Jack Lang (Australian politician)
Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In office 31 July 1923 – 6 September 1939 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy | Peter Loughlin Jack Baddeley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | James Dooley Bill Dunn (acting) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | William McKell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | John Thomas Lang 21 December 1876 Labor (1909–1943; from 1971) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations |
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Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Hilda Amelia Bredt
(m. 1896; died 1964) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 7, inclunding Chris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parents |
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Education | St Francis Marist Brothers' School, Brickfield Hill | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Thomas Lang (21 December 1876 – 27 September 1975), usually referred to as J. T. Lang during his career and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella", was an Australian politician, mainly for the
Early life
John Thomas Lang was born on 21 December 1876 on
The family lived in the inner-city slums for the majority of Lang's early childhood, including for a period on Wexford Street in
Aged 16, he returned to the inner city, working first in a bookstore, and then as an office boy for an accountant. Nairn (1986) writes that Lang's experience in the Sydney slums brought "an intimate knowledge […] of the protean denizens who found shelter there", inculcating in Lang some "real sympathy for them, but above all a determination to avoid their kind of existence, reinforced by a revulsion against the hardships of his own life in a large, generally poverty-stricken family."[5]
Early career
During the
Lang became a junior office assistant for an accounting practice, where his shrewdness and intelligence saw his career advance. Around 1900 he became the manager of a real estate firm in the then semi-rural suburb of Auburn. He was so successful that he soon set up his own real estate business in an area much in demand by working-class families looking to escape the squalor and overcrowding of the inner-city slums.[6]
As a resident in the unincorporated area around
He was elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1913 for the district of Granville, serving as a backbencher in the Labor Party government led by William Holman.[14] When Prime Minister Billy Hughes twice tried to introduce conscription to the country in WWI, Lang sided with the anti-conscriptionist wing of the ALP. The mass defection from the ALP of parliamentarians and supporters who supported the military measure opened up opportunities and Lang positioned himself for advancement. His financial skills led him to become Treasurer in Premier John Storey's Labor government from 1920 to 1922. Due to the post-World War I financial recession, the state's accounts were in deficit; Lang managed to cut this deficit significantly. From 1920 to 1927, he was a member for the multi-member seat of Parramatta.
After the
Lang premiership
First term, 1925–1927
During his first term as Premier, Lang carried out many social programmes, including state pensions for widowed mothers with dependent children under fourteen, a universal and mandatory system of workers' compensation for death, illness and injury incurred on the job, funded by premiums levied on employers, the abolition of student fees in state-run high schools and improvements to various welfare schemes such as child endowment (which Lang's government had introduced). Various laws were introduced providing for improvements in the accommodation of rural workers, changes in the industrial arbitration system, and a 44-hour workweek. Extensions were made to the applicability of the Fair Rents Act while compulsory marketing along the lines of what existed in Queensland was introduced. Adult franchise for local government elections was also introduced, together with Legislation to safeguard native flora and to penalize ships for discharging oil.[citation needed] His government also carried out road improvements, including paving much of the Hume Highway and the Great Western Highway.
Lang also restored the seniority and conditions to
Lang established
By contrast, his attempts to abolish the life-appointed upper house of the NSW Parliament, the Legislative Council, were unsuccessful. His attempts, based around requesting from the governor, Sir Dudley de Chair, enough appointees to swamp the council that would then vote for its abolition (the same approach his Queensland Labor colleagues had taken to their upper house in 1922), brought him into significant conflict with the governor. However, his government's agenda required more political support to pass than the upper house was able to give, and Lang and the Labor party sought to eliminate what they saw as an outdated bastion of conservative privilege through this approach. At the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the new Auburn Town Hall in November 1926, he declared: "If I have my way, the Upper House will not be there much longer. Such a condition cannot continue, and, in fact, will not prevail much longer; but, for the time being, it is there, and our laws must continue to suffer while it exists."[16]
After Labor's defeat at the 1927 election, Lang was
Second term, 1930–1932
In 1930, more than one in five adult males in New South Wales were without a job. Australian governments responded to the Depression with measures that, Lang claimed, made circumstances even worse - cuts to government spending, civil service salaries and public works cancellations. Lang vigorously opposed these measures and was elected in a landslide in October 1930.
As Premier, Lang refused to cut government salaries and spending, a stand which was popular with his constituents, but which made the state's fiscal position more parlous, though the economic state of the six other various Australian governments fared little better during this same period. In the wake of the Great Depression, measures were taken to ease the hardships of evicted tenants together with the hardships facing householders and other debtors battling to meet repayments. [citation needed] He passed laws restricting the rights of landlords to evict defaulting tenants, and insisted on paying the legal minimum wage to all workers on relief projects.
