Focus: The Communist Party Ban

The first communist revolution began in 1917, when the Russian Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace and overthrew the Imperial Duma. Australia's Communist Party was founded in Sydney three years later. Within four decades, Communists had taken control in China, Vietnam and Korea, and were rapidly spreading into Eastern Europe, Africa and Central Asia. The rising tide of communism through Asia was widely feared in Australia, yet within the socialist-leaning Victorian trade union movement, Communism had a significant presence. In 1944-45, Communists had taken over leadership of several leading unions; by 1954 their influence had declined significantly, to the extent that they could be removed from the Labor Party.[xvi] In the midst of this, Trades Hall affiliations with Communism became a flashpoint of controversy when the government attempted in 1950 not only to dissolve the Party, but also ban known Communists from holding leadership in major unions, saying that their movement was “just as authentic and deadly as the communists’ campaign” overseas.[xvii] This focused collection gives a deeper insight into the internal workings of the trade unions, and the ways they used their voice in public debate. By understanding this issue more deeply, we may better understand the Trades Hall’s methods and influence in Australian politics. For more on Australia in wartime, see ‘War and Conscription: Referendums, Returned Servicemen, And The Fight Not To Fight.’ For more on the unions’ relationship to the Federal Government, see ‘Eight Hours: The Victorian Trades Hall, Australian Unions And The International Labour Movement.’