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BY LLOYD GORMAN
STATE DADDY FOR A DAY (OR FOUR) You might not have realised it but for a brief stint recently an Irish man was in charge of Western Australia. From the 12th to the 16th of July, Dublin born Stephen Dawson, a minister in the McGowan government, was acting premier for the state while the premier himself – known increasingly as ‘State Daddy’ for his handling of the pandemic crisis – was having some downtime. It is not the first time an Irish born politician has stepped in to assume the reigns of the state but it has been some time since it last happened, possibly 120 years!
Stephen Dawson (left) with Premier Mark McGowan
The second premier of WA was one George Throssell, a native of Fermoy, Co. Cork. Throssell was was ten years old when his father, a Pensioner Guard, came to the Swan Colony in 1850 with his family in tow. The family settled in Northam where George became a successful merchant and mayor, and later was elected unopposed to the represent the town and district in the newly formed Legislative Assembly in 1890.
Seven years later Throssell – who was known as The Lion of Northam – was appointed as the Commissioner of Crown Lands in the government of Sir John Forrest. It was a senior and significant role for the fledgling colony that was just about to go into a gold rush era. He got his chance at premier when Forrest dumped state politics to become an MP in the Canberra parliament of the newly Federated Australia. [Interestingly Forrest had been appointed as WA’s first premier by Governor William Robinson, born in Co. Westmeath]. Throssell succeeded Forrest as premier on 15 February 1901, but his term in office would be short lived. 20 | THE IRISH SCENE
He was a very competent and capable administrator but he was quite deaf and not a natural political leader. But because of internal fighting between factions in the party and an election, Throssell lost his majority and resigned on 27 May to return to the backbench, just three months later. A few years later he retired to his stately home – called Fermoy after his birthplace– on the hill overlooking Northam.
A DIPLOMATIC DESPATCH Career diplomat Breandán Ó Caollaí made what must have been a flurry of apologies and farewells at the end of July. “My term as Ambassador of Ireland to Australia has come to an end and Carmel and I will be returning to Ireland on August 1st,” Mr Ó Caollaí told Irish Scene by email. “Unfortunately, this leaves us no time to organise a farewell event to thank and recognise all those like yourself who were so kind and supportive of us in our work here in Australia on behalf of Ireland. “I want to thank you most sincerely for the huge contribution you have made to recording and celebrating the activities and news
