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Alexander Downer's Formative Family Policy Influences

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Alexander Downer's Formative Family Policy Influences University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+ University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2021 Alexander Downer’s Formative Family Policy Influences Paul Raymond Brown Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1 University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. A court may impose penalties and award damages in relation to offences and infringements relating to copyright material. Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong. Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Alexander Downer’s Formative Family Policy Influences This thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree Doctor of Philosophy from University of Wollongong by Paul Raymond Brown Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts University of Wollongong Australia 2021 CERTIFICATION I, Paul Raymond Brown, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Law, Humanities and Politics at the University of Wollongong declare that this thesis is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. 2 Abstract The Downer family represents three generations spanning three centuries of key growth and development periods in Australian history. These have included Federation and Australia’s national formation, post-World War Two immigration expansion of the nation and more recently for Alexander Downer the development of the Australian- American international relationship. In examining these generations of the Downer family this study has identified an influential leadership credo around nation building. Through this family political experience a credo has formed embracing the values, mores and themes which have influenced Alexander Downer’s approach to policy. Each generation has promoted the idea of a bigger Australia expounding policies supporting a larger immigration policy. International relations have also been revealed as a source of promoting the Australia nation. Although from a conservative family with continuous British affiliations, the Downer family has often been associated with progressive legislative policies. Alexander Downer has described his political philosophy arising from this background as progressive conservatism. One of the central aims of this study is to assess the veracity of this self description and its contribution to the family credo. Were the policy positions which he inherited from his family and which influenced him in his career enough to confirm this political philosophy? This thesis has found a complex amalgam in the policy outcomes achieved. In the career of John Downer his approach to immigration was initially a dissenting voice when all those around him supported the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 with its narrow racial provisions. By the end of his term as a South 3 Australian Senator he had joined many of those he had formerly opposed. John Downer was an early advocate of female suffrage and introduced important areas of legislation in South Australia regarding married women's property rights. However at the last hurdle he stumbled and reversed his position voting against female suffrage in 1894. These final positions regarding immigration and female suffrage militate against the case for a thoroughgoing progressive conservatism. Similarly, Alick Downer in humanising the White Australia Policy by legislating for the removal of the Dictation Test was always doing so from the belief that the White Australia Policy should not in any fundamental sense be challenged. Further complicating this were the progressive reforms he simultaneously pursued to increase the mobility freedoms of Indigenous peoples in the Emigration Act. This thesis also identifies how the intensity of Britishness, which fuelled the Anglo-Australian world view of the Downers, abated following Alick Downer’s failure to adjust to changing circumstances within England in the late 1960s. Subsequently Alexander Downer moderated his expectations of the Anglo- Australian relationship in his term as Foreign Minister in Australia only to find in his final years as High Commissioner to Great Britain a revival of his hopes for a renewed British race patriotism. 4 Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Supervisor Professor Greg Melleuish for his continuous support of my research and writing. Greg’s encouragement to publish and give papers arising from this research has been constantly motivating. He has provided me with the opportunity to present papers at the Australian Historical Association Conference at the University of Wollongong in June 2013 on The Intellectual and Political Heritage of the Downers and the paper The Conservative Paradox of Australia's Federation Foundations at the Australian Historical Association Conference in July 2015 at the University of Sydney. Greg’s acceptance of my Chapter entitled ‘The progressive conservatism of Alexander Downer: the meta-narrative of resistance, family heritage and Edmund Burke’ published in Liberalism and Conservatism, 2015, was of further assistance for my research progress. I would also like to especially thank the Hon Alexander Downer for the generous provision of time in the interviews conducted for this thesis over the past three years. His openness and cooperation particularly during his commitment as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in London have been greatly appreciated. However, beyond my supervisor I would like to thank and record my immense thanks to my late father Arthur Brown who in my undergraduate years spent late night hours assisting and encouraging me to research and write. His experience and insights as speech writer to Sir William McKell and later N.S.W. Premier Askin were a source of ongoing motivation. Thankyou also to Dr Ian Smith from the University of Sydney and Dr Victoria Ikutegbe from the University of 5 Wollongong for their insightful comments and support at key points on this journey. 6 Contents CERTIFICATION ......................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 5 Chapter One ................................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter Two................................................................................................................................. 39 Leadership Credo and Downer Family Nation Building ............................................................. 39 Chapter Three............................................................................................................................... 71 South Australian Background and John Downer’s Influence ...................................................... 71 Chapter Four .............................................................................................................................. 125 Formative Influence of Menzian Liberalism ............................................................................. 125 Chapter Five ............................................................................................................................... 181 Alick Downer’s Immigration Program: Building a Bigger Australia ........................................ 181 Chapter Six................................................................................................................................. 234 Formative British Experiences: The ‘Son of Empire’ and a Changing Commonwealth ........... 234 Chapter Seven ............................................................................................................................ 278 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 278 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................
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