{"id":100,"date":"2024-04-27T22:53:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-27T22:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/?p=100"},"modified":"2024-04-27T22:54:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T22:54:01","slug":"fred-paterson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/fred-paterson\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Paterson was our Communist Hero!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"yoast-breadcrumbs\"><span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/\">Home<\/a><\/span> \u00bb <span class=\"breadcrumb_last\" aria-current=\"page\">Fred Paterson was our Communist Hero!<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><h2>Table of contents<\/h2><ul><li><a href=\"#australian-communist-fred-paterson\" data-level=\"2\">The Legend of Fred Paterson<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-the-early-days\" data-level=\"3\">The Early days<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-fighting-racism-and-fascism\" data-level=\"3\">Fighting Racism and Fascism<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-fred-paterson-and-the-nbsp-red-north\" data-level=\"3\">Fred Paterson and the \u00a0Red North<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-australian-communists-strike\" data-level=\"3\">Australian Communists Strike<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-ally\" data-level=\"2\">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ally<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-australian-communist-party\" data-level=\"2\">Australian Communist Party<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#h-fred-paterson-elected\" data-level=\"3\">Fred Paterson Elected<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-fred-paterson-attacked\" data-level=\"3\">Fred Paterson Attacked<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-relevant-material\" data-level=\"3\">Relevant Material<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"australian-communist-fred-paterson\">The Legend of Fred Paterson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fred Paterson<\/strong> the only Communist ever elected to an Australian Parliament, possessed a legendary intellect, work ethic and political ability. We look at his amazing life and times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-the-early-days\">The Early days<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fred Paterson was born in Gladstone in 1897. A prize-winning student, Paterson was awarded a <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarships.unimelb.edu.au\/awards\/rhodes-scholarships-for-australia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rhodes scholarship<\/a> to study at Oxford and could easily have become a wealthy barrister. However, Fred\u2019s only goal in life was to improve the lives of working people and advance the cause of <a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/simple-definition-of-socialism\/\">socialism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a young man, Fred suspended his study to volunteer for what he then believed to be his &#8216;patriotic duty&#8217; to fight in the First World War. However, young Fred soon became politicised by the war. He saw workers on each side of the front line massacring each other for no reason, at the behest of a wealthy ruling class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1681966513350\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Who was Fred Paterson?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Frederick Woolnough Paterson (Fred Paterson) was an Australian politician. A Queensland MP, activist, unionist and lawyer, Fred Paterson was the only Communist ever elected to an Australian Parliament.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"625\" height=\"870\" src=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/fred-paterson-1.webp\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Fred Paterson\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/fred-paterson-1.webp 625w, https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/fred-paterson-1-216x300.webp 216w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-fighting-racism-and-fascism\">Fighting Racism and Fascism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fred Paterson returned to Australia and took a leading role in the fight against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/fascism\/Common-characteristics-of-fascist-movements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fascism<\/a>. It was his work defending the rights of unemployed migrants that forged his reputation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Queensland had the highest number of Italian immigrants of any state.&nbsp;New arrivals, having escaped Mussolini\u2019s fascist regime, often moved north from Brisbane looking for work. As a result, Australia\u2019s first anti-fascist march was held in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.robpyne.com.au\/about\/far-north-queensland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Far North Queensland<\/a> town of Halifax in 1925. While the government cracked down on these radical protestors, Fred stood in solidarity with them<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-fred-paterson-and-the-nbsp-red-north\">Fred Paterson and the &nbsp;Red North<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The stretch of Queensland from Mackay to Cairns was in the 1930s and 40s known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/search.informit.org\/doi\/abs\/10.3316\/informit.592595775931255\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Red North<\/a>\u201d. During this time the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) was the driving force behind the Unemployed Workers\u2019 Union. This union provided assistance that helped many ordinary people to survive the Great Depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.auscp.org.