8 - ‘Finish Your Job and Turn In’
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
Summary
‘On ne travailk pas, on écoute,
c'est comme un inconnu qui vous parle à l'oreille.’
De MussetAfter his torturous moment of indecision in 1905, Alfred Deakin went on to produce his most significant political work. With Labor's help, the second Deakin ministry achieved an impressive record of progressive legislation. On the domestic front the catchcry was ‘New Protection’, a Deakinite improvisation designed to win the support of the Labor party, without offending against either the letter or spirit of Federalism. It was a stupendously simple piece of social legislation, which established a direct linkage between tariff protection for employers and their provision of a fair and reasonable wage. Though it was judged unconstitutional and thus became a ‘dead end’ in Australian history, its importance, especially in the Harvester judgment, was symbolic, for the determination of the ‘family wage’ then arrived at by Justice Higgins became the standard until after the Great War. Its source may perhaps be traced in Deakin's notes to 1893, in the ‘Social Justice Association’ he was meditating in that dark year, to be like the Charity Organisation Society to which he had recently donated the proceeds of Temple and Tomb in India:
It would have a hard fight with wealth, monopoly, greed & the general lawlessness … It would reverse the methods of the Boycott–denounce no one–but announce those traders, dealers & employers who ought to be supported because they pay wages that enable their employees to live decently …
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- Information
- The Mystic Life of Alfred Deakin , pp. 173 - 196Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1992