It is my view that these interventions were not always negative but often had a positive impact on the policies of these parties. Here in Australia there was an urgent need to break from the racist attitudes that were common in the Australian labour movement both towards Aborigines and migrant workers.

Under pressure from the Comintern in the late 1920s the CPA adopted a wide ranging programme on Aboriginal rights. It reminded the most radical expresion on Aboriginal rights until the 1960s. At times the CPA policy was distorted by Stalinist ultraleftism but was often generally positive. Up to the time they adopted their first programme the CPA had condemned the invasion of Australia but saw Aborigines as a dying race and not a crucial issue for the radical movement.

Much the same could be said of their support of migrant workers. Much of the Australia labour movement was infected bya deep seated racism towards migrant workers. Again falling a call by the Comintern in the late 1920s to adress the issues of migrant workers the CPA made a turn towards them. The result was that by the 1930s they had recruited sigificant numbers of them – while the Australian Labor Party remained a party of white Australian workers.

In the 1920s under pressure from the Trades Hall Reds (based in Sydney) the central union body linked up with the Asian trade unions for the first time. These links lasted a short whilw but was an important development. From its inception the CPA opposed the White Australia Policy. Despite the impact of the Cold War on the leadership of some unions it retained a lot of support. Thus when the WAP was finally removed in the 1960s it can claim some of the credit.