Their alliance, based on anti-socialism, marked the beginning of a two-party system in federal politics and allowed him to form Australia's first majority government.

[6] William Deakin initially struggled to find steady employment, but later became involved with the carrying and coaching trade, transporting people and goods; he was listed as a carrier at the time of his son's birth in 1856.

By the early 1870s, he was working with Cobb & Co. as a manager, inspector, and accountant, earning a salary that allowed he and his family to maintain a comfortable middle-class lifestyle.

[26] In 1887 he led Victoria's delegation to the Imperial Conference in London, where he argued forcibly for reduced colonial payments for the defence provided by the British Navy and for improved consultation concerning the New Hebrides.

[19] In 1900 Deakin travelled to London with Edmund Barton and Charles Kingston to oversee the passage of the federation bill through the Imperial Parliament, and took part in the negotiations with Joseph Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary, who insisted on the right of appeal from the High Court of Australia to the Privy Council.

His second reading speech on the Immigration Restriction Bill to implement the White Australia policy was notable for its blatant racism,[29] including arguing that it was necessary to exclude the Japanese because of their good qualities, which would place them at an advantage over European Australians.

In view of the urgent need for government revenue, Deakin successfully convinced the House and his fellow ministers to accept the amendments, but in a way that avoided setting a new constitutional precedent over money bills.

He argued the bill, which would introduce a compulsory arbitration scheme for industrial disputes, would "bring both employer and employee before the bar of a tribunal which would mete out even-handed justice".

[40][41] He was the first prime minister to call an early election, to catch his opponents off guard and take advantage of a large number of urban educated female voters who could cast a ballot for the first time.

[40] Reid continued to campaign on unrestricted free trade, while the ALP focused on class issues, particularly the need for compulsory arbitration, and was rewarded with large gains in both houses.

[44] The final result in the House was an effective three-way tie between Deakin's Liberal Protectionists, Reid's Free Traders, and Chris Watson's Labour Party.

When parliament resumed in March 1904, he introduced a modified Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, but ignored Labour's requests for its provisions to be extended to state public servants.

[53] Despite the party's lack of a majority, the ALP caucus did not immediately authorise Watson to seek an alliance, and Deakin instead negotiated a draft agreement with the Free Traders in which Reid would become prime minister.

[54] Two days later The Age, edited by his friend David Syme, published a scathing editorial calling his speech "transcendental musings" and stating he had "lost himself in the clouds amongst politico-philosophical questions" instead of offering substantive leadership.

While debating the revived Conciliation and Arbitration Bill, a majority of the Liberal Protectionists joined with the Free Traders in opposing a procedural motion on an amendment.

[56] Many ALP members felt betrayed by Deakin, and Billy Hughes accused him of hypocrisy in speeches which he later told Atlee Hunt had been deliberately provocative.

Deakin in response made personal attacks on Hughes, comparing him to an "ill-bred urchin one saw dragged from a tart shop kicking, screeching and scratching".

He was reinvigorated by a trip to Western Australia early in the year, where he was struck by the development of the Eastern Goldfields and received encouragement from John Forrest and Austin Chapman.

He claimed the pragmatic middle ground for his party, criticising the policies of Labour and the Free Traders as vague and impractical, and further accused Reid of breaking their fiscal truce.

During this, the longest and most successful of his terms as prime minister, his government was responsible for much policy and legislation giving shape to the Commonwealth during its first decade, including bills to create an Australian currency.

The Surplus Revenue Act of 1908 provided £250,000 for naval expenditure, although these funds were first applied by the Andrew Fisher Labour government, creating the first independent navy in the British empire.

[c] Bills were also introduced to create the Inter-State Commission and formalise federal control over the Northern Territory, but were not progressed and were passed by the succeeding ALP government.

[77] While there were several factors in Labour's victory, Deakin's perceived hypocrisy in the creation of the Fusion was frequently brought up in the campaign and likely cost the Liberals the votes of many of his former supporters.

[84] He made his final speech to parliament on 18 December 1912 and publicly announced his intention to retire on 8 January 1913, after informing Joseph Cook a day earlier.

[90] The final years of Deakin's political career coincided with the early stages of a degenerative neurological condition, with memory loss as the primary feature.

[87] He had hoped that his symptoms were due to stress and leaving politics would aid his recovery, but instead found that "when I stepped out of Parliament in some mysterious fashion all my memories commenced to die or disappear".

[93] At her urging, Deakin and his wife left Australia in September 1916 to seek advice from specialists in England and the United States, and also to visit their daughter Vera in London.

[102] Though Deakin always took pains to obscure the spiritual dimensions of his character from the public gaze, he felt a strong sense of providence and destiny working in his career.

[103] Like Dag Hammarskjöld much later, Deakin's sincere longing for spiritual fulfilment led him to express a sense of unworthiness in his private diaries, which mingled with his literary aspirations as a poet.

[104] His private prayer diaries, like those of Samuel Johnson, express a profound contemplative (though more ecumenical) Christian view of the importance of humility in seeking divine assistance with his career.