ABSTRACT
A conflict as complex as the Second World War inevitably brought about significant changes in the established order in Australian politics. Its most obvious effect, in Australia and elsewhere, was to enlarge and to consolidate the functions, operations and powers of the state, particularly the executive branch of the government, the bureaucracy and government agencies, as these strove to mobilise the nation's resources in a time of crisis. Labor's electoral success during the war was mirrored by a collapse of the non-Labor parties as the pressures of governing in wartime exposed the fragility of the United Australia Party structure and its coalition with the Country Party. Presenting himself to the electorate as the defender of Australia against both external enemies and internal subversives, and wooing the returned soldiers' vote with policies of preference in public employment and soldier settlement. The Labor Party returned to office at the federal level just as the Depression hit Australia.
