The 'Seven Dwarfs' epitomise major changes in Australian government administration commencing, in a small way, in the aftermath of the Depression, but gathering momentum with the declaration of war in September 1939 and, subsequently, in leading reconstruction after the war and in the subsequent era of prosperity and affluence.

Government in this era was marked by an expanding role for the Commonwealth government in the life of the federation, entering fields such as education, health and housing which had previously been seen as largely the preserve of the State governments. A key feature of the era was adoption of approaches to economic policy and the role of government in the economic life of the nation based on the ideas and philosophies of John Maynard Keynes. Likewise, in welfare matters, policies in Australia were extensively influenced by the Beveridge report.

Many of the graduates recruited in this period rose to the highest ranks of government and had a profound influence on public policy throughout the 1940s and for a generation afterwards. 

Some of the most famous names are:

• Sir Frederick Shedden, Secretary, Department of Defence
• Sir Roland Wilson, Commonwealth Statistician; subsequently Secretary to the Treasury
• Dr H. C. Coombs, Director-General of Postwar-Reconstruction; thence Chairman of the Commonwealth Bank; later Governor of the Reserve Bank
• Sir Kenneth Bailey, Solicitor-General and Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department
• Sir Allen Brown, Secretary, Prime Minister’s Department
• Sir John Crawford, Secretary, Department of Commerce and Agriculture; then Secretary, Department of Trade
• Stan Carver, Australian Statistician

Physically diminutive, they were dubbed the 'Seven Dwarfs'.

There were many others of comparable intellectual depth and analytical skill such as Dr John Burton, Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir Arthur Tange and Sir James Plimsoll in the Department of External Affairs. Those prominent in the economic field included Sir Leslie Melville, Sir Frederick Wheeler and Sir Richard Randall. And, active at the interface between the Army and Administration, was the elusive team assembled by Alf Conlon.

This conference provides an important opportunity to consider this critical and formative period in Australian history with particular attention to the contributions of leading individuals, personally and collectively.

It enables an examination of the work of these individuals as a group, and to recognise, that among them, there were significant debates about the course of public policy in terms of views about the role of government and competing preferences for the market, government intervention and public enterprise. 

Cost: $110 full; $75 students and concession
* includes lunch, and morning and afternoon teas supplied by Ginger Catering
Bookings: (02) 6125 4146 or ncb@anu.edu.au

The conference is supported by:

National Centre of Biography, ANU
Research School of Social Sciences, ANU
College of Arts & Social Sciences, ANU
Australian and New Zealand School of Government
Public Policy Institute, Australian Catholic University, Canberra
Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
Economic Society of Australia
Australian Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia