The Federal Labor Party were the members of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

who supported the federal party leadership in the split with the state Labor party which broke away in 1931. Federal Labor retained some seats in the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

but was a minor party in state elections. The dispute was healed in 1936.

History

The Australian Labor Party was badly divided over how to respond to the

Great Depression in Australia Australia was affected badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia had years of high unemployment, poverty, ...

. In 1931 the federal government of

James Scullin James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the ninth prime minister of Australia from 1929 to 1932. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

and most of the state premiers agreed the

Premiers' Plan The Premiers' Plan was a deflationary economic policy agreed by a meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 to combat the Great Depression in Australia that sparked the 1931 Labor split. Background The Great Depress ...

, a

deflation In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% and becomes negative. While inflation reduces the value of currency over time, deflation increases i ...

ary economic policy. However Jack Lang, the

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

, opposed the plan and instead advocated defaulting on debt payments and an inflationary approach. Lang was highly dominant in the

branch of the party and thus much of the organisation supported him in disputes with the federal leadership. In early 1931

Eddie Ward Edward John Ward (7 March 189931 July 1963) was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in Parliament of Australia, federal parliament for over 30 years. He was the member for Division of East Sydney, East Sydn ...

, a supporter of Lang, won a by-election for Labor but was refused entry to the federal Labor caucus; in response Ward and other Lang supporters formed a "

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. It controlled the New South Wale ...

" group on the crossbenches. Labor had also split on the right, with

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...

leading a section into the new

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

. In November 1931 the Lang Labor MPs joined the opposition in defeating the Scullin government in parliament, causing the 1931 federal election. At the election the state and federal branches fielded rival candidates, with the state pro Lang candidates known as Australian Labor Party (New South Wales) and the federal pro Scullin candidates known as Federal Labor and headed by future Prime Minister

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician and train driver who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), and was n ...

. Labor was heavily defeated at the election, losing most of its seats in New South Wales. Of the survivors, four supported Lang and three Scullin. In the state Labor party, Lang had secured heavy support and thus the entire state caucus remained loyal. Lang was controversially dismissed from office in May 1932 and Labor would not return to power until 1941. Federal Labor candidates contested the 1932 and 1935 state elections but won no seats. In February 1936 new federal Labor leader

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having been most ...

oversaw a reunification of the rival Labor parties.

Election results

Federal

Results are for New South Wales only.

State

References

{{Australian Labor Party History of the Australian Labor Party Defunct political parties in Australia Defunct political parties in New South Wales Political parties established in 1931 1931 establishments in Australia Political parties disestablished in 1936 1936 disestablishments in Australia