The Red North - The Communist Party in North Queensland During the Thirties and Forties
Written By: Andrew Frost
In many people’s minds, Queensland in general, and North Queensland in particular, is a conservative place. Like all myths, this view has some basis in reality. Whilst Queensland Governments, such as the Bjelke-Petersen government have been reactionary, anti-worker, and pro-capital, the mythology of a Conservative Queensland rests on a widespread unawareness of Queensland history.
During the early 1900’s, the area of Queensland from Mackay to Cairns was once "The Red North" in which the Communist Party led workers in anti-fascist campaigns and industrial struggles during the 1930s and '40s. During this period, the Communist Party in North Queensland led the rest of Australia in developing working-class organisations that advanced the cause of socialism and internationalism. Australia’s only ever Communist Party Member of Parliament, Fred Paterson, was elected to represent the area in the Queensland Parliament in 1944 with 44.4% of the primary vote. Paterson only lost the seat when the then Labor Government abolished his seat and split it between the new electoral districts and dividing his areas of support.
Whilst the North Queensland Communist Party achieved its greatest strength and influence in the 1940s, its successes in that period were the result of how communists worked in the northern region of Queensland in the 1930s. Throughout this period, party activists worked hard to develop links with the working class through work in the union movement and in the broader community.
The real turning point for the party was the Weil's Disease strike of 1935. Weil's Disease was the popular name given to fevers which were common in North Queensland sugar growing areas in the thirties. The disease was spread by rats urinating on wet ground or cane stalks, and sometimes proved fatal. It could be prevented by burning the cane before it was harvested; however the cane field owners opposed the burning of cane because it cut into their profits, as burning cane reduced its sugar content.
“It was through the Party’s mutual aid efforts through relief kitchens that the differences between the AWU and Communist activists became most apparent”
Meetings of workers called by communist activists who worked in the industry, voted to place bans on the cutting and processing of all unburnt cane. Within a fortnight over 3000 workers involved in the cutting and processing were on strike. This strike was actively opposed by the self-styled “leaders” of the Labour movement; the cane worker’s own union, The Australian Workers Union (AWU), opposed the strike and The Brisbane Trades and Labour Council passed a resolution condemning the strike.
Scab labour, 150 police strike-breakers sent from Brisbane and strong-arm tactics by the AWU leadership ultimately ended the strike, but this tactical defeat was a strategic victory. Firstly, the workers won on the issue, when in July 1936, a general order for burning the cane before harvesting was handed down by the industrial court. Secondly the strike developed links across the community, with the struggle an extremely broad one involving entire communities in the north. It gained the support of previously politically disengaged groups such as women and migrants, and won the support of many small businesspeople. It even won over some of the land owners who were personally involved in the cutting of cane.
One group in particular that came to support the Communist Party as a result of the strike were Italian workers, many of who were refugees from Fascist Italy. Many Italian immigrants to Australia at the time were active anti-fascists. Indeed, Australia’s first anti-fascist demonstration was led by Italian migrants in the tiny sugar town of Halifax in 1925.The AWU refused to support the striking workers in any way and in particular ostracised the Italian workers, regarding many of them as communist dupes. The communist activists on the other hand supported rank-and-file control, and organised relief kitchens and accommodation for striking workers. In contrast to the AWU, the Communists treated the Italians as fellow workers with rights. Communist activists made sure that all written material they produced was available in Italian and ensured Italian workers addressed meetings as well as translating speeches. The AWU on the other hand still upheld its 1930 "preference agreement" with the Australian Sugar Producers' Association and the Queensland Cane Growers' Council which allowed migrant workers to compose no more than 25 per cent of mill workers and cutters.
“In terms of temporary relief, party activists organised food and money collection drives and delivered it to the homes of families who appeared on the party’s list of people in need”
It was through the Party’s mutual aid efforts through relief kitchens that the differences between the AWU and Communist activists became most apparent. During the strike, relief committees were set up by local communists in all local centres across North Queensland. These committees reached out to the community and were able to gain support from the small businesses, small farmers (often Italian in origin), and miners in centres including Collinsville. Women became active on relief committees organising entertainment (the men did the cooking) and Italian migrants were, for the first time, involved both socially and politically.
The skills and community support gained by North Queensland communists during the strike helped them to develop support for the Republican side when the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. Sixteen of the twenty one branches of the Spanish Relief Committee set up around Australia during this period were in North Queensland. The spirit of internationalism that they developed is reflected in the fact that nine of the twenty-eight Australians who volunteered to fight against fascism in Spain came from North Queensland. Despite the depression of the thirties leading to low wages and high unemployment in the region, support for fundraising efforts to aid Republican Spain was strong. This can be seen in the example of fundraising in Ingham, where only two families in the town refused to donate to the cause.
Attempts to paint the Communist Party as a sinister force were gradually eroded in North Queensland during the thirties by communists showing themselves to be active members of the community, particularly through mutual aid work to relieve the social distress that existed in the region during the period. Party work amongst the unemployed took two forms. Firstly activists helped establish unions to fight for better conditions for unemployed workers, and the provision of temporary relief through organising social activities, relief kitchens and the distribution of aid. In North Queensland, branches of the Unemployed Workers Movement (UWM) were established in Cairns, Innisfail, Atherton, Tully, Townsville, Charters Towers, Bowen and Mackay. The UWM organised campaigns to provide work through public works projects. In terms of temporary relief, party activists organised food and money collection drives and delivered it to the homes of families who appeared on the party’s list of people in need.
A further way in which the “Red Bogey” was weakened in North Queensland was the social life organised for members and supporters in the region. Dances, picnics, film nights and discussion groups provided entertainment in areas where it had previously been lacking. Most of these events had a political focus, often raising funds for specific campaigns such as Spanish or Chinese relief. These type of events received wide support from people who were not members of the party.
Solicitor and organiser Fred Paterson was central to the party’s organising efforts in North Queensland. Fred travelled widely throughout North Queensland defending workers and the disadvantaged who would otherwise have no legal assistance. Whilst this work often caused hardship to his family and Fred personally, Fred continued his work because he believed that everyone, regardless of race or social class had a right to the best possible representation in court.
All of these factors combined to lead to increased popular support for the party in North Queensland into the 1940s, and the election of Fred Paterson firstly to Townsville City Council and then to parliament as the member for Bowen in 1944. It’s important to note Fred never saw participation in bourgeois elections and parliaments as an end in itself. As a student of Lenin he understood that real change would never come from participation in the system. Paterson used the platform provided to him to campaign tirelessly for the principles of socialism in all his council and parliamentary work, and helped build progressive campaigns in the community.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Davidson, A. (1969). The Communist Party of Australia: A Short History. Stanford: Hoover Institute Press.
2) Fitzgerald, R. (1997). Fred Paterson: The People's Champion. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.
3) Jones, A. E. (1972). Electoral Support for the Communist Party in North Queensland: A Study of F.W. Paterson's Victory in Bowen, 1944. Brisbane: B.A. Hons. thesis, University of Queensland.
4) Menghetti, D. (1981). The Red North. Townsville: James Cook University Press.
5) Shute, C. (1982). Review of The Red North by Dianne Menghetti. Australian Left Review, 52-56.