"A veritable dynamo" : Lloyd Ross, the Australian Railways Union and left-wing politics in inter-war Australia

Abstract

This thesis examines the role played by the longterm labour activist Lloyd Ross (1901-1987) in the affairs of the Australian labour movement from his formative years in the opening decades of this century up until the consolidation of the Curtin government in 1942. By this time, although having years of service to the labour movement ahead of him, Lloyd Ross's once close association with left-wing politics (altogether a narrower cause) was at an end. The eldest son of the socialist agitator Bob Ross (1873-1931), Lloyd Ross inherited a commitment to radical politics, militant trade unionism and working-class cultural activities. He was eager to confront social and political problems head on. In 1935, after having served with the Workers' Educational Association for some ten years, he was elected secretary of the Australian Railways Union in New South Wales. In this capacity he soon became deeply involved in Labor Party factionalism and Communist anti-war agitation as well as formulating and pursuing the industrial demands of railway workers. Lloyd Ross enthusiastically accepted Communist Party policy in the era of the united front against fascism (1935 onwards). He preached the gospel of internationalism. However this alliance was sundered in 1940. Ever a 'broad left' man, Lloyd Ross came to reject the renewed sectarian emphasis in Communist thinking that accompanied the Russo- German treaty of 23 August 1939. Following the rupture he managed to stay on in the ARU but an attempt on his part to sustain his radical position was frustrated by the exigencies of his new factional situation. With the Communist Party now alienated, he was obliged to strengthen his links with the dominant moderate wing of the Australian Labor Party. By 1942 this process was fully evident. Lloyd Ross's subsequent involvement in anti-communist politics in the post-war era is surveyed in an epilogue. This connection culminated during the Labor split of 1955 following which Lloyd Ross gradually forsook factionalism, preferring to concentrate on industrial issues. The demise of Lloyd Ross's radicalism is related to structural instability in the inter-war labour movement. The most notable source of this instability is located in the tension between political and industrial forms of radicalism and in particular the divergence between old-style industrial unionism and the political priorities of the Communist Party. The inherent instability that arose with socialist trade union ideologues juxtaposed alongside a workforce containing a strong Catholic component is also highlighted, notably in relation to Lloyd Ross's dealings with the powerful Lang Labor faction. By succumbing to deradicalisation Lloyd Ross aligned himself with the mainstream of Australian labour history, notwithstanding the imprecations of his Communist detractors. After 1940, having rid themselves of left-wing dominance, the New South Wales Labor Party and the Labor Council in Sydney together went on to attain adamantine stability with consequent political dividends still evident today. In this regard Lloyd Ross undoubtedly played a key role in the ideological evolution of modern Australia. Show more