Suchergebnisse

The only large-scale comprehensive account of an intriguing part of Australia's past.

This article takes as its point of departure early research by the economic historian David Merrett on owner‐occupiers and tenants. In the light of his subsequent explanation of the growth of sources of finance for house purchasers after 1945, it investigates the post‐war housing program of the Commonwealth government with its emphasis on planning, co‐ordination and public provision. Within the larger context of post‐war reconstruction, it argues that the failure of the public housing program provided the stimulus for the spread of owner‐occupation. The failure is explained as the outcome of economic constraints and the shrinking political capacity of post‐war reconstruction.