The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Origins and Early History

Abstract

The story of the origins of the Commonwealth Bank begins with the influence of English ideas of banking and currency reform on Australian thinking a century ago. It takes the reader through nineteenth-century financial crises, the Labor Party's early determination to control banking, the setting up of credit fonder, and the issue of state notes, to the passing of the Act to establish the Bank in 1911. Next Dr Gollan examines the role of Denison Miller as first Governor of the Bank, and the impetus given to the Bank by its crucial position during World War I. The book concludes with the creation of the Note Issue Department in 1924, an early step towards the realisation of the Central Bank. Not least interesting in this account of power politics and conflicting interests is the author{u2019}s assessment of the part played by King O{u2019}Malley in legislating for the Bank. Apart from its obvious importance to bankers, the book will be of interest not only to students of labour and economic history, but also to the general reader of Australian history.