Rt Hon Charles Kingston PC KC

Charles Cameron Kingston PC KC

22 October 1850

Pre-Party System

Former Member

Central District No 1

Legislative Council

08 April 1881

Honorary Degrees in Law, Conferred by the University of Oxford, 1897 (DCL)

Born and educated in Adelaide, Charles Cameron Kingston trained as a lawyer and in 1873 became a barrister. Kingston was elected to the House of Assembly in 1881 and was appointed Attorney-General under Colton and later Playford. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1889.

Following the elections of April 1893 he became Premier, pulling together a workable coalition within a political context altered markedly by the entry of the Labor Party to the House of Assembly. Kingston remained Premier for over six years; his radical, populist leadership holding together a majority of progressive liberals and leftists. During his time in office a number of significant, and often controversial, reforms were implemented. Among the most important of these were the extension of the vote to women, and attempts to enact compulsory arbitration laws to settle industrial disputes - both firsts in Australia. The Kingston government also introduced a more equitable, progressive land and income tax system and a stringent tariff system. Both during his time as Premier and after his resignation in 1899, Kingston was a prominent activist in the Federation movement.

In 1901 he was elected to the House of Representatives in the new Commonwealth Parliament, where, as a minister in the Barton Government, he displayed the same uncompromising (some said autocratic) style that had defined his premiership. Although initially effective in drafting bills concerning protection and industrial relations, his health rapidly declined and he died in 1908, aged 57.

Member of the House of Representatives for South Australia, 1901-03
Member of the House of Representatives for Adelaide, 1903-08
Federal Minister for Trade and Customs, 1901-03

11 May 1908