Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist)
Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist) | |
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Abbreviation | ALP (N-C) |
Founder | Jack Lang |
Federal parliamentary leader | Jack Beasley |
Founded | 18 April 1940; 1943 |
Dissolved | February 1941; 1950 |
Split from | Australian Labor Party |
Merged into | Australian Labor Party |
Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Ideology | Labour politics Anti-communism |
Part of a series on |
Labour politics in Australia |
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The Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), which operated from 1940 to 1941, was a breakaway from the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and was associated with the Lang Labor faction and former New South Wales premier Jack Lang.[1]
History
1940–1941
Lang lost the leadership of the
On 18 April 1940, Lang announced the creation of the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist). In federal parliament, seven ALP members defected to the new party, with Jack Beasley chosen as leader. He was joined by fellow MPs Sol Rosevear, Joe Gander, Dan Mulcahy, and Tom Sheehan, as well as senators Stan Amour and John Armstrong. In the Parliament of New South Wales, fifteen ALP members defected – nine in the Legislative Assembly (including Lang) and six in the Legislative Council.[2] Federal opposition leader, John Curtin, reacted angrily to the news, declaring the defectors had "wrecked the solidarity of Labor at a time of great crisis".[3]
Lang Labor contested the 1940 federal election.[4] Unlike the previous Lang Labor, Lang and his allies were in a minority in New South Wales, and many of his old supporters, such as Eddie Ward, remained loyal to ALP leader John Curtin. Lang candidates polled poorly. The Federal Executive again intervened in the NSW branch and expelled the leftist elements. Some members joined the Communist Party of Australia, but most joined the short-lived State Labor Party, which was also known as the State Labor Party (Hughes-Evans). Following the Federal intervention, prior to the May 1941 state election, Lang, and nearly all of his followers, rejoined the ALP.[5] The reunification helped Labor to form government at the federal level in October 1941, with Curtin becoming Prime Minister of Australia.
1943–1950
In 1943, having published newspaper articles attacking McKell (NSW's Premier since 1941) and Prime Minister John Curtin, Lang was expelled from the ALP and restarted the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist). This manifestation of Lang Labor contested the 1944 NSW election, electing two members—Lang and Lilian Fowler, Australia's first female mayor. When Lang transferred to federal politics, he was succeeded as the Lang Labor member for Auburn by his son James. Although Fowler and Chris Lang were both re-elected in the 1947 NSW election, they were defeated in 1950, leading to the party essentially being defunct.
During Lang's expulsion, the ALP continued to enjoy their greatest House of Representatives victory both in terms of proportion of seats and their strongest national two-party vote at the
References
- ^ a b Grayndler, Edward (1940), Treachery to Labor, The Worker Trustees, retrieved 24 April 2015
- ^ McMullin 1991, p. 201.
- ^ McMullin 1991, p. 202.
- The Tumut and Adelong Times. 7 May 1940. p. 3. Retrieved 24 April 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- Lang, J. T. (1970). The Turbulent Years, Alpha Books
- McMullin, Ross (1991). The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991. OUP.