Country Politics 19431963 War, Wool, Socialism and Swinging Seats

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Country Politics 1943-1963War, Wool, Socialism
and Swinging Seats
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• From 1943-1961 the Federal seats of Riverina,
  Hume and Farrer had representatives from several
  different political parties.
• After looking at three case studies 1943, 1949
  and the swinging Hume seat from 1951 to 1963.
  These case studies reveal four factors that are
  responsible for changes in representation
• national issues
• local issues,
• personality
  country-mindedness.

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Was it Country mindedness?

• Some of the traits of Country mindedness
• Primary production and agriculture as the
  backbone of Australia, the economy and national
  character
• Country people have had to struggle against
  nature so that Australia can have its prosperity,
  their suffering and work has been for the nation
  
• Therefore all that is possible should be done to
  support primary producers and the country because
  it is in the best interest of Australia
• The creation of an us and them, where the us is
  the virtuous, family focused, moral, loyal
  country people and the them is the competitive,
  corrupt and morally bankrupt city.
• The city has always tried to suppress the country
  and stop it from developing the way it could have
• (Graeme Davidson, Marc Brodie (ed), Struggle
  Country The Rural Ideal in twentieth Century
  Australia, Monash University Press, pxiii)

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National Issues

• National issues are things which affect the
  nation as a whole such as
• World War II
• The nationalisation of banks
• The economy
• Employment levels

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Local Issues

• Local issues are those which concern only certain
  areas such as
• The wool tax of 1951
• Public works
• Industry and the local economy

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The Personality

• In many political situations electors vote not on
  party lines, or local or national issues but for
  an individual.
• This is sometimes called the cult of personality
  or cult of character.
• The Riverina area seems to be particularly
  partial to this type of voting.

Jim Hagan, Ken Turner, Nancy Blacklow,
The Riverina in People and Politics in Regional
New South Wales, (vol 2) p226, 2006
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MethodologyThis study takes a slices of time
approach, choosing key elections, in electorates
that are either stable or marginal.

• Sources used
• Newspapers..
• The Daily Advertiser
• The Tumut and Adelong Times
• The Land
• The Cootamundra Daily Herald
• Collections at the CSU Regional Archives
• The Arthur Neiberding Fuller papers
• The Joseph Ignatious Langtry papers
• Minute books from early Country Party branches,
  namely Harden, Wagga Wagga and Harefield Yathella
  
• Hansards

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Case Study One 1943
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1943 National Issues

• Winning the War
• On a national level in 1943, the Curtin
  government was returned with a huge majority,
  national issues, particularly the war, were at
  the heart of this election.
• A Vote for Labor is a vote for Curtin Good
  leadership means success or failure
• Saving Australia from Japanese Invasion, Who
  brought the troops home..
• Support your man at the Front, let Curtin finish
  the job, so he can finish his. Continuity of
  government during the war to provide stability
  for the troops.
• Enactment of total war
• The War was going well
• There was a pervading theory that the Menzies
  governments support of the British, had been to
  the detriment of Australian security.

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Hume in 1943

• Boundaries Albury to Boorowa and Yass,
  encompassing Wagga, Young, Holbrook, Harden,
  Tumut, Lockhart, Culcairn, Adelong, The Rock,
  Gundagai and Cootamundra
• Population 54, 700 enrolled voters
• Main economyy Aagriculturee
• Wagga government base, service industry
• Army Demands
• Fruit
• Wool
• Labour shortages meant full employment
• The Hume district had almost full employment and
  its main commodities were in strong demand,
  economically the electorate was faring well.
• Local issues in 1943 Fullers concentration on
  Pension increases

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Arthur Fuller The Labor Man

• Born Gundagai 1893
• Businessman owned Mercer store in Tumut
• Married with two daughters to Vera
• A man who deeply loves the Australian Labor
  Party
• An undesiring Parliamentarian
• A Socialist
• A Country Man

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Riverina The Land of Wool and Wheat

• Main towns North Wagga, Griffith, Cargelligo,
  Deniliquin, Corowa, West Wyalong, Junee,
  Berrigan, Jerilderie, Leeton, Narrandera, Temora,
  Ardlethan and Carrathool
• Population 50,400
• Main economyy Agriculture
• Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area - Letona cannery
  vegetable supplier to the army
• - Farm labourers and canal
  maintenance
• Junee - railway depot town
• - the railway employed a third of
  population, unions,
• - Junee a Labour stronghold.
• Mining - Temora, Tumut and West Wyalong
• Wool and Wheat main commodities of the
  electorate
• Local issues at the 1943 election wheat and
  wool, stabilisation schemes and increased prices

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Joseph Langtry

• Born Kyabram Victoria in 1880
• Wheat farmer and hotel keeper at Barellan,
• Married to Catherine with three sons and two
  daughters
• Wheat and Beer
• A Labor Man??
• Or a Country Party man running for Labor
• Country-mindedness

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Case Study Two 1949
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1949 National Issues

• In 1949, the Liberal Country Party coalition
  under Menzies and Fadden swept to power on the
  fear of communism.
• I think it can safely be said that the fear
  complex instilled into a small percentage of the
  people by a press and radio barrage linking
  Communism up with Socialism, and Socialism up
  with us, brought about our defeat.
• Communism-Communists in trade Unions and the
  Labor party
• Post War Industry and economy, Keynesian
  economics
• The Nationalisation of banks and airlines
• Continued Rationing, particularly of Petrol
• Conscription
• Labour Pools

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The Creation of Farrer

• A City electorate in a country area
• Main towns- Albury, Wagga Wagga, Corowa and
  Coolamon
• 39 600 enrolled voters
• Rapidly becoming a service based economy, leaving
  its rural roots behind
• Changing demographic

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The Un-defeatable Fairbairn

• David Eric Fairbairn
• Liberal from Woomargama near Albury.
• Born in Surry England 1917
• Educated at Geelong Grammar and Jesus College,
  Cambridge
• Married to Ruth, doctors daughter and they had
  three daughters.
• Fairbairn was very much upper class
• Fairbairn a fitting representative for the
  changing and developing Farrer electorate.

