Communist Party of Australia

{{Short description|Political party in Australia (1920–1991)}} {{About|the first Communist Party of Australia (1920–1991)|the party founded in 1964|Communist Party of Australia (Marxist–Leninist)|the party founded in 1971 as the Socialist Party of Australia|Communist Party of Australia (1971)}} {{redirect|Eureka Youth League|the Eureka Youth League founded in 2010|Australia First Party#Patriotic/Eureka Youth League}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2013}} {{Infobox political party | name = Communist Party of Australia<br>{{small|(1920–1944; 1951–1991)}}<hr />Australian Communist Party<br>{{small|(1944–1951)}} | logo = Colourised version of the logo used by the CPA.svg | logo_size = | caption = | colorcode = {{Australian politics/party colours|Communist}} | abbreviation = {{hlist|CPA|ACP}} | presidium = | governing_body = | leader1_title = | leader1_name = | leader2_title = | leader2_name = | founder = Jock Garden<br>Tom Walsh<br>William Earsman<br>Adela Pankhurst<br>Christian Jollie Smith<br>Katharine Susannah Prichard | founded = 30 October 1920 | banned = 15 June 1940<ref name=GovAU>{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/content/HistoricGazettes1940 |title=Government Notices Gazette, No. 110 |last= |first= |date=15 June 1940 |website= |publisher=Australian Government Gazette |access-date=}}</ref><ref name=UMLR>{{cite journal |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/MelbULawRw/1992/6.html |title=The Significance of the Communist Party Case |last=Winterton |first=George |date=1992 |journal=Melbourne University Law Review }}</ref> | registered = 19 October 1984<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/Party_Registration/Deregistered_parties/Com_pa.htm |title=Communist Party of Australia |last= |first= |date= |website=aec.gov.au |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) }}</ref> | legalised = 18 December 1942<ref name=UMLR/><ref name=Macintyre>{{cite book |last=Macintyre |first=Stuart |author-link= |date=1 February 2022 |title=The Party: The Communist Party of Australia From Heyday to Reckoning |url=|location= |publisher=Allen & Unwin |page=103 |isbn=978-1-76087-518-3}}</ref> | dissolved = {{plainlist| * 3 March 1991 (dissolved)<ref name=PeopleChamp>{{cite book |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Ross |date=1997 |title=The People's Champion Fred Paterson: Australia's Only Communist Party Member of Parliament |url=|publisher=University of Queensland Press |page= }}</ref> }} | split = | predecessor = | merged = | successor = Socialist Party of Australia (1971){{efn|Breaking away in 1971, the Socialist Party renamed to the ''Communist Party of Australia'' in 1996, five years after the dissolution of its predecessor.}} | headquarters = Marx House, Sydney{{efn|The headquarters of the Communist Party had moved several times of the course of the party's history, however the location at the time of its peak membership, and activity, was "Marx House", Sydney.}} | newspaper = {{plainlist| *{{nowrap|{{*}} ''The Australian Communist''}} *{{*}} ''The Communist'' *{{*}} ''Workers' Weekly'' *{{*}} ''Tribune'' }} | think_tank = | student_wing = | youth_wing = Eureka Youth League | womens_wing = | wing1_title = Paramilitary wing | wing1 = Workers' Defence Corps (1929–1935) | wing2_title = | wing2 = | membership_year = 1945 | membership = 22,052<ref name=hobday>{{cite book |last1=Hobday |first1=Charles |date=1986 |title=Communist and Marxist Parties of the World |url=|publisher=Longman |pages=386–387 }}</ref><ref name=Macintyre/> | ideology = {{plainlist| * '''Before 1971:''' * Communism * Marxism–Leninism * '''After 1971:'''<ref name=hobday/> * Anti-Stalinism * Eurocommunism<ref name=hobday/> }} | position = {{plainlist| * '''Before 1971:''' * Far-left * '''After 1971:''' * Left-wing }} | national = | regional = | international = Comintern (1921–1943) | blank1_title = Party branches | blank1 = Queensland | affiliation1_title = | affiliation1 = | affiliation2_title = | affiliation2 = | colours = {{color box|{{Australian politics/party colours|Communist}}|border=darkgray}} Red | slogan = "All power to the workers" | anthem = The Internationale | seats1_title = Queensland Parliament | seats1 = {{composition bar|1|62|hex={{Australian politics/party colours|Communist}}}}(1944–1950) | seats2_title = | seats2 = | symbol = | flag = A de facto flag used by the CPA.svg | flag_title = ''De facto'' flag used in the 1940s–50s | flag_alt = | website = | country = Australia }} {{Australian socialism}} {{Labour politics in Australia}} The '''Communist Party of Australia''' ('''CPA'''), known as the '''Australian Communist Party''' ('''ACP''') from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian communist party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been in a steady decline since its peak in 1945. Like most communist parties in the West, the party was heavily involved in the labour movement and the trade unions. Its membership, popularity and influence grew significantly during most of the interwar period before reaching its climax in 1945, where the party achieved a membership of slightly above 22,000 members. At its peak it was the largest communist party in the Anglophone countries on a population basis, and held industrial strength greater than the parties of "India, Latin America, and most of Western Europe".<ref name=Macintyre/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Claudin |first1=Fernando |title=The Communist Movement from Comintern to Cominform |date=1975 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=0853454000}}</ref>

Although the party did not achieve a federal MP, Fred Paterson was elected to the Parliament of Queensland (for Bowen) at the 1944 state election. He won re-election in 1947 before the seat was abolished. The party also held office in over a dozen local government areas across New South Wales and Queensland.

After nineteen years of activity, the CPA was formally banned on 15 June 1940 under the relatively new Menzies government (1939–1941).<ref name=GovAU/><ref name=UMLR/> The party was banned under the ''National Security (Subversive Associations) Regulations 1940''. Two-and-a-half years later, the party was again a lawful organisation.<ref name=Macintyre/> When the party contested the federal election eight months later, it received its biggest vote total. Getting a total of 81,816 votes (1.93–2.00%), the party received over 20,000 in Victoria and Queensland, and over 19,000 in New South Wales.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barber |first1=Stephen |title=Federal election results 1901–2016—Reissue #2 |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/5359594/upload_binary/5359594.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/5359594%22 |website=parlinfo.aph.gov.au |publisher=Parliamentary Library of Australia}}</ref> It was the party's biggest vote total since the 1934 federal election. However, by the late 1960s the party fell into single digit numbers before a brief spike in the mid 1970s. In the mid-to-late 1980s, the party was effectively stagnant and was dissolved in 1989.<ref>Michelle Grattan 'The Rise of Labor and the Right', Melbourne ''Age'' 26 December 1989 p. 11</ref> To the present, the party is the fourth-oldest political party in Australian political history since Federation, lasting for {{ayd|30 October 1920|1 March 1991}}.

