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JF 1949 Chifley confronted by miners in Macquarie

1949

The coal strike of 1949 threatened to split the labour movement and increased the tension surrounding the rise of communism in Australia. In this photo Chifley is confronted by mining protesters.

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…

Conflict and the Cold War

Although Australia avoided invasion during the Second World War, Japan's frightening lunge southward, culminating in the fall of Singapore, confirmed the deep-seated fears of many Australians about the territorial ambitions of their northern neighbours. Those fears helped to reconcile Australians to the Labor government's announcement…