Ben and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Chifley moved into their Busby Street cottage - named Carnwath - in Bathurst following their marriage in 1914. Ben worked as an engine driver in the nearby railways, and became increasingly involved in the labour movement. In 1928 he was elected as the Labor member for the local seat in the Commonwealth Parliament, which he lost in 1931 and regained in 1940, and then held until his death in 1951. Throughout his parliamentary career, including his terms as Treasurer (1941-1945) and then as Prime Minister (1945-1949), Chifley lived at Carnwath.

He commuted most weekends from Canberra to Bathurst to be at home in his electorate and with his wife.

Prime Minister Ben Chifley at the launch of the first mass-produced Australian car at the General Motors Holden factory, Melbourne, 1948. Photograph courtesy of National Archives Australia, A1200, L84254

The late Victorian semi-detached cottage was acquired by Bathurst City Council in 1972 after a local campaign to save it. Proposals in the mid-1990s to relocate the house again prompted widespread community concern. Today it is a house museum and visitors include members of the Australian Labor Party seeking to understand one of their party's icons and the times in which he governed. Chifley's house is the only remaining adult residence of a former Labor Prime Minister in New South Wales.

The house tells us about the domestic life of a Labor prime minister whose lifestyle and political views had been formed, in part, by growing up in the Bathurst district during the economically hard times of the 1890s-1900s, and working in the nearby railways. The frugal nature of the Chifley's lifestyle was used to develop an empathy with people and communities across the nation who had experienced similar circumstances, and to project an image of Ben Chifley as 'a plain man'.

Chifley's image as a plain speaking local man with a vision for the whole nation echoes throughout the cottage: in the simple, mass-produced furnishings, the home-made decorations, the domestic nature of the yard and the location of the house in a working class area of Bathurst. Only two other former prime minister's houses complete with contents have been identified: Joseph Lyons' house in Tasmania and John Curtin's house in Western Australia.

NSW Premier Bob Carr, with Bathurst Mayor Ian Macintosh and Member for Bathurst Gerard Martin, at Ben Chifley's house in Bathurst in December to announce its listing on the State Heritage Register. As a 15 year-old, Bob Carr's first proposition at his local Labor Party branch meeting was that Ben Chifley's home should be a historic memorial. Photograph courtesy of Western Advocate

NSW Premier Bob Carr visited the Chifley house to announce the listing on the State Heritage Register. He commented that the house with its collection of Chifley possessions, was one of the few 1930s and 1940s homes open to the public.

"This period will become more precious to us as time goes on," said Mr Carr.

"The time capsule quality will be very important."

Places such as Ben Chifley's house are uncommon. Although Australia has had 25 prime ministers since Federation, and it is not unusual for houses to be identified where a prime minister lived for some period, it is rare to find a house such as Chifley's in which a prime minister lived throughout his parliamentary career and which still retains the contents and siting. For these reasons this unassuming cottage is now celebrated as a state significant place that enables people to understand the influences in the life of one of our nation's leaders.

Joseph Benedict Chifley, Prime Minister 1945-1949 Photograph courtesy of National Archives Australia, A1200, L11216