==History==

===Foundation and early years=== [[File:Jockgarden.jpg|thumb|Jock Garden, Communist Party of Australia co-founder in 1920]] [[File:Pankhurst-adela.jpg|thumb|Adela Pankhurst, Communist Party of Australia co-founder in 1920]]

The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) was founded at the Australian Socialist Party Hall in Sydney on 30 October 1920<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharkey |first1=L. L. |author-link1=Lance Sharkey |date=December 1944 |title=An Outline History of the Australian Communist Party |url=https://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/objects/pdf/d0037.pdf |publisher=Australian Communist Party |page=17 |quote=The formation of the Communist Party (October 30, 1920) was one of decisive revolutionary acts of the Australian working class. }}</ref><ref name=Davidson>{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alastair |date=1969 |title=The Communist Party of Australia: A Short History |url=https://archive.org/details/communistpartyof0000davi |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |page=3 |isbn=978-0-8179-3261-9 |quote=On 30 October 1920 twenty-six men and women gathered at the Australian Socialist Party Hall in Sydney and formed the Communist Party of Australia. Less than half those invited to the meeting had come. }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sharkey, L. L. |date=27 October 1954 |title=34th Anniversary of the Communist Party of Australia |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/22667751?searchTerm=Communist%20Party%20of%20Australia |issue=867 |publisher=Tribune |page=6 |access-date=21 September 2020 |via=Trove|author1-link=Lance Sharkey }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=31 October 1951 |title=Communist Party of Australia was born Thirty-One Years Ago |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/22665908?searchTerm=Communist%20Party%20of%20Australia%20New%20General%20Secretary |work=Tribune |access-date=21 September 2020}}</ref> socialists inspired by reports of the Russian Revolution. The estimates for attendees at the founding ranges from below thirteen (Alistair Davidson)<ref name=Davidson/> to twenty-six (Stuart Macintyre).<ref name=mac-allen>{{cite book |last=Macintyre |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart Macintyre |date=1999 |title=The Reds: The Communist Party of Australia from origins to illegality |url= |publisher=Allen & Unwin |page=1 |isbn=978-17610-6369-5 }}</ref> Sixty invitations were issued.<ref name=mac-allen/> Groups included the Australian Socialist Party (ASP), some members from the Victorian Socialist Party (although the party itself did not join), as well as a variety of militant trade unionists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Percy |first1=John |title=A History of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance, Volume 1 |page=24}}</ref> Among the party's founders were prominent Sydney trade unionists, Jock Garden, Tom Walsh, and William Paisley Earsman,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/earsman-william-paisley-6079|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|chapter=Earsman, William Paisley (1884–1965) |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University}}</ref> and suffragettes and anti-conscriptionists including Adela Pankhurst (daughter of the British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst), Christian Jollie Smith and Katharine Susannah Prichard.{{sfn|Bennett|2004|p=85}}

Most of the then illegal Australian section of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) joined, but the IWW soon left the Communist Party, with its original members, over disagreements with the direction of the Soviet Union and Bolshevism. In its early years, mainly through Garden's efforts, the party achieved some influence in the trade union movement in New South Wales, but by the mid-1920s it had dwindled to an insignificant group.

A visits to the 1924 New Zealand conference by CPA executive members Hetty and Hector Ross got the (also small) Communist Party of New Zealand (CPNZ) agreeing to temporary affiliation with the CPA, and were followed by visits in 1925 by Harry Quaife, and by Norman Jeffery a bow-tie wearing former "Wobbly" (IWW member).{{sfn|Bennett|2004|p=84}}

Garden and other communists were expelled from the Labor Party (ALP) in 1924. The CPA ran candidates including Garden (for Sydney)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tracey |first1=Paul |date= |title=Jock Garden: A Reassessment |url=https://www.labourhistory.org.au/hummer/vol-2-no-9/jock-garden/ |website=labourhistory.org.au |publisher=Australian Society for the Study of Labour History }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author-link=Antony Green |last1=Green |first1=Antony |date= |title=1925 New South Wales election – Sydney |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/electionresults18562007/1925/Sydney.htm |website=parliament.nsw.gov.au }}</ref> at the 1925 New South Wales state election in working-class seats against the ALP but was decisively defeated. This prompted Garden to leave the party in 1926 and return to the Labor Party. The leadership of the party went to Jack Kavanagh, an experienced Canadian communist activist who had moved to Australia in 1925, and Esmonde Higgins, a talented Melbourne journalist who was the nephew of then-High Court Justice, H. B. Higgins.

In 1929 the party leadership fell into disfavour with the Communist International (Comintern), which under orders from Joseph Stalin had taken a turn to radical revolutionary rhetoric (the so-called "Third Period"). After allowing party member Bert Moxon in Queensland to organise Communist candidates for the 1929 Queensland state election, the CPA leadership refused to do the same for the 1929 Australian federal election and instead supported the ALP, leading the Comintern to denounce the party's relationship to the ALP as 'opportunist'. In December 1929, a new party leadership including Moxon, Jack Miles, Lance Sharkey and Richard Dixon was elected in response to these denunciations, and began a period of strict centralisation and obedience to Moscow. Kavanagh was expelled in 1930 and Higgins resigned, and an emissary of the Comintern, the American communist Harry M. Wicks, was sent to correct the party's perceived errors. Though Moxon was removed as national secretary by the end of 1930 and later expelled from the party's central committee entirely, Miles and then Sharkey would lead the party until 1965.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/our-unswerving-loyalty |title=Our unswerving loyalty: a documentary survey of relations between the Communist Party of Australia and Moscow, 1920-1940 |date=2008 |publisher=ANU E Press |isbn=978-1-921313-96-7 |editor-last=Lovell |editor-first=David W. |location=Canberra |pages=271–276 |chapter=Moscow takes command: 1929–1937 |doi=10.22459/OUL.08.2008 |doi-access=free |editor-last2=Windle |editor-first2=Kevin |chapter-url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p64061/pdf/section03.pdf}}</ref>

