Australasian pecularities (was A daring assumption)

[Greg Schofield <gschofield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Allan I have combined replies to this thread and "The CPA and Aboriginal
Activism was RE: Scholarship and" (excerpts included below). I must also
apologise to all comrades for clogging up the list with so much Australian
stuff (hence I changed the thread title so it can be more easily trashed -
Australia is not very important in the scheme of things and if I was not
stuck here I would find all this stuff rather mind numbing)

On Indonesia and surrounding countries (PNG etc), which inevitably must
concern communist activity in Australia, I am clearly no expert, rather a
dilettante who just scans what I come across and dips into things that seem
interesting. My perspective is thus full of holes, however I have long had
in mind what was needed in order that we can stay ontop of things rather
than lag behind (I think East Timor is a classic case where imperialism
makes all the moves and then we react, by the time we have formulated a
perspective, things have moved off again).

What is needed is, for want of a better expression, a sweeping and daring
historical analysis of the entire Australasian region (not perhaps so much
a history book - but a handbook). Daring because I think it needs to
actually postulate the future in terms of nation states and their policies
based on the history and present class forces involved. It is a big ask,
moreover any attempt to do so will run into all sorts of obstacles
(political, moral, historical and theoretical as well as just plain mistakes).

In a sense I think imperialism has such handbooks and works from them, that
is they do not have necessarily a plan but an outline of direction which
helps them co-ordinate and swiftly respond to changes. Until we communists
come up with our own form of "handbook" they will always have the upper
hand - we will still make mistakes, we still will have oversights, but we
need in Australia especially to be more pro-active and more sensitive to
what emerges in order to combat imperialism in some way that is more of a
direct help to our comrades outside Australia.

It is of course a suggestion that can be laughed off. Obviously whatever is
written here will be criticised by comrades in the region but outside
Australia, such criticism must be part of the ongoing development of a
proletarian foreign policy (which is in effect what such a "handbook" would
be). Despite the dangers of such an exercise, the current practice (a
reactive one) allows bourgeois prejudices too much leeway, through the
media and the presentation of any particular conflict.

I would be very interested on your views (or any one elses but especially
any comrades in the region but outside Australia) on this suggestion (which
I believe is quite beyond us or any organisation in Australia at the
moment). It has risks (mini-imperialism being just one), but I am
completely dissatisfied with the current state of affairs for obvious
reasons. Most of all I want us to get off the back-foot.

On the right-wing para-military and intelligence situation in Australia's
past, I think we are both well aware that it is an extremely shadowy area
and one not confined to the past entirely. I am glad you pointed out the
fact that we have a dual intelligence system, one deeply imbedded by the
British (which I believe is actually the determining one) and another
imposed on us by the US (ASIO etc). It has worked out to be a double-blind,
that is we tend to see the obvious connections between the US, US strategic
apparatus, ASIO and the CIA, but miss the Australian/British coordination
that takes place.

I never know how far to take any of this without lapsing into quasi or real
conspiracy theories, the only thing I am sure of is that there is a
powerful element missing and that is why I find the histories so
interesting. I have an unread copy of the The Red Flag Riots unfortunately
in storage, but will be getting more books in a year or two (I hope). I
also have a copy of the The Secret Armies which I have not read as yet, but
I found several references to the name Abbott, it is a family history I
will one day like to discover more about (unless I am just being mislead by
names which is the most likely scenario - I knew Tony Abbott when he was at
uni - not a nice combination but one with surprising amount of clout even
then when he was in his early 20s - he is one of the conservative
government ministers).

Greg Schofield
Perth Australia


At 11:34  23/05/01 +1000, you wrote:
>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


At 11:43  23/05/01 +1000, you wrote:
>I've got a reasonable amount of stuff on Indonesia in my files.  I don't
>recall anything that deals with this question quite in this way, but there
>is some stuff that is relevant.  Maybe next week, once I get my scanner
>working again, I might be able to put some articles onto the list.
>
>One problem is that a lot of the most interesting material wasn't written
>for public consumption, but for internal discussions.
>
>Maybe some of the ASIET material might be interesting.  There are ASIET
>people on the list.  Hello!
>
>Alan Bradley
>abradley1@xxxxxxxxxxx