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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/49984
- Title
- John McDonald: a remorseful premier
- Author(s)
- Costar, Brian
- Abstract
- John "Jack" McDonald was Victoria's third and last Country Party premier and from the end of his term in December 1952 until October 1992 his party was to play no part in the executive government of the State. Typically, McDonald's government (1950-1952) did not enjoy a majority in either the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council and was maintained in office first by the Labor Party and then, briefly, by the Liberal and Country Party (L&CP) (which was what the Victorian Division of the Liberal Party was called at the time). Yet, in contrast to previous administrations, the McDonald government achieved a number of policy innovations including the establishment of the Gas and Fuel Corporation, the Mental Hygiene Authority, the Soil Conservation Authority, the Milk Board and a new transport ministry and department. Reflecting the influence of the Labor Party, the government enacted significant amendments to the Factory and Shops Act. While an attempt to create a Greater Melbourne Council was defeated, McDonald achieved a major constitutional reform in bringing universal suffrage to the Legislative Council. Despite these initiatives, Labor became impatient with McDonald's procrastination on electoral redistribution and voted in the upper house with the Electoral Reform League (ERL) to deny supply on 21 October 1952. At the subsequent election on 6 December 1952 the Labor Party won an absolute majority of seats.
- Publication type
- Book chapter
- Research centre
- Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences. Institute for Social Research
- Source
- The Victorian premiers: 1856-2006 / Paul Strangio and Brian Costar (eds.), pp. 242-249
- Publication year
- 2006
- Keyword(s)
- Australia; Australian politics; Biography; Government; History; McDonald, Sir John (1898-1977); Premiers; Victoria
- Publisher
- The Federation Press
- ISBN
- 9781862876019, 1862876010
- Publisher URL
- http://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=1862876010
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2006 The Federation Press and contributors.
- Peer reviewed