In the 1930s, the CPA began a campaign to create mass organisations to organise militancy in the working-class, known as 'fraternal organisations' or 'fronts'. These organisations were nominally independent of the party and often included prominent non-communist office-holders, but were dominated by the CPA and its members who served as the organisers for them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macintyre |first=Stuart |title=The Party: The Communist Party of Australia from Heyday to Reckoning |date=2022 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=978-1-76087-518-3 |location=Sydney |page=27}}</ref> Among these was the Unemployed Workers Movement, founded in 1930, which at its height had 30,000 members and was infamous nationally for its anti-eviction campaign in Sydney.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wheatley |first=Nadia |date=2013 |title=The unemployed who kicked: a study of the political struggles and organisations of the New South Wales unemployed in the Great Depression |url=https://libcom.org/article/unemployed-who-kicked-study-political-struggles-and-organisations-new-south-wales-0 |journal=Macquarie University |via=Libcom.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wheatley |first=Nadia |title=Sydney's anti-eviction movement: community or conspiracy? |date=2001 |publisher=University of Wollongong Press |isbn=0947127038 |pages=146–173}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=MacIntyre |first=Ian |date=2008 |title=Lock Out The Landlords: Australian Anti-Eviction Resistance 1929-1936 |url=https://archive.org/details/LockOutTheLandlords/page/n1/mode/2up |website=The Commons Social Change Library}}</ref>

During this period the party experienced some growth, particularly after 1935 when the Comintern changed its policy in favour of a "united front against fascism". The Movement Against War and Fascism (MAWF) was founded to bring together all opponents of fascism under a communist controlled umbrella organisation. The movement instigated the events which led to the attempted exclusion of Egon Kisch from Australia in late 1934 and early 1935. Alongside this, the CPA formed the Workers Defence Corps (WDC).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Andrew |date=2005 |title=The New Guard and the Labour Movement, 1931–35 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |journal=Labour History |issue=89 |pages=55–72 |doi=10.2307/27516075 |jstor=27516075 |issn=0023-6942 |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=20 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020121430/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27516075 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The CPA was the first Australian political party to make a commitment to Aboriginal rights, which were included in its manifesto from 1931 onwards. The CPA, discussing in great detail the abuses suffered by Aboriginals, published a lengthy list of demands, calling for "full economic, political and social rights" for Aboriginal people.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 September 1931 |title=Communist Party s fight tor Aborigines |work=Workers' Weekly |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article209418403 |access-date=25 November 2023}}</ref>

===Rise during World War II and the Labor United Front===

The Communist Party began to win positions in trade unions during the 1930s, with party members taking the national leadership of the Federated Ironworkers' Association, the Miners' Federation and the Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF), as well as positions in other smaller unions or regional branches. At the same time, only a small minority of union members were themselves communists so these officials relied on the support of other militant unionists and the broader membership to maintain and exercise leadership, and the CPA's parliamentary candidates nearly always polled poorly at elections. The party also set up an organization of the unemployed to resist evictions. Activists from the party joined the International Brigades to defend the Second Republic against Francisco Franco's troops, and instigated an industrial campaign by the WWF to ban shipments of scrap iron to Japan in 1938.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacIntyre |first=Stuart |title=The Party: The Communist Party of Australia from heyday to reckoning |date=2022 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=978-1-76087-518-3 |location=Crows Nest, NSW |pages=31–33}}</ref> Throughout this time, members of the CPA were under constant surveillance by police and intelligence forces and harassed by the courts.<ref name="jacobinmag.com">{{Cite web|url=https://jacobinmag.com/2020/10/communist-party-of-australia-centenary-history|title = Happy 100th Birthday to the Communist Party of Australia}}</ref>

In 1939, after Soviet efforts to contain Nazi aggression through co-operation and alliance with France and Britain were rejected by the French and British, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a Non-Aggression Treaty. Despite ideological opposition between the countries, the USSR agreed not to engage in hostilities against Germany at the outbreak of World War II (Australia declared war on Nazi Germany for invading Poland). Consequently, the Communist Party of Australia opposed and sought to disrupt Australia's war effort against Germany in the early stages of the war under orders of the Comintern on the grounds that it was a war between imperialist nations, and not in the interests of the working class. Menzies banned the CPA after the fall of France in 1940, but by 1941 Stalin was forced to join the allied cause when Hitler reneged on the Pact and invaded the USSR. The USSR came to bear the brunt of the carnage of Hitler's war machine and the Communist Party in Australia lost its early war stigma as a result.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beaumont|first=Joan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNXsy27cLSIC&q=communist+party+of+australia+opposed+australian+war+effort&pg=PA94|title=Australia's war 1939-1945|pages=94–95|publisher=Allen & Unwin|year=1996|isbn=9781864480399}}</ref> thumb|right|Women members of the Communist Party leading the May Day march in Brisbane, 1944.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union, the CPA shifted towards a collaborative United front approach to the Labor Party to fully support the Australian war effort against fascism. Party members held discussions with senior Labor ministers following the Curtin government entering office in 1941, pledging to provide full support to mobilise resources for the war effort.<ref name=Macintyre/> The CPA supported calls for conscription, increased working hours, condemned strike action in war industries, and minimised criticism of John Curtin and his government.<ref name=Macintyre/> By 1942, the Curtin government legalised the CPA, exempted communist trade union and party officials from conscription, and provided the party's newspaper Tribune with a 'generous newsprint allocation' under wartime paper rationing.<ref name=Macintyre/>

During the united front period, the CPA's membership rose to 20,000, it won control of a number of important trade unions, and a Communist candidate, Fred Paterson, was elected to the Queensland parliament. The Communist Party achieved a majority of seats in the New South Wales' Kearsley Shire from 1944 to 1947.<ref name="redshire">{{cite journal |last1=Mowbray |first1=Martin |title=The Red Shire of Kearsley, 1944–1947: Communists in Local Government |journal=Labour History |date=1986 |issue=51 |pages=83–94 |doi=10.2307/27508799|jstor=27508799 }}</ref> The Shire was committed to municipal socialism, advocating nationalisation of electricity and the expansion of the social wage, and was unique for its commitment to activism around federal and international affairs.<ref name="redshire"/> But the party remained marginal to the Australian political mainstream. The Australian Labor Party remained the dominant party of the Australian left.

