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Ben ChifleyPrint Page 
The Bathurst Chifley Memorial Project commemorates Ben Chifley, former Australian Prime Minister and was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of his death.  The project features a bas relief sculpture of Chifley and his wife Elizabeth.

Ben Chifley, the son of a blacksmith and the prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949, was born at Bathurst in 1885 and maintained his connections with the city until the end of his life. He joined the New South Wales railways at 17 and, at 26, became the youngest locomotive driver in the state. Chifley became a union representative in 1913 but was demoted to cleaner due to his involvement in the Great Strike of 1917.

He entered parliament as the member for Macquarie (the local seat) in 1928 and became the treasurer and minister for postwar reconstruction in Curtin`s government. When Curtin died in the last month of World War Two Chifley became prime minister. From 1949 until his death in 1951 he was leader of the opposition. He was interred at Bathurst.







Unveiled On The 50th Anniversary Of The
Death Of Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley
June 13 2001
Proposed Site Of memorial



This plaque was unveiled on 10 October 2007 by
The Honourable Bob Carr
to acknowledge the completion of the Chifley Memorial Project
auspiced by the Bathurst Arts Council and the Rotary Clubs of