Tiberius with a Telephone
Page 77
‘Australian legislative election of 28 September 1946’, Psephos,
Walder’s death certificate, New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, 28656/1946; and Walder’s ADB file, Noel Butlin Archives, ANU, Canberra, ANUA 312/697.
Connell, Sherington, Fletcher, Turney, and Bygott, 1995, pp. 204–06.
ibid.
‘Australian economic history is the major part of all Australian history,’ Butlin wrote. See Butlin, 1986.
Information provided to the author by University of Sydney Archives.
University of Sydney, ‘Calendar supplement for the year 1947’, Thomas Henry Tennant, p. 424.
Arndt, 1985, pp. 12–13.
ibid.
Souter, 1988, p. 383.
Bank of New South Wales v Commonwealth, [1948] HCA 7; (1948) 76 CLR 1 (11 August 1948).
Crisp, 1963, p. 328.
Menzies, CPD, vol. 194, 23 October 1947, pp. 1279–91.
Marr, 1980, pp. 56–63.
Coleman, Cornish, and Drake, 2007, pp. 80–86; Arndt, 1985, p. 18.
Arndt, 1985, p. 18; Heinz Arndt interviewed by Peter Coleman, 23 May 1992, NLA Oral History, TRC 2825, p. 88.
Francis Bland, ‘Criticism of the decision’, SMH, 18 August 1947, p. 1.
Ross Curnow, 1993, ‘Bland, Francis Armand (1882–1967)’, ADB, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press.
University of Sydney, ‘Calendar supplement for the year 1947’, Thomas Henry Tennant, p. 429.
Peter Coleman, ‘Bill McMahon: from “Christus Veritas” to the Department of Labour’, Bulletin, 10 August 1963, p. 18.
McMahon’s student card. Information provided to the author by the University of Sydney Archives.
Arndt, 1985, p. 14.
McMahon’s student card. Information provided to the author by the University of Sydney Archives.
Arndt, 1985, p. 14. Arndt also told the story to John Stone, who recalled that McMahon believed he should have received first-class honours and the University Medal. The faculty disagreed on both instances, and McMahon threatened to sue the University to ‘have this wrong, righted’. Said Stone: ‘He [McMahon] was, of course, personally very wealthy, and the legal costs would not have worried him.’ Author’s correspondence with John Stone, 6 January 2017.
Peter Coleman, ‘Bill McMahon: from “Christus Veritas” to the Department of Labour’, Bulletin, 10 August 1963, p. 18.
Hughes, Wilson (ed.), 1976, (audio).
Dennis Minogue, ‘When the chief is underdog’, Aus., 21 October 1972, p. 15.
Peter Coleman, ‘Bill McMahon: from “Christus Veritas” to the Department of Labour’, Bulletin, 10 August 1963, p. 17.
Chapter 7 : Rumours
Bowman diary, 22 February 1984.
ibid., 23 February 1984.
I. Benedek to McMahon, 27 February 1984, copy in the author’s possession.
McMahon to Secretary of the Central Army Records Office, 27 February 1984, NAA: B883, NX100034.
Bowman diary, 27 February 1984.
ibid.
ibid., 7 March 1984.
ibid., 9 March 1984. Bowman would later write Dame Pattie’s obituary for the London Daily Telegraph, and mention this supposed wish. See ‘Dame Pattie Menzies’, Daily Telegraph (London), 31 August 1995, p. 19. For Heather Henderson’s (née Menzies) response to this, see Henderson, 2013, p. 213.
Chapter 8: Lowe
McMahon, ‘Naïve economics’, SMH, 11 February 1949, p. 2.
Souter, 1988, p. 398.
‘Mission from Moscow’, 1948, recording copy held by the University of Melbourne Library.
Hancock, 2000, p. 97.
Carrick, in Hancock, 2000, p. 107. See also Starr, 2012, pp. 119–50.
Hancock, 2000, p. 107.
John Kennedy McLaughlin, 1993, ‘Cassidy, Sir Jack Evelyn (1893–1975)’, ADB, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press.
This paragraph and the remainder of the section draws on the excerpt of McMahon’s unpublished autobiography, NLA MS8725, box 97, folder 130/20, pp. 16–21; Hughes, 1976; and John Edwards, ‘Inside Billy McMahon’, AFR, 31 May 1972, p. 3.
McMahon to Hughes, 2, 10, and 19 February 1949, NLA, W.M. Hughes papers, 28/4861, 28/4864, 1/10254.
Excerpt of McMahon’s unpublished autobiography, NLA MS8725, box 97, folder 130/20, pp. 19–21.
