1940s: the Second World War and the reconstruction

The decade began with the globally devastating Second World War. In Australia, the Menzies-led United Australia Government had automatically followed Britain into war in September 1939. The Australian Armed Forces were placed at the disposal of Britain and her allies, leaving Australia relying on its remoteness for security. In 1941, with Japan’s intention to assume the role of chief power in the Pacific, Australian troops were recalled from Europe to defend their island continent.

With almost a million men and women involved in the armed services—about 14 per cent of the national population—Australia needed to marshal its resources as never before. The Commonwealth Government used the powers given to it by the National Security Act 1939 to make fundamental changes to the laws and regulations affecting people’s lives. It introduced daylight saving, brownouts and blackouts in cities and coastal areas, restricted weekday sporting events, issued personal identity cards, rationed clothing and foodstuffs and introduced ration books for shopping. It regulated the profit margins allowed to industry, set prices and wages and allowed for the banning of the Communist Party as well as the right-wing Australia First Movement for their opposition to the conduct of the war.

In Queensland, the Brisbane Line was a fact of life that was ever-present in the minds of people. The decision had been made by the military to defend the rest of Australia against invasion at Brisbane, allowing an invader the rest of the state without a shot being fired. Brisbane became a ‘garrison town’ and its population swelled by more than 100 per cent with service personnel using it as a staging post for the war in the Pacific.

The departure of so many young men to war affected the department’s workforce. Women were actively recruited for service within the department, as were recently retired male officers who returned to their old jobs and were again asked to serve the people of Queensland. During this period, the department was very stable, with little or no building or expansion and with David Gledson as Attorney-General for almost the whole decade. The resident population remained static for almost a decade with Queensland nearing a million by 1940 and only 1.2 million by the decade’s end.

As a result of the war effort, additional powers were given to stipendiary magistrates, specifically under the National Security Regulations. They were called upon to act as executive officers within the Civil Defence Organisation, as well as work with all the material goods needed for the war effort through such bodies as the Liquid Fuel Committee, the Rubber Control Board, Emergency Road Transport and the Services and Allied Works Council. The Public Curator (now Trustee) prepared all wills and powers of attorney for armed services personnel and was, sadly, called upon to administer the affairs of those who died in the war.

After the war, expansion took place in the form of improvements and replacements of courthouses that were run-down or ageing. Only Innisfail, because of a fire, and Chinchilla were built during the 1940–45 period. Among the main effects of this period were the massive migration schemes of post-war Australia. As the traditional sources of migrants from Britain and the Commonwealth were not available in large enough numbers, Australia started accepting refugees and people displaced from mainland European countries. These people were encouraged by means of bonuses and financial incentives to populate the north of the state. With the expanding population, the provision of government services had to follow.

Despite still being the most decentralised of the Australian states, Queensland had experienced a drift of people to the cities as the rural sector became more mechanised and the promise of the high wages in the reconstruction industries fuelled dreams of a better way of life. At the start of the 1940s the population in rural areas was estimated to be about 45 per cent; by the end of the war it was approaching 40 per cent and by the decade’s end it had dropped to about 30 per cent. The increase was due partly to migration targets; certainly, more than 17,000 people had come to Queensland during the period. But with another 15,000 Queenslanders being born and registered during this time with the Registrar-General, the baby boom was well and truly under way.

The department lost its long-serving Attorney-General, David Gledson, on 14 May 1949, when he died while still in office. Gledson had served the people of Queensland for almost 31 years and had held a number of portfolios. He was succeeded by George Henry Devries, the member for Gregory.

With the war’s end and the appointment of a new Attorney-General, Queensland and the department faced an exciting new era. In the post-war world, the state was starting to show glimpses of its potential. Queensland had left its rural ‘plantation society’ mentality behind, with expansion taking place in economic and social terms. Along with the rest of the nation, Queensland had embarked on the journey from the ration card and ‘make do’ mentality of the 1940s to the abundance and materialism of the 1950s.