Australian Conservatism Essays in Twentieth Century Political History Cameron Hazlehurst, Editor This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy. Australian Conservatism Essays in Twentieth Century Political History Cameron Hazlehurst, Editor Australian National University Press, Canberra, Australia, London, Great Britain and Norwalk, Conn., USA 1979 First published in Australia 1979 Printed in Australia for the Australian National University Press, Canberra © 1979 Cameron Hazlehurst and the several authors, each in respect of the paper contributed by him; for the full list of the names of such copy­ right owners and the papers in respect of which they are the copyright owners see the Table of Contents at pp. v-vi of this Volume. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Australian conservatism. Index ISBN 0 7081 1359 1 1. Conservatism — Australia — History — 20th century — Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Hazlehurst, Cameron, 1941-, ed. 320.52’0994 Library of Congress No. 78-74664 United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, and Africa'. Eurospan Ltd, 3 Henrietta St, London WC2E 8LU, England North America: Books Australia, Norwalk, Conn., USA Southeast Asia: Angus & Robertson (S.E. Asia) Pty Ltd, Singapore Japan-. United Publishers Services Ltd, Tokyo Text set in 10 point English Times and printed on 85 gm2 semi-matt by Southwood Press Pty Limited, Marrickville, Australia. Designed by Kirsty Morrison. Contents Notes on Contributors vii Introduction xi Young Menzies Cameron Hazlehurst 1 The Conservative Press and the Russian Revolution Amanda Gordon 29 The Conservative Electoral Ascendancy Between the Wars Joan Rydon 51 The United Australia Party and its Sponsors Lex Watson 71 The Piper and the Tune Philip Hart 111 The Making of a Cabinet: The Right in New South Wales 1932-1939 John McCarthy 149 Albert Dunstan and Victorian Government John Paul 169 Menzies and the Imperial Connection 1939-1941 P.G. Edwards 193 Menzies and the Birth of the Liberal Party Peter A imer 213 The Liberals’ Image of their Party Peter Loveday 239 vi Party Dominance and Partisan Division 1941-1972 Murray Goot 263 Pragmatic Federalism: Liberals, The Commonwealth, and Education 1949-1972 Don Smart 293 Liberals’ Ideas on Social Policy Peter Tiver 311 Index 331 Notes on Contributors Dr Peter Aimer, a Senior Lecturer in Political Studies at the University of Auckland, is the author of Politics Power and Persuasion, The Liberals in Victoria, James Bennett, Melbourne, 1974. He was previously a secondary school teacher. Dr P.G. Edwards, Master of St Mark’s College, University of Adelaide, was previously a Research Fellow in the History Department, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. He was formerly a member of the group of historians responsible for the Department of Foreign Affairs’ series of Documents on Australian Foreign Policy, and has written on the foreign relations of Britain and Fascist Italy as well as of Australia. He has edited Australia through American Eyes 1935-1945 (University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1979). Murray Goot is a Lecturer in Politics at Macquarie University. He is the author of Policies and Partisans (Department of Government and Public Administration, University of Sydney, 1969), co-author of Women and Voting Studies (Sage, London, 1975) and Social Patterns in Public Opinion (forthcoming) and joint compiler of Australian Opinion Polls 1941-1977 (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1978). He is currently studying the history of opinion polls in Australia and the use of market research in political campaigns. Amanda Gordon studied history at the University of Melbourne where she completed an M.A. thesis in 1969 on the Australian Press and the Russian Revolution. viii Notes on Contributors Dr Philip Hart is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Waikato where he has been a member of staff since receiving his Ph.D. from the ANU. His principal research interest has been the career of J.A. Lyons, on which he has published several articles. Dr Cameron Hazlehurst has been a Fellow in the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University since 1972, following seven years in Oxford as postgraduate student and research fellow, and two years as a tutor at Monash University. His books include Politicians at War July 1914 to May 1915 (Jonathan Cape and Alfred Knopf, London and New York 1971) and Menzies Observed {Allen and Unwin, Sydney 1979). Dr Peter Loveday, Senior Fellow in Political Science, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, previously taught in the Department of Government at the University of Sydney and was Reader in Politics at the University of Adelaide. His writings on pressure groups, parties, and political thought in Australia include Parliament, Factions and Parties, The First Thirty Years o f Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1865-1889 (Melbourne University Press, 1966) and several contributions in The Emergence of the Australian Party System (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1977) of which he was co-editor. Dr John McCarthy, a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of New South Wales (Duntroon), is the author of Australia and Imperial Defence 1918-1939 (University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1976) and articles on the British-Australian connection and Australian politics between the wars. John Paul, Lecturer in the School of Political Science, University of New South Wales, was an officer in the Commonwealth Public Service from 1961 to 1971, and has been a Research Scholar at the Australian National University. He has written a number of articles and essays on Australian politics. Joan Rydon is Professor of Australian Politics at La Trobe University and is the joint author (with Henry Mayer) of The Gwydir By-Election 1953 (ANU Press, Canberra, 1954) and compiler of A Biographical Register o f the Commonwealth Parliament 1901-1972 (ANU Press, 1975) and numerous articles on Australian politics. Notes on Contributors ix Dr Don Smart, Lecturer in the Politics of Education at Murdoch University, was joint editor (with Ian Birch) of The Commonwealth Government and Education: Political Initiatives and Perspectives 1964-1976 (Drummond, Melbourne, 1977), and has written Federal Aid to Australian Schools 1901-1975 (Univer­ sity of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1978). Dr Peter Tiver, Lecturer in Politics at The Riverina College of Advanced Education, previously taught at Flinders University. He is the author of The Liberal Party (Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, 1978). Lex Watson is a Lecturer in Government at the University of Sydney where he teaches Australian politics. He has published articles on Australian political institutions and parties, and on public policy and homosexuals. His current research includes further work on policy toward homosexuals and on issues relating to public policy, human rights and equality. Introduction The ‘Australian Conservatism’ of this book is the political faith and behaviour of politicians and parties opposed to Labor, and the beliefs and activities of their supporters. We are concerned with those who sought power, those who were satisfied with office, and the large minority of Australian citizens who thought little of politics but, knowing what they liked and feared, voted anti-Labor. Conservative politicians in Australia have traditionally preferred to describe themselves as almost anything but conservative — Liberal, Nationalist, Constitutionalist, Democratic, Free Trade, Country, even Democratic Labor. There were good tactical reasons for this. But neither politically prudential reticence nor the obvious differences between Australia and Great Britain have blinded observers to the existence of phenomena that can usefully be described as ‘Australian conservatism’. No one should now find it necessary, as Sir Keith Hancock did in 1929, to insist that ‘there do exist strong conservative interests in Australia’. There are individuals and groups whose property, possessions, and potential for personal acquisition are the dominant facts of their lives. There are others for whom wealth and status are secondary but whose drive for power is coincidentally fortified by ample means. There are some, almost invariably rich, who believe that the nation’s prosperity, not merely their own, depends on the kind of government which only they and like- minded people can give. And all of those who know what they want and how to get it, are followed by the millions whose envy or xii Introduction ambition, greed or apprehension, deference or despair, make them averse to being governed by people like themselves. Thus Australian conservatism is the conduct and creed of those content with society as it is, or as less government would make it, and dedicated to excluding from power the irresponsible poor and the dangerous ideologues of the left. This does not, of course, mean that ‘working-class’ people neither vote for conservative parties nor have conservative views about government and moral issues. What it does mean is that those who identify with non- Labor parties will almost invariably distinguish themselves from an undeserving class which they believe is a threat to social stability and prosperity. For sixty years the spectre