These were long-running issues and the Australian Women’s National League had a long-running involvement in lobbying on them. See Fitzherbert, in Nethercote (ed.), 2001, pp. 98–112.
Hancock, 2007, p. 69.
ibid., pp. 68–70, and H.T.E. Holt, 1975, pp. 227–29.
Shortland, ‘Banking Bill: public’s emphatic opposition’, SMH, 13 August 1948, p. 2.
Shortland, ‘Dictators on the Air: broadcasting powers’, SMH, 30 October 1948, p. 2.
‘Women want “world fit for men to live in”’, SMH, 17 November 1949, p. 12.
‘Lady as Liberal Senate candidate’, FA, 13 May 1949, p. 3.
‘Woman quits party because of “discrimination”’, SMH, 18 June 1949, p. 4.
ibid.
See excerpt of McMahon’s unpublished autobiography, NLA MS8725, box 97, folder 130/20, p. 19.
‘Women want “world fit for men to live in”’, SMH, 17 November 1949, p. 12.
‘How women will vote’, Charleville Times, 20 October 1949, p. 11.
Shortland, in ‘Women want “world fit for men to live in”’, SMH, 17 November 1949, p. 12.
‘Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of Australia Electoral Act. State of New South Wales. Electoral Division of Lowe’, SMH, 1 December 1949, p. 17.
See excerpt of McMahon’s unpublished autobiography, NLA MS8725, box 97, folder 130/20, pp. 19–21.
‘W.M. Hughes tipped for ballot’, SMH, 17 March 1949, p. 1.
‘Lowe: Liberals tip decisive win’, Sun, 17 November 1949, p. 26.
Arndt, 1985, p. 14.
Author’s interview with Alan Wright, 6 December 2016.
Author’s interview with Lorna Wright, 6 December 2016.
Crisp, 1963, pp. 368–69.
Souter, 1988, p. 402.
Hancock, 2000, pp. 92–93.
Souter, 1988, p. 402.
‘Boy of nine gives election addresses’, SMH, 27 November 1949, p. 5; ‘Nine-year-old aids Liberals’, Age, 28 November 1949, p. 3; ‘9-year-old campaigner makes election speeches’, DM, 28 November 1949, p. 1.
McMahon to Hughes, 27 July 1949, W.M. Hughes Papers, 28/4933, NLA.
Dennis Minogue, ‘When the chief is underdog’, Aus., 21 October 1972, p. 15.
Wakeling, in Sir William McMahon: this is your life, 12 March 1978, ep. 4/008, NFSA. The same story was told to the author by multiple interviewees. Hancock (2000, p. 302) also puts this story to paper.
See ‘Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 10 December 1949’, Psephos,
Chapter 9: Gaps
Bowman, notes on McMahon’s autobiography, undated.
ibid., 2 April 1984.
ibid., undated.
Chapter 10: Red
Cameron, CPD, vol. 206, 22 February 1950, pp. 18–19.
Governor-General’s Speech, CPD, vol. 206, 22 February 1950, pp. 6–12.
Clive Turnbull, ‘Canberra comes to life again’, Argus, 23 February 1950, p. 1.
Holt, 1969, p. 61.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 206, 2 March 1950, pp. 313–17.
Cramer, 1989, p. 124. This was a regular criticism of McMahon, particularly in his early years in politics. See,
for example, Anderson, CPD, vol. 206, 28 March 1950, pp. 1250–53.
See ‘M.P. Apologised: Blazer brought “rebuke”’, Sunday Herald, 21 May 1950, p. 7.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 206, 28 March 1950, pp. 1245–50.
See, for example, Chifley, CPD, vol. 207, 20 April 1950, p. 1703.
Cowper, 1950, pp. 5–12.
Menzies, CPD, vol. 207, 27 April 1950, pp. 1994–2007.
ibid.
Menzies, CPD, vol. 207, 9 May 1950, p. 2242.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 207, 17 May 1950, pp. 2756–59.
This draws upon McMahon, HoR CPD, vol. 90, 1 October 1974, pp. 1953–54 and vol. 109, 23 May 1978, pp. 2232–34. The story is largely the same in both instances, though it is likely to have been exaggerated or misremembered. Harrison had been appointed to London by the time the Communist Party Dissolution Bill was introduced in 1950, which suggests that it could not have been that Bill where this took place. Whenever this incident occurred, the salient point is that McMahon’s contributions in the Parliament improved markedly after his first speech.
Alan Reid, DT, 20 April 1955, p. 11.
Alan Reid, ‘This politician shuns limelight’, Sun, 18 July 1950, p. 14. Hal Myers shows McMahon’s propensity to ingratiate. See Myers, 1999, p. 106.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 209, 3 October 1950, pp. 153–57.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 209, 11 October 1950, p. 591.
