The Liberal Party Essay

531 Words2 Pages

For- The Liberal Party
The Liberal Party despised the Communist Movement. The party was led by Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies, who despised the idea of Communism. Menzies attempted to ban the Communist Party of Australia in 1951, but failed this task after the law was challenged in the High Court of Australia where the law was deemed unconstitutional. The Liberals aimed to stop communism from spreading by joining treaties such as the Australia New Zealand United Stated of America treaty (ANZUZ) and the South East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO). These treaties stood to say that whenever America would be at war, Australia would follow suit as their one of their allies. This also worked if Australia would go to war, America would stand with Australia. Treaties were considered “Soft Law” and could not be forced upon a particular person or group. Other groups who were in favour of the Vietnam War included the Press, the Catholic Church and the Democratic Labor Party. The Liberal Party was in favour of the Vietnam War and unlike that Labor Party, did not split on ideologies. They were united throughout the movement and built a strong relationship with America during the …show more content…

In November 1966, a federal Election was called by Prime Minister Harold Holt, a Liberal. The ALP suffered a huge loss in a large part of the country due to Arthur Calwell’s, the leader of the party at the time, anti-war views and ideologies. Following the election, Calwell was replaced by Gough Whitlam. Whitlam directed an attack on the party’s anti-war policy. The party opposed the war because of their views against Conscription, or Mandatory Military Service. They also opposed banning of the Communist Party of Australia. Other parties who opposed the involvement in the war included various Universities, Protestants, Trade Unions, Save Our Sons, the Moratorium Movement and Conscientious

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