James Scullin

The Right Honourable James Scullin
Scullin c. 1930s
9th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 22 October 1929 – 6 January 1932
Monarch	George V
Governors General	John Baird Isaac Isaacs
Deputy	Ted Theodore
Preceded by	Stanley Bruce
Succeeded by	Joseph Lyons
Leader of the Opposition
In office 6 January 1932 – 1 October 1935
Prime Minister	Joseph Lyons
Deputy	Frank Forde
Preceded by	Joseph Lyons
Succeeded by	John Curtin
In office 29 March 1928 – 22 October 1929
Prime Minister	Stanley Bruce
Deputy	Arthur Blakeley Ted Theodore
Preceded by	Matthew Charlton
Succeeded by	John Latham
Leader of the Labor Party
In office 26 April 1928 – 1 October 1935
Deputy	Arthur Blakeley Ted Theodore Frank Forde
Preceded by	Matthew Charlton
Succeeded by	John Curtin
Deputy Leader of the Labor Party
In office 17 March 1927 – 29 March 1928
Leader	Matthew Charlton
Preceded by	Albert Gardiner
Succeeded by	Arthur Blakeley
Cabinet posts 13th Treasurer of Australia In office 9 July 1930 – 29 January 1931 Preceded by Ted Theodore Succeeded by Ted Theodore Minister for Industry In office 22 October 1929 – 6 January 1932 Preceded by John Latham Succeeded by John Latham Minister for External Affairs In office 22 October 1929 – 6 January 1932 Preceded by Stanley Bruce Succeeded by John Latham
Electorate Member of the Australian Parliament for Yarra In office 18 February 1922 – 31 October 1949 Preceded by Frank Tudor Succeeded by Stan Keon Member of the Australian Parliament for Corangamite In office 13 April 1910 – 31 May 1913 Preceded by John Gratton Wilson Succeeded by James Chester Manifold
Personal details
Born	James Henry Scullin (1876-09-18)18 September 1876 Trawalla, Colony of Victoria
Died	28 January 1953(1953-01-28) (aged 76) Melbourne, Australia
Resting place	Melbourne General Cemetery
Political party	Labor
Spouse	Sarah McNamara ​ (m. 1907)​
Education	Mount Rowan State School
Occupation	Trade unionist politician
Signature

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), having briefly served as treasurer of Australia during his time in office from 1930 to 1931. His time in office was primarily categorised by the Wall Street Crash of 1929 which transpired just two days after his swearing in, thus heralding the beginning of the Great Depression in Australia. Scullin remained a leading figure in the Labor movement throughout his lifetime, and was an éminence grise in various capacities for the party until his retirement from federal parliament in 1949. He was the first Catholic, as well as the first Irish-Australian, to serve as prime minister.^[1]

The son of working-class Irish-immigrants, Scullin spent much of his early life as a laborer and grocer in Ballarat. An autodidact and passionate debater, Scullin made the most of Ballarat's facilities – the public library and South Street Debating Society.^[1] He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1903, beginning a career spanning five decades. He was a political organizer and newspaper editor for the party, and was elected to the Australian House of Representatives first in 1910 and then again in 1922 until 1949. Scullin quickly established himself as a leading voice in parliament, rapidly rising to become deputy leader of the party in 1927 and then Leader of the Opposition in 1928.

After Scullin won a landslide election in 1929, events took a dramatic change with the crisis on Wall Street and the rapid onset of the Great Depression around the world, which hit heavily indebted Australia hard. Scullin and his Treasurer Ted Theodore responded by developing several plans during 1930 and 1931 to repay foreign debt, provide relief to farmers and create economic stimulus to curb unemployment based on deficit spending and expansionary monetary policy. Although the Keynesian Revolution would see these ideas adopted by most Western nations by the end of the decade, in 1931 such ideas were considered radical and the plans were bitterly opposed by many who feared hyperinflation and economic ruin. The still opposition-dominated Australian Senate, and the conservative-dominated boards of the Commonwealth Bank and Loan Council, repeatedly blocked the plans.

With the prospect of bankruptcy facing the government, Scullin backed down and instead advanced the Premiers' Plan, a far more conservative measure that met the crisis with severe cutbacks in government spending. Pensioners and other core Labor constituencies were severely affected by the cuts, leading to a widespread revolt and multiple defections in parliament. After several months of infighting the government collapsed, and was resoundingly defeated by the newly formed United Australia Party at the subsequent 1931 election.

Scullin would remain party leader for four more years, losing the 1934 election but the party split would not be healed until after Scullin's return to the backbenches in 1935. Scullin became a respected elder voice within the party and leading authority on taxation and government finance, and would eventually play a significant role in reforming both when Labor returned to government in 1941. Although disappointed with his own term of office, he nonetheless lived long enough to see many of his government's ideas implemented by subsequent governments before his death in 1953.