George Elmslie

Who was George Elmslie?

George Alexander Elmslie, Australian politician, was the 25th Premier of Victoria, and the first Labor Premier.

Elmslie was born in Lethbridge, near Geelong, and although he had a secondary education, he followed his father's trade as a stonemason. He was employed on the first Wilson Hall at Melbourne University and on St Patrick's Cathedral. From 1888 he was an official of the Operative Stonemason's Society, and a delegate to the Melbourne Trades Hall. He was also President of the South Melbourne Football Club, ancestor of the Sydney Swans.

In 1898, Elmslie was one of the founders of the Victorian Labour Federation, which had as its object "the unification of the workers in one all-comprehensive and extensive union." In 1902 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as Labor member for Albert Park. Labor in Victoria in the early federal period was much weaker than in the other states, partly because of the continuing attraction of Deakinite liberalism for many voters, partly because Victoria did not have the huge pastoral and mining areas that the other mainland states had. The Parliamentary Labor Party remained small and contained limited talent. Elmslie became Deputy Leader in 1912 and Leader in 1913.