the Opposition until 20 October 1909, when he formed a minority government of one week. He was the first premier of Tasmania from the ALP. In 1914, Earle and the ALP formed another minority government after the defeat of Albert Solomon's government on a confidence motion. In addition to the premiership he also appointed himself attorney-general. In the House of Assembly the government relied on the vote of independent MP Joshua Whitsitt, and in the unreformed Legislative Council it had few supporters. Its accomplishments including the extension of public secondary education, the nationalisation of the Waddamana hydroelectricity scheme, and the establishment of the state's first national parks, Mount Field and Freycinet. Earle authorised large quantities of wheat to be imported in 1914 to alleviate a drought and "made large investments in public works to alleviate war-caused unemployment". During the early years of World War I he encouraged the unemployed to enlist in the military. After the ALP was defeated at the 1916 election, Earle returned to his prior position as Leader of the Opposition. He viewed the aim of the ALP as "true progressive liberalism" rather than socialism, and some of his policy positions had alienated more radical members of the party, notably his support for overseas conscription. In November 1916, during the nationwide party split over conscription, he announced his resignation from the ALP in an open letter, stating that "the movement has been corrupted by bodies of extremists, irresponsible and in some cases distinctly disloyal men, aided and abetted by the weakness, cowardice, and treachery of the officers of the organisation and members of the Parliamentary party obtaining control of the movement". He resignation was widely regarded as pre-empted his expulsion. Federal politics In March 1917 Earle, who had by then joined the Nationalist Party of Australia, was elected by the Parliament of Tasmania to fill a vacancy in the Australian Senate. He retained his seat in the 1917 election. He became Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Hughes ministry from December 1921 to February 1923. He was defeated at the Senate election held in December 1922, and again in 1925, as a Nationalist candidate. In 1928 he stood as an independent candidate in Franklin, but was unsuccessful. Death Earle died at Kettering, Tasmania, on 6 February 1932. He left a widow but no children. His cousin, Alicia O'Shea Petersen, would later follow Earle into politics as