"B.A Santamaria was a political activist and traditionalist Catholic layman prominent in public affairs in 20th century Australia. He was a key figure in the disastrous split in the Australian Labor Party in 1954, one of the key events in Australian polit

B.A. Santamaria was one of the most controversial Australians of our time. An ardent anti-Communist and devout Catholic, he was fiercely intelligent and a natural leader, polarising the community into loyal followers and committed opponents. In the 1940s Santamaria created the anti-Communist organisation 'The Movement'. In the 1950s he was a key figure in the tumultuous split of the Australian Labor Party. He subsequently enjoyed great influence as a public commentator on his television program Point of View and in his weekly column in The Australian. Santamaria had a strong social conscience and spent much of his time helping the underprivileged. Although he began as an advocate and champion of the Catholic Church, he spent much of his last decades opposing some of its activities. Published for the 100th anniversary of Santamaria’s birth, Santamaria: A Most Unusual Man is an authoritative biography from Gerard Henderson, a close colleague until a disagreement saw the two men estranged and never reconciled.

A prophet whose confident prophecies were frequently proved wrong, B.A. Santamaria profoundly affected 20th century Australian political life. Although he rarely gave interviews and never held elected office, Santamaria became widely known through his regular commentaries in the "Australian" and in his magazine "News Weekly".Building on his battle against Communist influence in the trade unions, Santamaria boldly attempted to capture the ALP and transform it into a European-style Christian Democrat party. The ensuing split was disastrous, demoralising the ALP, and casting Santamaria out of the Labor fold for all time.

Bitterness over the 1950s split between Catholics and anti-Communists has never gone away. The importance of this book in defining Labor politics for the last 50 years is crucial, and all those interested in either Labor history or history of organised religion in Australia will find it useful.

What will the future of work, social freedom, and employment look like? In an era of increased job insecurity and social dislocation, is it possible to reshape economics along democratic lines in a way that genuinely serves the interests of the community? Of Labour and Liberty arises from Race Mathews’s half-century and more of political and public policy involvement. It responds to evidence of a precipitous decline in active citizenship, resulting from a loss of confidence in politics, politicians, parties, and parliamentary democracy; the rise of "lying for hire" lobbyism; increasing concentration of capital in the hands of a wealthy few; and corporate wrongdoing and criminality. It also questions whether political democracy can survive indefinitely in the absence of economic democracy—of labor hiring capital rather than capital labor. It highlights the potential of the social teachings of the Catholic Church and the now largely forgotten Distributist political philosophy and program that originated from them as a means of bringing about a more equal, just, and genuinely democratic social order. It describes and evaluates Australian attempts to give effect to Distributism, with special reference to Victoria. And with an optimistic view to future possibilities it documents the support and advocacy of Pope Francis, and ownership by some 83,000 workers of the Mondragon cooperatives in Spain. This book will interest scholars and students of Catholic social teaching, history, economics, industrial relations, and business and management.

Santamaria's Salesman is not just another book about Santamaria and his secret movement working within the trade union movement to defeat communism. Others have done that. It is not even a book about communism or politics. It is a book about Catholic Action and how Santamaria saw his role as the leader of Catholic Action in Australia. This is the first published work to analyse Santamaria's leadership of the National Catholic Rural Movements (NCRM). To understand Santamaria is to understand how he led the NCRM.

Why do seemingly intelligent men and women leave their families to spend more than half the year travelling to Canberra, and spending night after night at electorate and campaign events? Surely there are easier ways to earn a living. A Letter to My Children is Christopher Pyne's honest account of how a belief in the power of public service, inspired by his crusading ophthalmologist father, led him to pursue a career in politics, driven by the ambition of leaving a legacy for the next generation.

The Petrov Affair: Politics and Espionage is a memoir of the Petrov Affair, a historical event that involves the defection of Vladimir Petrov, a colonel in the Soviet intelligence service in Sydney, and the announcement of his defection ten days later by Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. With information gathered from different reliable sources, the book details in chronological order the Petrov's defection - the events that occurred before and the factors that led to it; its announcement; and the implications of this event for politics and espionage. The text also explains how the affair affected the Australian people and the world; the conclusion of this event; and the events that happened after it. The book is recommended for historians and history enthusiasts who would want to know more about this particular event. The text is also recommended for experts who delve in the Cold War and the Soviet Union.

Examines the complex relationship between Roman Catholicism and the global Irish diaspora in the nineteenth century for the first time.

The 10th National Labour History Conference, held at the University of Melbourne on 4-6 July 2007 centred around the broad theme of Labour Traditions, the conference offered papers, talks and forum discussions on a range of topics involving presentations from leading scholars, reflective activists and those who are still making our collective history, as they speak. John Faulkner, Robert Ray, John Cain and Wally Curran spoke at a forum on how the labour movement has conducted its internal debates over issues large and small. Terry Irving organised a session on Popular Movements for Democracy in Early Australia. Verity Burgmann assembled some very engaging speakers to commemorate the centenary of the founding of the IWW in Australia. Phillip Deery organised an impressive array of people to talk and argue about the Cold War. The blend of scholarly research and direct engagement in the field is reflected in the presentations on workplace health and safety by Yossi Berger, Ray Markey, Greg Patmore and Bill Shorten. In addition to sessions on these special topics, there were numerous informative and engaging presentations on individual subjects, ranging from Bobbie Oliver on apprenticeship systems to Paddy Garrity on trade unions and the arts. Here you will find the papers and abstracts from this conference. Julie Kimber, Peter Love and Phillip Deery (eds), Labour Traditions: Proceedings of the tenth national labour history conference, held at the University of Melbourne, ICT Building, Carlton, Victoria, Australia, 4–6 July 2007, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History –– Melbourne, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-9803883-1-2. pp. iii-224.