THE2353 3 A067 0103678A A LABOR, POLITICS AND UNEMPLOYMENT: QUEENSLAND DURING TIIE GREAT DEPRESSION BRIAN J COSTAR BA Submitted in fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History, University of Queensland, January I98I. ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of the impact of the economic depression of the 1930s on the State of Queensland. It is primarily concerned with the politics of the period but economic and social factors are not ignored. As a political study, the thesis is concerned with the behaviour of Governments, political parties and interest groups. The formulation of public policies directed towards the alleviation of unemployment are also investigated. The central focus of the thesis is the Queensland Labor movement, which is defined broadly to include those individuals and groups that claimed to belong to a political/industrial movement that was concerned to advance and defend the interests of employed and tinemployed workers. The central arguments of the thesis are: that the medium and longterm effects of the depression have been exaggerated; and that, in certain respects, Queensland's response to the depression was different from that in some other States. These arguments are explained and expanded in the Introduction. The remainder of the thesis is divided into two sections. Section One includes Chapters One to Seven and deals mainly with general political developments. Chapter One seeks to explain why Queensland appears to have been less affected by the economic collapse than the other States. Attention is drawn to the fact that the Queensland economy experienced a severe, locally-induced recession in the late 1920s that was unrelated to the world-wide depression that occurred after 1929. Chapter Two surveys the major Queensland political events of the twenties that were to remain relevant for the depression period and argues that the Australian Labor Party lost the 1929 State election not because of internal disharmony but because of the condition of the State's economy- In Chapter Three an assessment is provided of the Coxintry Progressive National Party Government, led by Arthur Moore, that was elected in 1929. The pxirpose of the chapter is to show how the policies and performance of the Moore administration assisted the re-unification of the Labor party. The details of Labor's reconstruction are outlined and explained in Chapter Four. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the majority of State branches of the ALP in the 1930s was intensive and debi litating factionalism. Chapter Five explains why Queensland did not share this experience and shows how the ALP coped successfully with the challenges of rival groups such as Lang Labor, Douglas Credit, the Communist Party of Australia and tlie Protestant Labour Party. Cliapter Six examines the impact of the depression on the internal affairs of a selection of Queensland trade unions. It argues that the depression weakened the unions but did not alter substantially either their ideology or their organisational structures. Chapter Seven argues that the defeat of the trade unions in two major strikes early in the depression oriented nost of the members of the industrial Labor movement towards working for the re-election of a Labor Government in 1932. Section Two of the thesis contains Chapters Eight to Eleven and concentrates on the issue of unemployment. In Chapter Eight the ameliorative measures that both the CPNP and Labor Governments devised to provide relief for those out of work are examined. Chapter Nine attempts to assess the effectiveness of the Forgan Smith Government's expansion of the public works programme after 1932 and investigates why the Labor Government was so keen to seek rural solutions to the problem of imemployment. Chapter Ten details the failure of the trade unions to develop effective policies to cope with unemployment among their members. The chapter also includes an examination of relations between the rinions and the newly- established organisations of unemployed. Chapter Eleven continues this theme and details the structure, behaviour and political affiliations of the unemployed groups. It argues that only a minority of the unemployed joined such bodies and that they were relatively non-violent in their methods and generally unsuccessful in the pursuit of their objectives. The thesis concludes with a brief examination of the notion of a 'depression generation' and assesses the impact of the economic crisis on the electoral behaviour of Queenslanders and the consequent effect on the political party system. TABLE OF CONTENIS Acknowledgements, "^^ • Abbreviations. vii. Introduction, x, SECTION ONE 1 The Queensland Economy. 1. 2 Dissension and Defeat: Queensland Labor in the 1920s, 18. 3 The Moore Government: A Non-Labor Interregniim, 49. 4 Labor Reconstructs, 1929-1932, 82. 