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John Kirwan (1869-1949) John
Kirwan was a goldfields' journalist and politician who campaigned vigorously
for Federation. Born in Ireland, he migrated to Australia in 1889, working
as a journalist in Brisbane, Melbourne, country Victoria, Sydney and New
Zealand before taking the editorship of the Port Augusta Dispatch
in South Australia. In November 1895 he became editor of the Western
Argus and the Kalgoorlie Miner, shortly after becoming a joint
owner.Under Kirwan the Kalgoorlie Miner became an important voice for the miners of the goldfields. By 1898 he had become a harsh critic of the Forrest Government complaining of inadequate parliamentary representation and the lack of services provided to the goldfields' population, as well as moves to restrict the rights of alluvial miners. Importantly, Kirwan and the Kalgoorlie Miner played a significant role in the Western Australian Federation movement. Forrest's unwillingness to hold a referendum on Federation, especially after similar votes had been successful in the eastern colonies, led Kirwan to propose the separation of the goldfields from Western Australia. The new colony could then join the Commonwealth of Australia as a separate State. He helped form the Eastern Goldfields Reform League in December 1899, which got up a petition to present to the Queen with the signatures of more than 27,000 male residents. Separation was regarded by many as a tactic to force Forrest to put the referendum. Walter James wrote to Kirwan on 12 August 1899 that "I think you on the Fields and the Eastern Press also should go for separation without any reservation and with gloves off. I advise this without any hesitation because I know it to be an impossibility and the only effect of it would and could be to draw the whole colony into line with the Fields." [Battye Library, Acc 383A]In any event, when the referendum was finally put the goldfields voted overwhelmingly in favour of Federation, helping to carry the overall vote. Kirwan was elected as the Member for Kalgoorlie in the first Federal election of 1901, advocating free trade and the construction of a transcontinental railway with an extension to Esperance. Defeated by a Labor Party candidate in 1903, he entered the Legislative Council as an Independent in 1908 and remained a member of the State Parliament until his retirement in 1946. |
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