Editing History of Australia (section)

===1920s: men, money and markets===
[[File:Hughes Welcomehome Parispeaceconference.jpg|thumb|left|Australian soldiers carrying Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]], the 'little digger', down [[George Street, Sydney]] after his return from the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]]]]
[[File:StateLibQld 1 190023 City Hall in Brisbane around ca. 1930.jpg|thumb|right|Built between 1920 and 1930, a cultural masterpiece of [[Architecture of Australia|Australian architecture]], [[Brisbane City Hall]] was one of the most expensive buildings and the second largest construction of the Inter-war period, after the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]].]]

After the war, Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]] led a new conservative force, the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist Party]], formed from the old [[Commonwealth Liberal Party|Liberal party]] and breakaway elements of Labor (of which he was the most prominent), after the deep and bitter split over [[Conscription in Australia|Conscription]]. An estimated 12,000 Australians died as a result of the [[1918 flu pandemic|Spanish flu pandemic]] of 1919, almost certainly brought home by returning soldiers.<ref>Jan Bassett (1986) p. 236</ref>

[[File:Rev John Flynn 1929.jpg|thumb|[[John Flynn (minister)|The Revd John Flynn]], founder of the [[Royal Flying Doctor Service]]]]
[[File:CEKSmith.jpg|thumb|Pioneer aviator Sir [[Charles Kingsford Smith]]]]
[[File:Edith Cowan.jpg|thumb|[[Edith Cowan]] (1861–1932) was elected to the [[West Australian Legislative Assembly]] in 1921 and was the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament.]]

The success of the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Bolshevik Revolution]] in Russia posed a threat in the eyes of many Australians, although to a small group of socialists it was an inspiration. The [[Communist Party of Australia]] was formed in 1920 and, though remaining electorally insignificant, it obtained some influence in the trade union movement and was banned during World War II for its support for the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] and the [[Robert Menzies|Menzies Government]] unsuccessfully tried to ban it again during the [[Korean War]]. Despite splits, the party remained active until its dissolution at the end of the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Robert|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160470b.htm|title=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter=Thornton, Ernest (1907–1969)}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43958/Australian-Communist-Party|title=Australian Communist Party|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=14 July 2011}}</ref>

The Country Party (today's [[National Party of Australia|National Party]]) formed in 1920 to promulgate its version of [[agrarianism]], which it called "[[Countrymindedness]]". The goal was to enhance the status of the graziers (operators of big sheep ranches) and small farmers, and secure subsidies for them.<ref>Rae Wear, "Countrymindedness Revisited", (Australian Political Science Association, 1990) [http://apsa2000.anu.edu.au/confpapers/wear.rtf online edition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723145257/http://apsa2000.anu.edu.au/confpapers/wear.rtf |date=23 July 2011}}</ref> Enduring longer than any other major party save the Labor party, it has generally operated in [[Coalition (Australia)|coalition]] with the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] (since the 1940s), becoming a major party of government in Australia—particularly in Queensland.

Other significant after-effects of the war included ongoing industrial unrest, which included the [[1923 Victorian Police strike]].<ref>Lloyd Robson (1980) p. 18</ref> Industrial disputes characterised the 1920s in Australia. Other major strikes occurred on the waterfront, in the coalmining and timber industries in the late 1920s. The union movement had established the [[Australian Council of Trade Unions]] (ACTU) in 1927 in response to the Nationalist government's efforts to change working conditions and reduce the power of the unions.

The consumerism, entertainment culture, and new technologies that characterised the 1920s in the United States were also found in Australia. [[Prohibition]] was not implemented in Australia, though anti-alcohol forces were successful in having [[Australian pub|hotels]] closed after 6&nbsp;pm, and closed altogether in a few city suburbs.<ref>Lloyd Robson (1980) p. 45</ref>

The fledgling [[Cinema of Australia|film industry]] declined through the decade, despite more than 2&nbsp;million Australians attending cinemas weekly at 1250 venues. A [[Royal Commission]] in 1927 failed to assist and the industry that had begun so brightly with the release of the world's first feature film, [[The Story of the Kelly Gang]] (1906), atrophied until its [[Australian New Wave|revival in the 1970s]].<ref>Lloyd Robson (1980) p. 48</ref><ref>Also see for example – Eric Reade (1979) ''History and Heartburn; The Saga of Australian Film 1896–1978''. Harper and Row, Sydney. {{ISBN|0-06-312033-X}}</ref>

[[Stanley Bruce]] became Prime Minister in 1923, when members of the Nationalist Party Government voted to remove W.M. Hughes. Speaking in early 1925, Bruce summed up the priorities and optimism of many Australians, saying that "men, money and markets accurately defined the essential requirements of Australia" and that he was seeking such from Britain.<ref>''The Argus'', 9 April 1925, cited in Lloyd Robson (1980) p. 76</ref> The migration campaign of the 1920s, operated by the Development and Migration Commission, brought almost 300,000 Britons to Australia,<ref>Stuart MacIntyre (1986) pp. 200–201</ref> although schemes to settle migrants and [[Soldier settlement (Australia)|returned soldiers]] "on the land" were generally not a success. "The new irrigation areas in Western Australia and the Dawson Valley of [[Queensland]] proved disastrous".<ref>Josie Castle, "The 1920s" in R. Willis, et al. (eds.) (1982), p. 285</ref>

In Australia, the costs of major investment had traditionally been met by state and Federal governments and heavy borrowing from overseas was made by the governments in the 1920s. A [[Loan Council]] was set up in 1928 to co-ordinate loans, three-quarters of which came from overseas.<ref>Josie Castle, "The 1920s" in R. Willis, et al. (eds.) (1982), p. 253</ref> Despite [[Imperial Preference]], a balance of trade was not successfully achieved with Britain. "In the five years from 1924. .. to ... 1928, Australia bought 43.4% of its imports from Britain and sold 38.7% of its exports. Wheat and wool made up more than two-thirds of all Australian exports", a dangerous reliance on just two export commodities.<ref>Stuart MacIntyre (1986) p. 204</ref>

Australia embraced the new technologies of transport and communication. Coastal sailing ships were finally abandoned in favour of steam, and improvements in rail and motor transport heralded dramatic changes in work and leisure. In 1918, there were 50,000 cars and lorries in the whole of Australia. By 1929 there were 500,000.<ref>Josie Castle, "The 1920s" in R. Willis, et al. (eds.) (1982), p. 273</ref> The stage coach company [[Cobb and Co]], established in 1853, finally closed in 1924.<ref>Jan Bassett (1986) pp. 56–57</ref> In 1920, the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service (to become the Australian airline [[Qantas]]) was established.<ref>Jan Bassett (1986) p. 213</ref> The Reverend John Flynn, founded the [[Royal Flying Doctor Service]], the world's first air ambulance in 1928.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bucknall|first=Graeme|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080554b.htm?hilite=john%3Bflynn|title=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter=Flynn, John (1880–1951)}}</ref> Daredevil pilot, Sir [[Charles Kingsford Smith]] pushed the new flying machines to the limit, completing a round Australia circuit in 1927 and in 1928 traversed the Pacific Ocean, via Hawaii and Fiji from the US to Australia in the aircraft ''[[Southern Cross (aircraft)|Southern Cross]]''. He went on to global fame and a series of aviation records before vanishing on a night flight to Singapore in 1935.<ref>{{cite book|last=Howard|first=Frederick|chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090602b.htm?hilite=charles%3Bkingsford%3Bsmith|title=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|publisher=ADBonline.anu.edu.au|access-date=14 July 2011|chapter=Kingsford Smith, Sir Charles Edward (1897–1935)}}</ref>