How Australia Responded to the Threat of Communism
The primary internal reason how Australia responded to the threat of communism was by Menzies and the Liberal Party attempting to ban the CPA. Menzies tried to ban the CPA two times. The first time was in 1950, when the Liberal Party introduced the Communist Party Dissolution Bill (CPDB). Menzies tried to make it a law so that the CPA would become illegal. However, this was unsuccessful as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and many other unions opposed it as this would lead to the Liberal Party to ban any minority group they wanted including the ALP. The second way Menzies tried to prohibit the CPA was by having a Communist Party Dissolution Referendum in 1951 which was narrowly defeated as Chifley stated his concerns to the public about how the Liberal Party would be able to ban any group they wanted. The Party in control of government, which was the Liberal Party, responded to the threat of communism by trying to ban the CPA.
To be able to respond to the threat of communism, the Liberal Party had to maintain and win the elections against their main political rival, the ALP. They did this by linking the ALP to communism, to attempt to instill fear that if they voted in the ALP, Australia would become communists. For example, in 1949, the ALP wanted to give out social welfare reforms like pensions. They also wanted to nationalise the banks, but Menzies claimed that this was the first step that Russia took to become communists. Menzies announced that if they chose him for Prime Minister, he would try to eradicate the threat of communism. The Liberal Party was also able to win the elections by implanting fear into the Australian public about communism through mottos and slogans, E.g. ‘reds under the beds’, and through the Petrov Affair in 1954, where there were alleged Soviet spies in Australia. By means of infusing the Australian public with fear of the threat of communism, the Liberal Party was able to maintain winning the elections so that they could respond the
To be able to respond to the threat of communism, the Liberal Party had to maintain and win the elections against their main political rival, the ALP. They did this by linking the ALP to communism, to attempt to instill fear that if they voted in the ALP, Australia would become communists. For example, in 1949, the ALP wanted to give out social welfare reforms like pensions. They also wanted to nationalise the banks, but Menzies claimed that this was the first step that Russia took to become communists. Menzies announced that if they chose him for Prime Minister, he would try to eradicate the threat of communism. The Liberal Party was also able to win the elections by implanting fear into the Australian public about communism through mottos and slogans, E.g. ‘reds under the beds’, and through the Petrov Affair in 1954, where there were alleged Soviet spies in Australia. By means of infusing the Australian public with fear of the threat of communism, the Liberal Party was able to maintain winning the elections so that they could respond the