Re: The CPA and Aboriginal Activismwas RE: Scholarship and

["Alan Bradley" <abradley1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: Greg Schofield
<About Lang:>
> Perhaps not all that revolutionary, but at least enough for him to be
> kicked out before a fascist plot ousted him in a more physical way.  By
> the way, as we previous spoke of Australia's military inteligence (AMI ?
> who knows), you may be interested to know that they naturally had very
> close organisational bonds to the New Guard fascist group - to this extent
> only recently relayed to me by a friend.

This is an interesting period.  Australia was on the brink of class-based
civil war.  (I've phrased it like that since there was a very good chance
that the working class would have lost.)

New South Wales was the most populous state, Sydney was the largest city,
and Canberra was a country town located inside NSW.  The Special Constables
the NSW government had raised were mostly unemployed timber workers.  Many
workers in other states (including my grandfather) would have flocked to
Lang's banner if the crisis had erupted into violence.

The New Guard were not the only, or even the largest fascist group - merely
the one with the highest profile.  Most of the "secret armies" preferred to
remain secret.  The New Guard was merely the faction that chose to posture.

The ties between the fascist groups, the retired military officers/military
intelligence network and the big corporations are still reasonably obscure,
but some material is available.  I've got one book, but it's buried in a box
somewhere, and I can't remember its title.

Another period where the fascist/military intelligence/corporate cliques
were active was during the Red Flag riots in Queensland just after WW1.
There is a book by Raymond Evans (University of Queensland Press) called
"The Red Flag Riots", which is the most useful source on this.
Unfortunately, I think it is out of print.  A few years ago, there were lots
of cheap remaindered copies floating around Brisbane.  Some copies may be
available in Resistance bookshops.  There is, of course, no connection
between the previous two sentences. ; )

There is also a recently published pamphlet from Resistance books that
covers bits of the history of the radical movement in Queensland: the Great
Strikes of the 1890s, the Red Flag riots, and the election of Fred Paterson
to the Qld parliament.  The material on the Red Flag riots is based on
Evans.

Anyway, what happened was the usual suspects started to attempt to repress
the left, culminating in attempted pogroms against the Russian workers in
Brisbane.  These Russians were, of course, supporters of the Bolsheviks.
The reactionary mobs were largely composed of former soldiers, led by former
officers.

Evans also provides some material on the emergence of the intelligence
services during the war.  Both British and US models were used.

The book is worth tracking down, for those interested in the topic.

Alan Bradley
abradley1@xxxxxxxxxxx