The Great Labor Split 1955 Fifty years later - Australian Fabian Society

Conference Details
Dates Friday 15 and Saturday 16 April 2005
Registration
8.30 -9.00am Friday 15 April
Location
Parliament House, Spring St Melbourne.
(For security reasons you must enter
through the main entrance on Spring St.)
Postal Address
National Centre for Australian Studies
Gallery Building
Monash University
VIC 3800
Facsimile 03 9905 5238
Conference Convenors and Contacts
Dr Paul Strangio
Telephone 03 9905 2980
Email paul.strangio@arts.monash.edu.au
Dr Brian Costar
Telephone 03 9903 2274
Email brian.costar@arts.monash.edu.au
Dr Peter Love
Telephone 03 9214 8038
Email plove@swin.edu.au
The Passion of the Times
“But in the election(1954), one fact told heavily against usthe
attitude of a small minority group of members, located
particularly in the State of Victoria, which has, since 1949
become increasingly disloyal to the Labor Movement and
the Labor leadership.”
(Dr Evatt, 5 October 1954)
“For the Honourable member for Gellibrand to say I am
defending Communists . . . is a perversion of the truth . . .
and I brand him for what he is-a narrow minded skunk.”
(Reg Pollard, 22 November 1951)
“If I see something that looks like a duck, waddles like a
duck, and quacks like a duck, then as far as I am
concerned it is a duck-and so with fellow-travellers.”
(Stan Keon)
“Over my dead body will the Catholic Church get control of
the Victorian ALP and the trade unions.”
(Vic Stout, 1954)
“The New South Wales men are prepared to fight to the
last Victorian.”
(Dinny Lovegrove to Frank McManus, 1955)
“Why all the fuss? This will be over in a fortnight.”
(John Cain Snr, February 1955)
“Communist control of trade unions would, if held for 10
years, give virtual Communist control of the Labor Party, and
the party would become a Socialist Unity Party like those in
eastern Europe.”
(B. A. Santamaria, 25 April 1956)
(Sydney Morning Herald, 22 November 1958)
An historic conference
The Great Labor Split 1955
Fifty years later
Parliament House, Melbourne
Friday and Saturday
15 and 16 April 2005
By the Melbourne Branch of the Society
for the Study of Labour History and The National Centre
for Australian Studies, Monash University
“Every Communist and every Communist sympathiser in
Australia wants a victory for the Evatt Party.”
(Archbishop Daniel Mannix, 21 November 1958)
MPS 09/04

A conference not to be missed
2005 is the fiftieth anniversary of the Split in the
Australian Labor Party which shaped Australian politics
for a generation. To recognise and assess the historical
significance of this event there will be a conference in
the Legislative Assembly Chamber of the Victorian
Parliament- the scene of the fall of the Cain Labor
Government in April 1955- on the 15th and 16th
April 2005.
The Split was a traumatic event in the lives of many
Australians : it divided not only former political allies and
trade unionists, but also split Catholic from Catholic,
friend from friend and even rent individual families. It
was a period of high drama, dwarfing even the 1975
Constitutional Crisis for the passions and enmities it
created and sustained for years afterwards.
Speakers
The conference will be opened by John Cain jnr, the son of
the Premier who lost office because of the Split, and himself
the first Premier of Victoria since 1955.
Other speakers will Include
Frank Bongiorno, Cathy Brigden, Frank Cain, Anthony
Cappello, Rodney Cavalier, Brian Costar, Bruce Duncan,
Greg Gardiner, Murray Goot, Jim Griffin, Peter Hausler,
Tim Hayes, Jenny Hocking, Stephen Holt, Noel Lloyd,
Peter Love, Judy Maddigan, Race Mathews,
John Roskam, Malcolm Saunders, Paul Strangio,
Bill Tully and John Warhurst.
Contributions will be welcomed from all attending
the Conference.
Registration form
I wish to attend the Conference
The Great Labor Split 1955: Fifty Years Later
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contact phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Postal address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Topics to be discussed
Papers to be presented will cover the political, industrial,
religious, ideological and personal aspects of the Split.
Much new material and interpretations will be presented in
areas such as:
• the April Fools’ day plot against Evatt
• the role of personalities such as B. A Santamaria,
Archbishop Mannix, John Wren and Frank Hardy
• the Catholic Social Studies Movement
• the Industrial Groups
• the Royal Commission on Espionage
• the nature of the Split in different States
• how the media reported the Split
• the Catholic Bishops and the Split
• the Liberal Party and the Split.
Special attention will be given to the long-term
consequences of the Split including assessments of the
Democratic Labor Party and the ‘closure’ of the Split
with the 1970 federal intervention in the Victorian ALP
and much more.
Other features
• The launch of Brian Costar, Peter Love and
Paul Strangio eds., The Great Labor Schism,
Scribe Publications, 2005.
• Pat Laughren’s Documentary Film The Split: The
Struggle for the Soul of the Australian Worker will have
its premiere at the conference.
For Registration please tick the appropriate box:
1. Full Fee $110
2. Student or concession/Non-wage fee $55
Attach proof of concesion
Student number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tea and coffee will be available throughout both days.
A sandwich and fruit lunch will be provided.
(Vegetarians will be catered for)
Please make cheques payable to Monash University.
Post this form and cheque by Monday 21 March 2005 to:
The Great Labor Split Conference
National Centre For Australian Studies
Gallery Building
Monash University
VIC 3800, Australia
Receipts will be issued at registration on 15 April 2005.