When Labor stood for full employment

The establishment of post-war full employment (2 per cent unemployment) in Australia was a deliberate policy by the Curtin and Chifley ALP governments of 1941-1949, anticipated in speeches in opposition and at the 1942 Constitutional Convention. Even during 23 years in opposition, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the ALP kept the Coalition government true to its 1949 pledge of maintaining full employment. From the mid 1970s, despite claiming to uphold the values of Curtin and Chifley, the ALP has preserved labour underutilisation to cower working people and drive productivity. This is precisely what Labor’s 1940s leadership most categorically opposed.