This article is about the 20th century set of policies in Australia. For the history of Australian settlement, see History of Australia (1788–1850).
The Australian settlement was a set of nation-building policies adopted in Australia at the beginning of the 20th century. The phrase was coined by journalist Paul Kelly in his 1992 book The End of Certainty. Kelly identified five policy "pillars" of the settlement: White Australia (a racially exclusive immigration policy); Protection (protective tariffs on imported manufactured goods); Wage Arbitration (compulsory arbitration for industrial disputes); State Paternalism (interventionist social and economic policies); and Imperial Benevolence (faith in the British Empire). These pillars profoundly influenced the way Australia developed over the coming decades and were only dismantled towards the end of the century. The term "settlement" refers to the way this constellation of policies emerged as a compromise between major interests in Australian society at that time, namely workers and employers. It has also been referred to as the Deakinite settlement, after its principal architect Alfred Deakin.
Britain's Australian colonies had developed rapidly and successfully in the 19th century to become a major exporter of certain commodities, notably wool. By the 1880s they had become among the wealthiest societies in the world and had also developed unusually strong labour movements. Some manufacturing for local consumption had also become established. This was supported and promoted in the Colony of Victoria by a protective tariff that had been introduced in 1866 to help generate local employment for migrants initially attracted to the gold fields.
Over the course of the economically difficult and industrially conflictual 1890s, the six colonies agreed to federate as the Commonwealth of Australia. The establishment of a national government spanning the continent and the transfer of certain key functions to that government entailed the establishment of new national policies in regard to a range of important economic and social matters. Customs tariffs, for instance, immediately became an exclusive concern of the Commonwealth government and the Commonwealth assumed primacy in a number of other areas such as immigration.
Decade of decision: 1901–1910edit
There was obviously a lot of business for the new parliament in those first years after Federation took effect on 1 January 1901. The decision-making was complicated, though, by the fact that no single party enjoyed a majority until Labor took office in 1910.[1] The three-cornered contest between Protectionist Liberals, Free Trade Liberals and the Australian Labor Party (ALP), saw the Protectionists introduce the key "Australian settlement" policies with Labor support. This began with the Immigration Restriction Act, which had support from all sides of politics, and continued through the Customs Tariff Act, the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 and the Old Age Pension Act. In addition, the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration brought down its "living wage" determination requiring employers to pay their workers enough to support a man and his wife and three children.
For theorist Francis Castles, implementation of these policies constituted an economic development strategy of "domestic defence" – using Australia's natural wealth to support an otherwise uncompetitive manufacturing sector, providing a good living to workers and pensions for later life.[2]
Dismantlingedit
Dismantling the domestic defence framework began with the ending of the White Australia policy between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s. Australia persisted, however, with other components such as tariff protectionism while other advanced economies were moving toward more open trade in the post-war years through the GATT process. Weaknesses in Australia's commodity exporting economy combined with steadily increasing competition in world manufacturing thanks to the newly industrialized countries (NICs) put that strategy under great pressure in the 1980s. Under the Hawke-Keating Labor governments (1983–96), both tariff protectionism and centralised wage fixing were wound back. As part of the campaign to liberalise the Australian economy in this period, journalist Paul Kelly coined the phrase "Australian Settlement" and blamed those early policy decisions for Australia's economic difficulties of the 1970s and 1980s.[3] A closer examination makes that interpretation difficult to sustain, but does not alter the reality that by the late 20th century the strategy of domestic defence had become an encumbrance.[4]
^Peter Loveday, A.W. Martin & R.S. Parker, The Emergence of the Australian Party System (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1977).
^Francis G. Castles, Australian Public Policy and Economic Vulnerability: a comparative and historical perspective (St Leonards NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1988).
^Paul Kelly, The End of Certainty (Allen & Unwin, 1992).
^Alan Fenna, "Putting the 'Australian Settlement' in Perspective", Labour History, 102 (2012) pp. 99–118.
