Charles Kingston

Charles Cameron Kingston PC (22 October 1850 – 11 May 1908) was an Australian politician. From 1893 to 1899 he was Premier of South Australia, leading a coalition of Radicals supported by the Labor Party.

Kingston won the 1893, 1896 and 1899 colonial elections against the conservatives. During his time as Premier, Kingston was responsible for such measures as electoral reform including the first law to give votes to women in Australia (and second in the world only to New Zealand), a legitimation Act, the first conciliation and arbitration act in Australia, establishment of a state bank, a high protective tariff, regulation of factories, a progressive system of land, and income taxation, a public works program, and more extensive workers' compensation.

A leading advocate of federation, Kingston contributed extensively at a practical level to bringing it about. Elected to the House of Representatives with the most votes amongst the seven candidates in the single statewide Division of South Australia at the 1901 national election, he aligned himself with the Protectionist Party, going on to represent the Division of Adelaide at the election two years later.

He was also one of the main proponents of what was later termed the White Australia policy, arguing strongly against Chinese immigration. In his capacity as representative of South Australia, he attended an 1888 conference in Sydney that proposed changes to the migration laws of the time.