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The Crash of the New York stock market on 'Black Thursday', 24 October 1929 may signal the start of the depression in the international sense, but the first significant sign of the onset of depression in Australia came in January of that year, the month in which Alfred Charles Davidson became general manager. The failure of a new commonwealth loan-raising in London, combined with sharp falls in the prices of wool and wheat and the fall in export prices by 50%, began a severe financial crisis.
But Alfred Charles Davidson's courageous and far-sighted approach to expand the Bank, played an important part in its future success and Australia's recovery from the Depression.
Davidson's advocacy of a bold initiative to adjust the exchange rate on London downwards from par to £A130 = £100stg in 1931, helped soften the impact of the world depression on Australia and spark the ailing economy into recovery.
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