Australia's Boldest Experiment: War and Reconstruction in the 1940s

by Stuart Macintyre

In this landmark book, Stuart Macintyre explains how a country traumatized by World War I, hammered by the Depression and overstretched by World War II became a prosperous, successful and growing society by the 1950s. An extraordinary group of individuals, notably John Curtin, Ben Chifley, Nugget Coombs, John Dedman and Robert Menzies, remade the country, planning its reconstruction against a background of wartime sacrifice and austerity. This book shows the 1940s to be a pivotal decade in Australia. At the height of his powers, Macintyre reminds us that key components of the society we take for granted – work, welfare, health, education, immigration, housing – are not the result of military endeavor but policy, planning, politics and popular resolve.

Genres: Australia, History, Nonfiction, Politics

596 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

Stuart Macintyre was Emeritus Laureate Professor of the University of Melbourne and a Professorial Fellow of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies. He was president of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia from 2007 to 2009 and a life member of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. With Alison Bashford, he edited the Cambridge History of Australia (2013). His last book, published posthumously, is The Party: The Communist Party of Australia from heyday to reckoning (2022), the second volume in his history of the Communist Party of Australia.

Reviews

[Gursewak Singh]

Macintyre writes with such accessibility and keeps you engaged with a period of time in Australian history we often gloss over but which has defined the social, economic and political fabrics of the latter half of the 20th century. Macintyre brings to life Menzies, Curtin, and Chifley, and the men and women behind them working in the public service as they come to terms with Australia once again finding itself at war. This time, though, they had one eye on the future as well. Not wanting to make the same mistakes post-WWI, we read accounts of a cast of politicians and public servants exploring how to build resilience into Australian society and debating the fundamental role of government and its obligations to its citizens, all while Macintyre threads through this the need leaders saw to make international ideas of reconstruction and freedoms Australian ideas speaking to the values and principles of this country.

This book was a long read but a fantastic one that kept me hooked.

[Frumenty]

Book reviews on ABC Radio National ("Your world unravelling!" [joke! - their slogan is "Your world unfolding"]) lead to more than a few book purchases, of some of which I later wonder what on earth possessed me to think such a book could possibly interest me. I was conscious of being very ignorant of the immediate post-war period of Australian history, so this book appealed to me as remedial reading, and the author is a distinguished Australian historian (he was, incidentally, one of the examiners who assessed my wife's doctoral thesis). There is quite an industry today in publishing accounts of Australia's wars, but the work of preparing for peace gets much less attention from readers and writers alike. The work of a few public servants in enquiring, planning and writing reports while the rest of the nation was focussed on the business of war was less than fascinating to read about, so for a while I thought I'd drawn a dud with this one. What eventually engaged my attention and interest was the personality of Australia's post-war Labor prime minister Ben Chifley, a thoroughly admirable man of the sort that Australia could well do with in political life today.

Macintyre is a very methodical writer so there is a sort of plodding inevitability about the progress of the narrative (chapters on housing, education, welfare, medical services &c.), but here there is also a story of the intricate political maneuverings necessary to achieve the goals set by planners such as H.C. ("Nugget") Coombs. If you're looking for arguments for the abolition of the Australian States, look no further than this book. So much that needed to be done in Australia was obstructed or put in peril by State premiers, constitutionally and democratically indeed, but mostly for entirely parochial and political ends. Coombs, according to Macintyre, speaks in his memoirs of a "unique opportunity to break with past inefficiencies and inequities", and says that "the plans extended beyond full employment, economic growth and social welfare to the physical and social environment and the ways that public provision could enrich family and community life". The government and the planners were beset with difficulties: shortages of materials, shipping, capital and skilled labour being but a few. The Chifley Labor government was committed to avoiding the inflation and other economic ills that followed the Great War of 1914-1918, maintaining rationing and other controls on the economy for as long as the Parliament would allow. Macintyre points to Chifley's attempt to nationalize the banks as the one significant lapse of judgment of his career, and the road to election defeat followed from that. Robert Menzies, who had proved himself a very poor wartime prime minister at the commencement of the war, flourished in opposition while Curtin and Chifley were both, quite literally, working themselves into early graves. He inherited a country much revived by the efforts of his Labor opponents, and remained in power for much too long (in my opinion).

[Dwight Walker]

This was a very well written, deep and interesting book on history during and post World War II when there were many logistics and financial problems during reconstruction. John Curtin PM died in July 1945 and Ben Chifley became PM with clashes with unions over coal even though he was an ALP PM. Menzies was not popular in his own party during World War II and Liberal Party of Australia was formed from remains of United Australia Party which no longer exists. Chifley lost battle to nationalise the banks. The cabinet had many larger than life men who clashed, did not always work together or competed against each other. It was a tumultuous period but there were many more homes built or subsidised. New jobs led to inflation. Rationing was big issue. Holden and Ford motor car plants were setup. University places were subsidised. Jobs for all was promised but did not materialise. Many more university boffins were in public service during reconstruction which was not common before World War II. This led to more adventurism and risk taking in coming up with solutions on how to cope with massive changes in Australia during and post World War II. I thought it has similarities to what happened during and may be what will be post COVID-19. Nothing is the same after a massive change like a war or pandemic. I learned heaps on how to be flexible and creative and learn from mistakes and improve the lot of people during these tough times. It is a very thick book but it was well worth the read.

[Richard Ure]

Reading a contemporary history covering a time when one was a child and knowing a relative had a role behind the scenes in the development of Canberra and some of the well know buildings in our capital cities has been a rewarding experience.

However I found the details about the merging and de-merging and name changing of government departments somewhat more than I needed to know about such activities.

Nevertheless these were interesting times in our nation's history and it has been somewhat surprising to learn how early in the war steps were afoot to plan for the peace. The story about the role of the Current Affairs Bulletin and the education of troops in the field to learn about civic affairs so they would be better informed to take part in the compulsory voting most of us hold dear was a revelation.

I asked an elderly returned serviceman neighbour of lowly rank in the army if he had taken part in any of these learned discussions and he fell about laughing.

[Osmond]

Fascinating history of post-war reconstruction in Australia