At an economic crisis conference in Canberra in 1931, Jack Lang announced his own programme for economic recovery. The "Lang Plan" advocated the temporary cessation of interest repayments on debts to Britain and that interest on all government borrowings be reduced to 3% to free up money for injection into the economy, the abolition of the Gold standard to be replaced by a "Goods Standard" where the amount of money in circulation was linked to the number of goods produced, and the immediate injection of £18 million of new money into the economy in the form of Commonwealth Bank of Australia credit. The Prime Minister and all other state Premiers rejected the plan.
Lang was a powerful orator, and during the crisis of the Depression, he addressed huge crowds in Sydney and other centres, promoting his populist program and denouncing his opponents and the wealthy in extravagant terms. His followers promoted the slogans "Lang is Right" and "Lang is Greater than Lenin." Lang was not a revolutionary or even a socialist, and he loathed the Communist Party, which in turn denounced him as a social fascist.
On 19 March 1932, Lang opened the
The Crisis of 1931–1932
Early in 1931, Jack Lang released his own plan to combat the Depression; this became known as "the Lang Plan". This was in contrast to the "Melbourne Agreement", later known as the Premiers' Plan, which all other State Governments and the Federal Government had agreed to in 1930. Key points of the Lang Plan included the temporary cessation of interest repayments on debts to Britain and that interest on all government borrowings be reduced to 3% to free up money for injection into the economy, the cancellation of interest payments to overseas bondholders and financiers on government borrowings, the injection of more funds into the nation's money supply as central bank credit for the revitalisation of industry and commerce, and the abolition of the gold standard, to be replaced by a "Goods Standard," whereby the amount of currency in circulation would be fixed to the number of goods produced within the Australian economy. The banks had indicated that if he paid the interest they would advance him an additional amount which was greater than the interest, thus giving him a positive cash flow.
Lang opposed the Premiers' Plan agreed to by the federal Labor government of James Scullin and the other state Premiers, who called for even more stringent cuts to government spending to balance the budget. In October 1931 Lang's followers in the federal House of Representatives crossed the floor to vote with the conservative United Australia Party and bring down the Scullin government. This action split the NSW Labor Party in two – Lang's followers became known as Lang Labor, while Scullin's supporters, led by Chifley, became known in NSW as Federal Labor. Most of the party's branches and affiliated trade unions supported Lang.
Since the Commonwealth Government had become responsible for state debts in 1928 under an amendment to the Constitution, the new UAP government of Joseph Lyons paid the interest to the overseas bondholders and then set about extracting the money from NSW by passing the Financial Agreement Enforcement Act 1932, which the High Court held to be valid. Lang then contended that the Act was rendered null and void by contravening the 1833 prohibition of slavery throughout the British Empire; the Premier held that the actions of the Lyons government deprived the State of New South Wales means of paying the wages of State employees and that this necessarily constituted an (illegal) state of slavery.
In response, Lang withdrew all the state's funds from government bank accounts and held them at Trades Hall in cash, so the federal government could not gain access to the money. The Governor, Sir Philip Game, a retired Royal Air Force officer, advised Lang that in his view this action was illegal and that if Lang did not reverse it he would dismiss the government. Lang stood firm, and on 13 May 1932, the Governor withdrew Lang's commission and appointed the UAP leader, Bertram Stevens, as premier. Stevens immediately called an election, at which Labor was heavily defeated.
Gerald Stone, in his book 1932, states that there is evidence that Lang considered arresting the Governor to prevent the Governor from dismissing him, (which Lang admitted in his own book, The Turbulent Years). The possibility was sufficiently high that the armed forces of the Commonwealth were put on alert. Andrew Moore and Michael Cathcart, among others, have put forward the possibility that such a clash would have seen the Commonwealth Armed Forces fighting the New South Wales Police.
This was the first case of an Australian government with the confidence of the lower house of Parliament being dismissed by a Vice-Regal representative, the second case being when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam's government on 11 November 1975 (which Lang would not live to see by just 45 days). Game himself felt his decision was the right one, despite the fact that he had no personal animosity towards Lang. On 2 July 1932 Game wrote to his mother-in-law: "Still with all his faults of omission and commission I had and still have a personal liking for Lang and a great deal of sympathy for his ideals and I did not at all relish being forced to dismiss him. But I felt faced with the alternative of doing so or reducing the job of Governor all over the Empire to a farce."[17] Lang himself, despite objecting to his dismissal conceded afterwards that he too liked Game, regarding him as fair and polite, and having had good relations with him.[18]
Later career
Lang continued to lead the Labor Opposition, although the NSW Branch of the ALP remained separate from the rest of the party. The UAP won the elections of 1935 and 1938. After this third defeat, the Federal Labor forces began to gain ground in NSW, as many union officials became convinced that Labor would never win again in the state while Lang remained leader. Lang was ousted as NSW Opposition Leader in 1939 and was replaced by William McKell, who became Premier in 1941.
