Postmaster-General's Department

This article is about the use in Australia. For the general use, see Postmaster General.

The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was abolished in December 1975 and replaced by the Postal and Telecommunications Department. Two separate legal entities had been established in July 1975 to take over the department's operations: Telecom Australia (colloquially "Telecom"; later became Telstra) and Australia Post.

Postmaster-General's Department

Department overview
Formed	1 January 1901[1]
Dissolved	22 December 1975[1]
Superseding Department	Postal and Telecommunications Department
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of Australia

Manual telephone, c. 1950. The phone and lines remained the property of the PMG.

History

The "PMG" stamp can still be found on many manhole covers, such as this one in central Perth.

The Postmaster-General's Department was created in 1901 to take over all postal and telegraphy services in Australia from the states and administer them on a national basis. The department was administered by the postmaster-general.

The first permanent secretary of the department was Sir Robert Townley Scott, who held office from 1 July 1901 until his retirement on 31 December 1910.

In its first 25 years, the department grew from 6,000 to 10,000 offices and from 18,000 to 47,000 staff.^[2] Earnings grew from £2.4 million to £10 million per annum.^[2]

In mid-1975 the department was disaggregated into the Australian Telecommunications Commission (trading as Telecom Australia) and the Australian Postal Commission (trading as Australia Post). In 1993 the Spectrum Management Agency was formed to take responsibility of radio and television broadcast licensing, which was then merged into the Australian Communications Authority, that later became the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Telecom Australia changed its name to Telstra in 1995 and has since been privatised.

Abolition

The department was abolished in December 1975 by the Fraser government, and replaced by the Postal and Telecommunications Department.^[3] The change was intended to take account of the increase in the functions of the department to include all electronic media matters which had previously been the responsibility of the Department of the Media.^[3]

