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Articles on Alfred Deakin

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In jettisoning Alfred Deakin, the Liberals made a great mistake and showed the thinness of their historical memory. National Library of Australia

What Malcolm Turnbull might have learned from Alfred Deakin

Like Malcolm Turnbull, the three-time prime minister Alfred Deakin was sometimes accused of lacking substance, but he had core political commitments from which he never wavered.
The British parliament passed the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act in 1900. Museum of Australian Democracy

Australian politics explainer: the writing of our Constitution

Australia’s Constitution is a product of foreign and domestic political influences. It has become one of the enduring aspects of Australian politics and law, for better and worse.
John Curtin and Ben Chifley were successful in expanding the power of the Commonwealth – and thus that of the prime minister. AAP/Alan Porritt

Lacking a script, individuals drove the evolution of prime ministerial power

Alfred Deakin and his contemporaries invented the Australian prime ministership. But it was not settled as a platform for national leadership until John Curtin and Ben Chifley’s time.
Unlike early 20th-century prime minister Alfred Deakin, Tony Abbott has no language for reaching out to the Australian people. Library of Congress

Alfred Deakin provides a contrast to an Abbott lost for words

Alfred Deakin knew what he believed in; it helped him to believe in himself, and to survive three terms as prime minister.

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