5 Dissident Labor- 107- 6 The Impact of the Depression on Queensland's Trade Unions, 136. 7 Industrial Militancy during the Depression, 157« SECTION TWO 8 Unemployment Relief Policies, 181, 9 Public Works and Rural Values: A Solution to Unemployment? 211. 10 Trade Union Responses to Unemployment and the Unemployed, 239« 11 The Organised Unemployed, 262, 12 Conclusion: The 'Depression Generation' and the Queensland Party System, 295, Appendix: Biographical Notes, 307- Bibliography. 312. This thesis has not been submitted previously for an award at Queensland or any other university The primary research reported herein was carried out solely by the undersigned according to the rules and regulations of the University of Queensland. ' Brian J Costar VI, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S I am indebted to the following persons who assisted me in various ways in the preparation of this thesis: the librarians and staff of the Queensland University, Fryer, Oxley, Queensland State and La Trobe (Victoria) libraries; Paul Wilson and his staff of the Queensland State Archives; the Undersecretary of the Queensland Premier's Department who granted access to departmental files for the period 1930 to I94O; Michael Sac lier and the staff of the Research School of Social Sciences Archives at the Australian National University; the late Bart Loiorigan who allowed me to examine Queensland ALP records; Kev Hooper MIA who permitted me to peruse the minutes of the Queensland Parliamentary Labor Party (Caucus) for the period 1925 to 1940; Fred Whitby who was similarly generous with the records of the Queensland Trades and Labor Council and to Cecily Cameron who assisted me in the use of those records; the Secretaries of the Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen, the Amalgamated Postal Workers' Union, the Australian Railways Union and the Printing and Kindred Industries Union; the Secretary of the Queensland Social Service League; the Administrator of St Stephen's Cathedral (Brisbane); the Secretary of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane; and to Mick Healy, Frank Waters, Jack Read and Bill Morrow who granted me interviews. I would like to thank my supervisor, Denis Miirphy, who originally suggested the topic and whose extensive knowledge of the Labor movement and Queensland political history has been invaluable. Thanks are also due to Jan Fraser who drew the electoral maps, Barbara Hannay who prepared the graphs and especially to Joan Buzzard of MelboTixne who typed the thesis. I would like to dedicate the thesis to my grandfathers - Frederick George Costar (I884-I962) and James Joseph Connell (I87O- 1946). Vll. ABBREVIATIONS ABTEF Australian Boot Trade Employees Federation ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions AEHR Australian Economic History Review AFAL All for Australia League AFULE Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Enginemen AJPH Australian Journal of Politics and History ALP Australian Labor Party AMIEU Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union ANZAAS Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science APWU Amalgamated Postal Workers Union ARTWU Australian Road Transport Workers Union ARU Australian Railways Union AWU Australian Workers Union CDA Catholic Daughters of Australia CEMS Church of England Men's Society CPA Commxuiist Party of Australia CPD Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates CPNP Coimtry Progressive National Party CPP Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers CRL Civic Reform League ER Economic Record ETU Electrical Trades Union FCA Federated Coopers Association FML Fryer Memorial Library HSANZ Historical Studies of Australia and New Zealand ILR International Labour Review IWW Industrial Workers of the World JRAHS Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society LH LaboTir History MMM Militant Minority Movement OBU One Big Union OML Oxley Memorial Library PIEU Printing Industries Employees Union V 1 1 1 PWIU Pastoral Workers Industrial Inion QCE Queensland Central Executive of the ALP QCEL' Queensland Colliery Employees Union QGCi Queensland Government Gazette QPD Queensland Parliamentary Debates QPLP Queensland Parliamentary Labor Party QPP Queensland Pailiamentary Papers QRTEl' Queensland Railvay Transport Employees Union QSA Queensland State Archives QSSL Queensland Social Service League QIU Queensland Teachers' Union RILU Red International of labour Unions RSSSA .ANT Research School of Social Sciences .Archives Australian National University SSU State Service Union ILC Trades and Labor Council (Queensland) UAP United Australia Party UGA United Graziers Association (Queensland) L^'NI Unemployed Workers Movement W\vT Waterside Workers Federation INTRODUCTION XI, This thesis is a political study of the impact of the great depression on Queensland.