ROBERT MENZIES, BERT EVATT AND THE LABOR PARTY SPLIT –  ANNE HENDERSON

In 2025, the Robert Menzies Institute published the third volume in its Menzies series – titled The Menzies Ascendency – Fortune, Stability, Progress 1954–1961. The Sydney launch took place at The Sydney Institute on Monday 3 February. The book was launched by former High Court judge The Hon Michael Kirby and The Australian’s Paul Kelly. They were introduced by Robert Menzies Institute director Georgina Downer, with follow up speeches by editor Zachary Gorman and contributor to the volume Anne Henderson.

 ROBERT MENZIES, BERT EVATT AND THE LABOR PARTY SPLIT

 ANNE HENDERSON

In considering the era of the Menzies ascendency, we can thank the great Labor Party spilt of 1954-55 – the split in Labor that, in time, would make Robert Menzies the longest serving Australian prime minister with a record not easily beaten. For, undoubtedly, the great winner from the Labor Party’s 1954-55 split was Robert Menzies. And he was by no means an innocent bystander. Robert Menzies – matched with his rival Labor leader Bert (Doc) Evatt – was the significant factor in the bitter divide that saw Labor in opposition federally for a total of 23 years.

The emphasis placed on the role of B A Santamaria and his Movement in the Split has been exaggerated. It stems from decades of Labor historians accepting the line pushed by Evatt at the time and articulated by Canberra journalist Alan Reid, in collaboration with Evatt, who wrote of Santamaria as “Svengali-like” in the shadows pulling strings. This interpretation of the might of Santamaria, leaning heavily on sectarian suspicions of Catholics within Labor, owes much to ignorance of how great Santamaria’s influence actually was, at that time.

Whatever his influence among anti-Communist (mostly Catholic) unionists and others, Santamaria was a little-known political force in 1954-55. The Movement was certainly one player in the Split but by no means the cause of it. It was only later, as Anti-Communist Labor became the Democratic Labor Party, largely built from the ranks of Santamaria’s National Civic Council, that Santamaria came to public prominence and real influence. The NCC became the underbelly of those breakaway parties, with Anti-Communist Labor, DLP and, after 1957, Queensland Labor Party (QLP) preferences at elections in 1955, 1958 and 1961 flowing to Robert Menzies’ Coalition. In the very close 1961 federal election, QLP preferences saved Jim Killen. The Split made B A Santamaria the figure we recall today.

To fully understand the Labor Split of 1954-55, we need to look back at the Menzies and Evatt contest which had endured for the best part of a decade by 1954. Their personal rivalry went back to Evatt’s leaving the High Court to stand for Labor at the 1940 federal election. Evatt saw himself as a possible Labor prime minister from the moment he entered parliament. But Evatt would have his ambitions curtailed by the success of Labor prime ministers John Curtin and Ben Chifley, through the following decade.

Menzies and Evatt faced each other directly in a number of significant contests from 1947 – in the battle for the banks, 1947-1949, the 1951 campaign to ban the Communist Party of Australia, the 1954 federal election, which Evatt was certain he could win, and the Petrov Royal Commission into subversive activities involving the Soviet embassy in Canberra and various Australian operatives, three of whom were linked to Evatt’s office.

In these big bouts, Menzies would lose to Evatt in just one. In the referendum to ban the Communist Party of Australia, the “Yes” vote led by Menzies was narrowly lost to Evatt’s campaign for “No”. From then on, however, Menzies’ conviction that Australia faced a world endangered by the spread of communism in Europe and Asia, and his determination to call it out, was instrumental in playing Evatt at his weakest points. In the end, it was Menzies who destroyed Evatt’s ability to lead and unite Labor. As Menzies told Canberra journalist Frank Chamberlain just before the 1954 election:

… I would leave politics this 1954 but for Dr Evatt. He’s a menace to Australia and he must be kept out of office by hook or by crook.

The rivalry between Menzies and Evatt was clear to their contemporaries who noted, over years, their parallel lives and intense competition, even their lack of regard for each other. After Menzies’ resignation as prime minister in 1941, Evatt’s trajectory was in ascendance. As Australia’s Attorney General, he gained world attention helping to set up the United Nations. Menzies’ Liberal Party win, at the federal election of 1949, saw Evatt face his first real defeat in what had been a career of brilliant prizes.

Menzies now became ascendant. As Evatt saw it, Menzies had stolen this brilliant boy’s golden future. But Evatt remained in politics and eventually – as new Labor leader after Ben Chifley’s death in June 1951 – Evatt’s second chance at the greatest political prize came.

The clash between Evatt and Menzies in the House of Representatives in February 1949 showed clearly the gap in the two men’s perspectives. Evatt’s constant push for dialogue through the United Nations to conciliate the Soviet Union was a stance Menzies belittled as useless posturing in the face of danger.

The Split that decimated Labor in 1954-55 had its origins in parliamentary politics and the lack of leadership shown by Bert Evatt. Former Labor MP Fred Daly recalled how the legislation to ban the Communist Party opened serious divisions in the Labor caucus from 1950 as Labor debated how to handle the legislation in the Senate. Daly wrote: “Evatt, Chifley, Ward, Keon, Mullens, Rosevear, Calwell, Bourke (Vic), Burke (WA) and Pollard participated in emotional and hate-filled debates and sometimes the meetings broke up in disarray.”

By 1954, Menzies had Evatt’s measure as Labor leader, along with a sound reading and intuition of the mood and politics of the time. Communism was a real concern, but the overriding concern with voters through 1951-53 was inflation.

