ABSTRACT
Australia was heavily indebted to British banks on the eve of the depression. It faced a balance of payments crisis and experienced a change of government in October 1929. The Conservatives had to hand over power to the Labour Party which had been in opposition for thirteen years. But the new government had a majority only in the lower house and not in the senate which continued to be dominated by the Conservatives who threw spanners into the works and prevented essential legislation. Moreover, the new government was inexperienced and owed its victory to strikes in mining and industry. The farmers did not figure at all in the Labour Party’s political calculations. They were soon pushed into an awful predicament by the government. In order to overcome the balance of payments crisis the government had the bright idea of inaugurating a ‘Grow More Wheat’ campaign at the most inopportune moment. Wheat export was supposed to earn the foreign exchange which Australia badly needed at that time.
