COMMUNIST INFLUENCE IN AUSTRALIA ORE 9-49 PUBLISHED 11 APRIL 1949

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-01617A003400070002-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2013
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: April 11, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

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COPY NO.
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FOR REPORTS AND ESTIMATES
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COMMUNIST INFLUENCE c.ft
IN AUSTRALIA
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WARNING
This doCument contains information affecting the na-
tional defense of the'United States within the meaning
of the Espionage Act. 50 U.S.C., 31 and 32, as amended.
Its transmission or the revelation of its contents in any
manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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ORE 9-49
- COMMUNIST INFLUENCE M. AUSTRALIA
SUMMARY
The 15,000 inembern of the Australian Communist Party (ACP)
are capable let crippling Australian industry temporarily by means
-of their positions in and control over members of key trade unions
In the fields of industry and transport Because of its considerable
:power within the trade unions, which are the principal source of the
Labor Party's strength, the ACP can also apply indirect pressure
upon the Australian-Government The extent cf direct Communist
influenee within the Australian Government (including the armed
forces) however, cannot adequately be assessed on the basis of ?
inforination now available. to CIA,. .No known Communists have been
elected to the Federal Parliament and only one member of one State
Parliament is a known ACP member. Moreover. the Labor Party,
In control of the Australian Government since 1941, has denounced
Communist methods and principles, has refused repeated ACP offers
to affiliate, and has forbidden Labor Party association with any known
Communist subsidiary. The Labor GolTerninent is currently prosecuting
the Secretary-General of the ACP for sedition, and another ACP leader
was recently convicted on the same charge, .Labor Party leaders in
, the Government, however, have refusc-d demands for the banning of-
the ACP, have been slow to counteract the growth of Communist ?
power in key trade unions, and; in the past have been notoriously,
lax regarding security measures. In justification for. the Government's ?
official attitude, Labor leaders claim a desire not to martyr Communism'
and thus strengthen it., hut rather to defeat it openly with due regard for
civil liberties. ?
. There is no positive evidence of direct contact between the ACP
. and the USSR. however, the SovietEthbassy provides a potential chan-
nel; Most of the present ACP leaders are Moscow-trained; ACP mem-
bers have made numerous visits to satellite couniries, and unsubstan- ?
tiated reports Speak of financial assistance to the ACP from other
Note: The inteMgence organizations .of the.DepartMents of State, Army,
. ? Navy, and the Air Force have concurred in this report. It is based
-
on information available to CIA as of 4 April 1949e.
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Communist parties. The Australian Communists, in turn, have
? supported other Communists hi Indonesia, Malaya,and India. At
home, the ACP employs the typioal Communist techniques for
spreading propaganda. It makes use of "front" organizations
and attempts the exploitation of disaffected groups, chiefly recent
immigrants.
? Criticism by the political opposition at home, coupled with the
impression that the US considers the Australian Government un-
trustworthy from a security viewpoint, have prompted the Govern-
ment to tighten its security system recently. Among other measures,
the Government's security agency, the Commonwealth Investigation
Services (CIS), is being reorganized and strengthened in accordance
with recommendations made by British security experts. The ability
of the reorganized CIS to carry out its mission, however, cannot yet
be assessed.
If the present official and public,trend against the ACP -- as
demonstrated by anti-Communist reaction within the trade unions --
should continue, the power of Australia's Communists may be
significantly lessened. It may be assumed that many Labor milt-
tante who now follow the ACP lines as a tactic in domestic affairs
would break with the Communists if confronted with a wartime choice
between supporting the USSR or Australia. Under these circumstances,
ACP ability to cripple Australian production would be minimized.
' Nevertheless, it is believed that militant influence within the
Labor Party will continue to be a deterrent to a strong Government
anti-Communist campaign and that the ACP is still capable of tem-
porarily crippling Australian production.
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COMMUNIST INFLUENCE IN AUSTRALIA
1, Size, Strength,and Distribution of Communist Party.
