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| 1916, Oct. 28 |
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| Conscription was defeated by a narrow margin in a popular referendum. The result was an open rift in the Labour Party, which ejected Hughes and several of his colleagues. The cabinet was reconstructed. | 1 |
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| 1917, Feb. 17 |
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| Hughes organized a national war government, relying on the new Nationalist Party, which was composed of Labour leaders who followed Hughes and by a large section of the Liberal opposition. The new party received a popular mandate in the elections of May 5. | 2 |
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| Oct. 17 |
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| Completion of the railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie, thus first attaching Western Australia by rail to the other states. | 3 |
| In order to meet the steady decline in voluntary enlistment, the prime minister, unable to enforce conscription by parliamentary action, decided to refer the matter once more to popular vote. | 4 |
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| Dec. 20 |
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| Conscription was again defeated by referendum. Through the exertions of influential leaders voluntary enlistment was increased to some extent, but not enough to satisfy Hughes and his associates. In the summer of 1918 Hughes went to England and in the spring of 1919 took part in the Paris Peace Conference. There, with the support of the other Dominion statesmen, he succeeded in excluding from the covenant of the League of Nations any recognition of the principle of race equality. At the same time he intervened actively in the problem of the German colonies. | 5 |
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