Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the Robert Menzies-led Liberal Party defeating the Chifley Labor Government at the 1949 election. I dug up both Menzies’ and Chifley’s policy speeches and was struck by the timelessness of what they had to say.
The 1949 election was in many ways Australia’s most pivotal election of the 20th century.
In his speech Chifley championed the central planning of manufacturing, shipbuilding, wheat production and the role of government. The parallels with the Rudd Government are remarkable.
Menzies on the other hand railed against the intrusion of the state into the private sphere, warning about the encroachment of socialism by stealth:
The Government misinterpreted the vote as an instruction, not to preserve the liberties of the subject, but to curtail them; not to encourage the restoration of normal, competitive enterprises, but to set up the Socialist State. It will be for you to say whether you approve of this interpretation. When we speak of Socialism, we no longer speak of a theoretical or far distant goal. Our opponents mean business.
It may seem difficult to believe, but in 1949, Australia faced the very real prospect of a dramatic shift toward a socialised economy. Ben Chifley had attempted to nationalise the banks and airlines, and there was little doubt that if re-elected Labor would seek to follow the British Labour Party’s plan of socialisation of major industries across the economy. As Menzies further outlined:
Since the general election, without mandate, in defiance (in the case of banking) of the most overwhelming indications of the public opinions, they have moved further along the road to the all-powerful State than all the previous Australian Labour Governments added together.
Every extension of Government Power and control means less freedom of choice for the citizen. And in the end, what happens? Having chosen the Socialist road, to what journey’s end do we come? To the master State, the one employer, the one planner, the one controller.
The parallels to the present day are stunning. While the policy issues may change, the values underpinning our political debate are remarkably constant.
While Labor may have abandoned overt socialism, in the two years Kevin Rudd has been in office we have seen the most dramatic increase in the size and scope of Government in decades.
Across the economy, in workplace relations, in health and education, the explosion in public sector bureaucracy and even the food we choose to eat – Kevin Rudd represents Labor’s urge to control our lives. The language may have changed but the objective remains the same.
In Kevin Rudd’s Australia the state is becoming our employer, our planner and our controller.
And the only thing standing in his way is the Liberal Party.
As Liberals we often do not claim credit for our achievements as much as we should. The 1949 election, the Liberal Party’s first victory, not only ushered in an unprecedented era of growth and security, it also guaranteed the state would remain subservient to individual freedom and choice.
We should take heart from this anniversary – Menzies had to rebuild the liberal and conservative side of politics. But he knew that the values underpinning the Liberal Party were close to the heart of all Australians – reward for effort and enterprise, choice and responsibility and a government that knows its place.
It is these values that will underpin our success as people see through the hollow words of Rudd Labor over the next twelve months.