(1987) In Memoriam: Lloyd Ross (1901-1987)
In many ways, Lloyd Ross was the odd man out. In the Australian trade union movement he was the first and only man to hold a Doctorate of Letters and a leading position in a blue-collar union.
(1986) Socialism and the Trade Union Movement
The trade union movement, as Engels once said of the proletariat, has discredited itself terribly at various moments of human history.
(1985) A Note on Labor Leader, 1977-1985
First circulated at the NSW ALP Council Meeting held at the NSW Teachers’ Federation auditorium in September 1977 Labor Leader was unmistakably a NSW ALP right wing factional newspaper, with various attacks on the Left and statements and articles articulating a social democratic approach.
(1983) The Ghosts in the Machines
The chief virtue of Machine Politics is its revelations concerning hitherto difficult to obtain information on factions within the ALP and on trade union affiliations and party membership in each of the state and territorial branches.
(1982) A Purblind Futurology
Published shortly before the formation of the Social Democratic Party, Dr Owen’s book is important both as a diagnosis of the Labour Party and for the impressions he gives of the “Gang of Four”.
(1982) Why Crosland Still Matters
Members of the Labor Party who are not enamoured of the pidgin Marxist rhetoric that often passes for analysis among the Socialist Left would do well to read Susan Crosland’s biography of Anthony Crosland. It is a valuable introduction to the mind and character of her husband.
(1982) Leaders Bewildered by Crisis
Alan Reid’s introduction to the re-issue of Warren Denning’s handsomely illustrated Caucus Crisis contains a revealing memoir of the author of the classic account of the Scullin government and the Great Depression.
(1981) How the Labour Party Works
Studies of the workings of the Labour Party usually concentrate on the workings of Labour Cabinets, the intellectual pretensions of its leaders and the ideological significance of Annual Conference decisions. For this reason most of the literature does not score the tunes to which the party is marching.
(1981) Not All The Truth is Out Even Now
Kim Beazley in his Foreword to Michael Thwaite’s book Truth Will Out comments that the Petrov affair is in the memory of the political professionals rather than the public and argues that it was the performance of Dr Evatt rather than the Petrovs’ revelations that was decisive in shattering the ALP’s electoral standing in the 1950s.
(1981) Shades of Red
Usually the reminiscences of veteran Communist Party of Australia (CPA) members hero worship the Party, report tit-bits of gossip, re-evaluate while conceding a few trifling errors in CPA policy or tactics over the years, so as to enhance the credibility of their story. Consequently such memoirs are boring, to be avoided except as a cure for insomnia.