H. C. Coombs
Encyclopedia
Herbert Cole H.C. "Nugget" Coombs (24 February 1906 – 29 October 1997) was an Australia
n economist
and public servant.
, Australia
, one of six children of a country railway station-master and a well-read mother.
Coombs's political and economic views were formed by the Great Depression
, which hit Australia in 1929 and caused a complete economic collapse in a country totally dependent on commodity exports for its prosperity. As a student in Perth he was a socialist
, but while studying at the London School of Economics
he became converted to the economic views of John Maynard Keynes
, and he spent the rest of his career pursuing Keynesian solutions to Australia's economic problems. He never sought public office or joined a political party, but sought to exercise political influence from within as an administrator and advisor.
He won a scholarship to Perth Modern School
, where Bob Hawke
was also educated. After five years there he worked as a pupil-teacher for a year before spending two years at the Teachers' College. He then spent two years teaching at country schools, during which he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree in the University of Western Australia
(UWA), the only university in Australia that did not charge fees at the time. Transferring to a metropolitan school for the final two years, he graduated B.A. with first-class honours in economics and won a Hackett Studentship for overseas study. This was deferred for a year enabling him to graduate M.A., also from UWA, and marry fellow teacher, Mary Alice ('Lallie') Ross at the end of 1931. As a student at UWA, Coombs was elected as the 1930 Sports Council President and subsequently the 1931 President of the Guild of Undergraduates. He then proceeded to the London School of Economics
, where he studied under Harold Laski
, one of the most influential Marxists
of the 20th century. In 1933 he was awarded a Ph.D. for a thesis on central banking.
In 1934 he returned to a teaching position in Perth and combined this with part-time lecturing in economics at UWA.
as a senior economist. He became known as a Keynesian rebel against the classical economic theory
which dominated the Treasury, under the influence of the Melbourne University school of economists led by L.F. Giblin and Douglas Copland
.
The Australian Labor Party
under John Curtin
came to power in 1941, and Coombs found himself in a political environment much more supportive of his views. Curtin appointed him to the Commonwealth Bank board in October 1941. In 1942 the Treasurer, Ben Chifley
, appointed him Director of Rationing, and in 1943 made him Director-General of the Department of Post-war Reconstruction
, a new ministry which Chifley held in addition to the Treasury. Coombs played a leading role in the preparation of the White Paper on Full Employment in Australia
which, for the first time, committed the government to maintaining full employment
from the post World War II years.
Chifley, a former train driver, had no training in economics and came to rely heavily on Coombs's advice. Coombs's closeness to Chifley, and the greatly expanded role of government in the economy during World War II
, made him one of the most powerful public servants in Australian history. His influence grew even greater when Chifley became Prime Minister in 1945.
In January 1949 Chifley appointed Coombs Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, the most important post in the regulation of the Australian economy. When the Liberal Party
came to power in December of that year, however, Coombs's demise seemed likely, but the new Prime Minister, Robert Menzies
, kept him on and soon came to trust his judgement. Menzies was a moderate Keynesian and there were few policy differences between the two men, especially since Australia soon embarked on a long postwar boom and there were few tough economic decisions to be made.
In 1960, when the Reserve Bank of Australia
was created to take over the Commonwealth Bank's central banking functions, Coombs was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank. At the time, he paid tribute to Sir Leslie Melville
by advising the government and others that the best man for the job had been overlooked.
He retired as a public servant in 1968.
in 1954 (named in honour of Elizabeth II
, not because it promoted Elizabethan theatre). In 1967 he persuaded Prime Minister Harold Holt
to legislate to create the Australian Council for the Arts (now the Australia Council
) as a body for the public funding of the arts, and in 1968 he became its chairman. He worked closely with Prime Minister John Gorton
to secure funding for an Australian film industry. He also became Chancellor of the Australian National University
, which he had helped found in 1946.
Coombs's most important post-retirement role was as a supporter of the Australian Aboriginal people. In 1968 he became chairman of the Australian Council for Aboriginal Affairs, set up in the wake of the 1967 referendum
which gave the Commonwealth Parliament power to legislate specifically for the Aboriginal people. He was, however, disappointed that the Gorton and McMahon
governments took up few of the Council's recommendations. He became a close advisor to the Labor leader Gough Whitlam
in the years before Whitlam became Prime Minister in 1972, and largely wrote Labor's policy on Aboriginal affairs, particularly the commitment to Aboriginal land rights. In 1972 he was named Australian of the Year
.
From 1972 to 1975 Coombs served as a consultant to Prime Minister Whitlam, but his influence was resented by other ministers and he found the experience of the first Labor government since 1949 disappointing. He disapproved of the events which led up to the Loans Affair
of 1975 and the dismissal of Whitlam's government by the Governor-General
, Sir John Kerr. He advised Whitlam not to resort to unorthodox means of financing government operations when the Senate blocked supply, but Whitlam ignored his advice. Although he regarded the dismissal as scandalous, his estrangement from Whitlam meant that he took little subsequent part in politics. In 1975 he was chairman of a Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration, whose report was largely ignored by the incoming Liberal government of Malcolm Fraser
.
