Great Depression (1929-1939)

The fall of the Australian economy and the subsequent suffering of many Australians was primarily due to the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 which led to the Great Depression of the 1930s. A number of factors attributed to why Australia was hit so hard by the Depression, including the fall in exports, the collapse of the world market and Australia's indebtedness.

During the 1920s there was a large unskilled working class as well as many old and sick people who were in need of housing. Amongst the unskilled working class it was not unusual for a man to be unemployed over a long period of time. During the war, real wages had been reduced and they did not increase to pre-war levels until the late 1920s. People from overseas and from country area migrated to the cities and most employment opportunities were in manufacturing, industry or building.

In the City of Ipswich the major problem caused by the Depression was unemployment. The Returned Soldier's and Sailor's League and the Ipswich Distress Relief Committee gave aid to the unemployed. On 21 July 1930, the Mayor, Oliver Perry, detailed in a memo to the Council for their endorsement, the approach to the unemployment issue, the conditions of being granted aid and the list of works to be undertaken. He also noted that while men to be employed must be drawn from the Labour Bureau but that he intended to give preference to married men with families who were also in arrears with their rates. He closed by saying "My one aim was to endeavour to relieve the unemployed in the City, of which there are unfortunately only too many."

In an attempt to maintain the employment level, the Council found it necessary to reduce wages and to ration work. However, even these measures were inadequate. By the end of August 1930, members of the Council recommended that available work for the remainder of the year be rationed among employees in which event they lost one week in three. The Council preferred this course of action to that of dismissing a number of men, which finally eventuated by the close of 1930.

The Works Committee Report of 13 January 1931 referred to the dismissal of Council employees in late 1930. "In connection with the letter from the Returned Sailor's and Soldier's Imperial League of Australia, Ipswich Sub-branch, asking for preference to unemployed soldiers to be given when selecting labour in connection with the grant of 1,800 pounds, from the Federal Government for Relief Work, your committee recommends reply be made stating it is the intention of the Council to employ 40 men for a period of three months, 25 of such men to be drawn from the married employees of the Council who were dismissed at the end of last year, and the remaining 15 to be obtained from the Labour Agent. The men to be obtained from the Labour Agent are to be married men, and those whose names have been longest on his books without employment."

In July 1931, Alderman Berry presented a plan to the Council meeting, suggesting that able-bodied men be employed to work off unpaid rates. Council did not agree with this proposal because of extra funding required, the already large number of relief workers requiring supervision by staff, and legal difficulties.

The Census of 1933 recorded that 1,523 people were unemployed in the Ipswich area, being 1,198 men and 325 women. The major cause of the unemployed (for 1,266 people) was the scarcity of work. Other causes were; illness or accident (117), Industrial Dispute (4), Other causes (25), not stated (111).

Intermittent Relief (I.R.) Work continued in the Ipswich area until 1939 when the Ipswich City and Moreton Shire Council's were advised by the Department of Labour and Industry that cessation of the I.R. Work Scheme was to begin on 7 September 1939. Single I.R. workers were to cease work and the number of married I.R. workers was to be halved. Ipswich Relief Workers were informed that they would be transferred to areas such as Chinchilla, Cunnamulla, Billa Billa and other country centres. A number of Ipswich Relief Workers declined the offer to go to the country areas to work.

In order to absorb some the relief labour the new Government Rural Development Plan was introduced. Part of this plan included work on the Harrisville-Ipswich Road via Amberley. In the City of Ipswich unemployment was the main concern of the Council and they endeavoured to relieve the situation to the best of their ability. Intermittent Relief work commenced in Ipswich in 1931 and continued until 1938 when the Rural Development Plan was introduced.