===Postwar=== After 1945 and the onset of the Cold War, the party entered a steady decline. Following the new line from Moscow, and believing that a new "imperialist war" and a new depression were imminent, and that the CPA should immediately contest for leadership of the working class with the Australian Labor Party, the CPA launched an industrial offensive in 1947, culminating in a prolonged strike in the coal mines in 1949. The Chifley Labor government saw this as a communist challenge to its position in the labour movement, and used the army and strikebreakers to break the strike. The Communist Party never again held such a strong position in the union movement.

thumb|Police raid, Marx House, Communist Party Headquarters, Sydney, 8 July 1949

In 1949, Victoria commenced a 154-day royal commission into the state branch of the CPA, the USSR detonated its first atomic bomb and Mao Zedong gained control in China. A year later, North Korea invaded South Korea and in 1951, during the Korean War, the Liberal government of Robert Menzies tried to ban the Communist Party of Australia, first by legislation<ref>Communist Party Dissolution Bill 1950.</ref> that was declared invalid by the High Court, then by referendum to try to overcome the constitutional obstacles to that legislation. The 1951 referendum was opposed by the Communist Party as well as the Australian Labor Party, and was narrowly defeated. The issue of communist influence in the unions remained potent and led to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955 and the formation of the Democratic Labor Party comprising disaffected ALP members who were concerned over communist influence in Australian unions.

====Internal division and defections==== In 1956, three years after Stalin died, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave the Secret Speech, denouncing Stalin and Stalinism as fostering a cult of personality, and revealing many abuses of power Stalin had committed while in power. The Australian party leadership—entirely committed to Stalinism—was confused about what to do. It tried to suppress discussions of the speech, which was widely reported in the press.<ref>Phillip Deery, and Rachael Calkin. "'We All Make Mistakes': the Communist Party of Australia and Khrushchev's Secret Speech, 1956." ''Australian Journal of Politics & History'' 54.1 (2008): 69–84. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-8497.2008.00485.x online]</ref> According to Ralph Gibson, several high-ranking members including Ted Hill had received a copy of Krushchev's secret speech directly from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union<ref name="since1945">{{cite book |editor1-last=Piccini |editor1-first=Jon |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=Evan |editor3-last=Worley |editor3-first=Matthew |title=The far left in Australia since 1945 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780429487347 |edition=1st}}</ref> However, the party denied the criticisms of Stalin within the party newspaper, Tribune.<ref name="since1945" />

Disillusioned members began to leave the party. More left after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. In 1961, the leader of the "pro-China" faction of the party during the Sino-Soviet split, Ted Hill, was expelled from the party.<ref name="since1945" /> Hill proceeded to lead a split of pro-China members of the party, which culminated in the formation of the smaller Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist).

By the 1960s, the party's membership had fallen to around 5,000 members,<ref>Benjamin, Roger W.; Kautsky, John H.. ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1953329 Communism and Economic Development]'', in The American Political Science Review, Vol. 62, No. 1. (Mar. 1968), p. 122.</ref> but it continued to hold positions in a number of trade unions, and it was also influential in the various protest movements of the period, especially the movement against the Vietnam War. This period also saw the establishment of the National Training Centre in Minto, NSW, ostensibly for the purpose of educating in the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.<ref>{{Cite news|date=25 June 1958|title=Minto Mare's Nest|pages=12|work=Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939–1991)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236322032|access-date=11 July 2021}}</ref> The party became more openly critical about the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.<ref name="since1945" /> In 1966, the party started their own magazine called Australian Left Review. In 1967, the party ceased receiving payments from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union following a seminar by Laurie Aarons in the Soviet Union which argued that "ideas require free contest, not confined in a framework of established dogmas that can become a rigid or even ossified edifice".<ref name="since1945" /> But the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 triggered another crisis. Sharkey's successor as party leader, Laurie Aarons, denounced the invasion, and a group of pro-Soviet hardliners left in 1971 to form a new party, the Socialist Party of Australia.

Through the 1970s and 1980s the party continued to decline, despite adopting Eurocommunism and democratising its internal structures so that it became a looser radical party rather than a classic Marxist-Leninist one. The CPA conducted campaigns against nuclear weapons and the extraction of uranium, and supported the demands of indigenous peoples in Australia and abroad, especially in Papua New Guinea. It thus militated for the abolition of legislation judged repressive regarding indigenous people, for equal pay and for land rights. Its members helped Aboriginal workers in Pilbara lead the longest industrial strike ever in Australia. Internationally, the Communist Party of Australia was close to the Revolutionary Front for the Independence of East Timor (Fretilin) who resisted the Indonesian occupation in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="jacobinmag.com"/> By 1990, membership had declined to below the one thousand mark. thumb|right|Logo of the CPA, on election sticker, 1980.