In 1976 Coombs resigned all his posts and became a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the Australian National University, where he developed a new interest in environmental issues. But Aboriginal affairs remained his greatest passion, and in 1979 he launched the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, calling for a formal treaty between Australia and the Aboriginal people. The idea gained much public support, but neither the Fraser government nor its successor, Bob Hawke
's Labor government, took it up. He deplored the breakdown of the postwar Keynesian economic consensus represented by Thatcherism
, and in his 1990 book The Return of Scarcity he proposed a Common Wealth Estate to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth. He died in Sydney
in 1997.
During Howard government
administration, the "Coombs legacy" in Aboriginal affairs came under increasing criticism. It has been argued that the communal land ownership implicit in Aboriginal land rights was keeping Aboriginal people poor and dependent on welfare by preventing the private ownership of land.
and “the distinguished yet down-to-earth statesman” ‘Nugget’ Coombs.
district of Molonglo would be named Coombs.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
and public servant.
Early years
Coombs was born in Kalamunda, Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, one of six children of a country railway station-master and a well-read mother.
Coombs's political and economic views were formed by 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...
, which hit Australia in 1929 and caused a complete economic collapse in a country totally dependent on commodity exports for its prosperity. As a student in Perth he was a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, but while studying at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
he became converted to the economic views of John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
, and he spent the rest of his career pursuing Keynesian solutions to Australia's economic problems. He never sought public office or joined a political party, but sought to exercise political influence from within as an administrator and advisor.
He won a scholarship to Perth Modern School
Perth Modern School
Perth Modern School is an academically-selective co-educational public high school located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia.The school, established in 1911, now caters for students with high academic ability....
, where Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
was also educated. After five years there he worked as a pupil-teacher for a year before spending two years at the Teachers' College. He then spent two years teaching at country schools, during which he studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree in the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
(UWA), the only university in Australia that did not charge fees at the time. Transferring to a metropolitan school for the final two years, he graduated B.A. with first-class honours in economics and won a Hackett Studentship for overseas study. This was deferred for a year enabling him to graduate M.A., also from UWA, and marry fellow teacher, Mary Alice ('Lallie') Ross at the end of 1931. As a student at UWA, Coombs was elected as the 1930 Sports Council President and subsequently the 1931 President of the Guild of Undergraduates. He then proceeded to the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, where he studied under Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
, one of the most influential Marxists
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
of the 20th century. In 1933 he was awarded a Ph.D. for a thesis on central banking.
In 1934 he returned to a teaching position in Perth and combined this with part-time lecturing in economics at UWA.
Public service
In 1934 Coombs returned to Australia and in 1935 became an economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, then a state-owned bank which served as Australia's central bank. In 1939 he shifted to the Department of the Treasury in CanberraCanberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
as a senior economist. He became known as a Keynesian rebel against the classical economic theory
Classical economics
Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought. Its major developers include Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill....
which dominated the Treasury, under the influence of the Melbourne University school of economists led by L.F. Giblin and Douglas Copland
Douglas Copland
Sir Douglas Copland was an Australian academic and economist.He was born in New Zealand in 1894, the thirteenth of sixteen children. In 1920, at the age of 26, he became Professor of Economics at the University of Tasmania...
.
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...
under 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...
came to power in 1941, and Coombs found himself in a political environment much more supportive of his views. Curtin appointed him to the Commonwealth Bank board in October 1941. In 1942 the Treasurer, 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...
, appointed him Director of Rationing, and in 1943 made him Director-General of the Department of Post-war Reconstruction
Department of Post-War Reconstruction (Australia)
The Department of Post-War Reconstruction was an Australian Government department responsible for planning and coordinating Australia's transition to a peacetime economy after World War II...
, a new ministry which Chifley held in addition to the Treasury. Coombs played a leading role in the preparation of the White Paper on Full Employment in Australia
White Paper on Full Employment in Australia
The White Paper Full Employment in Australia was the defining document of economic policy in Australia for the 30 years between 1945 and 1975. For the first time, the Australian government accepted an obligation to guarantee full employment and to intervene as necessary to implement that guarantee...
which, for the first time, committed the government to maintaining full employment
Full employment
In macroeconomics, full employment is a condition of the national economy, where all or nearly all persons willing and able to work at the prevailing wages and working conditions are able to do so....
from the post World War II years.
Chifley, a former train driver, had no training in economics and came to rely heavily on Coombs's advice. Coombs's closeness to Chifley, and the greatly expanded role of government in the economy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, made him one of the most powerful public servants in Australian history. His influence grew even greater when Chifley became Prime Minister in 1945.
In January 1949 Chifley appointed Coombs Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, the most important post in the regulation of the Australian economy. When the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
came to power in December of that year, however, Coombs's demise seemed likely, but the new Prime Minister, Robert Menzies
Robert Menzies
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
, kept him on and soon came to trust his judgement. Menzies was a moderate Keynesian and there were few policy differences between the two men, especially since Australia soon embarked on a long postwar boom and there were few tough economic decisions to be made.
