Editing New South Wales (section)

=== 1901 to 1945 ===
[[File:Depression "bread wars", corner store on Riley and Fitzroy Streets, Surry Hills, Sydney, 21 August 1934 - Sam Hood (3705360895).jpg|thumb|left|A corner grocery store during the Great Depression, Riley & Fitzroy Streets, [[Surry Hills]], Sydney, 21 August 1934]]
The first post-federation NSW governments were [[Progressive Party (1901)|Progressive]] or [[Liberal Reform Party (Australia)|Liberal Reform]] and implemented a range of social reforms with Labor support. Women won the [[Women's suffrage in Australia|right to vote]] in NSW elections in 1902, but were ineligible to stand for parliament until 1918. Labor increased its parliamentary representation in every election from 1904 before coming to power in 1910 with a majority of one seat.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Croucher|first=John S.|title=A Concise History of New South Wales|publisher=Woodslane Press|year=2020|isbn=9781925868395|location=NSW|pages=128}}</ref><ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 110. 118-19</ref>

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 saw more NSW volunteers for service than the federal authorities could handle, leading to unrest in camps as recruits waited for transfer overseas. In 1916 NSW premier [[William Holman]] and a number of his supporters were expelled from the Labor party over their support for military conscription. Holman subsequently formed a [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist]] government which remained in power until 1920. Despite a huge victory for Holman's pro-conscription Nationalists in the elections of March 1917, a second referendum on conscription held in December that year was defeated in New South Wales and nationally.<ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 122–25</ref>

Following the war, NSW governments embarked on large public works programs including road building, the extension and electrification of the rail network and the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The works were largely funded by loans from London, leading to a debt crisis after the onset of the [[Great Depression in Australia|Great Depression]] in 1929. New South Wales was hit harder by the depression than other states, and by 1932 one third of union members in the state were unemployed, compared with 20 per cent nationally.<ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 132, 142</ref>

Labor won the November 1930 NSW elections and [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Jack Lang]] became premier for the second time. In 1931 Lang proposed a plan to deal with the depression which included a suspension of interest payments to British creditors, diverting the money to unemployment relief. The Commonwealth and state premiers rejected the plan and later that year Lang's supporters in the Commonwealth parliament brought down [[James Scullin]]'s federal Labor government. The NSW Lang government subsequently defaulted on overseas interest payments and was dismissed from office in May 1932 by the governor, [[Philip Game|Sir Phillip Game]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bongiorno|first=Frank|title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 2|year=2013|pages=79–81|chapter=Search for a solution, 1923–39}}</ref><ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 148–49</ref>

The following elections were won comfortably by the United Australia Party in coalition with the Country Party. [[Bertram Stevens (politician)|Bertram Stevens]] became premier, remaining in office until 1939, when he was replaced by [[Alexander Mair]].<ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 151, 157</ref>

A contemporary study by sociologist A. P. Elkin found that the population of New South Wales responded to the outbreak of war in 1939 with pessimism and apathy. This changed with the threat of invasion by Japan, which entered the war in December 1941. In May 1942 three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney harbour and sank a naval ship, killing 29 men aboard. The following month Sydney and Newcastle were shelled by Japanese warships. American troops began arriving in the state in large numbers. Manufacturing, steelmaking, shipbuilding and rail transport all grew with the war effort and unemployment virtually disappeared.<ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 157–58</ref>

A Labor government led by [[William McKell]] was elected in May 1941. The McKell government benefited from full employment, budget surpluses, and a co-operative relationship with John Curtin's federal Labor government. McKell became the first Labor leader to serve a full term and to be re-elected for a second. The Labor party was to govern New South Wales until 1965.<ref>Kingston, Beverley (2006). pp. 161–62</ref>