===Dissolution=== At the party's 31st Congress in Sydney (2–3 March 1991),<ref name=PeopleChamp/><ref name=Symons>{{cite book |last1=Symons |first1=Beverley |date=1994 |title=Communism in Australia: A Resource Bibliography |url= |publisher=National Library of Australia |page=x }}</ref> the Communist Party was dissolved and the New Left Party formed.<ref name=PeopleChamp/><ref name=Symons/> The New Left Party was intended to be a broader party which would attract a wider range of members, which did not happen, and the New Left Party disbanded in 1992. The assets of the Communist Party were thereafter directed into the SEARCH Foundation (acronym for "Social Education, Action and Research Concerning Humanity"),<ref>{{cite web|title=SEARCH Foundation|url=https://www.search.org.au/our_mission|publisher=SEARCH Foundation|access-date=7 November 2018}}</ref> a not-for-profit company set up in 1990 "to preserve and draw on the resources of the Communist Party of Australia and its archives."<ref>[http://links.org.au/taxonomy/term/549 Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal]</ref> The archives of the party are now held at the State Library of NSW<ref>{{cite web|title=Communist Party of Australia collection, c. 1917–1992|url=http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=826044|publisher=State Library of New South Wales|access-date=26 March 2014}}</ref> and can be accessed with the written permission of the SEARCH Foundation. The State Library of New South Wales holds an extensive collection of material related to the Communist Party of Australia including oral history recordings, business papers, the personal papers of a range of men and women involved in the Party and a collection of images that were published in ''Tribune'', the Party's newspaper.<ref>http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/s/search.html?collection=slnsw&form=simple&query_phrase=communist+party+of+australia&type=2&meta_G_sand=&sort=&submit-search=Search {{dead link|date=September 2020}}</ref> The Victoria University Library holds the Crow Collection,<ref>[https://www.vu.edu.au/library/about-the-library/special-collections-archives/ruth-maurie-crow-collection Crow Collection]</ref> donated by long-time Communist Party member Ruth Crow, which includes materials from her years campaigning for the Communist Party. The University of Melbourne collection is "one of the most significant from the CPA held in Australia", containing 20th-century materials from the Victorian branch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://labourhistorymelbourne.org/2015/11/26/melbourne-university-archives-communist-party-collection-lists-now-available/|title=Melbourne University Archives: Communist Party collection lists now available|last=Melbourne|first=Labour History|date=26 November 2015|website=Labour History Melbourne|access-date=22 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Committee |first=Communist Party of Australia. Victorian State |date=1920 |title=Organisation |url=https://digitised-collections.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/62458 |journal=Digitised Collections, University of Melbourne |hdl-access=free |hdl=11343/126946}}</ref>

====Successor Party==== In 1996 at the 8th National Congress the Socialist Party of Australia was renamed to Communist Party of Australia, thereby becoming the successor of the original party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cpa.org.au/cpa-introduction/|title=An Introduction to the Communist Party of Australia|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=<!--Not stated-->|website=CPA Introduction |publisher=CPA}}</ref>

====Search Foundation==== {{See also|SEARCH Foundation}} The SEARCH Foundation is a left-wing Australian not-for-profit company that was established in 1990 as a successor organisation of the Communist Party of Australia to preserve and draw on its resources and archives.<ref name="OUR MISSION">{{Cite news|url=https://www.search.org.au/our_mission|title=Our Mission|work=SEARCH Foundation|access-date=7 November 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://links.org.au/taxonomy/term/549|title = SEARCH Foundation (Australia) &#124; Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal}}</ref> It inherited over 3 million dollars from the CPA.<ref name="smh-2003">{{cite web |title=Think tank secrets |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/think-tank-secrets-20030812-gdh8pv.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=12 August 2003 |access-date=3 January 2019}}</ref>

SEARCH is an active membership-based organisation that runs speaking tours, publications and training programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.search.org.au/search_news|title=SEARCH News|website=SEARCH Foundation|language=en|access-date=7 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="OUR MISSION"/> Members are welcome from across the Australian Left and include prominent political figures such as Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary Sally McManus, and former NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/sally-mcmanuss-links-to-communist-partys-successor/news-story/a1e972851d32181d1a94bf3bb0b3f012|title=Sally McManus's links to Communist Party's successor|website=www.theaustralian.com.au|language=en|access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/ir/2017/03/25/new-actu-secretary-sally-mcmanus-the-new-ir-battlegrounds/14903604004409|title=New ACTU secretary Sally McManus on the new IR battlegrounds|last=Middleton|first=Karen|date=25 March 2017|work=The Saturday Paper|access-date=26 November 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/twelve-questions-for-rhiannon/news-story/54ca34c0097a9baa79e0680ef265c602|title=Twelve questions for Rhiannon|date=30 September 2011|access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref> SEARCH maintains an office at Sydney Trades Hall and holds events across Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/SEARCHFoundationAustralia/|title=Search Foundation|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=7 November 2018}}</ref> Its archives are held by the State Library of NSW.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110095014|title=Communist Party of Australia Archives|website=archival.sl.nsw.gov.au|language=en|access-date=7 November 2018}}</ref>

SEARCH is an acronym for "Social Education, Action and Research Concerning Humanity".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.search.org.au/ |title=Welcome to the SEARCH Foundation |access-date=1 April 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010401052450/http://www.search.org.au/ |archive-date=1 April 2001 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Youth movement== {{Infobox political youth organization | name = Eureka Youth League{{efn|The youth organisation of the party went by numerous names throughout its existence, however it held the name ''Eureka Youth League'' for the longest period: twenty-seven years.}} | native_name = | colorcode = Red | logo = File:Eureka Youth League Badge.jpg | caption = | founded = 1923 | merger of = | split from = | preceded by = | dissolved = 1984 | merged into = Left Alliance | succeeded by = | headquarters = | membership = | ideology = {{plainlist| * Communism * Marxism–Leninism * '''Factions:''' * Marxist feminism }} | colours = {{color box|red|border=silver}} Red | mother party = Communist | international = World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) | national = | newspaper = ''The Young Worker'' | magazine = | website = }}

Its youth wing worked under several different names at different times, including the '''Young Communist League''' ('''YCL'''); the '''Young Comrades Club''' ('''YCC'''); the '''League of Young Democrats''' ('''LYD'''); the '''Eureka Youth League''' ('''EYL'''); and lastly the '''Young Socialist League''', which in 1984 became part of the Left Alliance.

The youth wing of CPA worked under several different names in different periods from the 1920s onwards, including the Young Communist League (YCL), which was created in 1923 and published its own newspaper, ''The Young Worker'', and the Young Comrades Club (YCC), founded in 1927. At a meeting in Melbourne in 1937 attended by 1,500 people, the YCL changed its name to the League of Young Democrats (LYD). After the LYD was banned by the Menzies government in 1941, the Eureka Youth League (EYL) was established in December of that year, whose membership grew to 1,000 with a year. The EYL published a newspaper called ''Youth Voice'', and undertook activities relating to World War II and the working and living conditions of young people, as well as the peace movement during this war and the Korean War later. In 1952 it held the "Youth Carnival for Peace and Friendship" in Sydney, attracting 30,000 attendees. EYL opposed the introduction of National Service in Australia in the 1950s.<ref name=youthanu>{{cite web |title=Young Communists – The Young Communist League and Eureka Youth League |website=Archives |others=From the exhibition ''Reds Under the Bed: 100 Years of Communism in Australia'' |url=http://archives.anu.edu.au/exhibitions/reds-under-bed-100-years-communism-australia/young-communists-young-communist-league-and| publisher=ANU |access-date=3 April 2021| archive-date=17 March 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317000126/https://archives.anu.edu.au/exhibitions/reds-under-bed-100-years-communism-australia/young-communists-young-communist-league-and| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Eureka Youth League also had an important role in the early promotion of jazz music in Australia in the 1940s under the leadership of Harry Stein.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sparrow |first=Jeff |title=A short history of Communist jazz |url=https://overland.org.au/2012/06/a-short-history-of-communist-jazz/ |access-date=3 June 2022 |website=Overland |date=20 June 2012 |language=en-US}}</ref>

