page_title: John Hayes (Australian politician)
section_title: State politics
hierarchical_section_title: John Hayes (Australian politician) / State politics
caption_attribution_description: English: John Blyth Hayes member of Tasmanian House of Assembly
context_page_description: John Blyth Hayes CMG was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1923 to 1947. He was President of the Senate from 1938 to 1941. Before entering federal politics, he had been a member of the Parliament of Tasmania from 1913 to 1923 and served as Premier of Tasmania for almost exactly one year, from 1922 to 1923.
context_section_description: Hayes was elected president of the North-Eastern Agricultural and Pastoral Association in 1911 and secretary of the Scottsdale Board of Agriculture in 1912. He was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly at the 1913 state election, running as a Liberal in Bass with the support of the farming community. In September 1915, Hayes was elected deputy leader of the opposition under Walter Lee. The Liberals formed a government after the 1916 state election, and subsequently adopted the name of the federal Nationalist Party formed after the Australian Labor Party split of 1916.
  With Lee as premier, Hayes served as Minister for Lands and Works (1916–1919), Minister for Works (1919–1923), and Minister for Agriculture (1916–1923). He was also in charge of the Hydro-Electric Department. He won praise for his handling of the agriculture portfolio and for his work in the area of soldier settlement. In 1921, he was appointed Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).
  The Nationalists were reduced to a minority government at the 1922 state election, due to the success of the newly formed Country Party led by Hayes' brother-in-law Ernest Blyth. Lee did not enjoy the support of the Country Party and resigned as premier in August 1922. With the support of Blyth, Hayes replaced him as state premier on 14 August and formed a coalition, the first in the state's history. He inherited a government heavily in debt, but was unable to resolve the situation and was criticised for inaction. He resigned as premier on 16 August 1923, after just after a year in office.
caption: Hayes c. 1913
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