James Scullin
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The Right Honourable James Henry Scullin |
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9th Prime Minister of Australia Elections: 1928, 1929, 1931, 1934 |
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In office 22 October 1929 – 6 January 1932 |
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| Monarch | George V |
| Governor-General |
Lord Stonehaven Sir Isaac Isaacs |
| Deputy | Ted Theodore |
| Preceded by | Stanley Bruce |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Lyons |
| Leader of the Labor Party | |
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In office 29 March 1928 – 1 October 1935 |
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| Deputy |
Arthur Blakeley Ted Theodore Frank Forde |
| Preceded by | Matthew Charlton |
| Succeeded by | John Curtin |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
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In office 29 March 1928 – 22 October 1929 |
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| Prime Minister | Stanley Bruce |
| Deputy |
Arthur Blakeley Ted Theodore |
| Preceded by | Matthew Charlton |
| Succeeded by | John Latham |
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In office 6 January 1932 – 1 October 1935 |
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| Prime Minister | Joseph Lyons |
| Deputy | Frank Forde |
| Preceded by | Joseph Lyons |
| Succeeded by | John Curtin |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Yarra | |
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In office 18 February 1922 – 10 December 1949 |
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| Preceded by | Frank Tudor |
| Succeeded by | Stan Keon |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Corangamite | |
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In office 13 April 1910 – 31 May 1913 |
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| Preceded by | Gratton Wilson |
| Succeeded by | Chester Manifold |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 September 1876 Trawalla, Victoria, British Empire |
| Died | 28 January 1953 (aged 76) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah McNamara |
| Profession | Politician, Grocer and Journalist |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
James Henry "Jim" Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 election. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 transpired just two days after his swearing in, which would herald the beginning of the Great Depression in Australia. Scullin's administration would soon be overwhelmed by the economic crisis, with interpersonal and policy disagreements causing a three-way split of his party that would bring down the government in late 1931. Despite his chaotic term of office, Scullin remained a leading figure in the Labor movement throughout his lifetime, and served as an éminence grise in various capacities for the party until his retirement in 1949.
The son of working-class Irish-immigrants, Scullin spent much of his early life as a laborer and grocer in Ballarat. An autodidact and passionate debater, Scullin would join the Australian Labor Party in 1903, beginning a career spanning five decades. He was a political organizer and newspaper editor for the party, and was elected to the House of Representatives first in 1910 and then again in 1922 until 1949. Scullin quickly established himself as a leading voice in parliament, rapidly rising to become deputy leader of the party in 1927 and then Leader of the Opposition in 1928.
After Scullin had won a landslide election in 1929, events took a dramatic change with the crisis on Wall Street and the rapid onset of the Great Depression around the world, which hit heavily indebted Australia hard. Scullin and his Treasurer Ted Theodore responded by developing several plans during 1930 and 1931 to repay foreign debt, provide relief to farmers and create economic stimulus to curb unemployment based on deficit spending and expansionary monetary policy. Although the Keynesian Revolution would see these ideas adopted by most Western nations by the end of the decade, in 1931 such ideas were considered radical and the plans were bitterly opposed by many who feared hyperinflation and economic ruin. The still opposition-dominated Senate, and the conservative-dominated boards of the Commonwealth Bank and Loan Council, repeatedly blocked the plans.
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