THE BALANCE OF POWER IN SECOND WORLD WAR AUSTRALIA: THE DELIBERATIVE ROLE OF COLES AND WILSON IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1940 by Christopher Hayman A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of New South Wales 2005. 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: HAYMAN First name: CHRISTOPHER Other name/s: CHARLES DOUGLAS Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Faculty: ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Title: THE BALANCE OF POWER IN SECOND WORLD WAR AUSTRALIA: THE DELIBERATIVE ROLE OF INDEPENDENTS COLES AND WILSON IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1940. Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) The problem being investigated is the historical situation relating to two independent MPs holding the balance of power in the Australian House of Representatives in 1940 and 1941. The two MPs, Arthur Coles and Alex Wilson, supported the conservative Menzies and Fadden governments before shifting their support (on October 3 1941) to the Labor Party led by Curtin. The procedure followed is the examination, in the form of a historical narrative, of primary evidence in private papers (such as Coles’s), analysis of Hansard (CPD), local and metropolitan newspapers. Also examined are references to the two independents in secondary literature. The key focus of interest will be the idea that chance or serendipity played a major role in achieving all the key outcomes which many Australians (and historians like Hasluck) often otherwise depict as the triumph of good sense within a supposedly non-problematic two- party political system which self-selected the best possible leadership during time of war. Coles took over the seat of a popular Cabinet minister who had died in an air disaster. Coles’s and Wilson’s holding the balance of power was another extreme aberration, as no House of Representatives from 1906 to 1940, and none since, has not had either of the two party blocs (Labor and anti-Labor) without a majority. Hasluck, the most influential historian of Australian politics during the 1939-1945 war, viewed the fact of Coles’s and Wilson’s serendipity as evidence, in itself, of their wider historical, ideological and political irrelevance. The general results obtained by pursuing a critical historical narrative approach is that a strong counter-argument has been developed that suggests that Hasluck (and wider historical memory) has insufficiently valued as historical factors Coles’s and Wilson’s ideological aims. Coles was a representative of business progressivism and Wilson of agrarian socialism. The major conclusion reached is that Coles’s and Wilson’s wider aims led them to adopt the tactic of timing their shift to Labor so as to maximize their ideological influence on the Labor administration that would result whenever they decided to exercise their entirely serendipitously attained balance of power. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property 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 also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). …………………………………………………………… Signature ……………………………………..……………… Witness ……….……………………...…….… Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing to the Registrar. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances if accompanied by a letter r of support from the Supervisor or Head of School. Such requests must be submitted with the thesis/dissertation. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: Registrar and Deputy Principal THIS SHEET IS TO BE GLUED TO THE INSIDE FRONT COVER OF THE THESIS N:\FLORENCE\ABSTRACT Preface It is possible to develop a counterfactual case against Sir Paul Hasluck’s influential The Government and the People which argues against reading too much into the fact that two independents held the balance of power in the House of Representatives during 1940-1943. Hasluck is correct in arguing that Coles and Wilson, the two independents, found themselves understood as political amateurs and cranks by the minority conservative governments they decided to support from September 1940 to October 1941. It is possible to argue against Hasluck’s and the majority view by pointing out that, far from being unrepresentative cranks, Arthur Coles was a nationally significant business person and Alex Wilson was a significant farmer-interest group representative. Coles and Wilson, it could be argued, all along, had the potential to provide either minority party-bloc not just with the votes necessary to govern but also with important symbolic cross-class legitimation for their party bloc’s business and farm policies. Labor, after October 3 1941, openly and actively supported by Coles and Wilson did in fact forge a genuinely national, united and popularly supported war-effort. Labor’s, Coles’s and Wilson’s policy coalition was effective and focused in contrast to the severely compromised attempt by the minority Menzies and Fadden governments to work with the two independents. Labor, with Coles’s and Wilson’s explicit and open support, ushered in the Keynesian revolution, and an exponential increase in the power, scope and responsibility of the Federal level of government. Coles and Wilson, therefore, provided significant nurture and comfort towards Labor’s project, which, Labor reciprocated by validating key aspects of Coles’s and Wilson’s self-stated aims and projects. Labor’s relationship with Coles and Wilson stands in contrast to how the non-Labor minority parties treated them. Prime Minister Menzies and even more so Prime Minister Fadden refused to take seriously the rhetoric and policy-goals of Coles and Wilson and sought to avoid having to enter into genuine negotiation with them. Post October 3 1941, Labor and the balance of power independents revived, at least to some extent, the pre 1909 mode of genuine multi-party negotiation over key national policy goals. All this adds up to seeing the deal organised by Labor with Coles and Wilson in October 1941 as a significant moment in Australian policy history and not just the footnote it has tended to have been seen as until now. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface:…………………………………………………………………………......1 Table of contents………………………………………………………………….. .2 List of Abbreviations...................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………....4 Introduction:………………………………………………………………………...5 Chapter I: A narrative historical account of the Independents in the Australian House of Representatives in 1941 with a focus on their deliberative role………………………………………………………...8 Chapter II: Literature Review……………………………………………………...60 Chapter III: Coles in the run-up to the September 1940 general election and the Immediate aftermath…………………………………………………..82 Chapter IV: Wilson in the run-up to the September 1940 general election and the Immediate aftermath…………………………………………………..111 Chapter V: Coles and Wilson between late 1940 and July 1941…………………..154 ChapterV1: The crucial end-game of July-August –1941. ……................................217 Chapter VII: The political crisis in Canberra from late August to early October 1941. ………………………………………………………………….237 Conclusion:………………………………………………………………………......300 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...309 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. ABDA American, British, Dutch, Australian Area. ALP Australian Labor Party. ......................................................... ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions………………… ARP Air Raid Precautions AWF Australian Wheatgrowers Federation. BCPA British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines. FCP Federal Country Party FSA. Farmer’s and Settlers Association. .......................................... I.PA. Independent Policy Association (New South Wales) ....... I.PA(Vic) Independent Policy Association (Victoria)........................ MPs Members of Parliament MHR Member of the House of Representatives RES Royal Empire Society SMH Sydney Morning Herald TAA Trans Australia Airlines UAP United Australia Party……………………………………… UCP United Country Party .......................................................... VWGA. Victorian Wheatgrowers Association…………………… VWWGA Victorian Wool and Wheatgrowers Association. ............ YNA. Young Nationalists Association……………………….. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Professor Elaine Thompson as my principal supervisor. Professor Thompson has been an invaluable and absolutely essential guide and her work in regard to Australian egalitarianism has proven a great inspiration to me. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Professor Jo-Anne Pemberton, who was my co-supervisor for the latter part of the thesis preparation period. I would