EYL collaborated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and helped to arrange its Youth Weeks, and also ran youth camps across Australia, attended by thousands of young people. It protested the Vietnam War actively, but by 1968 membership had declined, and a change of name to the Young Socialist League did not last long.<ref name=youthanu/>

Camp Eureka, created in 1973, is still maintained as an historic and usable camp for up to 32 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Camp Eureka history |website=Camp Eureka |url=http://campeureka.org.au/history.php |access-date=3 April 2021}}</ref>

The Eureka Youth League was a founding member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth, a membership later taken over by the Young Communist Movement.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} In 1984 (or 1987?) the Young Socialist League became part of Left Alliance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/gould/2002/20021015.htm|title=Labor students: cream or scum? |publisher=Marxists.org |first=Bob|last=Gould |author-link=Bob Gould (activist)|date=2002}}</ref>

==Elected representatives== ===New South Wales=== ====Broken Hill==== * Bill Flynn, Alderman of the City of Broken Hill (1953–1974). * Bill Whiley, Alderman of the City of Broken Hill (1962–1974).

====Bulli==== * Andrew Speed, Councillor of Bulli Shire for B Riding (1944–1947).<ref name=illmerc>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132653292 |title=LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS |newspaper=Illawarra Mercury |volume=90 |issue=10 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=8 December 1944 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

====Cessnock==== * Charles Evans, Alderman of the Municipality of Cessnock (1944–1947).<ref name=cessea>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100049808 |title=Communist Candidates for Municipal Elections. |newspaper=The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder |volume=32 |issue=4196 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 September 1944 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * Herbert Wilkinson, Alderman of the Municipality of Cessnock (1944–1947).<ref name=nmh>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100047300 |title=Cessnock Municipal Elections. |newspaper=The Cessnock Eagle And South Maitland Recorder |volume=32 |issue=4215 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=5 December 1944 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * Thomas Gilmour, Alderman of the Municipality of Cessnock (1944–1947, 1953–1962).<ref name=cessea/>

====Coonabarabran==== * Walter Frater, Councillor of Coonabarabran Shire (1953–1956).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236734653 |title=WALTER FRATER – A TRIBUTE |newspaper=Tribune |issue=1101 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 May 1959 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

====Kearsley==== {{See also|1944 Kearsley Shire Council election}} * Jock Graham, Councillor of the Kearsley Shire (1944–1947).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134231868 |title=LABOUR'S BID FAILS IN NEWCASTLE |newspaper=Newcastle Morning Herald And Miners' Advocate |issue=22,209 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=8 December 1947 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name=mowbray>{{cite journal|last1=Mowbray|first1=Martin|title=The Red Shire of Kearsley, 1944-1947: Communists in Local Government|journal=Labour History|date=November 1986|volume=51|issue=51|pages=83–94|doi=10.2307/27508799|url=http://links.org.au/files/Red%20Shire%20of%20Kearsley,%201944-1947%20Communists%20in%20Local%20Government.pdf|access-date=21 October 2017|publisher=Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Inc.|jstor=27508799|archive-date=19 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419120116/http://links.org.au/files/Red%20Shire%20of%20Kearsley,%201944-1947%20Communists%20in%20Local%20Government.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> * Allan Opie, Deputy Shire President and Councillor of Kearsley Shire (1944–1947).<ref name=mowbray/> * James Palmer, Councillor of Kearsley Shire (1944–1947).<ref name=mowbray/> * Mary Ellen "Nellie" Simm, Councillor of Kearsley Shire (1944–1947).<ref name=mowbray/><ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Election Results |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17930168 |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 December 1944 }}</ref> * William Varty, Shire President and Councillor of Kearsley Shire (1944–1947).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208690270 |title=KEARSLEY COUNCIL ELECTS PRESIDENT |newspaper=Tribune|issue=82 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 December 1944 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

====Lake Macquarie==== * William Quinn, Councillor of Lake Macquarie Shire for B Riding (1944–1947, 1953–1959). * R. Chapman, Councillor of Lake Macquarie Shire for B Riding (1944–1947), Deputy Shire President (1945–1946) and Shire President (1946–1947).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133167023 |title=Councillor Resigns COMMUNIST TO LEAD LAKE SHIRE |newspaper=Newcastle Morning Herald And Miners' Advocate |issue=21,898 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=10 December 1946 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * J. Thomson, Councillor of Lake Macquarie Shire for B Riding (1944–1947).

====Lithgow==== * Jock King, Alderman of the Lithgow City Council (1952–1956)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104703338 |title=COMMUNIST AS ALDERMAN |newspaper=Goulburn Evening Post |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=15 May 1952 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=5 (Daily and Evening) |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

====North Illawarra==== * Jack Martin, Alderman of the Municipality of North Illawarra (1944–1947).<ref name=illmerc/>

====Penrith==== * Mel McCalman, Alderman of the Municipality of Penrith for St. Mary's Ward (1953–1962).

====Randwick==== * Richard Ernest Wilson, Alderman of the Municipality of Randwick (1944–1948) and Deputy Mayor (1947–1948).

