The Great Labor Split 1955 Fifty years later - Australian Fabian Society
The Great Labor Split 1955 Fifty years later - Australian Fabian Society
The Great Labor Split 1955 Fifty years later - Australian Fabian Society
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Conference Details<br />
Dates Friday 15 and Saturday 16 April 2005<br />
Registration<br />
8.30 -9.00am Friday 15 April<br />
Location<br />
Parliament House, Spring St Melbourne.<br />
(For security reasons you must enter<br />
through the main entrance on Spring St.)<br />
Postal Address<br />
National Centre for <strong>Australian</strong> Studies<br />
Gallery Building<br />
Monash University<br />
VIC 3800<br />
Facsimile 03 9905 5238<br />
Conference Convenors and Contacts<br />
Dr Paul Strangio<br />
Telephone 03 9905 2980<br />
Email paul.strangio@arts.monash.edu.au<br />
Dr Brian Costar<br />
Telephone 03 9903 2274<br />
Email brian.costar@arts.monash.edu.au<br />
Dr Peter Love<br />
Telephone 03 9214 8038<br />
Email plove@swin.edu.au<br />
<strong>The</strong> Passion of the Times<br />
“But in the election(1954), one fact told heavily against usthe<br />
attitude of a small minority group of members, located<br />
particularly in the State of Victoria, which has, since 1949<br />
become increasingly disloyal to the <strong>Labor</strong> Movement and<br />
the <strong>Labor</strong> leadership.”<br />
(Dr Evatt, 5 October 1954)<br />
“For the Honourable member for Gellibrand to say I am<br />
defending Communists . . . is a perversion of the truth . . .<br />
and I brand him for what he is-a narrow minded skunk.”<br />
(Reg Pollard, 22 November 1951)<br />
“If I see something that looks like a duck, waddles like a<br />
duck, and quacks like a duck, then as far as I am<br />
concerned it is a duck-and so with fellow-travellers.”<br />
(Stan Keon)<br />
“Over my dead body will the Catholic Church get control of<br />
the Victorian ALP and the trade unions.”<br />
(Vic Stout, 1954)<br />
“<strong>The</strong> New South Wales men are prepared to fight to the<br />
last Victorian.”<br />
(Dinny Lovegrove to Frank McManus, <strong>1955</strong>)<br />
“Why all the fuss? This will be over in a fortnight.”<br />
(John Cain Snr, February <strong>1955</strong>)<br />
“Communist control of trade unions would, if held for 10<br />
<strong>years</strong>, give virtual Communist control of the <strong>Labor</strong> Party, and<br />
the party would become a Socialist Unity Party like those in<br />
eastern Europe.”<br />
(B. A. Santamaria, 25 April 1956)<br />
(Sydney Morning Herald, 22 November 1958)<br />
An historic conference<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Labor</strong> <strong>Split</strong> <strong>1955</strong><br />
<strong>Fifty</strong> <strong>years</strong> <strong>later</strong><br />
Parliament House, Melbourne<br />
Friday and Saturday<br />
15 and 16 April 2005<br />
By the Melbourne Branch of the <strong>Society</strong><br />
for the Study of Labour History and <strong>The</strong> National Centre<br />
for <strong>Australian</strong> Studies, Monash University<br />
“Every Communist and every Communist sympathiser in<br />
Australia wants a victory for the Evatt Party.”<br />
(Archbishop Daniel Mannix, 21 November 1958)<br />
MPS 09/04
A conference not to be missed<br />
2005 is the fiftieth anniversary of the <strong>Split</strong> in the<br />
<strong>Australian</strong> <strong>Labor</strong> Party which shaped <strong>Australian</strong> politics<br />
for a generation. To recognise and assess the historical<br />
significance of this event there will be a conference in<br />
the Legislative Assembly Chamber of the Victorian<br />
Parliament- the scene of the fall of the Cain <strong>Labor</strong><br />
Government in April <strong>1955</strong>- on the 15th and 16th<br />
April 2005.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Split</strong> was a traumatic event in the lives of many<br />
<strong>Australian</strong>s : it divided not only former political allies and<br />
trade unionists, but also split Catholic from Catholic,<br />
friend from friend and even rent individual families. It<br />
was a period of high drama, dwarfing even the 1975<br />
Constitutional Crisis for the passions and enmities it<br />
created and sustained for <strong>years</strong> afterwards.<br />
Speakers<br />
<strong>The</strong> conference will be opened by John Cain jnr, the son of<br />
the Premier who lost office because of the <strong>Split</strong>, and himself<br />
the first Premier of Victoria since <strong>1955</strong>.<br />
Other speakers will Include<br />
Frank Bongiorno, Cathy Brigden, Frank Cain, Anthony<br />
Cappello, Rodney Cavalier, Brian Costar, Bruce Duncan,<br />
Greg Gardiner, Murray Goot, Jim Griffin, Peter Hausler,<br />
Tim Hayes, Jenny Hocking, Stephen Holt, Noel Lloyd,<br />
Peter Love, Judy Maddigan, Race Mathews,<br />
John Roskam, Malcolm Saunders, Paul Strangio,<br />
Bill Tully and John Warhurst.<br />
Contributions will be welcomed from all attending<br />
the Conference.<br />
Registration form<br />
I wish to attend the Conference<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Labor</strong> <strong>Split</strong> <strong>1955</strong>: <strong>Fifty</strong> Years Later<br />
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Organisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Contact phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Postal address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Topics to be discussed<br />
Papers to be presented will cover the political, industrial,<br />
religious, ideological and personal aspects of the <strong>Split</strong>.<br />
Much new material and interpretations will be presented in<br />
areas such as:<br />
• the April Fools’ day plot against Evatt<br />
• the role of personalities such as B. A Santamaria,<br />
Archbishop Mannix, John Wren and Frank Hardy<br />
• the Catholic Social Studies Movement<br />
• the Industrial Groups<br />
• the Royal Commission on Espionage<br />
• the nature of the <strong>Split</strong> in different States<br />
• how the media reported the <strong>Split</strong><br />
• the Catholic Bishops and the <strong>Split</strong><br />
• the Liberal Party and the <strong>Split</strong>.<br />
Special attention will be given to the long-term<br />
consequences of the <strong>Split</strong> including assessments of the<br />
Democratic <strong>Labor</strong> Party and the ‘closure’ of the <strong>Split</strong><br />
with the 1970 federal intervention in the Victorian ALP<br />
and much more.<br />
Other features<br />
• <strong>The</strong> launch of Brian Costar, Peter Love and<br />
Paul Strangio eds., <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Labor</strong> Schism,<br />
Scribe Publications, 2005.<br />
• Pat Laughren’s Documentary Film <strong>The</strong> <strong>Split</strong>: <strong>The</strong><br />
Struggle for the Soul of the <strong>Australian</strong> Worker will have<br />
its premiere at the conference.<br />
For Registration please tick the appropriate box:<br />
1. Full Fee $110 <br />
2. Student or concession/Non-wage fee $55 <br />
Attach proof of concesion<br />
Student number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .<br />
Tea and coffee will be available throughout both days.<br />
A sandwich and fruit lunch will be provided.<br />
(Vegetarians will be catered for)<br />
Please make cheques payable to Monash University.<br />
Post this form and cheque by Monday 21 March 2005 to:<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Labor</strong> <strong>Split</strong> Conference<br />
National Centre For <strong>Australian</strong> Studies<br />
Gallery Building<br />
Monash University<br />
VIC 3800, Australia<br />
Receipts will be issued at registration on 15 April 2005.