As he brought down his “horror” – as it was labelled – budget of 1951, Treasurer Artie Fadden said he made no apology for the increase in taxes as inflation was a “whirlwind” sucking up income and jobs. It worked and, with the 1953 budget, such was the improvement in the economy, taxes were eased and benefits increased. Menzies was called the “Man of the hour” by one cartoonist.

Yet, Labor had improved in the polls and many journalists continued to opine that a Labor victory looked likely at the 1954 election – at least, that is, until the early months of 1954. By then, the 1953 budget was taking effect, just as the young Queen Elizabeth and her handsome husband Prince Philip landed in Australia on 3 February for an eight-week tour. Australia had seen nothing like it – huge crowds waved and cheered at every vantage point and the mood of the nation changed. Before long, columnists were writing that the election would be close.

The announcement of the defection of Valdimir Petrov, Third Secretary and Consul at the Soviet embassy in Canberra on 13 April, just weeks before voting day on 29 May was not something Menzies could control – the date had been fixed by negotiations between Petrov and ASIO. Petrov’s wife Evdokia, who also worked for the Soviet embassy, defected in Darwin shortly after, following dramatic scenes at Sydney airport.

However, the legislation to set up the Petrov Royal Commission and its terms of reference was approved without division of parliament with Evatt as strong in his condemnation of communist espionage as Menzies. In time, however, he would accuse Menzies of using Petrov to damage Labor in the 1954 election.

There is no evidence that Petrov’s defection influenced the outcome of the 1954 election. Menzies was aware the Petrov documents alleged three of Evatt’s staff had questionable contact with the Soviet embassy. But Menzies made no reference to the Petrov matter in the campaign. All the debate in the federal election of 1954 was over the economy and, eventually, over Labor’s inability to cost its promises.

The rivalry on the hustings was tense as election day neared – it became seen as a contest between just two men. In time, the election defeat would let loose Evatt’s well known tendency to volcanic outbursts and paranoia. Over years, this had been common with his staff at moments he thought were to his disadvantage. And here was a bigger moment much to his disadvantage.

Evatt had never faced off against Menzies in such a major campaign, one that was meant to hand him the prime ministership and the prize he had worked for over a decade. As Menzies had rightly noted, so much of Evatt’s career was all about him. And so it was that what happened to Labor after the 1954 federal election was fundamentally about what happened to Evatt.

After the election, the Petrov Royal Commission began its hearings. It was here that Evatt made his first serious mistake by insisting he represent his three staffers named in the Petrov documents – Dalziel, Grundeman and O’Sullivan – before the Commission. Ben Chifley had been correct in his assessment to Fred Daly shortly before his death that Evatt was not leadership material.

During his appearances in the court, Evatt greatly annoyed the commissioners in addition to arguing that the defection of Petrov had been a ploy by Menzies to bring down the Labor opposition at the federal election. This accusation would absorb Labor supporters for decades and create myths that took years to disprove. It also showed that Evatt was preoccupied with absolving himself from blame for the election defeat and passing that blame on to Menzies.

Evatt spent most of August away from parliament appearing before the Commission. His obsession with the Commission continued into September. Patience in caucus wore thin and by 8 September press reports of disorder in caucus were followed by an Adelaide News article headed “Is Dr Evatt facing a nervous breakdown?”

By 16 September, it was open war between the commissioners and Evatt with the commissioners refusing to allow Evatt to appear before them. Parliamentary Labor felt leaderless and without a strategy. Menzies stood atop a diminishing opponent. And one, he knew, Labor would have difficulty removing. Especially as Arthur Calwell, who may have been able to unite the party and, while siding with the Labor anti-communists in caucus, showed no inclination to challenge Evatt. In time, debates in the House would show a dominant Menzies facing a dysfunctional Evatt.

On 5 October 1954, something snapped in Evatt. He released a press statement exploding onto headlines the following day. He accused members outside the parliamentary wing in Victoria of acting with increasing disloyalty, enough to bring the matter before the federal executive of the party. He claimed this was a factor “that told heavily against us” in Victoria in the 1954 federal election. Not mentioning names but referring to Santamaria’s News Weekly magazine, the message was that Santamaria’s Movement had lost Labor the 1954 federal election. The scapegoating that would explode in a split had started.

At the caucus meeting on 13 October, as many have recorded, inflamed emotions took over. It ended with Evatt standing on a table shouting, “Take down their names.” Fred Daly recalled it as manic Evatt, writing: “It was Evatt and Ward at their hating best.”

What Evatt unleashed that day turned into a dictatorial purge of the party in Victoria – the sort of authoritarian use of power Evatt had condemned in his campaign against the communist dissolution bill. It was an act of self-destruction not easily understood in today’s politics.

So it was that after years of personal battles between Menzies and Evatt – which had ended in such a bitter election defeat – and the hysteria of his involvement in the Petrov Royal Commission which affected his grip on the leadership, Evatt made a manic move. As Menzies well knew, Evatt’s temperament was spasmodic and erratic under pressure. In the game of political contest, this was the darkest of moments for the “Doc” – Bert Evatt.

Menzies’ rivalry with Evatt and his defeat of Labor at the 1954 election were fundamental to the split in Labor in 1954-55. In December 1955, Menzies called an early election, capitalising on the dysfunction in the Labor Party and bringing the two houses of parliament in line for election timing. At that election, the Coalition would increase its majority in the House of Representatives and in Victoria take the seats of Ballarat, Corio and Maribyrnong from Labor with the help of preferences from Anti-Communist Labor candidates. This would be the start of Menzies’ long lasting ascendency – supported by preferences from the anti-communist parties formed after the Labor Split. He had played Evatt at his greatest challenge – and won.