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William Morris (Billy) Hughes was a politician and Prime Minister of Australia. Hughes was member for West Sydney (1901-17), Bendigo (1917-22), North Sydney (1922-49) and Bradfield (1949-52). He was a member of the Labor Party (1901-17), the Nationalist Party (1917-29), an ‘Independent Nationalist’ (1929-31), United Australia Party (1931-44) and Liberal Party (1944-52). Hughes was Prime Minister from 1915 to 1923. During the term of his own government he also served as Attorney-General (1915-21), Minister for Trade and Customs (1916) and Minister for External Affairs (1921-23). He was a Minister in the governments of Watson (1904), Fisher (1908-09, 1910-13 and 1914-15), Lyons (1932-39) and Page (1939). In the first Menzies government, Hughes served as Attorney-General (1939-41), Minister for Industry (1939-40) and Minister for the Navy (1940-41). He was Attorney-General and Minister for the Navy in the Fadden government (1941). As a New South Wales parliamentarian (1894-1901) Hughes was a founding member of the Labor Party in New South Wales. He became a founding member of the Nationalist Party in 1917, the United Australia Party in 1931, and the Liberal Party in 1945.

Source

Fitzhardinge, L.F. ‘Hughes, William Morris (Billy) (1862-1952)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Published in hard copy 1983, accessed online 31 January 2013.

‘William Morris Hughes’, Australia’s Prime Ministers, National Archives of Australia, http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/hughes/.