Joseph Cahill - Political Career

Political Career

Cahill ran on an Australian Labor Party ticket for the Legislative Assembly seat of Dulwich Hill in 1917, but was defeated. Eight years later, he won another Sydney constituency, St George. His progress in the ALP was delayed by false rumours that in 1927 he had been bribed to help bring down the Lang government, repeated by Lang's Labor daily. With the abolition of St George in 1930, Cahill ran for Arncliffe and was appointed party whip. He failed to be re-elected in 1932 in the anti-Lang landslide.

This defeat, nevertheless, proved to be only a temporary setback. In 1935, Cahill returned to Parliament, again as Member for Arncliffe. He remained in Parliament for the rest of his life, although when Arncliffe was abolished in 1941, he switched to the new electorate of Cook's River. Also in 1941, he was appointed Secretary for Public Works. In 1944 he became Minister for Local Government, a position he would hold for eight years; he used this position to augment local governments' powers. He established the State Dockyard at Newcastle and the State Brickworks at Homebush Bay. In addition, he supervised the establishment of the Electricity Authority, which brought electricity to much of rural New South Wales, and the Cumberland County Council plan. In 1949, James McGirr appointed him as Deputy Premier.