To our last shilling: the Australian Parliament and World War I

Australians will stand beside our own [Britain] to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling.

Andrew Fisher, The Argus, 3 August 1914

To our last shilling: the Australian Parliament and World War I explores this important period in Australian history from the perspective of the Australian Parliament. The decisions made by the Parliament and the Australian Government – from stopping trade with the enemy to fixing the price of food, from interning 'enemy aliens' to deporting union leaders without trial – affected the lives of everyday Australians.

The laws and regulations of the war period brought security and benefit to some, and fear and loss to others. The pressures of World War I led to the entrenchment of the two party system and increased the power of the executive government – both of which continue today.

To our last shilling is designed to assist with the teaching of the Australian History Curriculum World War I depth study and includes:

• interviews with Australian military and social historian Dr Joan Beaumont
• text pieces introducing the resource themes
• fact sheets exploring each resource theme
• links to primary and secondary resources which further explore the themes

How to use this resource in the classroom

Teachers can use To our Last Shilling to explore key themes about Australia's experience of World War I from the perspective of the Australian Parliament:

• How Australia entered the war
• Parliament and the War: how the war was conducted on the home front:
  
  • War Precautions Act 1914
  • 'Enemy aliens'
  • Unlawful Associations Act 1916
  • Price fixing
  • Trading with the enemy
• What the peace looked like for Australia

Information about the conscription plebiscites of 1916 and 1917 can be found in Other Resources.

Each theme can be used separately or as part of a larger investigation of the topic. Select the content which will work best for your students. For example, teachers may want to:

• Use the short videos in class as an introduction to the resource themes or ask students to watch the videos as class preparation.
• Divide the class into five groups to investigate the 'conduct of the war' subthemes. The groups could then present their findings in a variety of ways, for example by conducting their own House of Representatives Question Time or Senate Committee investigating the Australian Government's actions protecting Australians during World War I.
• Conduct a debate on the outcomes of World War I for Australia – either from today's perspective or the perspective of Members of Parliament in 1919.