Farmers' parliaments and country conferences: attempts by New South Wales Labor in the 1920s and 1930s to communicate with the countryside

Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Dec, 2004 by Ken Turner

Labor in New South Wales broke through to office in 1910 by adding gains in Sydney suburban electorates to its established holdings in wheat and wool areas, mining areas and inner Sydney. Even so, twenty-nine of the forty-six members of that successful Caucus represented electorates outside Sydney. The 1916 conscription split changed that. At the 1917 elections Labor lost sixteen seats, twelve outside Sydney. (1) To win again, besides recovering in suburban Sydney, Labor would have to convince country voters that it could still be trusted to look after their interests.

In the interwar period that was a challenging task. Rural voters were more sensitive to charges that Labor was disloyal, disunited and extremist. Vicious faction fighting made Labor an easy target, as did the abrasive style of J. T. Lang, Labor's leader from 1923 to 1939. In addition Labor faced a new rival for the support of those suspicious of big city interests: with the general support of local newspapers, the emerging Country Party made quick inroads. At the same time some traditional bases of support were being weakened by economic changes in the countryside: there were severe cuts in the mining workforce; the number of labourers in wheat areas declined; Labor missed the votes of construction workers in the countryside when railway and most major public works virtually ceased from the late 1920s. (2) The Australian Workers' Union (AWU), a main organisational pillar for country Labor, suffered heavy losses in membership. It also became estranged. Discredited as it lost control of Labor's Central Executive in 1923, the AWU was sidelined by rule changes in 1927. After that it was mostly associated with the rival Federal Labor Party. (3)

Despite all this, wins in 1920, 1925 and 1930 showed that Labor could still appeal successfully outside Sydney. In its efforts to hold this uncertain support Labor employed three main approaches--through Caucus spokesmen, through summitry to formulate welcome policies, through new provisions within its own organisation.

Caucus spokesmen

Reliance upon the efforts of high profile country members of Caucus was an effective tactic when Labor did well in the countryside. Throughout the interwar period Labor was predominant in mining/industrial electorates in the Newcastle, Wollongong, Lithgow and Broken Hill areas but was vulnerable in the countryside beyond. In particular it struggled in coastal country electorates. During the 1920 to 1927 proportional representation period Labor could win up to five of the twelve seats in the area. After the return to single-member electorates in 1927 it did not win a single seat for the rest of the period. In the late 1930s Labor effectively gave up, running only one candidate in the whole area in 1938. Of the western country seats Labor won about half when it was in office up to 1930, about one-third when not. At the 1932 elections, however, the country wing was amputated; the ten seats won outside Sydney all came from the mining/industrial areas. Regrowth was limited while Lang remained; at the 1935 and 1938 elections Labor won only three country seats beyond the mining/industrial areas.

For that matter, even the presence of country representatives in Caucus did not guarantee effectiveness when Caucus was weak or distracted. In 1923 two groups each claimed to be the official Caucus, with two separate leaders (and a third when Federal authorities intervened). A December meeting lapsed for want of a quorum while discussing a Whip s motion to deal with absenteeism in the Assembly. (4)

Although elected leader by Caucus in July 1923, J. T. Lang consulted few colleagues. He narrowly survived two challenges to his leadership in his first two years. In March 1927 Caucus tried vainly to depose him for his 'treachery' in replacing Cabinet without a Caucus vote. (5) Caucus then became subservient; in April 1938 Lang told Caucus that he had not given it details of his recent policy speech because of the need for secrecy. A former Whip, M. A. Davidson (Cobar), complained of such disregard for Caucus, suggesting it had met only about three times in three years. The Caucus chairman claimed thirteen meetings in that time, while others would have been held but for the lack of a quorum. Davidson retorted that Caucus members would have attended had they believed that was what Lang wanted. (6) This was not a Caucus likely to stand up for the countryside or much else.

Nevertheless, Labor's appeal to the countryside was helped by Caucus members who were credible spokesmen for country interests, either as good local members or in portfolios like Agriculture, Lands, Public Works, Railways, Roads or Mines. Labor's front bench regularly included mining union heavyweights like J. M. Baddeley (Cessnock) or A. C. Willis (MLC). Outside those areas the most notable were W. F. Dunn (Mudgee)--almost automatically Minister for Agriculture in Labor Governments between the wars--and P. F. Loughlin (Cootamundra)--Minister for Lands until he resigned in November 1926.