a series of discussions on В«the Australian QuestionВ» and spent considerable time on the closely intertwined issues of foreign policy and the position of the Labor Party. Among those present were the French Comintern leader Andre Marty and the British representative, Robin Page Arnot, as well as CPA Political Bureau members Richard Dixon and Jack Blake. p> To achieve a collective security pact linking the Soviet Union to Britain, the election of Labor administrations in countries of the British Empire was crucial. To achieve this the CPA worked to strengthen anti-fascist feeling in the society generally but in particular to use its secret members in the Labor Party to change its isolationist policy. In early July Dixon addressed the Anglo-American Secretariat arguing that Australia's main responsibility was to work for a change in British policy, which was then both warlike and opposed to collective security involving the Soviet Union. Change was possible because В«the British Government is sensitive to Dominion pressureВ». To В«bring about such a rupture with this Empire front on foreign policy, it is essential to defeat the Lyons government and elect a Labor government В». Dixon noted that Lang's group was dominated В«by the Catholic elementВ» and that this was the reason that the Labor Party had made no declaration on Spain, although the trade unions on the NSW Labor Council had. Dixon summed up as follows:
Just a few words about our views on the question of influencing the Labor Government should it be elected. Our first line is that we expect to bring pressure to bear on the Labor Government through the trade union movement. Secondly, our line is to bring about a plan of getting as many Communists as possible within the LP. The Party in New South Wales has one or two Communists in the LP Executive. In Victoria out of 46 organisations, we have about 34 in which we have Communist organisation. At the same time we are trying to get direct union representation at the LP conference. This would mean we would probably control in the future the LP conference. p> In spite of the CPA's growing successes with this tactic, Andre Marty made a number of wrong-headed criticisms. He began by criticising the strong trade union roots of the CPA though this was the very thing which had given it such strength in the Labor Party. Marty argued that this meant the CPA was tainted with anarcho-syndicalism. В«[T] he whole leadership is composed of trade union functionaries,В» he complained. Anarcho-syndicalism led to a neglect of political work, as opposed to union work, and was one explanation for the lack of growth of the CPA, he said. Marty reiterated Dixon's point on peace and collective security. Australia had the potential to affect global politics through the election of a Labor government which would in turn affect British foreign policy. В«The power of the Dominions - Canada, Australia, New Zealand - Is very high. They must speak and [then?] they can change the policy of the British Government with the help of the British working class. В»In the Pacific, peace through collective security was necessary as a defence against Japanese aggression.
A similar point was argued by another member of the Anglo-American Secretariat, Mehring, who argued that in order to defeat Labor neutralism, the CPA should В«show that Australia is being threatened by the aggression of Japan В». The CPA's later targetting of the export of Australian scrap iron to Japan was to crystalise much of the debate over foreign policy both within Labor and Australia more generally. Bans on Japanese ships culminated in a major confrontation in December 1938 when the CPA influenced waterside workers refused to load iron bound for Japan. Though the iron was eventually loaded, the bitter dispute threw into sharp relief the communists 'policy of sanctions versus the neutralism of federal Labor.
In 1938 the CPA's dual-track strategy of working within and outside the Labor Party began to pay dividends. In spite of the loss of the Labor Daily Lang remained in control of the NSW Labor Party but had led the ALP to another defeat in the March 1938 elections. The Federal Executive of the ALP began to sniff the wind as the power base of the mighty Lang slowly ebbed away. In early 1939 the Federal Executive finally acted decisively. It decided on a В«Unity ConferenceВ» of the Lang and anti-Lang groups to resolve the split. The February meeting of the Central Committee of the CPA was addressed by Hughes and Evans, at that stage nominally prominent Labor figures. In May the CPA executive held a meeting with its Labor Party fraction, which discussed the coming Unity Conference at length. The meeting concluded that the emergence of a parliamentary-based В«centre partyВ» was crucial to the outcome of the conference and resolved to В«strive to the utmostВ» to work with them. I...