====Redfern==== * Patrick Levelle, Alderman of the Municipality of Redfern for Redfern Ward (1947–1948).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206691855 |title=Communist Wins Council Seat |newspaper=Tribune|issue=335 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 July 1947 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

====Sydney==== * Ronald Maxwell, Alderman of the City of Sydney for City Ward (1953–1956).<ref>{{cite news|title=Ronald Alexander Maxwell|url=http://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/ronald-maxwell/|website=Sydney's Aldermen|publisher=City of Sydney|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref> * Thomas Wright, Alderman of the City of Sydney for City Ward (1953–1959).<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Wright|url=http://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/thomas-wright/|website=Sydney's Aldermen|publisher=City of Sydney|access-date=21 October 2017}}</ref> * Jack Mundey, Alderman of the City of Sydney (1984–1987).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jack Mundey|url=https://www.sydneyaldermen.com.au/alderman/jack-mundey/|access-date=8 August 2020|website=SYDNEY'S ALDERMEN}}</ref>

===Queensland=== * Jim Henderson, Councillor of the Shire of Wangaratta for Collinsville (1939–1944).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article195723218 |title=APPOINTMENT OF SHIRE COUNCILLOR |newspaper=Bowen Independent |volume=41 |issue=4167 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=23 June 1944 |access-date=21 October 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * Fred Paterson, Alderman of the Townsville City Council (1939–1944) and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Bowen (1944–1950) (the only member elected at state or federal level).

===Western Australia=== * Joan Williams, Councillor of the City of Perth (1973–1977)<ref>{{cite web |title=Joan Williams – author, peace activist and fighter for women's rights |date=8 March 2021 |url=https://cpa.org.au/guardian/issue-1952/joan-williams-author-peace-activist-and-fighter-for-womens-rights/ |publisher=Communist Party of Australia}}</ref>

==Election results== ===Federal=== {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;" |+ House of Representatives ! style="width: 45px;" |Year ! style="width: 55px;" |Votes ! Percentage ! style="width: 65px;" |Swing ! Candidates ! Seat(s) |- !1931 |10,402 |0.33 |{{increase}} 0.33% |{{Composition bar|11|75|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/75 |- !1934 |47,584 |1.34 |{{increase}} 1.01% |{{Composition bar|22|74|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/74 |- !1937 |17,153 |0.48 |{{decrease}} 0.86% |{{Composition bar|2|74|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/74 |- !1940 |colspan=3 {{n/a|''Banned''}} |{{Composition bar|0|74|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/74 |- !1943 |'''81,816''' |'''2.00''' |{{increase}} 2.00% |{{Composition bar|18|74|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/74 |- !1946 |64,811 |1.49 |{{decrease}} 0.51% |{{Composition bar|14|74|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/74 |- !1949 |40,528 |0.88 |{{decrease}} 0.61% |{{Composition bar|35|121|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/121 |- !1951 |44,782 |0.98 |{{increase}} 0.10% |{{Composition bar|27|121|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/121 |- !1954 |56,675 |1.25 |{{increase}} 0.27% |{{Composition bar|42|121|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/121 |- !1955 |51,001 |1.16 |{{decrease}} 0.09% |{{Composition bar|28|122|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/122 |- !1958 |26,337 |0.53 |{{decrease}} 0.63% |{{Composition bar|21|122|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/122 |- !1961 |25,429 |0.48 |{{decrease}} 0.05% |{{Composition bar|21|122|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/122 |- !1963 |32,053 |0.59 |{{increase}} 0.11% |{{Composition bar|21|122|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/122 |- !1966 |23,056 |0.40 |{{decrease}} 0.19% |{{Composition bar|16|124|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/124 |- !1969 |4,920 |0.08 |{{decrease}} 0.32% |{{Composition bar|7|125|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/125 |- !1972 |8,105 |0.12 |{{increase}} 0.04% |{{Composition bar|8|125|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/125 |- !1974 |539 |0.01 |{{decrease}} 0.11% |{{Composition bar|1|127|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/127 |- !1975 |9,393 |0.12 |{{increase}} 0.11% |{{Composition bar|5|127|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/127 |- !1977 |14,098 |0.18 |{{increase}} 0.06% |{{Composition bar|7|124|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/124 |- !1980 |11,318 |0.14 |{{decrease}} 0.04% |{{Composition bar|7|125|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/125 |- !1983 |6,398 |0.07 |{{decrease}} 0.07% |{{Composition bar|5|125|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/125 |- !1984 |1,213 |0.01 |{{decrease}} 0.06% |{{Composition bar|1|148|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/148 |- !1987 |535 |0.01 |{{steady}} 0.0% |{{Composition bar|1|148|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/148 |- !1990 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|148|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/148 |} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" |+ Senate<ref name=UWA>{{cite web |url=http://elections.uwa.edu.au/partysearcha.lasso |title=Communist Party |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=October 2001 |website=Australian Politics and Elections Database |publisher=University of Western Australia |access-date=17 February 2014 |archive-date=14 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314042349/http://www.elections.uwa.edu.au/partysearcha.lasso |url-status=dead }}</ref> ! style="width: 45px;" |Year ! style="width: 55px;" |Votes ! Percentage ! style="width: 65px;" |Swing ! Candidates ! Seat(s) |- !1931 |29,443 |0.94 |{{increase}} 0.94% |{{Composition bar|3|18|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/36 |- !1934 |73,506 |2.24 |{{increase}} 1.30% |{{Composition bar|5|18|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/36 |- !1937 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{decrease}} 2.24% |{{Composition bar|0|19|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/36 |- !1940 |colspan=3 {{n/a|''Banned''}} |{{Composition bar|0|19|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/36 |- !1943 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|19|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/36 |- !1946 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|19|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/36 |- !1949 |87,958 |2.10 |{{increase}} 2.10% |{{Composition bar|20|42|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1951 |93,561 |2.11 |{{increase}} 0.01% |{{Composition bar|24|60|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1953 |140,073 |3.05 |{{increase}} 0.94% |{{Composition bar|16|32|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1955 |'''161,869''' |'''3.64''' |{{increase}} 0.59% |{{Composition bar|15|30|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1958 |134,263 |2.91 |{{decrease}} 0.73% |{{Composition bar|17|32|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1961 |78,188 |1.62 |{{decrease}} 0.73% |{{Composition bar|18|31|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1964 |37,915 |0.73 |{{decrease}} 0.89% |{{Composition bar|16|30|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1967 |20,648 |0.37 |{{decrease}} 0.36% |{{Composition bar|6|30|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1970 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{decrease}} 0.37% |{{Composition bar|0|32|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1974 |20,583 |0.31 |{{increase}} 0.31% |{{Composition bar|9|60|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/60 |- !1975 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{decrease}} 0.31% |{{Composition bar|0|64|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/64 |- !1977 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|34|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/64 |- !1980 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|34|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/64 |- !1983 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|64|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/64 |- !1984 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{Composition bar|0|46|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/76 |- !1987 |2,456 |0.03 |{{increase}} 0.03% |{{Composition bar|1|76|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/76 |- !1990 |{{n/a}} |{{n/a}} |{{decrease}} 0.03% |{{Composition bar|0|40|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |0/76 |} {{col-end}} ;Average number of votes p/candidate (both houses) {{Chart|definition=Average number of votes per candidate (both houses) of the Communist Party of Australia.chart|data=Average number of votes per candidate (both houses) of the Communist Party of Australia.tab|Width=875}}

