The First Dismissal – Part One: The Last Days of Jack Lang

Forgotten Australia

On this day 90 years ago, firebrand NSW Premier Jack Lang was sacked by Governor Sir Phillip Game.

In this first of two instalments, we look at Lang's early life and business career, the scandalous aspect of his personal life and his embrace of the White Australia policy, his political rise and the massive opposition he faced from his own party, from big business, from the newspapers and from the fascist New Guard. Then, in early May 1932, during the worst of the Great Depression, Lang's collision with the Commonwealth government threatened chaos and civil violence.

But it would be one forgotten man who actually brought about Lang's downfall.

In part two, The First Dismissal: The Public Servant Who Toppled the Premier, we'll explore the role played in Lang's dismissal by Robert Beardsmore. Usually he's written in and out of the story in a sentence or two, and if there's any elaboration it's to characterise him as a faceless public servant who merely did his duty. But we're taking a deep dive into the background and potential motivations of a man who – between 1900 and 1932 – was like the Forrest Gump of Australian history.

Part 2 will be available early next week for Patreon supporters and be on general release on 20 May. To support the show: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

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