William Higgs (politician)

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William Guy Higgs (18 January 1862 – 11 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Born in Wingham, New South Wales, he was the oldest of at least ten children. He left school at 13 to become a printer, worked as a journalist and editor, and became a committed socialist and trade unionist.

Higgs began his political career with the Labor Party. He was elected as a Senator for Queensland in 1901 and served until 1906, becoming the first Labor member to be Chairman of Committees (1903–1906). After Federation, he moved to the federal House of Representatives, winning the Division of Capricornia in 1910 and serving until 1922. He was Treasurer of Australia from 27 October 1915 to 13 November 1916 in Billy Hughes’ government, resigning over conscription during World War I.

He remained with Labor and became deputy leader in 1918, but in 1920 he was expelled from the party for opposing its stance on expanding government powers. He sat as an Independent for eight months before joining the Nationalist Party. In 1922 he lost Capricornia to Frank Forde.

After politics, Higgs campaigned for the mentally ill, becoming honorary president of the Society for the Welfare of Mental Patients and writing on mental health. He chaired a royal commission into Western Australian finances in 1924. He married Mary Ann Knight in 1889, and they had three children; his wife and two sons predeceased him. He died in 1951 in Victoria, and later in life he was a Christian Science practitioner.