In 1960, when the Reserve Bank of Australia
Reserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia came into being on 14 January 1960 as Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority, when the Reserve Bank Act 1959 removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank to it....
was created to take over the Commonwealth Bank's central banking functions, Coombs was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank. At the time, he paid tribute to Sir Leslie Melville
Leslie Melville
Sir Leslie Galfreid Melville KBE was a renowned Australian economist, academic and public servant. He helped form Australia's central banking system and gave her a voice in international economic forums in the years following World War II...
by advising the government and others that the best man for the job had been overlooked.
He retired as a public servant in 1968.
Later life
Coombs continued to work following his retirement. He had already signalled his interest in the arts by becoming the first chairman of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre TrustAustralian Elizabethan Theatre Trust
The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust was set up in September 1954 under the guidance of H. C. ‘Nugget’ Coombs, Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, Sir Charles Moses General Manager, Australian Broadcasting Commission and John Douglas Pringle, Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. It aimed to...
in 1954 (named in honour of Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, not because it promoted Elizabethan theatre). In 1967 he persuaded Prime Minister Harold Holt
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
to legislate to create the Australian Council for the Arts (now the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
) as a body for the public funding of the arts, and in 1968 he became its chairman. He worked closely with Prime Minister John Gorton
John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:...
to secure funding for an Australian film industry. He also became Chancellor of the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
, which he had helped found in 1946.
Coombs's most important post-retirement role was as a supporter of the Australian Aboriginal people. In 1968 he became chairman of the Australian Council for Aboriginal Affairs, set up in the wake of the 1967 referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
which gave the Commonwealth Parliament power to legislate specifically for the Aboriginal people. He was, however, disappointed that the Gorton and McMahon
William McMahon
Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
governments took up few of the Council's recommendations. He became a close advisor to the Labor leader Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
in the years before Whitlam became Prime Minister in 1972, and largely wrote Labor's policy on Aboriginal affairs, particularly the commitment to Aboriginal land rights. In 1972 he was named Australian of the Year
Australian of the Year
Since 1960 the Australian of the Year Award has been part of the celebrations surrounding Australia Day , during which time the award has grown steadily in significance to become Australia’s pre-eminent award. The Australian of the Year announcement has become a very prominent part of the annual...
.
From 1972 to 1975 Coombs served as a consultant to Prime Minister Whitlam, but his influence was resented by other ministers and he found the experience of the first Labor government since 1949 disappointing. He disapproved of the events which led up to the Loans Affair
Loans Affair
The Loans Affair, also called the Khemlani Affair, is the name given to the political scandal involving the Whitlam Government of Australia in 1975, in which it was accused of attempting to borrow money illegally from Middle Eastern countries by bypassing standard procedure as dictated by the...
of 1975 and the dismissal of Whitlam's government by the Governor-General
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
, Sir John Kerr. He advised Whitlam not to resort to unorthodox means of financing government operations when the Senate blocked supply, but Whitlam ignored his advice. Although he regarded the dismissal as scandalous, his estrangement from Whitlam meant that he took little subsequent part in politics. In 1975 he was chairman of a Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration, whose report was largely ignored by the incoming Liberal government of Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
.
In 1976 Coombs resigned all his posts and became a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the Australian National University, where he developed a new interest in environmental issues. But Aboriginal affairs remained his greatest passion, and in 1979 he launched the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, calling for a formal treaty between Australia and the Aboriginal people. The idea gained much public support, but neither the Fraser government nor its successor, Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
's Labor government, took it up. He deplored the breakdown of the postwar Keynesian economic consensus represented by Thatcherism
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, and in his 1990 book The Return of Scarcity he proposed a Common Wealth Estate to ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth. He died in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1997.
During Howard government
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
administration, the "Coombs legacy" in Aboriginal affairs came under increasing criticism. It has been argued that the communal land ownership implicit in Aboriginal land rights was keeping Aboriginal people poor and dependent on welfare by preventing the private ownership of land.
Relationship with Judith Wright
In “In the Garden”, Fiona Capp revealed the captivating story of the 25-year secret love affair between two of Australia’s most well-known and well-loved public figures, “the famous poet-cum-activist” Judith WrightJudith Wright
Judith Arundell Wright was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights.-Biography:...
and “the distinguished yet down-to-earth statesman” ‘Nugget’ Coombs.
Recognition
On 2 January 2008, it was announced that a suburb in the future CanberraCanberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
district of Molonglo would be named Coombs.
Further reading
- A.S. Podger (24 September 2003), Trends in the Australian Public Service: 1953-2003 (text illustrations), Australian Public Service Commission
- Gough WhitlamGough WhitlamEdward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
(14 November 1997), Nugget Coombs, The Whitlam Institute - H. C. Coombs, Trial Balance, MacMillan 1981
- Tim Rowse, Nugget Coombs: a Reforming Life, Cambridge University Press, 2002
- Tim Rowse, Obliged to be Difficult: Nugget Coombs' Legacy in Indigenous Affairs, Cambridge University Press, 2000