Ben ChifleyPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the naming of Chifley Cave as a tribute to the memory of former Prime Minister Ben Chifley who represented the electorate in Federal parliament.

Joseph Benedict "Ben" Chifley (1885–1951) was an Australian politician who was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He became Leader of the Labor Party on the death of John Curtin and went on to retain a majority in both Houses of the Australian Parliament at the 1946 election, before his government was defeated at the 1949 election.

In 1928, at his second try, Chifley won the seat of Macquarie in the House of Representatives, which covered Bathurst, Lithgow, and the Blue Mountains. He was in general a supporter of the James Scullin government's economic policies, and in 1931 he became Minister for Defence. Chifley lost his seat in the 1931 election. After an unsuccessful effort to win back Macquarie in 1934, Chifley finally won his seat back in 1940 on a swing of 10 percent, and the following year he became Treasurer (finance minister) in John Curtin's Labor government. Although Frank Forde was nominally the number-two-man in the government, Chifley became the minister Curtin most relied on. He controlled most domestic policy while Curtin was preoccupied with the war effort. He presided over the massive increases in government expenditure and taxation that accompanied the war, and imposed a regime of economic regulation that made him very unpopular with business and the press.

The Chief Secretary, Mr. C. Evatt, on Saturday afternoon will rename the Left Imperial Cave at Jenolan Caves, Chifley Cave. He will also unveil a plaque dedicated to the memory of Mr. J. B. Chifley, who was Prime Minister from 1945 to 1949.
The Newcastle Sun (NSW),  2 April 1952.

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