Austin Chapman

Party politics and ministerial service Chapman was a close friend of Prime Minister Edmund Barton and was chosen as the inaugural government whip in 1901. Barton relied on him for management of the Protectionist MPs in parliamentary divisions, at a time when the government had a minority and was reliant on Free Trade Party or Australian Labor Party (ALP) support to pass legislation.

In 1903, following Barton's retirement, Chapman was appointed Minister for Defence in the new government formed by Alfred Deakin, shortly before the Defence Act 1903 introduced by his predecessor James Drake was passed into law. He remained in office until the government's defeat in 1904.

Chapman was appointed Postmaster-General when Deakin returned as prime minister in 1905. In that capacity he was a strong supporter of a national Penny Post scheme. Chapman also served as chairman of the royal commission into old-age pensions, which reported in 1906. He was appointed Minister for Trade and Customs in a ministerial reshuffle in 1907. In that role he introduced regulations for a standard wheat bag of , which became known as the "Chapman sack". He did not return to the ministry in Deakin's third government, due to a severe stroke he suffered in 1909 which paralysed one arm. His views brought him close to Country Party leader Earle Page and he appeared at some Country Party conferences, although he did not join the parliamentary Country Party.

Following the 1922 federal election, which resulted in a hung parliament, Chapman was again among the Nationalist MPs who agitated for the removal of Hughes. He consulted with Page and supported S. M. Bruce as Hughes' successor. After Bruce and Page formed a a coalition government in 1923, Chapman was appointed Minister for Trade and Customs for a second time and Minister for Health, as one of only four members of cabinet with prior ministerial experience. He resigned from cabinet in May 1924 due to ill health, and was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 1924 Birthday Honours.

Advocacy for Canberra

Chapman had a significant role during the selection of Australia's national capital site, Canberra. A strong advocate for the rival site of Dalgety—legislated as the capital site by the Seat of Government Act 1904—he stated in August 1906 that, "I will defend Dalgety to the end. Any change from the selection already made can only be achieved over my political corpse."

In early 1908, he conceded that Canberra was "the second best site, but Dalgety easily stands first." As the process finally reached its conclusion, later in 1908, Chapman was suffering ill health. In his absence, although he had been paired for the ballots so as not to prejudice the outcome, at the ninth ballot Dalgety went down to Yass-Canberra by 39 votes to 33.

However, once Canberra had been selected, Chapman strenuously advocated the development of the site on the Molonglo River near Queanbeyan, which like Dalgety was in his electorate. He became "a fanatical, and yet an effective, advocate of the transfer of the federal capital to Canberra", at a time when there was pressure on the federal government to postpone construction activities and remain in Melbourne for reasons of cost. He died of cerebrovascular disease in Sydney on 12 January 1926, aged 61.

Chapman was one of the few Roman Catholic MPs outside of the Labor Party during his political career. In 1902, while accompanying Edmund Barton to the coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra, he received an audience before Pope Leo XIII in Rome.