List of postmasters-general

Order	Portrait	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1		John Forrest		Protectionist	Barton	1 January 1901 (1901-01-01)	17 January 1901 (1901-01-17)	16 days
2		James Drake				5 February 1901 (1901-02-05)	10 August 1903 (1903-08-10)	2 years, 186 days
3		Philip Fysh				10 August 1903 (1903-08-10)	24 September 1903 (1903-09-24)	261 days
					Deakin	24 September 1903 (1903-09-24)	27 April 1904 (1904-04-27)
4		Hugh Mahon		Labor	Watson	27 April 1904 (1904-04-27)	17 August 1904 (1904-08-17)	112 days
5		Sydney Smith		Free Trade	Reid	17 August 1904 (1904-08-17)	5 July 1905 (1905-07-05)	322 days
6		Austin Chapman		Protectionist	Deakin	5 July 1905 (1905-07-05)	30 July 1907 (1907-07-30)	2 years, 25 days
7		Samuel Mauger				30 July 1907 (1907-07-30)	13 November 1908 (1908-11-13)	1 year, 106 days
8		Josiah Thomas		Labor	Fisher	13 November 1908 (1908-11-13)	2 June 1909 (1909-06-02)	201 days
9		John Quick		Liberal	Deakin	2 June 1909 (1909-06-02)	29 April 1910 (1910-04-29)	331 days
10		Josiah Thomas		Labor	Fisher	29 April 1910 (1910-04-29)	14 October 1911 (1911-10-14)	1 year, 168 days
11		Charlie Frazer				14 October 1911 (1911-10-14)	24 June 1913 (1913-06-24)	1 year, 253 days
12		Agar Wynne		Liberal	Cook	24 June 1913 (1913-06-24)	17 September 1914 (1914-09-17)	1 year, 85 days
13		William Spence		Labor	Fisher	17 September 1914 (1914-09-17)	27 October 1915 (1915-10-27)	1 year, 40 days
14		William Webster			Hughes	27 October 1915 (1915-10-27)	14 November 1916 (1916-11-14)	4 years, 99 days
				National Labor		14 November 1916 (1916-11-14)	17 February 1917 (1917-02-17)
				Nationalist		17 February 1917 (1917-02-17)	3 February 1920 (1920-02-03)
15		George Wise				3 February 1920 (1920-02-03)	21 December 1921 (1921-12-21)	1 year, 321 days
16		Alexander Poynton				21 December 1921 (1921-12-21)	5 February 1923 (1923-02-05)	1 year, 46 days
17		William Gibson		Country	Bruce	5 February 1923 (1923-02-05)	22 October 1929 (1929-10-22)	6 years, 259 days
18		Joseph Lyons		Labor	Scullin	22 October 1929 (1929-10-22)	4 February 1931 (1931-02-04)	1 year, 105 days
19		Albert Green				4 February 1931 (1931-02-04)	6 January 1932 (1932-01-06)	336 days
20		James Fenton		United Australia	Lyons	6 January 1932 (1932-01-06)	13 October 1932 (1932-10-13)	281 days
21		Archdale Parkhill				13 October 1932 (1932-10-13)	12 October 1934 (1934-10-12)	1 year, 364 days
22		Alexander McLachlan				12 October 1934 (1934-10-12)	7 November 1938 (1938-11-07)	6 years, 25 days
23		Archie Cameron		Country		7 November 1938 (1938-11-07)	7 April 1939 (1939-04-07)	170 days
					Page	7 April 1939 (1939-04-07)	26 April 1939 (1939-04-26)
24		Eric Harrison		United Australia	Menzies	26 April 1939 (1939-04-26)	14 March 1940 (1940-03-14)	323 days
25		Harold Thorby		Country		14 March 1940 (1940-03-14)	28 October 1940 (1940-10-28)	228 days
26		George McLeay		United Australia		28 October 1940 (1940-10-28)	26 June 1941 (1941-06-26)	241 days
27		Thomas Collins		Country		26 June 1941 (1941-06-26)	29 August 1941 (1941-08-29)	103 days
					Fadden	29 August 1941 (1941-08-29)	7 October 1941 (1941-10-07)
28		Bill Ashley		Labor	Curtin	7 October 1941 (1941-10-07)	2 February 1945 (1945-02-02)	3 years, 118 days
29		Don Cameron				2 February 1945 (1945-02-02)	6 July 1945 (1945-07-06)	4 years, 320 days
					Forde	6 July 1945 (1945-07-06)	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)
					Chifley	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)
30		Larry Anthony		Country	Menzies	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	11 January 1956 (1956-01-11)	6 years, 23 days
31		Charles Davidson				11 January 1956 (1956-01-11)	18 December 1963 (1963-12-18)	7 years, 341 days
32		Alan Hulme		Liberal		18 December 1963 (1963-12-18)	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	8 years, 353 days
					Holt	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	19 December 1967 (1967-12-19)
					McEwen	19 December 1967 (1967-12-19)	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)
					Gorton	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)
					McMahon	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)
33		Lance Barnard1		Labor	Whitlam	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	14 days
34		Lionel Bowen				19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	1 year, 175 days
35		Reg Bishop				12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	1 year, 152 days
36		Peter Nixon		National Country	Fraser	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days

List of departmental secretaries and directors-general

• 1901–1910: Robert Scott
• 1911–1923: Justinian Oxenham
• 1923–1939: Harry Brown
• 1940–1946: Daniel McVey
• 1946–1949: Bede Fanning
• 1949–1958: Giles Chippindall
• 1958: Van Vanthoff
• 1959–1961: Mervyn Stradwick
• 1961–1965: Frank O'Grady
• 1965–1968: Trevor Housley
• 1968–1972: John Knott
• 1972–1975: Eber Lane
• 1975: Fred Green

See also

• 600 series connector – obsolete Australian telephone jack and plug national standard
• Australian Postal Commission
• Australia Post
• Australian Telecommunications Commission
• Telstra
• Telecommunications in Australia

References

1. "CA 9: Postmaster-General's Department, Central Administration", National Archives of Australia, retrieved 9 February 2021
2. "Federation- 25 Years' Achievements Reviewed: Commonwealth Problems". The Canberra Times. 21 October 1926. p. 8.
3. Fraser, Malcolm (18 December 1975). "MAJOR CHANGES IN MINISTERIAL AND DEPARTMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS" (Press release). Archived from the original on 11 January 2014.