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.
“It is only because modern labourites and socialists have neglected their own history, and no longer read their theoretical classics, that these strains of liberty, industrial democracy, workers’ self-government, have been forgotten and their lessons for today neglected.”
Mr Santamaria is the most controversial and politically most influential Catholic layman in Australia’s history. To most ALP stalwarts Mr Santamaria is the political equivalent of what Professor Moriarty was to Sherlock Holmes.
Kim Beazley [Snr.] in his Foreword to Michael Thwaites’ 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 middle 1950s.
On 25th May 1871, a small band of men drawn from six unions in the colony of New South Wales formed the Trades and Labor Council of New South Wales.
Published as an insert in the booklet produced for the 110th celebrations of the Labor Council of NSW, J.D. Moore Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Hawke’s supporters are as far as ever from winning control of the Victorian ALP. This emerges from an analysis of the likely effect of the affiliation of Right-wing unions to the Victorian party and is important, given Hawke’s need to expand his base if he is to become Labor leader.
On the left fringe of Australian politics exist several madcap political parties which are fiercely competitive. The Spartacist League of Australia (SpL) and the Socialist Labour League (SLL), each produce a regular newspaper, command the support of a handful of supporters and are continually beset with factional disputes, expulsions, splits and resignations.
On 7th May, the newspapers of Australia’s most influential communist parties, the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) and the Socialist Party of Australia (SPA) carried a joint statement of historic importance and great significance to the labour movement.
Peter Sekuless’ biography of one of Australia’s most famous fellow travellers reveals a gullible personality whose involvement in politics was often pure caricature.