page_title: Alfred Deakin
section_title: Final years
hierarchical_section_title: Alfred Deakin / Final years
caption_attribution_description: Depicted person&#58; &#32;Alfred Deakin English: The Hon. Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia (1903–04, 1905–08, 1909–10).
context_page_description: Alfred Deakin was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901, and was one of the principal authors of the Australian constitution. During his three terms as prime minister over the subsequent decade he played a key role in establishing national institutions.
  Deakin was born in Melbourne to middle-class parents. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1879, aged 23, additionally working as a barrister and journalist. He held ministerial office sporadically beginning in 1883, serving twice as Attorney-General of Victoria and aligning himself with liberal and radical reformers. In the 1890s Deakin became one of the leading figures in the movement for the federation of the Australian colonies. He was a delegate to the federal conventions and served on the committees that drafted the federal constitution. He later campaigned at a series of referendums and lobbied the British government for its adoption.
  After Federation in 1901, Deakin became the inaugural Attorney-General of Australia in the ministry led by his close friend Edmund Barton.
context_section_description: After the 1913 election, Cook offered Deakin the position of chairman of the Interstate Commission, but he declined. In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, he did accept a request to chair a royal commission into food supply during the war. Deakin's final public engagement was as leader of the Australian delegation to the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. He was offered the role initially by Cook and then by Andrew Fisher, who returned as prime minister in September 1914. The appointment was entirely ceremonial and had the support of both Fisher and his deputy Billy Hughes. However, Deakin's involvement was subject to political interference from external affairs minister Hugh Mahon, and he decided on an early return to Australia.
caption: Parliament House portrait of Deakin by Frederick McCubbin, 1914
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