In 1945, the War Service Land Settlement Act was passed by the Commonwealth Government with the support of all the state governments as part of a broad federal plan for the Re-establishment of Ex-servicemen.
This Act provided returning ex-servicemen with an opportunity to work and run their own farm and by 1949 7½ million acres were acquired by the Commonwealth Government for this purpose.
This was not a new idea. Post-World War I had seen a similar scheme evolved by the states but this was largely unsuccessful. Losses under the post-1914-1918 schemes by 1945 had reached £45 million. In 1929, Royal Commissioner Mr Justice Pike found this failure due to:
• Insufficient capital available for ex-soldiers
• Farms were too small to provide a living
This Act provided returning ex-servicemen with an opportunity to work and run their own farm and by 1949 7½ million acres were acquired by the Commonwealth Government for this purpose.
This was not a new idea. Post-World War I had seen a similar scheme evolved by the states but this was largely unsuccessful. Losses under the post-1914-1918 schemes by 1945 had reached £45 million. In 1929, Royal Commissioner Mr Justice Pike found this failure due to:
• Insufficient capital available for ex-soldiers
• Farms were too small to provide a living