Page "William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley" Paragraph 6

The new Governor-General soon found himself involved in another controversy.

It was part of Labor policy to establish an independent Australian navy.

The Liberal opposition, on the other hand, supported the campaign for Australia to raise money to build ships for the Royal Navy: the so-called Dreadnought campaign.

So when Dudley made a speech in support of the Dreadnought campaign, he was straying into party politics, leading to a tense relationship with Fisher.

In 1909 Fisher's minority government resigned, and Dudley refused him an early election.

The Liberals returned to office under Alfred Deakin, solving Dudley's immediate problems.

But although Fisher was careful not to criticise Dudley in public, the Governor-General had acquired a reputation as " anti-Labor ," which made him unpopular with half the Australian electorate.