Tiberius with a Telephone

by Patrick Mullins

  McMahon to Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 6 January 1953, NAA: A462, 114/32.

  ‘Minister’s message to Korea men’s relatives’, Truth, 7 December 1952, p. 4.

  ‘McMahon urges big defence review’, SMH, 16 December 1952, p. 4.

  McMahon to McEwen, 16 April 1953, NAA: M58, 342.

  McEwen to McMahon, 8 June 1953, ibid.

  See, for example, McMahon, CPD, vol. 217, 7 May 1952, pp. 81–84.

  One editor of the SMH, for example, thought McMahon ‘young and ambitious’, ‘bright’, but also a lightweight. See Pringle, 1973, pp. 86–87.

  Ward and McMahon, CPD, vol. 219, 18 September 1952, p. 1769. Truth, a newspaper never particularly friendly towards the Coalition government, perhaps put it rightly when it suggested that ‘some people’ thought McMahon ‘a fop, and an inconsequential political windbag’. See ‘Statesmen are needed to lead Australia!’, Truth, 28 March 1954, p. 9.

  This paragraph, and the discussion of McMahon’s paper, draws from the book produced from that forum. See McMahon, in Davis (ed.), 1954, pp. 29–51.

  Mannix to Menzies, 12 February 1954, NAA: MS2576, 112.

  Mannix to Menzies, 16 February 1954, ibid.

  Cabinet minute, 12 February 1954, ‘Without memorandum — ceremony at Duntroon’, decision no. 930, NAA: A4909/1, vol. 8.

  ‘Catholics fall out of naval rite’, BT, 18 February 1954, p. 2; ‘400 “fell out” at rehearsal’, Argus, 19 February 1954, p. 5; and ‘RC’s will attend colour ceremony’, CM, 19 February 1954, p. 5.

  ‘400 “fell out’ at rehearsal”, Argus, 19 February 1954, p. 5.

  Cabinet minute, 18 February 1954, decision no. 946, ‘Without memorandum — consecration of colours at Flinders’, NAA: A4909/1, vol. 8.

  Drawn from an undated aide-mémoire composed, it is likely, for McMahon’s autobiography, a copy of which is in the author’s possession.

  ‘Procedure at Naval Base ceremony’, Age, 20 February 1954, p. 4. McMahon’s letter to Gilroy, containing both his press statement and noting Mannix’s accession to the new plan, was sent 20 February 1954. Copies may be found in the Sydney Archdiocesan Archives.

  ‘Catholics to “fall out” at parade’, SMH, 20 February 1954, p. 3.

  ‘Duke presents colour at naval parade’, Examiner, 3 March 1954; and ‘Duke joked with his old shipmates’, Argus, 3 March 1954, p. 12.

  Cabinet had decided the date of the election on 12 February. See cabinet minutes, 12 February 1954, decision no. 932, ‘Without memorandum — election’, NAA: A4909/1, vol. 8.

  Menzies, CPD HoR, vol. 3, 13 April 1954, pp. 325–26. For the authoritative study of the Petrov affair, see Manne, 2004.

  ‘Menzies given attentive hearing’, SMH, 5 May 1954, p. 3.

  ‘Fighting programme’, Advertiser, 7 May 1954, p. 1.

  ‘This “gimme” election’, Sun-Herald, 16 May 1954, p. 20; ‘Evatt policy “ridiculous”’, BT, 17 May 1954, p. 13; ‘Labour “divided” on means test’, Advocate, 14 May 1954, p. 13.

  ‘“Not using” Petrov inquiry evidence’, CM, 15 May 1954, p. 3; ‘Liberals’ tour part of long range plan’, Advocate, 1 May 1954, p. 3.

