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The Democratic Labor Party (DLP) was an Australian political party. The party came into existence following the 1955 Labor split as the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), was renamed the Democratic Labor Party in 1957 and continued to exist until 1978.

History

Origins

The Democratic Labor Party (Anti-Communist) was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) which began in 1954.^[1] The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr Evatt, and the majority of the Victorian branch, which was dominated by a faction composed largely of ideologically driven anti-Communist Catholics.^[2] Many ALP members during the Cold War period, most but not all Catholics, became alarmed at what they saw as the growing power of the Communist Party within Australia's trade unions. These members formed units within the unions called Industrial Groups to combat this alleged infiltration.^[3]

The DLP was mostly, although not exclusively, a party of Catholics of Irish descent.^[4][5]Some of its parliamentarians and a significant^{[clarification needed]} minority of its voters were non-Catholics.^[6] Journalist Don Whitington argued in 1964 that the DLP, as a basically sectarian party, was a most dangerous and distasteful force in Australian politics.^[7] Whitington observed that the party was backed by influential sections of the Roman Catholic Church, and that although the party professed to exist primarily to combat communism, it had less commendable reasons behind its coming into being.^[7] The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix, was a DLP supporter, as were other influential clerics.^{[citation needed]}

The intellectual leader of the Victorian Catholic wing of the ALP (although not actually a party member)^{[citation needed]} was B. A. Santamaria,^[8] a Roman Catholic Italian-Australian Melbourne lawyer and lay anti-Communist activist, who acquired the patronage of Dr Mannix.^[9] Santamaria headed The Catholic Social Studies Movement (often known as The Movement),^[10] modeled on Catholic Action groups in Europe,^[11] and, ironically, in organizational terms, upon some of the methods employed by its principal target, the Communist Party of Australia.^[12] This group later became the National Civic Council (NCC).^[13] Evatt denounced the "Movement" and the Industrial Groups in 1954, alleging they were trying to take over the ALP and turn it into a European-style Christian Democratic party.^[14]

The split extended to the Victoria State Parliament, where a faction of "Movement" supporters crossed the floor to bring down John Cain's ALP state government.^[15] In 1957, the Labor Party split in Queensland following the expulsion of Vince Gair, a conservative Catholic, from the party. He and his followers formed the Queensland Labor Party, which, in 1962, became the Queensland branch of the DLP.^[16]

At the 1955 ALP national conference in Hobart, Santamaria's parliamentary supporters in the federal and Victorian parliaments were expelled from the ALP and formed the ALP (Anti-Communist), which became the DLP in 1957 and lasted until 1978.^{[citation needed]}

In New South Wales, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Norman Cardinal Gilroy, the first native-born Australian Roman Catholic prelate, opposed the Movement's tactics and there was no party split in New South Wales. The Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist)'s performance at the 1955 state elections in Victoria, where it obtained 12 per cent of the vote, retaining only one of the dozen Assembly seats it had held, was another factor preventing a similar split in New South Wales.^{[citation needed]}

1950s to 1970s

Between 1955-74 the DLP was able to command a significant vote, particularly in Victoria and Queensland, with their large numbers of Catholics. During the period the DLP held between one and five seats in the Senate (which is elected by proportional representation). The DLP Senate leaders were George Cole (from Tasmania; 1955–1965),^[17]Vince Gair (from Queensland; 1965–1973),^[18] and Frank McManus (from Victoria; 1973–1974).^[19] Other DLP Senators were Condon Byrne (from Queensland), Jack Kane^[20] (from New South Wales), and Jack Little, a Protestant (from Victoria).

No DLP Senators or state politicians were ever elected in South Australia or Western Australia. Owing largely to demographic reasons, the ALP did not split in these states, although some lay branch members switched to the new party once it had been established. As the ALP and the conservative parties traditionally held approximately equal numbers of seats in the Senate, the DLP was able to use the balance of power in the Senate to extract concessions from Liberal governments, particularly larger government grants to Catholic schools, greater spending on defence and non-recognition of the People's Republic of China.^{[citation needed]}

During this period the DLP exercised influence by directing its supporters to give their second-preferences to Liberal candidates in federal and state elections (see Australian electoral system), thus helping to keep the ALP out of office at the federal level and in Victoria. The DLP vote for the House of Representatives gradually declined during the 1960s, but remained strong enough for the Liberals to continue to need DLP preferences to win close elections. Santamaria's strategy was to keep the ALP out of office until it agreed to his terms for re-unification.^{[citation needed]}

After Evatt's retirement in 1960, his successor Arthur Calwell, a Catholic, tried to bring about a reconciliation between the ALP and the DLP. Negotiations were conducted through intermediaries, and in 1965 a deal was almost done. Three out of four of the ALP's parliamentary leaders agreed to a deal. However, Calwell refused to share power within the party with the DLP leadership on a membership number basis, so the deal failed. Santamaria later claimed that had he accepted, Calwell could have become Prime Minister.^[21]

