resulting in the implementation of widespread reforms. In 1900 he was also instrumental in winning the insertion of a minimum wage clause into government contracts.
Vosper was a member of the 1899 select committee appointed to examine the terms under which Western Australia was invited to participate in the Federation of Australia. Although his sympathies were unquestionably in favour of federation, he became convinced of a number of flaws in the terms, and campaigned for a 'No' vote. He argued that Western Australia should federate, but only after securing a guarantee that an intercontinental railway would be build at the cost of transport infrastructure. He also objected to aspects of the Senate's powers, and to the creation of a high court.
Vosper is also implicated in what was in effect personal attacks on C.Y. O'Connor in the last years of his life, with criticisms of O'Connor and the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. A subsequent government enquiry found no wrongdoing by O'Connor, but rather an employee.
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