William McMahon interviewed by John Edwards, NLA Oral History, TRC 168/8.
See ‘Appointment of Mr Arndt: view of Mr Menzies’, CT, 27 October 1950, p. 4. After these statements, Sen. Neil O’Sullivan made a statement in the Senate about Menzies’ inclinations on this matter; see CPD, vol. 210, 31 October 1950, p. 1562.
Tennant, 1970, p. 262; Crisp, 1963, pp. 391–97.
Souter, 1988, p. 414.
Menzies, CPD, vol. 212, 13 March 1951, pp. 364–68.
Kerr, 1978, pp. 134–35.
George Blaikie, ‘Who is this Dr. Burton?’, CM, 19 June 1952, p. 2.
‘How Burton Quit Post: Spender’s accusations’, SMH, 31 March 1951, p. 1.
‘Dr. Burton is “untrustworthy”, says Harrison’, NN, 10 April 1951, p. 1.
See ‘Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 28 April 1951’, Psephos,
‘Field narrows for final cabinet post’, NS, 2 June 1951, p. 5.
Fred Osborne interviewed by Ron Hurst, NLA, Oral History, TRC 4900/108. The quotes attributed to Osborne in the remainder of this chapter are drawn from this interview. See also Myers, 1998, p. 112. According to Osborne, Menzies later told him that he agreed Osborne had had his throat cut by his colleagues.
ibid. See also Jeff Bate, in Evan Whitton, ‘Mr Prime Minister: Jeff Bate, MHR, rates the 4 he served under’, DT, 24 October 1972, p. 8. Bate’s claim that McMahon was promoted because of his ingratiating and extensive quotation of Menzies in the Parliament is impossible to confirm. Certainly, in a speech on the Communist Party Dissolution Bill he gave on 3 July, McMahon did quote extensively from his prime minister. It is unlikely that such conspicuous flattery would have worked on Menzies.
McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 109, 23 May 1978, pp. 2232–34. Following McMahon’s promotion, Arndt wrote to congratulate his old student. He seemed to have been undaunted by the political attacks McMahon had made. ‘First, I was gratified that one of my students had attained Cabinet rank,’ Arndt explained later. ‘Second, it was comforting to learn that Mr Menzies was giving preferment to members with qualifications in Economics; and third, while I knew that he [McMahon] had thought my appointment purely political, I was hopeful his would not be purely academic.’ (1985, p. 21). McMahon replied with some humour, telling Arndt that his was one of the first congratulatory letters he had opened and that Arndt’s ‘contribution to my intellectual development was not negligible’. McMahon said he was glad to be Arndt’s first cabinet minister. ‘I hope they are not all as difficult as me,’ he finished, ‘though time does temper one’s judgment and makes you tolerant of other’s views.’ (in Coleman, Cornish, and Drake, 2007, p. 118).
Chapter 11: Disgust
Bowman diary, 19 March 1984.
Chapter 12: The Colours of Ambition
‘New Federal minister’, HM, 20 July 1951, p. 4, and ‘New cabinet minister’, CQH, 19 July 1951, p. 16.
Cabinet notebook, 17 July 1951, NAA: A11099, 1/13.
Menzies, CPD, vol. 213, 5 July 1951, pp. 1076–81.
Tennant, 1970, p. 282. See also Bongiorno, 2013, pp. 54–70.
‘Dr. Evatt’s accusation of “fascist tendencies”’, WA, 6 September 1951, p. 2.
‘Labour split on referendum’, CT, 7 September 1951, p. 4.
‘Fadden strongly criticises Evatt’, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 11 September 1951, p. 3.
‘Minister says—confident of “yes” vote’, QT, 14 September 1951, p. 2.
See comments from Menzies, Harrison, and Hughes, in Webb, 1954, p. 157.
It is also noteworthy that until this point only four proposals to alter the constitution had succeeded at referendums.
O’Neill, 1985, pp. 346–70, 467–77. See also ‘Proposal to purchase additional aircraft from the United Kingdom to replace wastage of Meteors of No. 77 Squadron in Korea — decision 105’, NAA: A4905, 81.