Lang was expelled from
Lang spent his long retirement editing his newspaper The Century, and wrote several books about his political life, including The Great Bust, I Remember and The Turbulent Years. He grew increasingly conservative as he grew older, supporting the
Lang died in Auburn in September 1975, aged 98, and was commemorated with a packed house and overflowing crowds outside Sydney's
Works
- Lang, John Thomas (1944). Communism in Australia.
- Lang, John Thomas (1946). For Australia: Stirring Speech. New Zealand Worker Print.
- Lang, John Thomas (1956). I Remember. Invincible Press.
- Lang, John Thomas (1962). The Great Bust: The Depression of the Thirties. Angus & Robertson.
- Lang, John Thomas (1970). The Turbulent Years. Alpha Books.
Notes
Notes
- ^ a b Between 1880 and 1920, the electoral district of Parramatta was a single-member electorate. In 1927 the electorate again went back to holding one MP.
- ^ Full birth-place was: George Street, Brickfield Hill, Sydney City, Colony of New South Wales.
Citations
- ^ "John Thomas Lang outside Parliament House in Canberra". naa.gov.au. National Archives of Australia (NAA). Archived from the original on 7 October 2022.
The photograph portrays Lang as a solitary but imposing figure, characteristics that epitomised his image in public life and his leadership style. His height of 193 centimetres earned him the nickname 'the big fella' and his forceful speaking style enabled him to intimidate and subdue opposition. He always dressed with care, in three-piece suits and, at least in his earlier career, watch and chain. While cultivating many followers he was essentially a loner with few intimates.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Ross. E. G. (Red Ted) Theodore 1884–1950. p. 375.
He grew into a big man, 193 centimetres of 'uncouth, untrained political pugnacity', his trademark black bristling moustache and rasping voice.
- ^ a b Nairn 1986, p. 30
- ^ a b Nairn 1986, p. 31
- ^ Nairn 1986, p. 32
- ^ a b c Nairn, Bede (1983). "Lang, John Thomas (Jack) (1876–1975)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "PROCLAMATION". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 184. New South Wales, Australia. 27 June 1906. p. 3727. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "The New Area at Auburn". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. XVIII, no. 1318. New South Wales, Australia. 7 July 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "Auburn". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. XIX, no. 1396. New South Wales, Australia. 13 April 1907. p. 2. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "Municipal Election". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. XIX, no. 1398. New South Wales, Australia. 20 April 1907. p. 2. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "Auburn Council". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. XXI, no. 1587. New South Wales, Australia. 20 February 1909. p. 6. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "AUBURN'S MAYOR". The Star. No. 271. New South Wales, Australia. 22 January 1910. p. 14. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "Auburn Council". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. XXII, no. 1687. New South Wales, Australia. 12 February 1910. p. 4. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2017 – via Trove.
- ^ "The Hon. John Thomas Lang (1876-1975)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ Scott Stephenson. ""Ballot-Faking Crooks and a Tyrannical Executive": The Australian Workers Union Faction and the 1923 New South Wales Labor Party Annual Conference." Labour History, no. 105 (2013): 93-111. doi:10.5263/labourhistory.105.0093.
- ^ "AUBURN NEWS". The Cumberland Argus And Fruitgrowers Advocate. Vol. XXXVIII, no. 3296. New South Wales, Australia. 12 November 1926. p. 3. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via Trove.
- ^ Letter by Sir P Game to Mrs Eleanor Hughes-Gibb, 2.7.1932, ML MSS 2166/5.
- ^ Foott, Bethia (1968). Dismissal of a Premier: the Philip Game Papers. Sydney: Morgan Publications. p. 190.
- The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser. No. 1990. New South Wales, Australia. 8 March 1943. p. 7. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Jack Lang - recording of his speech at Sefton High School, 1969". Collection - State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ "Mr. Lang Back In Party". The Canberra Times. Vol. 45. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 July 1971. p. 3. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ISBN 0733303285
- ^ "Death Notice: John Thomas Lang". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 September 1975.
References
- Nairn, Bede (1986). The 'Big Fella': Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party 1891-1949 (paperbook). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. p. 369. ISBN 0-522-84406-5.
External links
- Australian Dictionary of Biography Online entry for Jack Lang
- National Archives of Australia Fact Sheet on Jack Lang