The Australian Communiat Party (ACP) has an estimated
membership of 155000. Fully three-fourths of the membership 4,
is loeated in industrial and port areas of New South Wales and -
Victoria, with the majority in New South Wales, In the last gen-
eral election, which was held in 1946, Communist candidates
received only 64,000 out of 4.3 million votes,
The numerical weakness of the party is counterbalanced by
the strategic position occupied by Communists lit Labor unions
where the ACP is reported to hold fairly effective control of
275,000 trade unionists and by interlocking relationships between
? the trade unions and the Labor Party. In recent months, energetic
? opposition by moderates has resulted in a decline of Communist
strength in several key unions, but ACP influence in the movement
Is !till out of all proportion to its size. The ACP exerts pressure
upon the federal and state governments, through Labor Party posts
held by trade union officials and through federal cabinet members
who represent the militant trade unions,
The Australian Communist Party has an operations branch which
plans infiltration and political strategy, and exercises control over
"front" youth organizations. It has well-organized personnel, trans-
port, and supply sections. Its intelligence branch maintains prodi-
gious files on the life history, ambitions, background, and aittivities
of every prominent member of important political groups in Australia.
In addition, this branch reportedly furnishes political estimates and is
said to be in charge of a local Communist Party counter-intelligence
system. All these activities are reported' to be centered in "Marx
House" in Sydney.
The Communist Party has been very active among nationality
groups. In 1947 its influence appeared to be strongest among the
' Czechs In Sydney, the Indonesians in Brisbane and Sydney, Jewish
groups in Melbourne and Sydney, the Russians in Sydney, and the
Italians, Slays, and Yugoslays in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and
Perth. Also in Sydney a sin all Chinese club was organized by Chinese
Communists but has had little influence.
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Dissatisfaction in these minority groups provides the Commu-
nists with a fertile recruiting ground- It should be remembered,
however, that the minorities are small and scattered and that there
are influential anti-Communist organizations among them, particu-
larly among the Chinese, Greeks, Italians, and White Russians. The
Communist-inspired opposition to employment of refugee Baits,
Poles, Czechs, and Yugoslays in the coal, iron, steel, and building
industries has strengthened anti-Communist sentiment among
affected minorities. ?
2. Legal
----- Status,
? ?
The ACP enjoyed legal status from its inception in 1920 until
3une.1940 when it was declared Illegal by the Commonwealth
Government. Following the German invasion of the USSR, and the
resulting change in Communist tactics, the ban was lifted by the
Government in December 1942. While the ACP is at present a
.legal Political organization, its individual members can be prose-
cuted under the Alien Deportation Act and the Crimes Act. The
Alien Deportation Act provides that,, after an inquiry into his con-
duct and 'character, an alien can be deported for such acts as dis-
tribution of Communist propaganda, regardless of hOw many years
he had lived in Australia. Under the Crimes Act', now in force
'throughout the Commonwealth, it is possible for the Government
to.debar ComiminiSts from employment on defense projects, prose-
cute them for work stoppages, leakage of classified information,
bribery, corruption, and sedition, When a member of the Queens- ? '
land Communist central executive committee recently stated in a
public debate that in event of war' Communists would side with
the USSR, he was prosecuted for sedition under the Crimes Act and
sentenced to six months in jail The Secretary General of the ACP,'
Lawrence Sharkey, is now under indictment for a similar war policy
statement.
3. International Contacts.
Although positive. evidence of direct ACP contact with the 'Russian
? Communist Party is lacking at present, a potential channel exists
through the presence of the Soviet Embassy at Canberra. Further,
most leading Australian Communists have received Soviet training
in party techniques and ideology, and some .continuing relationships
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are presumed to exist. The ACP was affiliated with the Comintern,
and it is highly probable that an informal consultative scheme con- ?
tinues with the Cominform. There is also some evidence that the
? Australian Communists have received financial aid from abroad,
perhaps through the channel of foreign travel by known and suspected
Communists, mainly Australian trade unionists. The ACP was
represented at the Commonwealth Congress of Communist Parties
which met in London in 1947. Numerous trips were made to the
satellite countries by known Communists during 1948; points visited
Included Bucharest, Prague, Warsaw, ,and the Soviet zone of occupied
Germany. .
The Pan-Pacific Secretariat, an organization said to link Moscow
with labor unions of all countries bordering on the Pacific; was
. established in Sydney in January 1948, to coordinate pro-;USSR action
by Communist-dominated unions in Australia, New Zealand, Malaya,
. Indonesia, and the Philippines.