Further readingedit
Origin
Kelly, Paul (1992). The End of Certainty: The Story of the 1980s. Allen & Unwin.
Journal articles
Brett, Judith (2007). "The Country, the City and the State in the Australian Settlement". Australian Journal of Political Science. 42 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1080/10361140601158518. S2CID 153485480.
Fenna, Alan (2012). "Putting the 'Australian Settlement' in Perspective". Labour History (102): 99–118. doi:10.5263/labourhistory.102.0099.
Jayasuriya, Kanishka (2010). "Building Citizens: Empire, Asia and the Australian Settlement". Australian Journal of Political Science. 45: 29–43. doi:10.1080/10361140903517692. S2CID 153661971.
Tregenza, Ian (2012). "Are We 'All Socialists Now'? New Liberalism, State Socialism and the Australian Settlement". Labour History (102): 87–98. doi:10.5263/labourhistory.102.0087.
Stokes, Geoffrey (2004). "The 'Australian settlement' and Australian political thought". Australian Journal of Political Science. 39 (1): 5–22. doi:10.1080/1036114042000205579. S2CID 144731197.
Kelly, Paul (2004). "Comment: the Australian settlement". Australian Journal of Political Science. 39 (1): 23–25. doi:10.1080/1036114042000205588. S2CID 153603421.
Brett, Judith (2004). "Comment: the country and the city". Australian Journal of Political Science. 39 (1): 27–29. doi:10.1080/1036114042000205597. S2CID 154705275.
Macintyre, Stuart (2004). "Comment: an historian's perspective". Australian Journal of Political Science. 39 (1): 31–33. doi:10.1080/1036114042000205605. S2CID 154749683.
Sawer, Marian (2004). "Comment: the Australian settlement undone". Australian Journal of Political Science. 39 (1): 35–37. doi:10.1080/1036114042000205614. S2CID 153338219.
Smyth, Paul (2004). "Comment: Australian settlement or Australian way?". Australian Journal of Political Science. 39 (1): 39–41. doi:10.1080/1036114042000205623. S2CID 153450002.
December 14, 2023
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This article is about the 20th century set of policies in Australia For the history of Australian settlement see History of Australia 1788 1850 The Australian settlement was a set of nation building policies adopted in Australia at the beginning of the 20th century The phrase was coined by journalist Paul Kelly in his 1992 book The End of Certainty Kelly identified five policy pillars of the settlement White Australia a racially exclusive immigration policy Protection protective tariffs on imported manufactured goods Wage Arbitration compulsory arbitration for industrial disputes State Paternalism interventionist social and economic policies and Imperial Benevolence faith in the British Empire These pillars profoundly influenced the way Australia developed over the coming decades and were only dismantled towards the end of the century The term settlement refers to the way this constellation of policies emerged as a compromise between major interests in Australian society at that time namely workers and employers It has also been referred to as the Deakinite settlement after its principal architect Alfred Deakin Contents 1 Background 2 Decade of decision 1901 1910 3 Dismantling 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingBackground editBritain s Australian colonies had developed rapidly and successfully in the 19th century to become a major exporter of certain commodities notably wool By the 1880s they had become among the wealthiest societies in the world and had also developed unusually strong labour movements Some manufacturing for local consumption had also become established This was supported and promoted in the Colony of Victoria by a protective tariff that had been introduced in 1866 to help generate local employment for migrants initially attracted to the gold fields Over the course of the economically difficult and industrially conflictual 1890s the six colonies agreed to federate as the Commonwealth of Australia The establishment of a national government spanning the continent and the transfer of certain key functions to that government entailed the establishment of new national policies in regard to a range of important economic and social matters Customs tariffs for instance immediately became an exclusive concern of the Commonwealth government and the Commonwealth assumed primacy in a number of other areas such as immigration Decade of decision 1901 1910 editThere was obviously a lot of business for the new parliament in those first years after Federation took effect on 1 January 1901 The decision making was complicated though by the fact that no single party