12axes-testTake the test
Ben Chifley
Historical figureAustralia1885-1951

Ben Chifley

16th Prime Minister of Australia (1945-1949) · Treasurer of Australia (1941-1949)

Australian Labor leader who guided the country through postwar rebuilding, backed full employment and social services, started big migration and failed to nationalise the banks.

Compare yourself See the 12 scores
Profile on 12 axes8 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Ben Chifley, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-60
    PublicPrivate

    Qantas went into public hands under him, and he tried to take over the private banks until the courts stopped it. Scored toward public ownership.

  2. 02Markets-60
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare-65
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority-20
    DemocraticStrong leader
  5. 05Security+35
    LibertyOrder

    Set up ASIO and used 13,000 troops in the 1949 coal strike, yet argued that decent conditions were the best answer to communism. Scored toward order.

  6. 06Structure+60
    LocalCentral
  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08ReligionNo clear record
    SecularReligious

    He was a Catholic but said little in public about religion and the state, so this axis is left blank.

  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture+45
    MulticulturalNational identity

    The migration scheme drew in non-British Europeans, yet he kept the White Australia policy, so he scores toward national identity but less than Curtin.

  11. 11TradeNo clear record
    GlobalProtected

    The sources show no steady position on tariffs or free trade, so this axis is left blank.

  12. 12Foreign policy-30
    CooperationStrength

4 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Ben Chifley?

Ben Chifley grew up in Bathurst, New South Wales, and worked as a train driver before becoming a union man. He was sacked after the 1917 rail strike and later got his job back. He first won a federal seat in 1928, lost it in the 1931 landslide and returned in 1940. John Curtin made him treasurer, and when Curtin died in 1945 Chifley became prime minister. He won the 1946 election but lost power to Robert Menzies in 1949. He was still leading the Labor opposition when he died in 1951.

Political views

  • Promised that the unemployment queues of the Depression would not return, and made full employment the centre of his economic plans.Source: moadoph.gov.au
  • Lifted pensions and widened health and social services during and just after the war.Source: moadoph.gov.au
  • Moved in 1947 to take the private banks into public hands, an idea he had backed earlier in a royal commission report.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Spoke of Labor's mission to help those in need as a 'light on the hill'.Source: moadoph.gov.au
  • Aimed for population growth of 70,000 people a year, with newcomers from Britain and other parts of Europe.Source: moadoph.gov.au
  • Strongly backed the United Nations and thought Australia's defence depended on working with Britain and the United States.Source: moadoph.gov.au
  • Presented Labor as a defence against communism, and sent in troops to end the 1949 coal strike.Source: en.wikipedia.org

Legacy

Chifley is often listed among Australia's best prime ministers, and Labor members still quote his light on the hill speech. Supporters credit him with keeping jobs plentiful after the war and with lasting projects such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme, the Australian National University and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. Critics say that his bank takeover and wartime controls, such as petrol rationing, were heavy-handed and lost him middle-class votes. Some on the left fault him for using soldiers against striking miners in 1949 and for freezing union funds. He is also criticised for remarks about southern Europeans during his 1928 campaign.

In their own words

“It is, as I have said before, the beacon, the light on the hill, to which our eyes are always turned and to which our efforts are always directed.”
Federal election policy speech, 1949

How close are you to Ben Chifley?

Take the 12 Axes test and see which historical figure is your political twin, axis by axis.

Take the test

Ben Chifley: questions

Was Ben Chifley left or right?

He was on the left. As Labor prime minister he backed full employment, a bigger welfare state and public ownership, including a failed plan to nationalise the banks. He was also firmly anti-communist.

What was the light on the hill?

It was Chifley's name for Labor's goal of improving life for ordinary people. He used it in a 1949 speech, and the party still cites it today.

Why did Chifley try to nationalise the banks?

He wanted the government to control credit so that it could protect jobs and steer the economy. The High Court and Privy Council struck the plan down, and it hurt Labor at the 1949 election.

Sources