The Australian Labor Party (NSW), commonly known as Lang Labor

Lang Labor

Lang Labor was the name commonly used to describe three successive break-away sections of the Australian Labor Party, all led by the New South Wales Labor leader Jack Lang premier of NSW .-Initial opposition to Lang's leadership:...

, was the name given to a major breakaway of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 that operated from 1931 to 1936.

In 1931 Jack Lang

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

, as Premier of New South Wales, announced a policy of foreign debt repudiation, known as the "Lang Plan", to combat the effects of the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. This was contrary to the policy of the federal Labor government led by James Scullin

James Scullin

James Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was...

. As a result, Lang's supporters, led by Jack Beasley

Jack Beasley

John Albert "Jack" Beasley was an Australian politician.-Early life:Beasley was born in Werribee, Victoria, but moved to Sydney with his family as a child. He had a primary education in Catholic schools then became an apprentice electrician...

 and Eddie Ward

Eddie Ward

Edward John "Eddie" Ward , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1931 until his death....

, were expelled from the federal Caucus

Caucus

A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...

.

This led to a schism between the Federal and State executives of the Labor party. In 1931 Lang's supporters voted with the United Australia Party

United Australia Party

The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...

 Opposition in the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 to bring down the Scullin government. At the subsequent federal elections the Lang-controlled New South Wales Branch ran candidates as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales), but they were generally known as Lang Labor candidates. Supporters of the federal party (led in New South Wales by Ted Theodore

Ted Theodore

Edward Granville Theodore was an Australian politician. He was Premier of Queensland 1919–25, a federal politician representing a New South Wales seat 1927–31, and Federal Treasurer 1929–30.-Early life:...

 and Ben Chifley

Ben Chifley

Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...

) were known as Federal Labor candidates.

The elections were a landslide defeat for Labor, but most of the Lang members had ultra-safe working class seats and survived, although Ward was narrowly defeated in East Sydney

Division of East Sydney

The Division of East Sydney was anAustralian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It was abolished in 1969. It was named for the suburb of East Sydney. It was located in the inner...

. (He returned at an East Sydney by-election, 1932). Theodore and Chifley were both defeated, and Federal Labor won only three seats in New South Wales. The same thing happened at the 1934 federal elections

Australian federal election, 1934

Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led...

, when Federal Labor won only one seat (Newcastle

Division of Newcastle

The Division of Newcastle is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. The Division is centred around the city of Newcastle, after which it is named....

).

In 1935 John Curtin

John Curtin

John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...

 succeeded Scullin as federal Labor leader and in February 1936 he brought about a reconciliation with the New South Wales Branch. At the 1937 elections

Australian federal election, 1937

Federal elections were held in Australia on 23 October 1937. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...

Labor ran as a united party in New South Wales.