ALP 1951 National Conference
1951
This portrait of the 1951 ALP Federal Conference shows the Opposition Leader Ben Chifley in the last year of his life. This Conference debated the move by the Menzies government to ban the Communist Party of Australia.
Other topics in The Chifley Years
Ben Chifley: The man, his history and his values
Ben Chifley was one of Australia's most productive treasurers and prime ministers, helping to lead Australia successfully through the Second World War and the challenges of the early post-war years. Yet his path to the prime ministership was far from easy. Chifley was born the…
Sustaining the war economy
Ben Chifley’s experience as a minister in the Scullin government during the Depression, together with his time on the banking Royal Commission, provided good foundations for his role as Treasurer in the Curtin government. He was acutely aware of how the banks had exacerbated the…
Post-war reconstruction: Nation Building
Prior to becoming Treasurer in October 1941, Chifley had already turned his mind to post-war reconstruction and the expanded role that government would have to play if a better world was to emerge from the conflict. Like many people around the world, he feared that…
Implementing a Labor agenda
The Labor Party had won two resounding electoral victories in 1943 and 1946. The first victory rewarded Curtin’s government for its stewardship of the country during the dangerous months of 1942, while the second victory was an affirmation by Australians of Chifley’s call for a…