In 1931 the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster. For all practical purposes this statute granted legislative independence to the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire, which at the time basically meant Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland. The gist of this very famous statute was that the UK Parliament could no longer legislate for a Dominion without its consent. They were of equal status to the UK. And of these old Dominions, Canada and Australia were the glittering stars. These two countries had everything before them. They went on to perform brilliantly in World War II. Their post-war fortunes included producing some of the highest standards of living on Earth as well as being amongst the most free. Even as late as 2015 Canada’s two richest provinces were, in per capita terms, comparable to the top 10 of US states. And Australia had comparatively cheap electricity, low debt and high per capita wealth.