? There is some indication that the ACP controls a number of long-
shoremen and seamen's unions in Southeast Asian countries. It is one
of the strongest Communist parties of the region and has extended
assistance to various Independence movements. By admission of the
Party president, the ACP has contributed financial aid to Communists
in Indonesia., Eire, Latin America, India, and Malaya. The relation-
ship between the Communist Parties of Australia and of Indonesia
appears to be particularly closet The Malayan Communist Party, was
Invited to send a delegate to the National Congress in 1948. An unveri-
fied report has indicated that the Australian Communist Party has
extensive radio contacts with stations in Southeast Asia through amateur
radio stations in Queenaland. Communications with nearby areas are
believed to be augmented further by the use of smugglers and seamen,
and it has been suggested that these channels were used in assisting
the Communist military campaigns in Malaya and Indonesia.
4. Participation in Government.
The extent of direct Communist influence within the Labor Govern-
ment is a controversial subject on which there is much conflicting
Information, For example, the US Naval Attache in Melbourne has
reported that the Labor Government is under Communist domination,
with two cabinet members probable Communists and another cabinet
member and the Speaker of the House Communist sympathizers.
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Thercare, however, no IMOVVIII Communists in the Federal Parliament
. and only one state legislator (Queensland Parliament) is a known Patfty
member. The Minister for DefenSe has stated that about forty Com-
munists are engaged in Government service but that they are not in a
position to have access to classified information. The Minister for
Immigration and Information has alleged that there were "many" Com-
munists in the public service. CIA has little information on Communism
within the armed forces. The Labor Government and Party have been
slow to counteract the growth Of Communist power in key industries,
and the Government has been lax In its security measures. Moreover,
Labor leadership has refused Liberal and Country Party demands for
the banning of the Communist Party, and has rejected Proposals of its
Own conservative unionists for legislation preventing Communists and
militants from dominating unions by malpractices. The Government
has refused to dismiss Communists from public service and has hired
persons from competence in spite of Communist affiliations.
. Much of this Labor Party policy regarding Communism, which appears
to be "soft. actually stems from Labor Party tactics rather than from
subservience to Communist pressure. However, Labor Party representa-
tion accorded to militants is also a deterrent to strong anti-Communist
? action. The Australian labor movement has a strong radical tradition,
and the Labor Party's refusal to accede to the banning of the Communist
Party has been based allegedly on the fear that prosecution of the
? Communists would create martyrs and make the Communist Party
more attractive to Labor militants. Labor politicians would prefer
to defeat Communism by the vigilance of voters at the polls and workers
in union elections. Legislative interference with the legality of political
parties and with the conduct of labor union affairs is strongly opposed
by Labor politicians.
At the end of September 1948, the Labor Party Conference a which
defines the policy to be executed by the government reaffirmed Labor's
repudiation of Communist methods and principles and, so that the Corn:
munist influence might be better understood? asked the federal executive
to prepare and circulate a report on the activities and policies of the
Communist Party in Australia. The Conference decided that the Labor
** Reportedly, when Communists are found in the services they are
either released or transferred to the interior where their effective-
ness is reduced.
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Party should intensify its campaign to destroy Communist Party
influence, Labor Party rules provide that no Communist auxiliary
or subsidiary can be associated with the Labor Party in any acti-
vity, and that no Labor branch or member can cooperate with the
? Communist Party. This rule was applied recently by the New South
Wales Labor Party, which declared the Australian-Russian Society
a political body; that is, a Communist front organization. As a
result, several leading labor politicians, including E. I. Ward, the
federal Minister for Transport and External Territories, and Clive
Evatt, New South Wales Minister of Housing and brother of the
Minister for External Affairs, were forced to resign from the
society. Evatt had been its president.
5. Influence in the Labor Movement.
?
Although the extent of Communist influence within the government
Is not clear, the Australian Communist Party is undoubtedly a signi-
ficant factor in the labor movement Communists occupy key 'positions
in 701 the 9. most important trade unions. The strength of Communist
Influence has been demonstrated in a series of large-scale postwar
strikes which have followed a common pattern,
Recent damaging strikes in transport and mining, as well as Com-
munist attempts to gain control of the Australian Council of Trade
Unions (a position which would enable them to influence directly the
formulation of Labor Party policy) have aroused the Labor Govern-
ment and non-Communist trade-unionists. In 1948, a trial of strength
within the trade unions took place in which Communist and militant
leadership was either defeated or stalemated during the course of a
series of spectacular strikes. Early in 1948 Communists met electoral
reversals in several unions, and this trend continues The rank-and-
file of a number of Communist-dominated unions are becoming
Increasingly antagonized by Communist tactics in maintaining controls
particularly the Federated Clerks, the Australian Railways, and the
Building Unions, Unionist members of the Labor Party, the Australian
Worker's Union, and the Catholic unionists are taking the lead in opposing
Communist influence. If the present trend against Communist influence
continues, the power of Australia's Communists to cripple Australian
production may be significantly lessened.
