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An Administrative History of the New South Wales Treasury, 1824–1976

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An Administrative History of the New South Wales Treasury, 1824–1976 A LANDSCAPE OF COMPLIANCE, CONFLICT AND INVENTION AN ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY OF THE NEW SOUTH WALES TREASURY, 1824–1976 Roberta Ann Carew BA (UNSW), Dip. Arch. Admin. (UNSW), MA (Syd.), M.Lett (Syd.) A Thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Research) School of History University of New South Wales 2008 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma by UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgment is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT (a) I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted, I may apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis. (b) Authenticity Statement I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format. Roberta Carew ii The first Commissary in New South Wales, ‘the diligent and honest’ The third Commissary David Allan was ‘a compound of perfidy, Andrew Miller. ML Picture Collection) hypocrisy and … dishonesty.’ Reproduction by kind permission of the Australasian Pioneers’ Club (ML ref: PXB 101) Francis Kirkpatrick was the Under Secretary and Thomas Waddell Treasurer in the See Ministry. It is supposed that Kirkpatrick is seated centre in the second row from the front. This is the only known photograph of the Under Secretary who was 63 years old at the time. Waddell is seated to his left. John Holliman was Under Secretary and John Fitzpatrick Treasurer. The number of women employed had increased significantly during the Great War. The imposing additions to the Treasury building imbue the staff with a certain hauteur and substance. Central figures in the dismissal of Premier Lang by Sir Philip Game 1932 1. Lang Ministry, November 1931. Back Row, Left-right: J.M. Tully; James McGirr; J.M. Baddeley; W.J.McKell. Front Row, left-right: Joseph Lamaro; William Davies; J.T.Lang; Mark Gosling; J.M.Concannon; W.F.Dunn. M.A..Davidson absent. (Government Printer 15326 (Parliament NSW Archives LC Coll. 2305)) 2. Copy of the Treasury Circular of 13th April 1932 and sent by the Lang Government. It resulted in that Government’s dismissal by the Governor, Sir Philip Game. (Parliament NSW Archives ref: LA) 3. Press Reports and leading figures in the dismissal, SMH 14th May 1932, p.16. Treasury officers and police removing funds and documents from the Treasury Bank to a city bank. SMH 17th May 1932, p.12 4. Former Treasury Under Secretary and Premier of NSW Bertram Stevens with his family. SMH 16th May 1932, p.12 (SMH 16th May 1932, p. 12) TABLE OF CONTENTS Illustrations iv Abstract v Abbreviations and Explanations vii Acknowledgements ix Chapter 1 Introduction and Literature Review 1 Chapter 2 Treasury’s Antecedents 71 Chapter 3 The Bigge Report and Beyond, 1824–1829 107 Chapter 4 An Evolving Treasury, 1830–1856 139 Chapter 5 Treasury and the Constitution 181 Chapter 6 Geoffrey Eagar 203 Chapter 7 Financial Administration, 1871–1901 219 Chapter 8 Treasury and Federalism, 1901–1945 241 Chapter 9 Focus on Reform, 1900–1945 253 Chapter 10 Treasury’s Ascendancy, 1945–1976 313 Chapter 11 Conclusion 361 APPENDICES Appendix A: Secretaries of the Treasury 1856–2005 369 Appendix B: Treasurers of New South Wales 1824–2005 373 Appendix C: NSW Treasury 383 Charts demonstrating: Average age of Secretaries at appointment and age distribution Chart 1 Secretaries’ place of birth and distribution Chart 2 Secretaries’ religion and distribution Chart 3 Secretaries’ qualifications Chart 4 Appendix D: Sites of the Treasury 385 Appendix E: Bibliography 387 iii ILLUSTRATIONS preceding page 1 Treasury Building, Macquarie Street. Watercolour by Jacob Jansen, 1852 1 2 Commissaries Andrew Miller and David Allan x 3 Commissioner John Thomas Bigge x 4 Plan of Sydney indicating location of Treasury, 1836 x 5 Arrival of the Government Gold Conveyance at the Treasury 1851 x 6 Political Cartoons featuring Geoffrey Eagar. Sydney Punch, 1864 and 1871 x 7 Diagram indicating the Development of the Treasury Building Site, 1849–1900 x 8 Photographs of Treasury Staff, 1903 and 1920 x Series of Photographs illustrating the Downfall of the Lang Government 1932 9 The Lang Ministry 1931 x 10 The Fateful Treasury Circular x 11 Leading Figures in the Fall of the Lang Government