Alfred Deakin

"'The Commonwealth of Australia means nothing, if it does not imply the unity of our race. Ethnic unity is absolutely essential to the unity of Australia.' - Alfred Deakin"Alfred Deakin KC (3, August, 1856 - 7, October, 1919) was an English businessman, diplomat, journalist, lawyer, poet, politician and statesman. During his career, Deakin served as a Member of Parliament, eighteenth Solicitor-General for the State of Victoria, first Attorney-General of the Dominion of Australia, second Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and second Prime Minster of the Dominion of Australia.

Deakin's administration consolidated administrative authority over the Protectorate of Papua and the Territory of Northern Australia within the federal government of Australia, established the Bureau of Meteorology, the Bureau of Statistics and the Royal Australian Navy, imposed federal trade tariffs, instituted a system of racial segregation, mandated military training for the adult male population of the Dominion and preserved the Dominion's economic sovereignty and ethnic homogeneity.

Deakin personally assisted the establishment of the Supreme Court of the Dominion of Australia, attended the Confederation Conferences for British Australasia as the delegate for the State of Victoria, drafted the Factories Act of 1885, implementing health and safety regulations for Australian factories and legal protections for labourers, and the Immigration Act of 1901, instituting immigration restrictions which excluded non-Europeans, oversaw the construction of water irrigation systems throughout the State of Victoria and served as Chairman for the Royal Commission for Industry and Trade of 1914.

Early Life
Alfred Deakin was born to William Deakin, a stagecoach manager and storekeeper, and his wife Sarah Bill at Fitzroy, Victoria on 3, August, 1856.

Trivia

 * Deakin was multilingual and fluent in English, Greek and Latin.