Australian Labor Party (NSW) facts for kids

Lang Labor members of the 14th Parliament, Old Parliament House, Canberra, 1935

The Australian Labor Party (NSW) was a political group in Australia. It was often called Lang Labor. This group was the New South Wales part of the Australian Labor Party. It became separate from the main national party and worked on its own from 1931 to 1936.

What Was Lang Labor?

Lang Labor was a political party in New South Wales. It was led by Jack Lang, who was the Premier of New South Wales. This group formed because of disagreements with the main Australian Labor Party.

The Great Depression and the Lang Plan

In 1931, Australia was going through the Great Depression. This was a time when many people lost their jobs and money was scarce. Jack Lang wanted to help New South Wales deal with these problems.

He created a plan called the "Lang Plan". A main idea of this plan was to stop paying back loans to banks in other countries. This was very different from what the federal Labor government wanted to do. The federal government was led by James Scullin.

A Split in the Party

Because of these different ideas, Lang's supporters were asked to leave the federal Labor group. This caused a big split between the leaders of the Labor party at the state and national levels.

In 1931, Lang's supporters voted with another party, the United Australia Party. They voted against the Scullin government in the Australian House of Representatives. This caused an early election to be held.

The 1931 Election

In the election, Lang's group ran candidates as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales). They were known as "Lang Labor" candidates. The people who supported the federal Labor party were called "Federal Labor" candidates. In New South Wales, these were led by Ted Theodore and Ben Chifley.

The election was a big loss for the Labor party overall. However, most of the Lang Labor members kept their seats. This was because they were in areas where many working-class people lived.

• Eddie Ward almost lost his seat in East Sydney. He was re-elected in a special election in 1932.
• Both Ted Theodore and Ben Chifley lost their seats.
• Federal Labor only won three seats in New South Wales.

In the 1934 federal elections, Federal Labor won only one seat in New South Wales. This seat was in Newcastle.

Coming Back Together

In 1935, John Curtin became the new leader of the federal Labor party. In February 1936, he worked to bring the New South Wales group back together with the main party. By the 1937 elections, Labor ran as one united party in New South Wales again.

See Also

• Lang, J. T. (1970). The Turbulent Years, Alpha Books
• McMullin, Ross (1991). The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991, OUP