Four years later, DLP preferences kept Calwell's successor, Gough Whitlam, from toppling the Coalition despite winning an 18-seat swing and a majority of the two-party vote. Had just four seats in the Melbourne area gone the other way, Whitlam would have won.^[22]

The DLP's policies were traditional Labor policies such as more spending on health, education and pensions, combined with strident opposition to communism and greater emphasis on defence spending.^[23] The DLP strongly supported Australia's participation in the Vietnam War.^{[citation needed]}

From the early 1960s onward, the DLP became increasingly socially conservative, opposing homosexuality, abortion, pornography and drug use. This stand against "permissiveness" appealed to many conservative voters as well as the party's base among Catholics. Some members of the DLP disagreed with this, believing the party should stay focused on anti-communism.^[24]

The highest DLP vote was 11.11 per cent, which occurred at the 1970 half-senate election. Whitlam and the ALP won government in the 1972 election, bringing the DLP's strategy of keeping the ALP out of power undone.^{[citation needed]}

Demise

In 1973 it was reported that the Country Party and the DLP were considering a merger. In response, Gough Whitlam said he "would be delighted to see 'the old harlot churched'".^[25] In 1974, Whitlam appointed Gair as ambassador to the Republic of Ireland in a successful bid to split the DLP and remove its influence. The DLP lost all its Senate seats at the 1974 election and the party formally wound up in 1978. Soon after, a small group of supporters formed a new Democratic Labor Party, which continues to this day as the Democratic Labour Party (following a name change away from the American spelling).^[26] Santamaria continued to exercise considerable influence through the National Civic Council (NCC) until his death in 1998.^{[citation needed]}

21st century DLP

The modern-day Democratic Labour Party (spelled Democratic Labor Party before a spelling change on 27 June 2013) was successful in electing upper house candidates with low primary votes but high-volume preference flows at the 2006 Victorian state election (2.7 per cent) the 2010 federal election (2.3 per cent in Victoria) and the 2014 Victorian state election with 2.6 per cent. Peter Kavanagh served a four-year term in the Victorian Legislative Council, while John Madigan began his six-year term in the Australian Senate in July 2011. Madigan resigned from the DLP in August 2014. Rachel Carling-Jenkins began a four-year term in the Victorian Legislative Council in 2014, though in 2017 left to join the Australian Conservatives.

Historical electoral results

House of Representatives Election Votes % Seats +/– Position 1955 227,083 5.17 0 / 75 7 4th 1958[nb 1] 469,723 9.41 0 / 75 0 4th 1961[nb 2] 456,962 8.71 0 / 75 0 4th 1963 407,416 7.44 0 / 75 0 4th 1966 417,411 7.31 0 / 75 0 4th 1969 367,977 6.02 0 / 75 0 4th 1972 346,415 5.25 0 / 75 0 4th 1974 104,974 1.42 0 / 75 0 4th 1975 101,750 1.32 0 / 75 0 4th 1977 113,271 1.43 0 / 75 0 4th

Senate Election year # of overall votes % of overall vote # of overall seats won # of overall seats +/– 1955 271,067 6.10 1 / 30 2 / 60 1 1958 314,755 6.82 1 / 30 2 / 60 0 1961 388,466 8.07 0 / 30 1 / 60 1 1964 433,511 8.39 2 / 30 2 / 60 1 1967 540,006 9.77 2 / 30 4 / 60 2 1970 625,142 11.11 3 / 30 5 / 60 1 1974 235,343 3.56 0 / 30 0 / 60 5 1975 191,049 2.67 0 / 30 0 / 65 0 1977 123,192 1.67 0 / 30 0 / 65 0

Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) and DLP Parliamentarians

• 
  Australian House of Representatives
  
  
  
  • 
    Tom Andrews (Darebin, Vic), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Bill Bourke (Fawkner, Vic), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Bill Bryson (Wills, Vic), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Jack Cremean (Gellibrand, Vic), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Bob Joshua (Ballarat, Vic), 1955 (Protestant)
  
  
  • 
    Stan Keon (Yarra, Vic), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Jack Mullens (Hoddle, Vic), 1955
  
  
  
  


• 
  Australian Senate
  
  
  
  • 
    George Cole (Tas), 1955–65
  
  
  • 
    Frank McManus (Vic), 1955–62, 1965–74
  
  
  • 
    Vince Gair (Qld), 1965–74
  
  
  • 
    Condon Byrne (Qld), 1968–74 (Queensland Labor Party Senator 1957–59)
  
  
  • 
    Jack Little (Vic), 1968–74 (Protestant)
  
  
  • 
    Jack Kane (NSW), 1970–74
  
  
  
  


• 
  Victorian Legislative Assembly
  
  
  
