The four miscellaneous items comprising this series were originally deposited in the National Library as part of the papers of James Henry Scullin. Under an agreement with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 'any offical government papers or documents found in the material' would be passed by the Library to the then Commonwealth Archives Office.
In fact, the material removed from the Scullin papers and transferred to Archives in 1968 is a residue comprising a Department of Information ministerial file and some minor published items (1). The Department of Information file deals with the transfer of the Short Wave Broadcasting Service to the Australian Broadcasting Commission in early 1942 (item 2). Senator the Hon W P Ashley (CP 941) was Minister for Information at that time.
The remaining items in the series include amendments to the Farmers Debts Adjustment Act 1935, a copy of a speech by the Hon J J Dedman (Minister for Post War Reconstruction) relating to Commonwealth aspects of education, and 'Abatement of Coal Dust' by R P Jack (a Commonwealth Coal Commission publication). Although the records were transferred to archival custody in October 1968, they were not accessioned until May 1972.
There is no internal evidence in any of the items to deem them 'Scullin papers' per se. Even a file cover once used to protect item 2, titled 'Mr Scullin's latest statements and speeches on economic position', has been removed since the records came into archival custody (2). It bore no relation to the item contents and was possibly used when the 'Scullin papers' were being packed or unpacked by either Parliamentary or Library staff.
However, the association with the Rt Hon J H Scullin (CP 63) has been retained because the records as a whole were apparently accumulated in his Parliamentary office. The series description was revised as part of the Prime Ministers Papers' Project in March 2002.
End notes:
1) National Archives of Australia, administrative file 1968/428;
2) National Archives of Australia, AA1972/315 Accession Record (form CAO 43)