JB Chifley

An Ardent Internationalist

Julie Suares
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JB Chifley

Published

19 March 2019

ISBN

9780522874693

Pages

332

Imprint

MUP Academic

JB Chifley

An Ardent Internationalist

Julie Suares
Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley, former train driver and Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949, lived through two economic depressions and two world wars.
Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley, former train driver and Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949, lived through two economic depressions and two world wars. This, combined with his rural background and commitment to the labour movement, played a major role in the development of his internationalist perspective. Often overlooked by historians, Chifley believed that the only way to avoid war and economic depression was through the establishment of international rules-based economic and collective security institutions. These were beliefs he had held since the early 1930s Chifley was a prime minister with a keen interest in post-war Asia, who understood that the old colonial order was ending. He was a great admirer of the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. This book reveals the extraordinary convergence of worldviews of two fellow internationalists, Chifley and Nehru. This convergence can be seen in their views on the need to adjust to a changing…
Joseph Benedict (Ben) Chifley, former train driver and Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949, lived through two economic depressions and two world wars. This, combined with his rural background and commitment to the labour movement, played a major role in the development of his internationalist perspective. Often overlooked by historians, Chifley believed that the only way to avoid war and economic depression was through the establishment of international rules-based economic and collective security institutions. These were beliefs he had held since the early 1930s. Chifley was a prime minister with a keen interest in post-war Asia, who understood that the old colonial order was ending. He was a great admirer of the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. This book reveals the extraordinary convergence of worldviews of two fellow internationalists, Chifley and Nehru. This convergence can be seen in their views on the need to adjust to a changing post-colonial world; their internationalism; their support for the United Nations; their opposition to Western colonialism; their anti-war attitudes and their animosity towards the American and British Cold War framework through which the post-war world was viewed. Historian Frank Bongiorno wrote about Julie's work on Chifley: '. it is a tremendous achievement to produce such a new vision of a major political figure . it is an important contribution to Australian political, foreign policy and intellectual history'.

The importance of Julie Suares’ book is that it not only constitutes the first, sustained intellectual history of this iconic post-war Labor figure, but that it also establishes beyond doubt Chifley’s prominent role in authoring post-war Australian liberal internationalism.”
James Curran, Labour History

Prime Minister Ben Chifley would have approved of Suares as a chronicler of his achievements. ”
Peter Masters, Australian Defence Magazine

Julie Suares has made an elegant and compelling contribution to our understanding of Chifley as a transformative figure in Australia’s relationship to the emerging post-war international order. ”
Liam Byrne, Recorder

Julie Suares

Julie Suares

Julie Suares completed her PhD at Deakin University. From 2002 to 2014, she worked as an electorate officer for the former member for Ripon who was the state Minister for Agriculture and Small Business in the Bracks and Brumby governments. She has been a consultant for Primary Skills Victoria, the industry training board for agriculture. She has also worked as a library technician, farm hand, shearers' cook, and teacher.

Author image courtesy of Peter Pickering

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Hardback
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