  ‘Gerrymander plan alleged’, Cairns Post, 6 May 1954, p. 1; ‘Fadden speaks of red threat’, Morning Bulletin, 6 May 1954, p. 1; ‘Means test abolition “impracticable”’, CT, 6 May 1954, p. 1; ‘Changing tune on arbitration’, Sun, 14 May 1954, p. 7; ‘Secret ballot guards unions’, Advocate, 12 May 1954, p. 17; ‘Home building, contrast by minister’, Morning Bulletin, 20 May 1954, p. 9.

  ‘Communism must be “destroyed”’, Age, 18 May 1954, p. 4.

  There was no swing to or against McMahon in Lowe. See ‘Commonwealth of Australia, legislative election of 29 May 1954’, Psephos, , accessed 19 September 2016.

  ‘Ultimate reshuffle considered certain’, Age, 31 May 1954, p. 4, or ‘Post-election prospects’, QT, 12 June 1954, p. 9, for example.

  Downer, 1982, pp. 19, 32.

  In his biography of Menzies, Martin (1999, pp. 269–71) makes no mention of an elected ministry, but cites letters suggesting Menzies wished to make radical changes.

  Harold Cox interviewed by Mel Pratt, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/43, 1:2/77–78.

  ‘A reshuffle without reconstruction’, SMH, 9 July 1954, p. 2.

  Menzies, Joint Policy Speech: federal election 1954, p. 18.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 23 September 1954, pp. 1587–93; Kewley, 1973, pp. 283–91; Dixon, 1977, pp. 91–101. McMahon continued to obtain rises in pensions while minister for social services; for example see ‘Fifth Menzies ministry cabinet decisions’, vol. 3, ‘Cabinet minute 543, 28 July 1955,’ NAA: A4910.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 23 September 1954, pp. 1587–93.

  Joske, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 29 September 1954, p. 1712.

  Author’s interview with Alan Wright, 6 December 2016.

  Ward, CPD HoR, vol. 4, 26 August 1954, p. 713.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 21 October 1954, pp. 2200–04.

  Haylen, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 28 October 1954, p. 2439.

  Calwell and McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 28 October 1954, p. 2488.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 3 November 1954, pp. 2553–56.

  Menzies, 1970, p. 124.

  Haylen, CPD HoR, vol. 5, 11 November 1954, pp. 2876–81.

  Kewley, 1973, pp. 312–25; M.A. Jones, 1983, pp. 262–63.

  See, for example, Gough Whitlam’s question to McMahon’s successor as minister for social services, Hugh Roberton, asking if he intended to continue McMahon’s practice of handing over cheques in person, with great ceremony and publicity. See CPD HoR, vol. 9, 20 March 1956, p. 906.

  Browne, 1981, p. 63.

  Daly, 1977, p. 128.

  McMahon and Evatt, CPD HoR, vol. 8, 19 October 1955, pp. 1697–98.

  Menzies to Henderson, 31 October 1955, NLA, MS4936/40/572/2.

  ‘Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 10 December 1955’, Psephos, , accessed 20 September 2016.

  McMahon to Menzies, 11 August 1955, NAA: MS2576, 2.

  Chapter 13: The Undoctored Incident

  Bowman diary, 5 March 1984.

  Bowman’s annotation on excerpt of unpublished autobiography, NLA MS8725, box 97, folder 130/20, p. 14.

  Bowman diary, 28 February 1984.

  ibid., 20 February 1984.

  Bowman to McMahon, 21 February 1984, copy in the author’s possession.

  Bowman diary, 21 February 1984.

  Handwritten and undated notes authored by McMahon; untitled chapter from McMahon’s autobiography, in the author’s possession.

  Menzies to McMahon, undated, NAA: M2576, 2, p. 4.

  ‘A-bomb jet fleet may guard north’, Argus, 15 March 1954, p. 7.

  McMahon to Menzies, 15 March 1954, NAA: M2576, 2, p. 3.

  Menzies to McMahon, undated, NAA: M2576, 2, p. 1.

  Bowman diary, 5 April 1984.

