ABSTRACT
It is fair to say that in Australia at least until 1993 there has never been a federal policy of regional development, and still less a policy of reducing regional disparities. Decisions of the council certainly affect economic development at the State level, but its objective is stabilization at the national level, not regional development. The economics profession as a whole has shown even less interest in regional development in Australia than it has in the United States, Canada or Britain. Why has reduction of regional disparities played no role in Australian regional development policy? Because when "regions" are defined as states, which are the only really significant political units apart from the federal government, there never have been serious regional gaps. The chapter reviews the efforts of the Whitlam government of 1972–1975 in the regional development field, especially the Department of Urban and Regional Development.