x 12 Premier Stevens and Family x iv ABSTRACT Ministerial responsibility is a corollary of the democratic process. An administrative component of that democratic expression is the Treasury. Federal, state or national treasuries have always played pivotal roles in the political, economic, social, technical and cultural evolution of the political arenas within which they function. This thesis presents, for the first time, an institutional history of the New South Wales Treasury. It includes an analysis of its British antecedents, its establishment in the penal colony of New South Wales, by way of the Commissariat and Colonial Funds, and its subsequent development into one of the most influential State government departments. What is fundamental to the successful and efficient administration of a Treasury in the twenty-first century was also true five thousand years ago. There is a universality of constant principles applying to the administration of the public purse and those principles have not altered over the millennia: security, accountability, transparency, efficiency and control. A component of a modern Treasury is its advisory capacity in financial matters. This thesis, therefore, examines the application of those constants in the context of New South Wales over the previous one hundred and fifty years, 1824 to 1976. The New South Wales Treasury is examined specifically, as the vehicle for the adaptation and application of those constant principles attaching to the financial administration of the public purse. An examination is also made of the growth of Treasury’s internal structure, leadership, modus operandi, its response to administrative reform and its role in the public service. The inter-play between Treasury, Governors, Colonial Treasurers, and the public service are all vial elements in this exposition of Treasury. This history, therefore, analyses and dissects the influences that provided the impetus for a government agency to develop successfully, from a modest office of three in 1824, into the present day department of state. v vi ABBREVIATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS Abbreviations ADB Australian Dictionary of Biography BPP British Parliamentary Papers DT Daily Telegraph PSB The NSW Public Service Board SMH The Sydney Morning Herald Terminology and Explanation The British Treasury is referred to as Her Majesty’s Treasury. In order to avoid confusion when reference is made to the imperial institution ‘British’ prefaces Treasury. In New South Wales, between 1824 and 1856, Colonial Treasurers were public servants appointed under patronage and were the departmental heads. Between 1856 and 1985, the formal title of the head of Treasury was Under Secretary of Finance and Trade and Comptroller of Accounts. A complexity arose in 1923 when the permanent head, John Spence, was titled the Under Secretary and Director of Finance, Department of Treasury. This became necessary because, in certain Acts, the permanent head of the Treasury was designated Under Secretary to the Treasury or the Under Secretary of Finance and Trade. The permanent head was therefore appointed as Under Secretary to the Treasury and Under Secretary for Finance and Trade for the purposes of those Acts. Senior positions immediately below the Under Secretary at that time were the Emergency Under Secretary, the Chief Accountant and Deputy Director of Finance, and the Comptroller of Accounts. Andrew Lynch retired from this latter position in January 1925 and the position subsequently abolished. Under Secretary Thomas Kelly resumed the title adopting the additional designation Under Secretary and Comptroller of Accounts in 1937. This title was retained until 1986 when Percy Allan directed that the title Comptroller of Accounts be removed from the Chief Executive’s title now condensed to Secretary of the Treasury. The use of the title Under Secretary in New vii South Wales was a reflection of the English protocol, the incumbent being considered the Minister’s aid. (In the twentieth century in South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania the permanent head of Treasury was titled Under-Treasurer; in Victoria, Director of Finance.) Colonial Treasurer. After 1856 the term Colonial Treasurer was retained as the formal title of the Minister. Legislation in 1959, the Minister of the Crown Bill (No.4) 1959 removed ‘Colonial’.
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