  Menzies claimed that it was his own measure, prompted at the urging of his wife. Dame Pattie, in the company of Keith and Elizabeth Wilson, had visited homes for the elderly in South Australia and wondered why the Commonwealth government was not helping to provide similar homes. See Joske, 1979, p. 28.

  Chapter 14: Control

  Schedvin, 2008, pp. 133–40; McEwen, 1983, p. 49. Golding questions the story of the creation of the new department, and McEwen’s role in shaping it: see Golding, 1996, pp. 178–79. McMahon later claimed to have had an instrumental role in both McEwen’s decision to take on the Department of Trade and in the department’s formation. See McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 120, 25 November 1980, pp. 32–33.

  McEwen, 1983, p. 49.
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  Harold Cox interviewed by Mel Pratt, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/43, 1:2/78.

  Calwell, CPD HoR, vol. 9, 15 February 1956, p. 41. See also Reid, 1969, pp. 31–35.

  Daly, CPD HoR, vol. 16, 19 September 1957, pp. 857–63. Menzies had a habit of appointing ministers to portfolios with which they were not necessarily best acquainted. For criticism, see Frank Browne, TIH, no. 462, 26 January 1956, p. 3.

  Robinson, CPD HoR, vol. 160, 12 April 1988, p. 1410.

  See McMahon to Menzies, 11 August 1955 and 29 September 1955, NAA: M2576, 2.

  Cabinet notebook, NAA: A11099, 1/19.

  McMahon, ‘Aide-mémoire: short history of difficulties with Mr McEwen’, 9 November 1967, NAA: MS3787, 32.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 120, 25 November 1980, pp. 32–33.

  Golding, 1996, p. 180.

  This section draws on a series of unpublished and undated aide-mémoires authored by McMahon, copies of which are in the author’s possession. The accuracy of information in these aide-mémoires is uncertain, and their reliability is subject to considerable caveats.

  McMahon, ‘Aide-mémoire: short history of difficulties with Mr McEwen’, 9 November 1967, NAA: MS3787, 32. A copy of the above aide-mémoire is in the author’s possession; however, this is a photocopy of another copy, and it bears annotations in McMahon’s hand. In those annotations, McMahon attributes Menzies’ decision to include Hasluck in cabinet to Harrison’s influence. This is doubtful.

  Frank Crean, CPD HoR, vol. 9, 15 February 1956, pp. 47–48.

  Frank Browne, TIH, no. 460, 12 January 1956.

  Martin, 1999, p. 318.

  Reid, 1969, p. 33.

  Myers, 1999, p. 158.

  Hill, 2010, p. 160.

  Fred Osbourne interviewed by Ron Hurst, NLA, Oral TRC 4900/108.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 120, 25 November 1980, pp. 32–33.

  McMahon, 9 November 1967, NAA: MS3787, 32.

  ibid.

  Drawn from an undated aide-mémoire composed by McMahon, a copy of which is in the author’s possession. The Dorothy Dixer was from Alexander Downer. See CPD HoR, 10 April 1956, vol. 9, p. 1122.

  Leslie and McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 10, 2 May 1956, p. 1639.

  McEwen, 1983, p. 45.

  McMahon, 1956, ‘Cabinet submission no. 215: dairy industry stabilisation plan — assessment of imputed costs’, Sixth Menzies Ministry Cabinet Submissions, vol. 10, NAA: A4926.

  McMahon, ‘Cabinet submission no. 216: dairy industry stabilisation plan — bounty arrangements for 1956/57’, Sixth Menzies Ministry Cabinet Submissions, vol. 10, NAA: A4926.

  Cabinet minutes 281 and 282, 20 June 1956, in Sixth Menzies Ministry Submissions, vol. 10, NAA: A4926.

  Martin, 1999, p. 330.

  Hudson, 1989, p. 55.

  Cabinet notebook, ‘Notetaker EJ Bunting — notes of meetings 7 February 1956 –7 August 1956’, NAA: A11099 1/33.

  ibid.