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Riverina 1949

• Lost Temora and Junee to Farrer
• Enrolment dropped to 39, 000
• Still an economy based on Wheat, Wool and the
  MIAs irrigation.
• As the sizes of properties shrunk and the numbers
  of people employed as labourers in primary
  production dropped so to did a strong Labor
  support base

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Hugh Stevenson Roberton

• Born in Glasgow Scotland 1900 to Sir Hugh
• Arrived in Australia 1922 lived at Old Junee
  married Marjorie
• Peter Snottgrass
• His connection to the Riverina and the Country
• FS Association
• Wheat Farmer

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Hume 1949

• Main Towns Cootamundra, Junee, Boorowa, Adelong,
  Young, Temora, Yass and Tumut.
• Main economic changes
• Predominant agricultural economy, focused on the
  production of wheat and wool.
• Building of the Snowy River Scheme
• The Batlow Co-operative
• Increase in the number of small farmers - soldier
  settler schemes
• - breaking up of large family
  properties
• Small farmers become the main swinging vote
  element
• They identified themselves as both workers and
  farmers, and as both Labor and Country Party.

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Charles Groves Wright Anderson

• A South African with a VC
• Born at Capetown in 1897 to a journalist
• Educated in England
• Married Edith Tout from Young had two sons,
• two daughters
• Immigrated to Young Australia in 1935, bought a
• grazing property
• A Soldier
• WWI
• Military Cross
• WWII
• A VC, his meal ticket

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Case Study Three The Swinging Seat of Hume
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The Swinging Seat of Hume

• 1943 Arthur Fuller (ALP) by 4187 votes over Tom
  Collins
• 1949 Charles Anderson (C.P.) by 767 votes
• 1951 Arthur Fuller (ALP) by 796 votes
• 1955 Charles Anderson (C.P) by 1715 votes
• 1961 Arthur Fuller (ALP) by 704 votes
• 1963 J.A. Pettit (C.P) who sits until 1972
• (Anderson does not run in 1963 and Fuller resigns
  from politics before the next election in 1966)

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• Hume before and After
• 1919-1931 Parker J. Maloney (ALP)
• 1931-1943 Tom Collins (CP)
• Fuller and Anderson
• 1963-1972 John Pettitt (CP)
• 1972-1974 Frank Olley (ALP)
• 1974-1984 Stephen Lusher (CP became NCP and NPA)
• 1984-1993 Wallace Fife (Lib)
• 1993-1998 John Sharp (NPA)
• 1998- Alby Schultz (Lib)
• Hume should have been a relatively stable country
  seat, like the neighboring Farrer and Riverina

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Why was Hume marginal for these years?

• Although there can be no definitive answer as to
  why people vote the way they do I propose that
  the candidates, Fuller and Anderson, were very
  similar in their levels of appeal, although in
  different ways, and as a result local and
  national issues are often the cause of changes in
  this seat.

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Anderson and Fuller Similarities and Differences

• Anderson
• Grazier at Young
• South African born
• Fought in two wars won VC and Military cross
• Country Party, no mention of involvement in party
  aside MP
• Championed Country people
• Supported Rural development
• A gentlemanly, eloquent speaker, who didnt have
  a lot of substance to his speeches
• The Gentleman
• A good representative of the people a man
  people were proud to call their leader

• Fuller
• Small business owner at Tumut
• Born and bred in Hume
• Fuller makes no mention of any military service
• Labor, much involvement in local branch before
  and after MP
• Championed Country people
• Supported Rural development
• A loud, rough speaker, who passionately spoke his
  mind no matter the consequence
• The Battler
• A man of the people One of the people

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Local Issues

• 1951
• In 1951 Arthur Fuller is the only victorious ALP
  member in New South Wales,
• Wool Sales Deduction Act
• The Swing in Hume can mostly be attributed to
  the prepayment of tax scheme imposed on
  woolgrowers (editorial Tumut and Adelong Times
  1May 1951)

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1955 National and Local Issues

• Economically Australia and Hume are prosperous.
• Wool is booming,
• Wheat prices are stable
• Yass is benefiting from a growing Canberra
• Tumut is benefiting from the building of the
  Snowy Scheme
• Petrov Affair

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1961

• At 1961 election there is a 5 swing to the Labor
  party, with just 7.1 needed to win, Coalition
  control house by just two seats. Liberals loose
  control of the Senate to Independents
• Peoples faith in the Liberal government fading
• Unemployment levels high
• Economy unstable

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SOWhy Did Hume Swing??

• No true explanation for this.
• There were many people in Hume who identified
  with both Anderson and Fuller, they were workers
  and land owners, ex-soldiers and businessmen,
  gentlemen and countrymen, they supported the
  labour countryman and the Country Party