The Great Depression in Australia

Australia suffered badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement.

The Australian economy and foreign policy largely rested upon its place as a primary producer within the British Empire, and Australia's important export industries, particularly primary products such as wool and wheat, suffered significantly from the collapse in international demand. Unemployment reached a record high of around 30% in 1932, and gross domestic product declined by 10% between 1929 and 1931.

There were also incidents of civil unrest, particularly in Australia's largest city, Sydney. Though Australian Communist and far right movements were active in the Depression, they remained largely on the periphery of Australian politics, failing to achieve the power shifts obtained in Europe, and the democratic political system of the young Australian Federation survived the strain of the period.

The James Scullin Labor Government had just assumed power with the commencement of the Scullin Ministry on 22 October following the 1929 federal election, however just a couple of days later, Black Thursday would mark the start of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent global onset of the Great Depression. From the outset the government was buffeted by the effects of the global economic crisis. With the government unable to implement the deflationary Premiers' Plan, Labor had split by 1931 over how to deal with the crisis, with Treasurer Ted Theodore failing to implement his Keynesian inflationary plans, and New South Wales Premier Jack Lang losing office over his plans to boost the budget through a temporary cessation of interest repayments on debts to Britain and that interest on all government borrowings be reduced by 3% to free up money for injection into the economy. Labor defector Joseph Lyons helped to form the United Australia Party through the ending of the Nationalist Party of Australia and succeeded Scullin as Prime Minister of Australia from the 1931 federal election until his death in 1939.

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