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The
Stan Kelly Memorial Lecture
The
Victorian Branch Council is the trustee for this endowed lecture,
established in 1977 by Bert Kelly in honour of his father, Stan
Kelly.
William Stanley (Stan) Kelly (1882-1969) bred sheep and lambs for export
as frozen meat, studied Arts at the University of
Adelaide and saw active service
in France during
WWI.
From 1929 to
1940 Stan was what today would be known as a part-time Commissioner of
the Productivity Commission. He was then called a member of the
Commonwealth Tariff Board. Stan’s economics were that
he:
- supported
the Board’s opposition to the high duties on imported goods
imposed by the Federal Government, and
believed
that extreme protection artificially propped up inefficient industries,
invited retaliation from overseas buyers and increased farmers’
expenses.
In 1942 Stan
Kelly was an adviser on primary products to Professor the Commonwealth
Prices Commissioner. Stan focussed on butchers selling meat at
excessive prices on the war-time black market.
Bert (Charles Robert) (1912-1997) was the Federal Member
for Wakefield and achieved fame and a
fond following as the columnist, “A Modest Member of
Parliament’. Bert’s economics were similar to his
father in that he eloquently opposed
protection.
In his
eulogy, Ray Evans explained that Bert was not opposed to protectionism
because it was inefficient, or led to distortions in investment and
trade.
‘Bert was opposed to protectionism
… because it created a situation in which governments, in the
person of ministers or officials, granted arbitrary and capricious
favours to some, who were thus greatly enriched, at the expense of
others, who were at best impoverished and at worst,
ruined.’
Bert paid
for his (economic) purity by being denied those cabinet positions which
his intellect merited, though he did achieve high office as (Federal)
Minister for the navy and for works.
Topic
The trust
deed requires that the general theme of the lectures is to be the
desirability
of maintaining free the channels of trade throughout the
world.
Frequency
The lecture
is to be held every two years.
Archives
To view past Stan Kelly Lectures, please view the Stan Kelly Archive
page.
Agreement
To view the Stan Kelly Memorial Lecture Fund
Agreement, please click here.
Stan Kelly Memorial Lecture 2011
0xFrom the Tyranny of Distance to the Power of
Proximity: Can
Australian workers trade up in the Lucky Country?
Tim Harcourt
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