James Gardiner (Australian Politician) - Politics 1901-1904

Politics 1901-1904

Gardiner again contested the seat of Albany in the Western Australian general election of 1901 and was elected. A new government under Walter James emerged in July 1902, and Gardiner was appointed treasurer. Aware that federation disadvantaged Western Australia due to the loss of revenue previously raised through inter-colonial customs duties, he implemented a five per cent duty on the dividends of companies carrying out business in Western Australia to help raise the diminishing state revenue.

In February 1904, Gardiner attended the State Treasurers' Conference in Melbourne where, among other issues, he argued against changes to the system of collecting customs revenue, which would have reduced Western Australia's total revenue and increased the revenue of the other Australian states. He was forced to resign from parliament in April 1904 to reconsolidate his firm's business.