For Australians, 11 November is a date that resonates in our nation’s history. On that date in 1880 Ned Kelly was hanged, in 1918 it saw the end of the fighting on the Western Front, and in 1975 it was the day on which Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the prime minister, Gough Whitlam. This year marks the centenary of another momentous 11 November, a day unique in the annals of Australian political history. On that day Prime Minister Billy Hughes moved a motion for the expulsion from the parliament of the Labor member for Kalgoorlie, Hugh Mahon, because of his criticism of British rule in Ireland.

To this day, Mahon remains the only person to have been expelled from the Commonwealth parliament, and he is likely to remain so. In 1984 a joint select committee described his expulsion as an ‘abuse of power by a partisan vote’ and in 1987 legislation was passed removing the federal parliament’s power to expel its members.

I have posted to my Croppies Downunder series on YouTube a video talk on Hugh Mahon’s expulsion. Also, I have written for Pearls and Irritations a short piece about what happened on that 11 November day in 1920 and what steps have been taken to right the wrong done to Hugh Mahon.

You can read more about Hugh Mahon, his life and his careers in journalism and politics, as well as his dismissal in my two-volume biography: Hugh Mahon: Patriot, Pressman, Politician Vol 1 1857-1901 and Vol 2 1901-1931 published by and available from Anchor Books Australia. For a short description of the books click here.