  Stan Correy, ‘The Suez Crisis 1956’, ABC Background briefing, 24 September 2006.

  Beale, 1977, pp. 91–92.

  Menzies, 1967, p. 158.

  ibid.

  Stan Correy, ‘The Suez Crisis 1956’, ABC Background briefing, 24 September 2006.

  George Kerr, 1956, ‘Menzies, sadder and wiser, is due home today’, Argus, 18 September, p. 4.

  Martin, 1999, p. 340.

  Crawford (ed.), 1968, p. 211.

  Anderson, 1956, p. 6.

  McEwen, 1983, p. 52.

  ibid., p. 53.

  Crawford (ed.), 1968, p. 343.

  ‘New Agreement on UK trade’, CT, 13 November 1956, p. 1.

  McMahon, 9 November 1967, NAA: MS3787, 32.

  Golding, 1996, p. 182.

  Author’s interview with Sir Eric McClintock, 28 October 2016.

  McMahon, 9 November 1967, NAA: MS3787, 32.

  ibid.

  Cabinet notebook, ‘Notetaker EJ Bunting — notes of meetings 9 August 1956–19 February 1957’, NAA: 11099, 1/34, 16 January 1957.

  ‘Submission no. 576: dairy industry stabilisation’, Sixth Menzies Ministry Cabinet Submissions, vol. 23, NAA: A4926.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 15, 15 May 1957, pp. 1412–15.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 15, 22 May 1957, pp. 1752–54.

  ‘Submission 491: funds for wool research and extension’, Sixth Menzies Ministry Cabinet Submissions, vol. 20, NAA: A4926. See cabinet minute no. 597, 18 December 1956, for cabinet’s approval.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 15, 14 May 1957, pp. 1335–39.

  McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 21, 30 September 1958, pp. 1747–53; Muller, 1996, pp. 1–20.

  Frank Browne, TIH, vol. 562, 30 January 1958.

  Marr, 1980, p. 137.

  Kelly and Bramston, 2015, pp. 60–61 (which draws from ‘John Kerr Oral History Interview, 1974–76’ NLA Oral History, TRC 440, pp. 157–60); McClelland, 1991, p. 206.

  ‘Menzies asks for “vote of confidence” in record’, SMH, 30 October 1958, p. 1.

  Journalist Ray Aitchison would later note that McMahon was an early recogniser of the value of a careful approach to television. See Aitchison, 1978, p. 64.

  ‘The Great Debate’, broadcast 14 November 1958, NFSA, no. 16168.

  Rawson provides a thorough overview of the 1958 election and its results. See Rawson, 1961.

  McEwen, 1983, p. 57.

  Author’s interview with Sir Eric McClintock, 28 October 2016.

  Frame, 2005a, pp. 99–101; Hasluck, 1997, p. 128.

  ibid.

  Chapter 15: Perception

  McMahon, 9 November 1967, copy in the author’s possession.

  McMahon, draft autobiography, extract stapled to Bowman letter to McMahon, 22 May 1984, in possession of author. See also McMahon, ‘Menzies the man’, Sun, 16 May 1978; McMahon, CPD HoR, vol. 109, 23 May 1978, pp. 2332–34.

  Menzies, 1967, p. 158.

  Bowman to McMahon, 22 May 1984, in possession of author.

  ibid.

  See also Paul LePetit, ‘Sir Billy: playboy at 18 with a string of racehorses’, Sunday Telegraph, 3 April 1988, pp. 8–9; Cameron, 1990, pp. 542–43.

  The story is difficult to credit, but it is possible that Menzies was inducing McMahon to stand in order to split the vote among members from New South Wales, thus weakening the candidacy of senator William Spooner, in favour of Harold Holt.

  Chapter 16: War and Strife

  Henry Bland interviewed by Mel Pratt, 1975, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/60.

  ibid., amendment note, p. 11.