  • 
    Bill Barry (Carlton), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Stan Corrigan (Port Melbourne), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Leslie D'Arcy (Grant), 1955
  
  
  • 
    George Fewster (Essendon), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Tom Hayes (Melbourne), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Michael Lucy (Ivanhoe), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Edmund Morrissey (Mernda), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Charles Murphy (Hawthorn), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Joseph O'Carroll (Clifton Hill), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Peter Randles (Brunswick), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Frank Scully (Richmond), 1955–58
  
  
  • 
    George White (Mentone), 1955
  
  
  
  


• 
  Victorian Legislative Council
  
  
  
  • 
    Bert Bailey (Melbourne West), 1955–58
  
  
  • 
    Thomas Brennan (Monash), 1955–58
  
  
  • 
    Les Coleman (Melbourne West), 1955
  
  
  • 
    Paul Jones (Doutta Galla), 1955–58
  
  
  • 
    Jack Little (Melbourne North), 1955–58 (Protestant)
  
  
  • 
    Pat Sheehy (Melbourne), 1955–58
  
  
  
  


• 
  New South Wales Legislative Assembly
  
  • 
    Kevin Harrold (Gordon), 1973–76
  
  


• 
  Legislative Assembly of Queensland
  
  
  
  • 
    Les Diplock (Aubigny), 1962–72 (QLP 1957–62) (Protestant)
  
  
  • 
    Paul Hilton (Carnarvon), 1962–63 (QLP 1957–62)
  
  
  
  

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Democratic Labor Party (historical).

• Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist)


• Democratic Labour Party (Australia)


• Australian Labor Party

References

Further reading

• Ken Buckley, Barbara Dale and Wayne Reynolds. Doc Evatt, Melbourne, Victoria, Longman Cheshire (1994);
  ISBN 0-582-87498-X
  


• 
  Arthur Calwell (1972), Be Just and Fear Not, Hawthorn, Victoria, Lloyd O'Neil;
  ISBN 0-85550-352-1
  


• Brian Costar, Peter Love and Paul Strangio (eds.) The Great Labor Schism. A Retrospective, Melbourne, Victoria, Scribe Publications, 2005;
  ISBN 1-920769-42-0
  


• Peter Crockett (1993), Evatt. A Life, South Melbourne, Victoria, Oxford University Press;
  ISBN 0-19-553558-8
  


• Allan Dalziel (1967), Evatt. The Enigma, Melbourne, Victoria, Lansdowne Press.


• Gavan Duffy (2002), Demons and Democrats. 1950s Labor at the Crossroads, North Melbourne, Victoria, Freedom Publishing;
  ISBN 0-9578682-2-7
  


• 
  Gil Duthie (1984), I had 50,000 bosses. Memoirs of a Labor backbencher 1946-1975, Sydney, NSW, Angus and Robertson;
  ISBN 0-207-14916-X
  


• 
  John Faulkner and Stuart Macintyre (eds.), True Believers. The Story of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, Crows Nest, NSW, Allen and Unwin (2001);
  ISBN 1-86508-527-8
  


• 
  Ross Fitzgerald, Adam James Carr and William J. Dealy. The Pope's Battalions. Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split, St Lucia, Queensland, University of Queensland Press (2003);
  ISBN 0-7022-3389-7
  


• Ross Fitzgerald and Stephen Holt. Alan "The Red Fox" Reid. Pressman Par Excellence, Sydney, NSW, University of New South Wales Press;
  ISBN 978-1-74223-132-7
  


• James Franklin, "Catholic Thought and Catholic Action: Dr Paddy Ryan Msc.," Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society (1996) 17:44-55 online.


• 
  Colm Kiernan. Calwell. A Personal and Political Biography, West Melbourne, Thomas Nelson (1978);
  ISBN 0-17-005185-4
  


• Patrick Morgan (ed.) B. A. Santamaria. Your Most Obedient Servant. Selected Letters: 1918 - 1996, Carlton, Victoria, Miegunyah Press (2007);
  ISBN 0-522-85274-2
  


• Patrick Morgan (ed.) Running the Show. Selected Documents: 1939-1996, Carlton, Victoria, Miegunyah Press (2008);
  ISBN 978-0-522-85497-8
  


• B.A Santamaria. Against the Tide, Melbourne, Victoria, Oxford University Press (1981);
  ISBN 0-19-554346-7
  


• Kylie Tennant. Evatt. Politics and Justice, Cremorne, NSW, Angus and Robertson (1970);
  ISBN 0-207-12533-3
  


• Tom Truman. Catholic Action and Politics, London, England, The Merlin Press (1960).


• Kate White. John Cain and Victorian Labor 1917-1957, Sydney, NSW, Hale and Iremonger (1982);
  ISBN 0-86806-026-7
  

External links

• Statement by Frank Scully about the DLP's formation


• "The split - 50 years on"


• Australian Biography interview with B.A. Santamaria