Fabian Socialism and British Australia, 1890-1972

In a lecture at the London School of Economics in April 1899, Sidney Webb, the English Fabian socialist, gave his impressions of the Australian federal movement, gathered on a recent visit. He reported that 'great credit was due to Australian statesmen and the public for the way in which, without the consolidating force of foreign war or external pressure, they had hammered out a basis of agreement... The long and patient discussions on all these points had proved a most beneficial education on the Australian statesmen, with the result that at this moment these statesmen were... actually superior to our own in their acquaintance with both the theory and practice of political science.' Sidney admired Australia, not least because he found it so unlike the United States. In particular, he was impressed by the lack of corruption in politics and by the fact that Australian premiers died poor.