  Henry Bland interviewed by Mel Pratt, 1975, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/60.

  ibid.

  Reginald Reed, in Sir William McMahon: this is your life, 12 March 1978, ep. 4/008, NFSA.

  E.R. Wilkins to W.F. Foster, 6 February 1959, Noel Butlin Archives, E217/198, 60.

  Henry Bland interviewed by Mel Pratt, 1975, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/60.

  Wilson, CPD HoR, vol. 24, 22 September 1959, pp. 1227–29.

  ‘Social services — budget proposals’, July 1959, NAA: A5818, 259, and cabinet minute no. 304 (M), 13–16 July 1959, NAA: A5818, 259.

  ‘Note of conversation between the Prime Minister and the Minister for Labour and National Service, 23 September, 1959’, NAA: M2576, 2. There is evidence that the envelope was opened in 1960. Menzies’ reaction may also have been prompted by concern about Wilson’s proposal, which on 24 September received debate in the party room. See Bert Kelly diary, 24 September 1959, NLA MS7424.

  See Fraser and Simons, 2009, pp. 162–63; Henderson, 1994, p. 207; Golding, 1996, pp. 218–19. Bland recalled that McMahon ‘charged’ down to Melbourne in the days following this meeting with Menzies and told Bland about it three times — each version ‘bore
very little resemblance’ to one another. See Henry Bland interviewed by Mel Pratt, 1975, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/60.

  See Sir Garfield Barwick interviewed by J.D.B. Miller, NLA Oral History, TRC 499/1, p. 37.

  Hasluck, 1997, p. 133; Sir Garfield Barwick, interviewed by J.D.B. Miller, NLA Oral History, TRC 499/1, p. 37; Dudley Erwin interviewed by Robert Linford, NLA Oral History, TRC 4900/7, 5:10.

  Fraser and Simons, 2009, pp. 162–63.

  Dudley Erwin interviewed by Robert Linford, NLA Oral History, TRC 4900/7, 5:10.

  Hasluck, 1997, p. 185.

  In 1965, for example, Menzies asked McEwen to consult with colleagues for candidates for a new governor-general. McEwen consulted with Holt and Shane Paltridge, but went no further. The likely reason lies in a handwritten list of other ministers to consult. Beside McMahon’s name is written: ‘Not safe’. See NAA: A7394, 1.

  McMahon, in Killen, 1985, p. 41.

  Doug Anthony, correspondence with author, 15 August 2016.

  Downer, 1982, p. 25.

  Sir Garfield Barwick interviewed by Clyde Cameron, NLA Oral History, TRC 1045.

  Hasluck, 1997, p. 95.

  D’Alpuget, 1977, p. 17. See also Sir Richard Kirby interviewed by Catherine Santamaria, NLA Oral History, TRC 228.

  Dennis Minogue, ‘When the chief is underdog’, Aus., 21 October 1972, p. 15.

  Henry Bland interviewed by Mel Pratt, 1975, NLA Oral History, TRC 121/60.

  See, for example, McMahon, 27 April 1960, NAA: AA1968/119, 16; or ‘An industrial charter’, April 1960, NAA: M2576, 2.

  Bland had been intent on using the prospect of long-service leave to enforce change for some time. In February 1959, E.R. Wilkins noted that some reckoning with it was likely to be imminent: ‘The ASIA [Australian Stevedoring Industry Authority] have given McMahon an estimate of the labour position over the next few years and it is obvious that the WWF requirements will continue to shrink. In other words, the redundancy problem will become more acute and whilst Bland is now opposed to long service leave, he could well come to light with some proposition in relation to both long service leave and pensions which would pave the way for an amendment to the Stevedoring Act in connection with redundancy which would be acceptable to the WWF.’ See E.R. Wilkins to W.F. Foster, 6 February 1959, Noel Butlin Archives, E217/98, 60.