ABSTRACT

The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) was a willing partner of the Comintern on issues of anti-imperialism and racial equality. During the 1920s, it developed a campaign against the White Australia policy and in support of foreign workers at the Comintern’s urging. It also accepted the Comintern’s redesignation of Australia as a “secondary imperialist power,” with little disagreement. However, the Comintern offered little advice or guidance beyond these edicts. Instead, the CPA created its own in-house platforms in support of Aboriginal and Melanesian peoples’ rights based on other Comintern guidelines. This case study shows that the CPA had the ability to develop its own local solutions to Australian problems and support its oppressed peoples, even if at times, it did so imperfectly. It also highlights the limitations of where the Comintern prioritized its efforts on racial equality.