enjoyed a majority until Labor took office in 1910 1 The three cornered contest between Protectionist Liberals Free Trade Liberals and the Australian Labor Party ALP saw the Protectionists introduce the key Australian settlement policies with Labor support This began with the Immigration Restriction Act which had support from all sides of politics and continued through the Customs Tariff Act the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 and the Old Age Pension Act In addition the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration brought down its living wage determination requiring employers to pay their workers enough to support a man and his wife and three children For theorist Francis Castles implementation of these policies constituted an economic development strategy of domestic defence using Australia s natural wealth to support an otherwise uncompetitive manufacturing sector providing a good living to workers and pensions for later life 2 Dismantling editDismantling the domestic defence framework began with the ending of the White Australia policy between the mid 1960s and the mid 1970s Australia persisted however with other components such as tariff protectionism while other advanced economies were moving toward more open trade in the post war years through the GATT process Weaknesses in Australia s commodity exporting economy combined with steadily increasing competition in world manufacturing thanks to the newly industrialized countries NICs put that strategy under great pressure in the 1980s Under the Hawke Keating Labor governments 1983 96 both tariff protectionism and centralised wage fixing were wound back As part of the campaign to liberalise the Australian economy in this period journalist Paul Kelly coined the phrase Australian Settlement and blamed those early policy decisions for Australia s economic difficulties of the 1970s and 1980s 3 A closer examination makes that interpretation difficult to sustain but does not alter the reality that by the late 20th century the strategy of domestic defence had become an encumbrance 4 See also editAmerican System economic plan National Policy Canada References edit Peter Loveday A W Martin amp R S Parker The Emergence of the Australian Party System Sydney Hale amp Iremonger 1977 Francis G Castles Australian Public Policy and Economic Vulnerability a comparative and historical perspective St Leonards NSW Allen amp Unwin 1988 Paul Kelly The End of Certainty Allen amp Unwin 1992 Alan Fenna Putting the Australian Settlement in Perspective Labour History 102 2012 pp 99 118 Further reading editOriginKelly Paul 1992 The End of Certainty The Story of the 1980s Allen amp Unwin Journal articlesBrett Judith 2007 The Country the City and the State in the Australian Settlement Australian Journal of Political Science 42 1 1 17 doi 10 1080 10361140601158518 S2CID 153485480 Fenna Alan 2012 Putting the Australian Settlement in Perspective Labour History 102 99 118 doi 10 5263 labourhistory 102 0099 Jayasuriya Kanishka 2010 Building Citizens Empire Asia and the Australian Settlement Australian Journal of Political Science 45 29 43 doi 10 1080 10361140903517692 S2CID 153661971 Tregenza Ian 2012 Are We All Socialists Now New Liberalism State Socialism and the Australian Settlement Labour History 102 87 98 doi 10 5263 labourhistory 102 0087 Symposium on the Australian SettlementA paper and series of responses on the subject published in the Australian Journal of Political Science March 2004 Stokes Geoffrey 2004 The Australian settlement and Australian political thought Australian Journal of Political Science 39 1 5 22 doi 10 1080 1036114042000205579 S2CID 144731197 Kelly Paul 2004 Comment the Australian settlement Australian Journal of Political Science 39 1 23 25 doi 10 1080 1036114042000205588 S2CID 153603421 Brett Judith 2004 Comment the country and the city Australian Journal of Political Science 39 1 27 29 doi 10 1080 1036114042000205597 S2CID 154705275 Macintyre Stuart 2004 Comment an historian s perspective Australian Journal of Political Science 39 1 31 33 doi 10 1080 1036114042000205605 S2CID 154749683 Sawer Marian 2004 Comment the Australian settlement undone Australian Journal of Political Science 39 1 35 37 doi 10 1080 1036114042000205614 S2CID 153338219 Smyth Paul 2004 Comment Australian settlement or Australian way Australian Journal of Political Science 39 1 39 41 doi 10 1080 1036114042000205623 S2CID 153450002 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Australian settlement amp oldid 1063817317, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
