Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist) explained

Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist)
Colorcode:Red
Abbreviation:CPA (ML)
Founders:
Founded:
Headquarters:Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria
Newspaper:Vanguard
Membership Year:1985
Membership: 300–400[1]
Ideology:
Position:Far-left
Colors: Red
Slogan:“For an independent and socialist Australia.”
Seats1 Title:House of Representatives
Seats2 Title:Senate
Flag:File:Eureka Flag.svg
Flag Title:Unofficial flag
Country:Australia

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist) (CPA (ML)), is an Australian communist party founded in 1964. The party's origins derived from a split within the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), stemming from the Sino-Soviet split. The party describes its ideology as being influenced by the works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong and Ted Hill.[9]

The party adheres to what is calls the "iceberg principle": “A few members are seen and open about their membership to allow the organisation to be accessible to the working class, while the membership of the majority remains largely unknown, revealed appropriately as their workplace, community and personal circumstances demand.”[10]

Foundation

The Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist) (CPA (ML)) was formed in March of 1964 by former members of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA).[11] [12] Ted Hill, among an estimated two-hundred others,[8] lead a “Marxist–Leninist Conference” in which the party was formally founded.[13] [14] They also outlined their disagreements with the leadership of the CPA, contemporary issues, and the future of socialism.[13] [14] The party was founded following the split within the CPA, which stemmed from the Sino-Soviet split of the early '60s. The founders of the CPA (ML) (Ted Hill, Paddy Malone, Clarrie O'Shea, F. Johnson) rejected and denounced the leadership of the CPA as revisionist as well as their pro-Soviet position under Nikita Khrushchev, among many others.[13] [14]

First Central Committee Office-bearers[11] [12]

PositionName
ChairmanTed Hill
Vice-ChairmanPaddy Malone
Clarrie O'Shea
SecretaryFrank Johnson

History

1970s–1990s

The party exerted sizeable influence on the militant student movement in Australia during the late 1960s and early 1970s on campuses such as Monash University and La Trobe University in Melbourne as well as Flinders University in Adelaide through their affiliate, the Worker-Student Alliance.[15] A notable leader of the Worker-Student Alliance at this time was veteran political activist Albert Langer.

The party also held considerable sway within the Australian trade union movement from inception through to the 1980s. Clarrie O'Shea was party Vice-President at the time of his gaoling in 1969, which led to an unprecedented general strike across Australia until his release was secured.[16] Norm Gallagher led the Builders Labourers Federation for over a decade, a time during which he was a nationally known and controversial figure. Other party members, such as John Cummins and Jim Bacon were also prominent BLF figures throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In the years following the de-registration of the BLF in 1986, CPA (M-L) influence within the union movement began to decline.

During the 1980s and 1990s the majority of the founding members of the CPA (M-L) died or retired. Ted Hill's retirement in 1986 and death in 1988 left the party without its most recognised public figure.

Current activity

The party ceased publishing a hard copy version of its newspaper Vanguard on a regular basis at the end of 2014. However, it continues to publish a special May Day edition of the paper each year, and releases various other publications periodically.[17] It is unknown how many members the party has as it maintains strict adherence to its founding policy of the vast majority of members keeping their party membership secret.[18] They have had a new website since 25 October 2014.[19]

In June 2019 the party affiliated formally with the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR).[20] [21]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hobday . Charles . 1986 . Communist and Marxist Parties of the World . . 387 .
  2. Book: 11 November 1963 . Declaration of Australian Marxist-Leninists . Foreign Languages Press (reprint) .
  3. Book: May 1973 . Some Articles On Striving For Marxism–Leninism In Australia .
  4. Herouvim . John . 1983 . 'An Alien Association': Australian Maoism and the Communist Party of China, 1971–1977 . .
  5. Lee Ack . Tess . 2019 . The SWAG years: Revolutionary organising in 1970s Australia . Marxist Left Review (MLR) . 17 .
  6. Armstrong . Mick . 2020 . The NSW BLF: The battle to tame the concrete jungle . Marxist Left Review . 20 .
  7. Hill . Ted . 8 April 1966 . All Marxist–Leninists Will Repudiate The Soviet Revisionists . . The Guardian .
  8. Web site: Anti-Revisionism in Australia . . About 200 ex-CPA members, almost all from Melbourne, joined it, including some prominent trade union officials..
  9. Web site: Vanguard Online - Communist Party of Australia Marxist Leninist . 28 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141106143245/http://vanguard.net.au/2008/latestnews.php?subaction=showfull&id=1393312538&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1& . 6 November 2014 .
  10. Web site: Revolutionary Organisation: The Iceberg Principle Explained . . The Australian Communist .
  11. 3 April 1964 . Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist) Founded . . 7 . 14 . 23–24 .
  12. Book: MacIntyre, Stuart . Stuart Macintyre . 2022 . The Party: The Communist Party of Australia From Heyday to Reckoning . . 369 .
  13. News: May 1964 . E. F. Hill's Report To Historic Conference Of Marxist–Leninists – Part I . The Australian Communist . Melbourne, Victoria, Australia . 5.
  14. News: June 1964 . Continuing E. F. Hill's Report To The Historic Conference Of Marxist–Leninists – Part II . The Australian Communist . Melbourne, Victoria, Australia . 6.
  15. Web site: Anti-Revisionism in Australia – Index Page. www.marxists.org.
  16. Web site: Marxist Left Review Issue No.19.
  17. Web site: Publications. www.cpaml.org. 29 June 2018. 29 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180629131137/http://www.cpaml.org/vanguard.php. dead.
  18. Web site: About the CPA (ML). www.cpaml.org. 29 June 2018. 29 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180629130915/http://www.cpaml.org/aboutcpa.php. dead.
  19. Web site: Vanguard Online - Communist Party of Australia Marxist Leninist . 6 November 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141106135857/http://vanguard.net.au/2008/latestnews.php?subaction=showfull&id=1414213234&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1& . 6 November 2014 .
  20. Web site: CPA (M-L) affiliates to ICOR . 9 November 2019 . cpaml.org . Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist) . https://web.archive.org/web/20191207234110/http://www.cpaml.org/posting1.php?id=993 . 7 December 2019 .
  21. Web site: CPA (M-L) affiliates to ICOR . icor.info . International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220122021952/https://www.icor.info/2019-1/cpa-m-l-affiliates-to-icor . 22 January 2022 .