324 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [PART II 
when it was overthrown by a coalition between Mr. Reid’s 
party and that of Mr. Deakin,! who proceeded to form the 
Reid-McLean administration, which lasted from August 18, 
1904, to July 4,1905, when on the meeting of Parliament it was 
overthrown by a coalition of Labour and Mr. Deakin’s party. 
The new administration of Mr. Deakin lasted till November 
12, 1908, but the retirement of Sir J. Forrest on J uly 29, 1907, 
caused a considerable change in the constitution and attitude 
of the Ministry, Sir. W. Lyne, his successor as Treasurer, 
being much more closely in touch with Labour ideals. 
Mr. Deakin’s administration was overthrown by the desertion, 
mainly on tactical grounds in view of the general election 
in 1910, of the Labour party, which formed a Government 
lasting from November 13, 1908, until June 2, 1909, when it 
was overthrown on the opening of Parliament on the question 
of naval assistance to the United Kingdom. A new adminis- 
tration was then formed by Mr. Deakin and Mr. Cook, who 
had taken command of Mr. Reid’s party, Mr. Reid having 
resigned sometime previouslyin order to facilitate a coalition. 
Mr. Reid was appointed High Commissioner for the Common- 
wealth in England, but the combined party was defeated 
decisively at the general election in April 1910, and a Labour 
administration under Mr. Fisher took office with, for the 
first time in the Commonwealth, absolute majorities in both 
Houses of Parliament. 
In the case of the states there has been the same lack of 
political continuity, and the average life of a Government has 
been extremely short. There have been thirty-four Ministries 
in New South Wales since 1856, twenty-six in Queensland 
since 1859, forty-one in South Australia since 1856, thirty- 
three in Victoria, and twenty-seven in Tasmania. The average 
duration of a Ministry has thus been very short, save in a few 
cases of coalitions, and in some cases comically so ; thus in 
1899 Mr. V. L. Solomon was Premier of South Australia 
from December 1 to 10 only, and Mr. Earle’s Government in 
Tasmania in 1910 rivalled Mr. Solomon’s in brevity. The 
vise of Labour as an organized force resulted in coalitions, 
v Parliamentary Debates, 1904, 1. 4265.