===New South Wales=== {|class=wikitable |+Legislative Assembly |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1930 |10,445 |0.79 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1932 |12,351 |0.92 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1935 |19,105 |1.52 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1938 |10,386 |0.88 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1944 |21,982 |1.74 (9th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1947 |27,237 |1.71 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1950 |13,589 |0.84 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|94|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1953 |21,421 |1.38 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|94|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1930 |29,534 |1.74 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|94|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1959 |24,784 |1.45 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|90|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1962 |12,150 |0.63 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|94|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1965 |13,082 |0.64 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|94|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1968 |5,828 |0.27 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|94|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1971 |2,098 |0.79 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|96|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1973 |838 |0.03 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|99|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1976 |2,220 |0.08 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|99|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1978 |8,472 |0.30 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|99|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1981 |6,250 |0.22 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|99|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |}

===Queensland=== {|class=wikitable |+Legislative Assembly |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1929 |2,890 |0.67 (3rd) |{{composition bar|0|72|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1932 |1,057 |0.23 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|62|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1935 |6,101 |1.32 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|62|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1938 |8,510 |1.60 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|62|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1941 |5,383 |1.00 (8th) |{{composition bar|0|62|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1944 |12,467 |2.43 (4th) |{{composition bar|1|62|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{increase}}1 |{{yes-no|Crossbench}} |- !1947 |7,870 |1.24 (5th) |{{composition bar|1|62|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{yes-no|Crossbench}} |- !1950 |2,351 |0.37 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|75|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{decrease}}1 |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1953 |3,948 |0.65 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|75|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1956 |1,332 |0.20 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|75|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1969 |476 |0.06 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|78|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |}

===South Australia=== {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;" |+Legislative Assembly |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1930 |696 |0.33 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|46|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1933 |696 |0.33 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|46|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1944 |5,136 |2.07 (3rd) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1947 |8,178 |2.97 (3rd) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1950 |3,749 |1.34 (3rd) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1953 |4,827 |1.48 (3rd) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1956 |3,185 |1.16 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1959 |5,505 |1.42 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1962 |2,528 |0.62 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1965 |2,214 |0.44 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1968 |1,606 |0.29 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|39|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1970 |743 |0.13 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|47|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%;" |+Legislative Council |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1982 |11,837 |1.60 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|22|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |} {{col-end}}

===Tasmania=== {|class=wikitable |+House of Assembly |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1950 |86 |0.06 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|30|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1956 |91 |0.06 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|30|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1959 |144 |0.09 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|35|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1964 |92 |0.05 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|35|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |}

===Victoria=== {|class=wikitable |+Legislative Assembly |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1929 |1,962 |0.31 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1932 |953 |0.14 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1935 |9,301 |1.11 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1937 |5,700 |0.72 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1940 |2,935 |0.38 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1943 |38,802 |4.51 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1945 |25,083 |0.31 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1947 |1,575 |0.13 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1950 |6,308 |0.52 (4th) |{{composition bar|0|65|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1955 |4,589 |0.35 (7th) |{{composition bar|0|66|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1967 |1,443 |0.09 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|73|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1973 |398 |0.02 (8th) |{{composition bar|0|73|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1979 |2,305 |0.11 (8th) |{{composition bar|0|81|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |}

===Western Australia=== {|class=wikitable |+Legislative Assembly |- !Election year !No. of<br />overall votes !% of<br />overall vote !seats won !+/– !Notes |- !1933 |442 |0.25 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1936 |118 |0.09 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1939 |308 |0.15 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1943 |713 |0.40 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1947 |1,641 |1.00 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1950 |815 |0.36 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1953 |1,350 |0.72 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1956 |1,167 |0.50 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1959 |2,216 |0.84 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1962 |1,201 |0.41 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1965 |284 |0.09 (5th) |{{composition bar|0|50|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1968 |1,694 |0.53 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|51|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |- !1971 |2,265 |0.48 (6th) |{{composition bar|0|51|hex={{party color|Communist Party of Australia}}}} |{{steady}} |{{no2|Extra-parliamentary}} |}

==See also== * Socialism in Australia * Communist party

==References== '''Notes:''' {{notelist}}

'''Footnotes:''' {{reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Commons category|Communist Party of Australia}} * Stuart Macintyre, ''The Reds'', 1998, Allen and Unwin. 1st volume of a major history covering foundation to 1941. * Alastair Davidson, ''The Communist Party of Australia: A short history'', 1969. Covers foundation to the late 1960s. *{{cite book |last= Bennett |first= James |title= Rats and Revolutionaries:The Labour Movement in Australia and New Zealand 1890–1940 |year= 2004 |publisher= University of Otago Press |location= Dunedin, NZ |isbn= 1-877276-49-9 }} * Tom O'Lincoln, ''Into the Mainstream: The Decline of Australian Communism'', January 1985. {{ISBN|0-9590486-1-8}}. * Daisy Marchisotti, ''Land Rights: The Black Struggle'', Brisbane: Queensland State Committee, Communist Party of Australia, 1978. {{ISBN|0909913323}}

== External links ==

* [https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/11l3i0/alma99183874320302061 Queensland Comrades Speak oral history project], State Library of Queensland. {{Australian socialist groups}} {{Defunct Australian political parties}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of Australia}} Category:1920 establishments in Australia Category:1991 disestablishments in Australia Category:Australia–Soviet Union relations Australia Category:Communist parties in Australia Category:Defunct communist parties Category:Defunct political parties in Australia Category:Far-left politics in Australia Category:Formerly banned communist parties Category:Industrial Workers of the World in Australia Category:Marxist parties in Australia Category:Political parties disestablished in 1991 Category:Political parties established in 1920 Category:Communist Party of Australia