The Single Tax League was a

Georgist Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...

Australian political party The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition. Federally, 16 of the 151 members of the lower house ( ...

that flourished throughout the 1920s and 1930s based on support for

single tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. The idea of a single tax on land values was proposed independently by John Locke and Bar ...

. Based upon the ideas of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

, who argued that all taxes should be abolished, save for a single tax on unimproved land values, the Single Tax League was founded shortly after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and a newspaper, the ''People's Advocate'' was published. The League had pockets of support throughout

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

but none more than on the west coast of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, whose farmers and graziers saw merit in single tax theory. A great proponent of the theory was J. Medway Day ''via'' his short-lived weekly newspaper ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

''. The League's sole parliamentary representative was

Edward Craigie Edward John Craigie (5 September 1871 – 17 January 1966) was a Single Tax League member for the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Flinders from 1930 to 1941. Born and raised in Moonta, South Australia, the son of Scottish parents, ...

, who was elected to the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

seat of

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

(covering the League's west coast power base) in the 1930 state election. Though the party first contested the 1918 state election, the onset of the

Great Depression in Australia Australia suffered badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, povert ...

had led people to seek radical solutions and the manifesto of the League seemed as likely to solve their woes as any government devised plan. Craigie worked tirelessly to have a single tax system instituted in South Australia but faced stiff opposition from the conservative

Liberal Federation The Liberal Federation was a South Australian political party from 16 October 1923 to 1932. It came into existence as a merger between the rival Liberal Union and National Party, to oppose Labor. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of the ...

(and their successors, the

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

), which despised the idea of a single tax, and the Labor Party, which was opposed to the League's

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

stance. Craigie was re-elected at the 1933 and 1938 state elections before being defeated at the 1941 state election, when the ideas of the Single Tax League already seemed an anachronism to most people. The League did not field any further candidates and drifted into obscurity.

References

* ''Plague on Both Your Houses: Minor Parties in Australia'', D. Jaensch & D. Mathieson, Allen & Unwin, Sydney (1999). * ''Barnacles and Parasites'', R. Jennings, Nesfield Press, Adelaide (1992). {{Defunct Australian political parties 1918 establishments in Australia 1941 disestablishments in Australia Political parties established in 1918 Political parties disestablished in 1941 Defunct political parties in South Australia Georgist parties 1930s in South Australia 1940s in South Australia Australian labour movement Libertarianism in Australia Single-issue political parties in Australia