John Robertson (New South Wales Premier) - First Ministry and Land Reform

First Ministry and Land Reform

See also: Robertson ministry (1860–1861)

Robertson became Premier, in March 1860 and completed the drafting of legislation to put into effect his land reforms, the Crown Lands Alienation bill and the Crown Lands Occupation bill, which allowed free selection before survey. These bill were defeated in committee in October. This enabled him to obtain a dissolution from Governor Denison and to fight an election on the issue in December, which gave him a clear majority in the Legislative Assembly, all the candidates who publicly opposed land reform having been defeated.

Robertson handed over the Premiership to Cowper on 10 January 1861, while Robertson concentrated on the land bills as Secretary for Lands. He had his land bills passed by the Assembly on 27 March and resigned from the Assembly so that he could be appointed to the Legislative Council on 3 April to complete the process. As the Council was resolutely opposed to the land bills, he persuaded Premier to ask the new Governor Sir John Young to swamp the Council with 21 new members. Before administering the oath to the new members the President of the Council, Sir W. W. Burton, announced his resignation and left the chamber. Other members followed his example, there was no quorum, and on the same day Parliament was prorogued. The five-year terms of the 1856 Council appointments had run out and the Governor appointed a new Council to life terms, including Robertson. Due to the reappointment of Council, the land bills had to be passed again by the Assembly in September and were passed by the Council on October 1861. The resulting act remained the law of the country for many years.

Robertson resigned from the Council in December 1861 and John Garrett resigned the seat of Shoalhaven to allow him to win it at a by-election in January 1862. He successfully contested the seat of West Sydney, a working class electorate, in the November 1864 general election. In February 1865, he was appointed as Secretary for Lands again in the fourth Cowper ministry. He resigned from Parliament to sort out his financial difficulties through the failure of some properties he held in northern Queensland in October 1865, but he was renominated to fill the vacancy eight days later. In the January 1866 election, he was defeated in West Sydney, due to opposition to the Government's policy of preserving some crown land for public purposes, such as water supply, and to a false claim, reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, that he was "the President of the Fenian Society." Martin compared him to Tiberius Gracchus: "both advocated the cause of free selection, both hit upon the same amount of land for each individual … both had been the idols of the people … deserted by the people." He won a by-election for Clarence in August 1866, and represented it to November 1869.