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many textbooks and curriculum materials to leave out Australia’s Federation, students are not
exposed to the deep political and social connection Australia had with Great Britain.
7.14.5 Representations of political leaders.
J.T. Lang, arguably New South Wales’ most prominent and controversial Premier, is well
known not only for his sacking by the New South Wales Governor, but in particular his pro-
Australian attitudes which significantly impacted his decision making as Premier. In the
subsection, Who was J.T. Lang? within The modern world emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986)
no mention of Great Britain is provided, instead the terms “overseas loans” and
“bondholders” (Lawrence et al., 1986, p. 326) are used. This is despite Lang being quite
vocal in his pro-Australian (which has often been portrayed as being anti-British) sentiment
towards what he perceived as unfair war loan repayments to Great Britain, with the first point
of his proposed plan (that became known as the Lang Plan) stating:
That the government of Australia pay no further interest to British bondholders until
Britain had dealt with the Australian overseas debt in the same manner as she had
settled her own foreign debts with America”...If Britain agreed to compound
Australia’s debts on the same basis, most of our external troubles would be over.
(Lang, 1970, p. 100, emphasis added)
Lang’s loyalty to the needs of Australia and the unemployed during the economic hardship
that was brought on by The Great Depression is further explained in his autobiography as:
We had been told at the Canberra Conference that the banks were on the verge of
default. They could not find £18 million to save the unemployed. They could not
carry existing overdrafts. But what had happened when the New South Wales
Government had refused to find £700,000 to meet overseas interest payments owing
to the Bank of Westminster? The banks had found the money immediately. Where
did they get it? The Scullin Government took the money without a word of
explanation. They paid it out without a word of explanation. They paid it out to
London. Why hadn’t they used it to help the unemployed? (Lang, 1970, p. 111)
The textbook mediates Lang’s vehement debate about the non-repayment of British war loans
through the more passive term “overseas”. Why this is the case is unclear, as the textbook
includes many examples of Britain being explicitly mentioned in its relationship to Australia,
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