The Diplomatic Battles of Billy Hughes by Peter Spartalis

The Diplomatic Battles of Billy Hughes

by Peter Spartalis

Hale & Iremonger, 1983, b/w photographs, paperback, ISBN 086060852

Very Good Condition, previous owners inscription inside front cover, some edge and shelf wear, minor water mark to bottom corner, 

'William Morris Hughes was never one to take a back seat willingly, be it in the Labor Party, the Nationalist Party, or at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I.  He was the first Australian Prime Minister to place Australian interest ahead of those of Great Britain and to pursue a distinctively Australian foreign policy.  he fought vigorously (some would say pig-headedly) for separate Dominion representation at the Peace Conference, for heavy reparations to be exacted from Germany, and for Australia to be granted mandate over German New Guinea.  He determinedly opposed Japanese moves to insert racial equality clause in the League of Nations Covenant because he believed it would undermine the White Australia policy.'