Draft:Bruce–Page government
Bruce–Page government | |
|---|---|
| In office | |
| 9 February 1923 – 22 October 1929 | |
| Monarch | |
| Prime Minister | S. M. Bruce |
| Deputy | Earle Page |
| Parties | |
| Origin | Coalition formed after 1922 election |
| Demise | Defeated at 1929 election |
| Predecessor | Hughes government |
| Successor | Scullin government |
The Bruce–Page government was the federal executive government of Australia between 1923 and 1929, led by Prime Minister S. M. Bruce of the Nationalist Party and Deputy Prime Minister Earle Page of the Country Party.
The government was formed after the 1922 federal election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Country Party holding the balance of power in the House of Representatives. Page and the Country Party Billy Hughes, the incumbent Nationalist prime minister, and instead.
Government formation
[edit]The 1922 federal election ended in a hung parliament, with the governing Nationalist Party led by Prime Minister Billy Hughes winning 26 out of 75 seats in the House of Representatives. The Country Party, led by Earle Page, secured the balance of power by winning 14 seats, with the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) on 29 seats.[1]
On 2 February 1923, Hughes conceded that he could not form a government and tendered his resignation to Governor-General Lord Forster, effective upon the confirmation of a successor.[2]
Coalition agreement
[edit]The agreement between Bruce and Page, handwritten by Bruce, provided for a new coalition government to be formed with Bruce as prime minister. Page would enjoy second rank in cabinet and assume the de facto role of deputy prime minister, with the new government to be officially designated as the Bruce–Page government. The Country Party would receive five out of eleven cabinet portfolios and specific portfolios were allocated to each party. The coalition agreement notably contained no references to policy stances.[2]
Composition
[edit]Move to Canberra
[edit]Domestic policy
[edit]- Transport Workers Act 1928
- Development and Migration Commission
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
- Royal Commission on the Moving Picture Industry in Australia
Constitutional reform
[edit]In 1927, the government appointed John Peden to chair a royal commission into the federal constitution.[3]
Economic planning
[edit]One of the last pieces of legislation passed by the government was the Economic Research Act 1929, which sought to establish a Bureau of Economic Research independent of the Treasury to provide impartial, research-based advice on economic planning. Bruce considered several leading economists for the directorship of the bureau, including Horace Belshaw, Jim Brigden and John B. Condliffe, but was unable to reach agreement on terms before the government's collapse. The ALP opposition had been opposed to the creation of the bureau and did not proceed with its establishment.[4]
Health and science
[edit]Immigration
[edit]North Australia
[edit]In 1926, the government divided the Northern Territory – ceded by South Australia to federal control in 1911 – into two separate federal territories: Central Australia, administered from Alice Springs, and North Australia, administered from Darwin. Each territory had its own government resident and advisory council and a North Australia Commission was created to oversee development.[5]
Social security
[edit]In 1923, the government announced plans for a comprehensive system of social security that would "remove altogether the taint of pauperism".[6] The proposed scheme was typically referred to as "National Insurance", in line with the British scheme, and later that year Nationalist backbencher John Millen was appointed chair of the Royal Commission on National Insurance. The commission did not report until 1927.[7]
In September 1928, Page introduced the National Insurance Bill into parliament, which "provided for sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits, mainly paid for by compulsory contributions by workers and employers, along with smaller payments to parents of children under 16 and to orphans".[8] The legislation failed to pass before the 1928 election was called, although it was heavily promoted by the government during the election campaign. It was postponed indefinitely the following year as the government concentrated on other matters.[9]
Foreign and defence policy
[edit]Electoral record and defeat
[edit]1925 election
[edit]1928 election
[edit]Collapse
[edit]1929 election
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Wilks 2020, p. 92.
- ^ a b Wilks 2020, p. 94.
- ^ Saunders, Cheryl (1986). "Owen Dixon: evidence to the Royal Commission on the Constitution, 1927–1929" (PDF). Melbourne University Law Review. 11: 53.
- ^ Coleman, William; Cornish, Selwyn; Hagger, Alfred (2006). Giblin's Platoon.The Trials and Triumph of the Economist in Australian Public Life. Canberra: ANU Press. pp. 73–79.
- ^ Wilks 2020, p. 128.
- ^ Arthur, Don (20 December 2021). "Myths of entitlement: a history of the Age Pension and the National Welfare Fund" (PDF). Research Paper Series, 2021-22. Australian Parliamentary Library. p. 8.
- ^ "Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry". www.aph.gov.au. Parliament House, Canberra. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
- ^ Wilks 2020, p. 175.
- ^ Wilks 2020, p. 176.
Sources
[edit]- Cumpston, Ina Mary (1989). Lord Bruce of Melbourne. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. ISBN 0-582-71274-2.
- Lee, David (2010). Stanley Melbourne Bruce: Australian Internationalist. London: Continuum Press. ISBN 978-0-8264-4566-7.
- Wilks, Stephen (2020). 'Now is the Psychological Moment': Earle Page and the Imagining of Australia (PDF). ANU Press. ISBN 9781760463687.