Playford, John
Description
In writing this thesis my object has been to discuss the
development of the strategy and doctrine of the Communist Party of Australia from 1945 to the present day. I have been especially
interested in showing that the formulation of strategies and the periodical modifications of doctrine were affected by the Party's problems in Australian politics. While being fully aware of the
Party's attachment to the Soviet Union land more recently Communist
China), and to the ideas and influence of the...[Show more] international Communist
movement, my main concern has been to examine it as part of
the Australian political system, the demands of which it constantly
tries to reconcile with the necessity of acting out the international
Communist line.
Having adopted this emphasis, I have not made a detailed
examination of such topics as the mechanics of the Party's internal
organisation, its social composition, its electoral performance,
or its specific policies e.g. on foreign affairs, for their own
sake. These subjects have been treated in so far as they are
relevant to the central theme. Similarly, the doctrinal problems
of the Party have been discussed in terms of their formulation by
Australian leaders such as Sharkey and Dixon, rather than in the
light of European debates on Marxist-Leninist theory. This is justified to the extent that a great deal of the theoretical discussion
and influence in the Australian Party has been limited to the interpretations supplied by this handful of leaders.
In the context of Australian politics, the Communist Party must
be considered an integral part of the Labor movement: it regards itself
as the real spokesman and defender of the working class; its greatest
strength lies in the trade union movement; and its political and
industrial activities naturally bring it into closest contact and
rivalry with the Australian Labor Party. For this reason I have found
it necessary to discuss in some detail developments in the Australian
Labor movement as a whole, such as the Labor Party split of 1954-55
and trade union politics in the 1950s. The emphasis 1 have given to
the Communist Party's role in trade union affairs is determined by
the fact that the Party's main concern throughout the postwar period
has been to defend its trade union positions. At the same time,
its efforts to explore the possibilities of a farmer-worker alliance,
and its use of front organisations to make contact with middle
class groups, have been dealt with where they become important.
Since the Party does not make correspondence, unpublished sources
and membership records available, 1 have been forced to rely primarily
upon the Party press, personal interviews with Communists and ex Communists
and information from non-Party sources. Both the monthly
theoretical journal, Communist Review, and the weekly (previously
bi-weekly) Tribune were used extensively while the Guardians were used to follow local Party events in Victoria and Queensland. The
importance of the Communist press in providing a means of contact
between the leadership and the rank-and-file has meant that it reveals
a great deal of the Party's internal affairs, particularly during
periods of crisis. At the same time, however, it should be noted that
Tribune 's coverage of industrial affairs leaves much to be desired,
especially when dealing with Communist reverses, and that this
deficiency cannot be made good by using the pro-Grouper News-Weekly.
As a result, many non-Party sources have been used to fill in the
details of trade union politics. The pamphlet collections referred
to in the bibliography and the Departmental Newspaper Service (Political
Science Department, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National
University) have also been used extensively. Although they were
used in conjunction with the sources discussed above, Government
periodicals were not very fruitful; the exceptions were the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates and several Royal Commissions
relating to Communism and listed in the bibliography.
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