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Communist influence is still strong, however; in the Ironworker's,
Seamen's; Miners,and Waterside Worker's unions, and key posts are
held in other important unions. Communist power at present is suffi-
cient to cripple the entire Australian economy temporarily by stopping
transport and coal production, If confronted with a wartime choice
between supporting the USSR or Australia, however, it is probable
that many militants who now follow the Party line as a tactic in domestic
affairs would break with the Party, thus minimizing, but not eliminating
Communist influence. A definite but undetermined capability for sabo-
tage would remain.
6. Control and Influence in Propaganda Media.
The Communist Party makes extensive use of newspapers and
leaflets, demonstrations; broadcasts, and front organizations. The
Party publishes a weekly newspaper in five of the State capitals. In
1947, the twice-weekly Tribune of Sydney had an estimated circula-
tion of 20,000; the Guaidia?n OnAelbourne 17,500, and the Guardian
of Brisbane 10,000? The Patty also published several monthly maga-
zines, including the Communist .Review as well as many pamphlets
and news sheets. Radio is used extensively, with more broadcasts
sponsored by the Communists than by the other political parties
combined.
Of the many organizations under Communist influence, the Eureka
Youth League, a leading member of the National Youth Association,
Is one of the most important Purportedly welcoming all shades of
political opinion, it serves as a Communist auxiliary with branches
In all States. The organization sponsors various activities, including
sports, discussions, and holiday camps.
Numerous nationality and cultural groups have been organized
or infiltrated by the Communists, most prominent among them being
the previously mentioned Australia-Russian Society of Sydney. The
Society has exhibited numerous Soviet films and sponsored cultural
programs with a pro-Soviet slant. Communist attempts to infiltrate
Servicemen's organizations have failed, however, several groups
Including the Air Force Association and the Returned Servicemen's
League having barred them from membership.
7. Government Security Facilities.
Following extensive criticism by the Opposition and the press, the
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Labor Government has undertaken several major steps to strengthen
its internal security. Most important of these measures is the recent
reorganization of the Commonwealth Investigation Service (CIS) --
the federal investigation agency -- in accordance with the advice of
British security officers. According to latest reportss.the new director
(Geoffrey Reed) will have direct access to the Prime Minister although
the CIS will remain under the Attorney General's department. The
new director has indicated that he will set 'up proper security measnres
for the entire Government and assign a corps of secret agents to each
of the departments..
The CIS has no power to prosecute for violations of security laws.
enne action can be taken only by the Attorney General or with Ms con-
sent. Existing and revised security laws under which pros:tut:ions may
be instituted are: (1) the Crimes Act (See page 3); (2) the Approved
Deiense Projects Protection Act (1947) which provides penalties for
sabotage or attempted sabotage of approved defense projects by vio-.
lences -writing, or speech; and (3) the Aliens Deportation Act (1948)
which increases the Government's authority to deport undesirable
aliens.
in December 1948, Parliament passed the Commonwealth Public
Service Act by which 250 scientists engaged in defense research were
transferred from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) to the Department of Supply and Development where strict
security measures can be applied. Moreover. the Government is
currently sponsoring legislation to reconstitute the CSIR as the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and
to apply screening tests to all personnel.
While the effects of the CIS reorganization and the revision of
security legislation are not yet clears they appear to be a sincere
attempt by the Australian Government to tighten its formerly lax
internal security system. The ability of the CIS to carry out its
missions however, cannot yet be assessed.
8. Conclusion.
The extent of direct Communist influence within the Australian
Labor Governmentincluding the armed forces cannot adequately
be assessed on the basis of evidence presently available to CIA.
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The Australian Communist Party, however, does exert indirect
pressure upon the Government through its influence on trade
union officials who hold posts in the Labor Party and particularly
on militant unions that have Cabinet representation. Operating ?
against this influence are the facts that both Communist and
militant union leadership was weakened in union trials of strength
during 1948 and that the Labor Government is currently bolstering
Australia's internal security. Nevertheless, it is believed that
?
(1) militant influence within the Labor Party, although diminished,
will continue to be a deterrent to a strong Government anti-Com-
munist campaign and (2) the ACP, through its control of key unions
In industry and transport, is still capable of crippling Australian
production before the Government can take effective counteraction.
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U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
364I-STATE-1949
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