In the hope that WW1 would eventually end, the Federal Parliamentary War Committee devised a plan to settle demobilised servicemen on the land in late 1915. The Australia states and territories had already federated on 1/1/1901 so it was easy for delegates from the Commonwealth government and from all of the states to get together in Melbourne in Feb 1916 to consider the War Committee’s report. They decided as follows:
1. Commonwealth and state governments should co-operate to develop a scheme for the settlement of willing and suitable returned soldiers on the land;
2. Land should be provided by the states;
3. The states would also be responsible for classifying applicants and providing them with training;
4. The Commonwealth would provide loans to the states to enable advances to soldiers to assist them with the costs of establishment. This money would be made available at reasonable rates of interest; and
5. The difference between the cost of the loans to the government and the repayments should be borne equally by the Commonwealth and the states.
Was it a charitable act on behalf of the Federal and State governments, thanking young men for their untold sacrifices during WW1? Perhaps there also a hope of attracting both Australian and other ex-servicemen to underpopulated parts of Australia, away from the coast. Certainly each young soldier and his family had to remain in residence on any crown land they took up for at least 5 years, guaranteeing a population expansion and the building of new primary schools etc.
And a third consideration. Australia still had a major role as a primary producer within the British Empire; the soldier settlement scheme was firmly based on the belief that primary production was the foundation of Victoria's future prosperity.
2. Land should be provided by the states;
3. The states would also be responsible for classifying applicants and providing them with training;
4. The Commonwealth would provide loans to the states to enable advances to soldiers to assist them with the costs of establishment. This money would be made available at reasonable rates of interest; and
5. The difference between the cost of the loans to the government and the repayments should be borne equally by the Commonwealth and the states.
Was it a charitable act on behalf of the Federal and State governments, thanking young men for their untold sacrifices during WW1? Perhaps there also a hope of attracting both Australian and other ex-servicemen to underpopulated parts of Australia, away from the coast. Certainly each young soldier and his family had to remain in residence on any crown land they took up for at least 5 years, guaranteeing a population expansion and the building of new primary schools etc.
And a third consideration. Australia still had a major role as a primary producer within the British Empire; the soldier settlement scheme was firmly based on the belief that primary production was the foundation of Victoria's future prosperity.
Whatever the motive, handbooks circulated in the 1920s provided cheerful and optimistic advice to immigrants and returned soldiers. A Land Fit for Heroes was the promise: prosperous farms, contented families and thriving regional development.
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Cultivating a soldier settlement, Jan 1924.
The sandy ground is being ploughed and fences have been erected.
Image courtesy of the Victorian Government.
Soldier settler house being built in 1928
near Mildura
Photo credit: Museum of Victoria
The Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act of 1917 formally established the scheme. A total of 23,367 returned service-men were allocated blocks under the soldier settlement scheme, particularly in Victoria eg Gippsland and Goulburn Valley. Victoria might have been a tiny state in geographic terms, yet far more Victorian families (8,640) were settled than in any other state.
Inevitably many soldier settlers were very happy on the land; their children were brought up with fresh air, fresh food and a social life that they would never had enjoyed in a big city. Others settlers felt isolated, lonely and doing relentless, backbreaking work they did not enjoy. It was said that some 60% of the settlers, without the capital necessary to increase stock or improve their housing, eventually walked off the land back to the large towns and cities where their parents and siblings were.
The scheme was critically analysed by a Victorian Royal Commission in 1925. If soldier settlers did not succeed in the long run, it was more than likely due to
a] the selection of settlers who might have known nothing about managing a farm,
b] the lack of continuing capital,
c] the inadequate size of blocks allocated and
d] the poor prices the settlers received for their agricultural products.
I have no doubt that many of those ex-servicemen, already damaged by their war experiences, were entering farming life in a very difficult economic climate. Large sums of government money were indeed spent on farmland and agricultural equipment for the men during the 1920s, but by 1929, Australia had entered its worst-ever Depression.
The Australian people had been bitterly split by two conscription referendums during the War. In addition, they endured an increasingly authoritarian Commonwealth government during the war. It has been suggested that this division in the community might have reinforced an increasingly vocal opposition to the economic losses attributed to soldier settlement. Many people saw the soldier settlement as a political scheme, not one planned purely on economic lines.
Inevitably many soldier settlers were very happy on the land; their children were brought up with fresh air, fresh food and a social life that they would never had enjoyed in a big city. Others settlers felt isolated, lonely and doing relentless, backbreaking work they did not enjoy. It was said that some 60% of the settlers, without the capital necessary to increase stock or improve their housing, eventually walked off the land back to the large towns and cities where their parents and siblings were.
The scheme was critically analysed by a Victorian Royal Commission in 1925. If soldier settlers did not succeed in the long run, it was more than likely due to
a] the selection of settlers who might have known nothing about managing a farm,
b] the lack of continuing capital,
c] the inadequate size of blocks allocated and
d] the poor prices the settlers received for their agricultural products.
I have no doubt that many of those ex-servicemen, already damaged by their war experiences, were entering farming life in a very difficult economic climate. Large sums of government money were indeed spent on farmland and agricultural equipment for the men during the 1920s, but by 1929, Australia had entered its worst-ever Depression.
The Australian people had been bitterly split by two conscription referendums during the War. In addition, they endured an increasingly authoritarian Commonwealth government during the war. It has been suggested that this division in the community might have reinforced an increasingly vocal opposition to the economic losses attributed to soldier settlement. Many people saw the soldier settlement as a political scheme, not one planned purely on economic lines.
New Settlers' Handbook
Image courtesy of the Victorian Government.
It is interesting that after WW2, the Soldier Settlement Scheme addressed many of the critical issues after WW1 - blocks were bigger, ex-servicemen were more carefully selected and farming infrastructure (roads, houses, fences) were supplied as part of the settlement package.
A new exhibition about the Victorian soldier settler experience has just opened at Old Treasury Building in Melbourne. Soldier On: WW1 Soldier Settler Stories features records from the state archives of the Public Record Office, revealing previously untold stories of the Victorian soldier settler experience. The exhibition, which will run until August 2016, is supported by the Australian Government's Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund.
At the same time, a website called A Land Fit for Heroes? has been dedicated to the memory of Soldier Settlement in NSW. Vast tracts of that state were settled by returned servicemen and women in the aftermath of the Great War: the rural communities they established lie at the heartland of regional Australia. But the story of soldier settlement has yet to be told. We know little of the experience of soldier settlers and their families as they battled to make a go of it on the land.
A new exhibition about the Victorian soldier settler experience has just opened at Old Treasury Building in Melbourne. Soldier On: WW1 Soldier Settler Stories features records from the state archives of the Public Record Office, revealing previously untold stories of the Victorian soldier settler experience. The exhibition, which will run until August 2016, is supported by the Australian Government's Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund.
At the same time, a website called A Land Fit for Heroes? has been dedicated to the memory of Soldier Settlement in NSW. Vast tracts of that state were settled by returned servicemen and women in the aftermath of the Great War: the rural communities they established lie at the heartland of regional Australia. But the story of soldier settlement has yet to be told. We know little of the experience of soldier settlers and their families as they battled to make a go of it on the land.