The formation and development of the United Australia party, 1929-37

Abstract

Four closely-linked political parties have dominated the history of federal nonLabor politics in Australia: the Liberal Party (1909-17); the National Party (1917-31); the United Australia Party (1931-44); and the Liberal Party (1944 to date). The theme of this thesis is the transformation of the National Party into the United Australia Party in the early years of the Great Depression, and the subsequent development of the UAP until the end of 1937. These were generally years of achievement for the UAP; after 1937 it disintegrated with increasing rapidity both at federal and state levels. The essential aim of the thesis is to explain where a major political party came from, why it emerged in the form that it did, and how it functioned in the years of its achievement. It is also intended to indicate the flaws in the party structure which produced its decline and ultimate disappearance. The main focus is federal politics, although the organisation of the crucial state branches of the UAP is described in some detail, and there is some account of state politics. A subsidiary theme is political leadership, particularly the role of the Federal UAP Leader, Joseph Aloysius Lyons. The thesis begins with a brief account of the main political events of the 1920s and of the structure of the National Party, the principal progenitor of the UAP. The following chapters take up three themes: the gradual disintegration of the Scullin Labor Government and its internal conflicts over economic policy; the revival of the National Party after severe electoral defeat in 1929; and the emergence of a transitory but powerful Citizens' Movement espousing opposition to party politics and an adherence to imperialist sentiment and orthodox economics. These three themes are brought together in the early months of 1931 with the defection of Lyons from the ALP and his subsequent emergence over nine months as leader of a new political party and Prime Minister of Australia. The processes by which a number of disparate elements are welded into a new party based on the enduring core element of the National party are traced. at some length. The evolution of the party structure is described until the end of 1937 when the process culminates with the formation of a UAP branch in Queensland. After a brief account of the UAP's relationship with the other major non-Labor party, the Country Party, during these years, the structure and effectiveness of the three principal components of the UAP are examined: the Federal Parliamentary Party, the NSW Branch of the UAP, and the party's Victorian Branch. There is a brief conclusion.