McMahon was among twelve ministers for the navy who held the portfolio as their first ministerial role: Jens Jensen (1915–17), William Laird-Smith (1920–21), Frederick Stewart (1939–40), Archie Cameron (1940), Norman Makin (1941–46), Bill Riordan (1946–49), Charles Davidson (1956–58), John Gorton (1958–63), Fred Chaney, Sr. (1964–66), Don Chipp (1966–68), Jim Killen (1969–71), and Malcolm Mackay (1971–72). This is reflected in the questions asked of McMahon in the House, few of which were troublesome or went to his handling of the portfolio. Some of the questions he received, in fact, were outright ludicrous. See, for example, Alexander Downer’s question about whether ‘flying saucers’ were a novel form of espionage or simply ‘an aerial version of the Loch Ness monster’. See, too, his follow-up, where he asked whether McMahon regarded flying saucers as a ‘problem for psychologists rather than defence authorities’. McMahon, thankfully, confirmed his belief that it was an issue for psychologists to deal with. See Downer and McMahon, CPD, vol. 218, 13 August 1952, p. 223; CPD HoR, vol. 2, 20 November 1953, p. 364.
Hyslop, 1990, p. ix.
Stephens, 1995.
‘Was caddy a sailor?’, BT, 4 August 1951, p. 20; Eddie Ward, CPD, vol. 214, 2 October 1951, pp. 190–93. McMahon would claim in drafts of his autobiography that there was no caddy, and that he was merely playing a round with three Navy personnel.
Reid, 1969, p. 31.
Frank Browne, TIH, no. 362, 14 January 1954, p. 4.
‘Lawrie Anderson interviewed by Frank Heimans’, Millers Point Oral History Project,
Author’s interview with Alan Wright, 9 December 2016.
Stephens, 1995, p. 74. See also James McCarthy, 2007, ‘Hardman, Sir James Donald Innes (1899–1982)’, ADB, vol. 17, Melbourne University Press.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 214, 11 October 1951, pp. 596–97. For the criticism that followed, see the speeches that followed McMahon’s declaration.
Jones, 1988, p. 146.
‘Re-organisation of the RAAF [Royal Australian Air Force] — information submission’, NAA: A4905, 578.
See the draft minute prepared by the board on 27 November 1951, contained within ‘Air Board Agenda 12201–12350’, NAA: A4181, vol. 88.
Stephens, 1995, p. 75.
Air Board Agendum no. 12339, in ‘Air Board Agenda 12201–12350’, NAA: A4181, vol. 86; Air Board Agendum no. 11988 and
11989, in ‘Air Board Agenda 11801–12000 (July–Sep. 1951)’, NAA: A4181, vol. 86.
Cabinet submission, ‘Acquisition of property ‘Briarcliffe’, Glenbrook, New South Wales, for RAAF’, 10 December 1951, NAA: A4940, C2768.
Cabinet decision no. 274, 6 December 1951, submission no. 188, and McMahon’s own submission: ‘Ground control approach equipment for naval aviation — RAN [Royal Australian Air Force — decision 274’, NAA: A4905, 112. See also Stephens, 1995, pp. 345–46.
Stephens, 1995, pp. 241–42; O’Neill, 1981, pp. 282–83.
‘Glen Davis cement project’, SMH, 10 July 1951, p. 4.
Ward, CPD, vol. 216, 20 February 1952, pp. 144–49. Labor MP Tony Luchetti made similar allegations; see CPD, vol. 215, 8 November 1951, pp. 1831–32.
Beale, CPD, vol. 218, 12 August 1952, pp. 158–59.
McMahon, CPD, vol. 218, 12 August 1952, pp. 157–58. The report that prompted McMahon to reply was also rebutted by The Sun, which inserted, midway through an article containing McMahon’s denial, an editor’s note that declared Eddie Ward was ‘roaming in fantasy’. See ‘No suppression, says minister’, Sun, 12 August 1952, p. 2.
For further background, see Steinback, 2001, pp. 19–26; and Wilson, 2003, pp. 15–22.
Australian Constitution, ch. v, section 116.
Codex Iuris Canonici (Code of Canon Law), 1917, Canon 1258, cited in Wilson, 2003, p. 17.
‘Duntroon question solved’, Catholic Weekly, 18 February 1954, p. 1. Letters and memoranda between the involved parties suggest that McMahon was insisting on the observance of tradition. In his statement to the press, following the work of organising the presentation, McMahon emphasised the ‘consecration and presentation’ was being ‘carried out at the express wish of Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II’. See McMahon’s statement, 23 August 1952, in ‘Flags — Queen’s colour for the RAAF’, NAA: A462 828/2/15.
McMahon’s copy of the programme for proceedings, ‘Presentation of the Queen’s colour to the Royal Australian Air Force’, NAA: A11598/1; McMahon’s speech, 17 September 1952, ‘Presentation of the Queen’s colour to the Royal Australian Air Force’, NAA: A11598, 2; ‘Queen’s colour for RAAF’, SMH, 18 September 1952, p. 3.