Proud of our Ben

"I've never seen so many people cry in my life," he recalled. "It was a sad time for Bathurst."

Fifty years after the death of Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley, few remember him as intimately as his nephew, John Chifley.

Ben Chifley was more than just a famous uncle to John, he was a guardian and friend.

"I never saw him cranky," John said of his uncle. "I remember him lying on the lounge at our place, hat pulled down over his head, pipe in his mouth, waiting for his wife (Elizabeth) to finish playing cards. He'd ask `You finished Liz?' and then turn to me and whisper `she won't be finished for hours'."

Having no children of his own, Ben Chifley took great interest in his nieces and nephews right up until his death on June 13 1951.

He had two brothers Patrick and Richard and while Pat had one son, Joe, (deceased), Dick had two daughters Burdette and Maureen as well as a son - John.

"He had blue-green compassionate eyes. He was interested in everything you did - how you went in cricket, etc," John said. "I used to talk to him a fair bit.

"He did so many things so quickly for me, but he made me do it myself."

John spoke of the time he wanted to get his first home and was worried about securing a loan and his uncle told him to speak to Mr Tindall at the Commonwealth Bank.

"By the time I'd gone over to the bank he'd rung up and made an appointment," John said.

"Mr Tindall said `you shouldn't have worried. Your uncle already guaranteed it'.

"Another time I got a job at the dry cleaners and Uncle Ben went into the background of dry cleaning and happily informed my dad that I'd be alright in my new job."

There is no doubt that Ben Chifley's compassion and caring attitude helped him be a successful Prime Minister from 1945 to 1949.

"He goes down as an engine driver, Prime Minster and lovely bloke but underneath it all, he was very capable," John said.

It was through his role as an engine driver that Ben Chifley became very active in the Australian Railways Union and thence the Labor movement.

Ben Chifley joined the Labour Party in 1925 and won the federal seat of Macquarie in 1928. He lost it in 1931, regained it 1940 and held it until his death in 1951.

From 1941 to 1949 he was a leading Minister of State.

He was treasurer throughout the whole period, first under John Curtin and then during his own as Prime Minister (1945 to 1949).

From 1941 to 1949 Ben Chifley was busy legislating and a great deal of legislation passed was to deal direct with people such as child endowment, widows pensions, old age pensions, uniform taxation, abolishing state income tax, the national welfare scheme, Commonwealth support for university education, Commonwealth Employment Service means test modifications and pensions for the blind etc.

In his book "A secret country" published in 1989, John Pilger said:

"Chifley had little formal education, yet his management of Labor's war economy distinguished Australia as the only allied nation to emerge from the Second World War with a favourable balance of credit under the US Lend-Lease Scheme. Chifley believed in full employment, and under his government full employment was achieved. He believed in public works which gave universal benefit, and under his government the Great Snowy Mountains Scheme was conceived and begun, eventually turning rivers away from the sea and into the interior."

"On reflection, these war years must have been very worrying for Ben Chifley," John said.

"He was treasurer of the war cabinet and a very close friend and confidant of John Curtin, the Prime Minister. Although he must have known the seriousness of the war situation, he was always calm and engendered confidence."

During his term as Prime Minister, Ben Chifley maintained his considerate and approachable nature.

"There was not much difference between my old man and Uncle Ben," John said. "They were men of their times."

John described a time when he and Ben Chifley were standing on the front verandah of his father's place in Russell Street.

"It was raining. Russell street was lined with elm trees and on the corner there was a man huddled under a tree.

"Uncle Ben was Prime Minister at the time and the man under the tree had been told to keep on eye on him. I remember Uncle Ben saying `go bring that man in for a cup of tea'."

The election was set for December 10 1949 and according to John there were three things that cost Ben Chifley Government -bank nationalisation, the communist threat and the Opposition's promise to terminate petrol rationing.

However the end of the prime ministership did not deter Chifley from politics and even while he was in Bathurst Hospital due to a heart attack in late November 1950, he constantly tried to persuade the doctor to discharge him.

After regaining some of his health, he was re-elected Opposition Leader unopposed on June 11 1951.

On Wednesday June 13 1951, Chifley attended to his usual constituency and Parliamentary duties and that evening one of his secretaries, Phyllis Donnelly, brought him papers and a cup of tea.

As they quietly discussed some of his correspondence he suffered another seizure and was rushed to Canberra Hospital.

Meanwhile At Parliament House the elaborately dressed guests danced and chatted in the King's Hall to celebrate the golden jubilee of Federal Parliament.

About 11.50pm, the band was silenced and Prime Minister Menzies announced Ben Chifley was dead.

"When Ben Chifley died in 1951, it was a sad time for Bathurst. His body was flown from Canberra and placed in St Michael's and John's Cathedral," John said.

"The day of the funeral was dull and miserable.I was travelling in one of the mourning coaches. People were lining the streets from St Michael's along William Street, past the old council building into Russell Street, left along George Street and right up to the grave yard (Bathurst Cemetery)."

"A great many of them were crying openly. Such was their respect and, may I say, love for Ben Chifley, Bathurst's greatest son."