The Right Honourable Sir George Turner KCMG |
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18th Premier of Victoria | |
In office 27 September 1894 – 5 December 1899 |
|
Preceded by | James Patterson |
Succeeded by | Allan McLean |
In office 19 November 1900 – 12 February 1901 |
|
Governor | Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey |
Preceded by | Allan McLean |
Succeeded by | Alexander Peacock |
Constituency | St Kilda |
1st Treasurer of Australia | |
In office 1 January 1901 – 29 April 1904 |
|
Prime Minister | Sir Edmund Barton Alfred Deakin |
Preceded by | None |
Succeeded by | Chris Watson |
In office 17 August 1904 – 4 July 1905 |
|
Prime Minister | Sir George Reid |
Preceded by | Chris Watson |
Succeeded by | John Forrest |
Constituency | Balaclava |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 August 1851 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Died | 13 August 1916 Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
(aged 65)
Resting place | St Kilda Cemetery |
Nationality | Australian |
Spouse(s) | Rosa Morgan |
Religion | Anglican |
Sir George Turner, KCMG PC (8 August 1851 – 12 August 1916), Australian politician, was the 18th Premier of Victoria and the first Treasurer of Australia in the federal Barton Ministry.
Turner was born in Melbourne: he was the first Premier of Victoria born in the colony. He received a sound education and began work as a clerk in a law office, matriculating in 1872 and being admitted to practise as a solicitor in 1881. He was a founding member of the Australian Natives' Association, an influential lobby group of Australian-born political liberals who campaigned for Australian federation and other causes. He was a member of the town council in St Kilda and was mayor in 1887–1888.
A liberal, Turner was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for St Kilda in 1889. He was Minister of Health and later Solicitor-General in the liberal government of William Shiels from 1891–1893. When Shiels was defeated by the conservatives under James Patterson in 1893, he went into opposition, and succeeded Shiels as leader of the liberal party – mainly because Alfred Deakin, the colony's leading liberal, refused the position.
In September 1894 the Patterson government, floundering in the face of the deep depression which followed the Crash of 1892, was heavily defeated at the polls. Turner's image as a modest, dependable suburban solicitor proved popular, and he also gained the support of the newly emerged Labour Party, which won 17 seats. As well as Premier, Turner was Treasurer, Minister for Defence and Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works. His ministry included Alexander Peacock, John Gavan Duffy and Isaac Isaacs.