THE GREAT DEPRESSION

The Stock Market Crash of 1929

● Speculators purchased great quantities of shares were bought in the 1920s, in the hope of a profit, and share prices escalated due to the high demand. People then rushed to sell them all, and prices collapsed due to oversupply. 13 million shares were sold on 24 October, 1929. The rapid fall in the price of shares causes a stock market crash● There had been a great increase in production of goods in the USA, which created a surplus which could not be sold. The average person was too poor to buy them.

The Effect on Australia

● Australia had a large debt to the USA and Britain, and so was hard hit by the economic downturn ● Australia depended on the export and sale of agricultural products, but prices dove due to overproduction in the USA ● Most countries tried to protect themselves by limiting imports and imposing tariffs, and demanding countries repay their debts.

The Great Depression

Australia in the Great Depression

● As markets for Australia agricultural goods collapsed, farmers stopped producing and laid off workers ● Those who had lost their jobs could not afford manufactured goods, and others bought only the essentials as they were worried about the future. Therefore, factories were not making profits, and also laid off workers ● Australia could not sell its primary products overseas, and so had no foreign exchange to pay off its loans. It could not pay back the high interest on the debts. Australia was almost bankrupt

On the ‘Susso’

We’re on the Susso nowWe can’t afford a cowWe live in a tentWe pay no rentWe’re on the Susso now

On the ‘Susso’

● Those who had lost their jobs received a small amount of government relief in the form of the dole, or ‘sustenance’. Being on the ‘susso’ was a social stigma.

● Having to queue for the dole was a humiliation

There was no assistance

for food or clothing, so people built shanties from discarded materials

On the ‘Susso’

● Returned soldiers fared the worst. Many could not find employment, and slept on the streets or in refuges. Veterans were dying at rate of about 10000 a year

● From 1932, those on the Susso in Victoria had to work for the dole, at below the basic wage. Married men were given priority. Men often had to travel long distances to find work

Manchester Unity Building

The Great Ocean Road