John Storey (politician) - Premier

Premier

Labor won the 1920 election with a majority of one and Storey became Premier. His thin majority, combined with a substantial minority in Legislative Council (made up of life appointees) and attacks of nephritis made his job hard. His private secretary at this time was V. Gordon Childe, later internationally famous in the field of archaeology, who wrote the book How Labor Governs, based on his experience as Storey's secretary. In June 1920, he appointed Judge Norman Ewing to carry out a royal commission in to the imprisonment of twelve IWW members in 1916 for treason, arson, sedition and forgery. On Ewing's recommendation, ten were released in August. In early 1921, he prorogued Parliament to prevent his Government being overthrown during a six months to visit financiers and a Harley Street doctor in London. Despite the warnings of his doctor, he undertook heavy work in London and on his return to Sydney in July. He was admitted to hospital and died at Clermont Private Hospital, Darlinghurst and was survived by his wife, three sons and two of his three daughters.

In 1926, Premier Jack Lang opened the John Storey Memorial Dispensary in Little Regent Street, Chippendale, New South Wales. It served as a practical memorial to John Storey and still functions as a pathology clinic.