The+Labour+Party+Split

= The Labor Party Split =

The Democratic Labor party was formed after the Australian Labor party split which began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership and the majority of the Victorian branch which was dominated by a faction composed largely of ideologically driven anti-communist catholics.

The labor parties losss in the 1954 election was a bitter blow to its leader Dr H. V Evatt. When two members of his own staff were named in the petrov documents Evatt himself appeared at the royal commission and claimed that the documents had been deliberately forged to ruin labors chance in the election. He accused Menzies of conspiracy and of deliberately arranging petrovs defection. He made claims that he could not prove and his emotional behaviour during the royal commission harmed his career.

Within the labor party there was a moderate right wing group made up of mostly catholics who also feared the spread of communism. They began to question Dr Evatts leadership of the labor party. Some of these labor party members supported a group called "The Movement" which was led by a young melbourne lawyer, Bob Santamaria. He believed that communism presented a very real threat to Australian society. The divisinos within the labor party over cummunism appearedwhen Dr Evatt wrote an article in the S//ydney Morning Herald// attacking what he called a small minority of labor members. He claimed these members were disloyal to the labor movement. This began The Labor Party Split. The right wing groups within the labor party formed their own politcal party called T//he Democratic Labor Party// which was strongly against communism.