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Australian Communist Party<\/a> gained wider support when communist trade union leaders ran strong campaigns which won increased pay and improved conditions for workers in the mines and the cane fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1933 a deadly epidemic of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthline.com\/health\/weils-disease\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Weil\u2019s disease<\/a>&nbsp;broke out on sugar cane farms. Cane cutters and their families lived in constant fear of the disease.&nbsp;Burning the cane before harvesting was the best way to control outbreaks, but it also reduced the sugar yield, thus reducing the profits of cane growers. Growers campaigned against burning crops, shamefully winning support from both the&nbsp;ALP state government&nbsp;and the Australian Workers Union (AWU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-australian-communists-strike\">Australian Communists Strike<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Anti-migrant racism resurfaced in 1931 when cane farmers and the conservative Australian Workers Union (AWU) made a deal to give British subjects farm work ahead of Italians. Fred Paterson contested the legality of the deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1933 cane cutters determined to go on strike in response to the deadly Weil\u2019s disease epidemic. Consequently, by August 1935, 2000 workers had shut down the sugar mills. When the state government refused relief to laid-off workers, the CPA in the unions organised fundraising, communal kitchens and accommodation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bosses had defeated the strike by July 1936. They evicted striking workers from their quarters and employed <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Strikebreaker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scab labour<\/a>. While the battle had been lost, the war was later won by workers, when an order to burn cane before harvesting was handed down by the industrial court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The strike had raised the profile of the CPA in&nbsp;Queensland Politics&nbsp;and fuelled resentment towards the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Paterson\u2019s support for the cane cutters helped him win election to the Townsville local council in 1939.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Working with allies from a left wing split within the ALP, Fred Paterson had enough influence on the council to make real improvements for local people. This including providing cheap stoves for Townsville workers, as well as establishing public libraries, a swimming pool and a public ice works (when the military took over the existing one during the war).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-ally\">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ally<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Paterson explained in his memoir that, for him, practising law was always a part-time pursuit. Indeed, he spent most of his time working for the Party: \u201cBetween cases I did an enormous amount of work for the Communist Party, addressing meetings all over North Queensland.&#8221; Fred went to meetings in towns from the coast to the Northern Territory border. Two of Fred\u2019s many clients were Joe McGinness and Tiger O\u2019Shane. Fred was a strong ally of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.robpyne.com.au\/about\/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander\/\">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-australian-communist-party\">Australian Communist Party<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Australian Government banned the Communist Party in 1940. As a result, it became an offence for Paterson to publicly address a crowd. During a visit to Cairns at this time, Paterson used his legal experience and creativity to work around this problem. He addressed a meeting of locals while standing on a table, metres off the&nbsp;Cairns Esplanade. He knew the local constabulary could not enforce the Communist ban on him, because he was beyond the high-water mark, so outside their territorial jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Fred Paterson - Candidate for Herbert Speech Excerpt (1943)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fb7fg9Fh5eU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-fred-paterson-elected\">Fred Paterson Elected<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the campaign for the seat of Bowen in the 1944 state election, Paterson defeated the ALP incumbent Dick Riordan. Paterson declared in one of his first speeches to parliament in 1944, \u201cSocialism is in accordance with the highest and noblest traditions and ideals of humanity. But socialism cannot be imposed upon the people by a minority. It is a movement in the interests of the vast majority and will come into existence only when a majority of the people want it and are organised sufficiently to obtain and maintain it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-fred-paterson-attacked\">Fred Paterson Attacked<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest test for Paterson came in 1947 and 1948 with the Queensland rail strike.&nbsp;Rail unions applied for a flow-on of a pay rise won by metal workers under federal awards. The ALP Hanlon government \u2013 despite Hanlon being a former railway worker himself \u2013 refused their claims. Workers struck in response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Determined to defeat the strike, the State Government launched a propaganda campaign against the rail workers. The government accused workers of being taken in by a communist plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In support of the railway workers, Paterson took shifts on the picket line every morning, offering the strikers legal advice and using Parliament to publicly defend the strikers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plain clothes policeman attacked Paterson on St Patrick\u2019s Day 1948, while he was taking part in a rally to support railway workers. The police bashed his head with a police baton. His injuries were so severe that he was not expected to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-alp-and-capitalist-press-join-forces-against-australian-communist\">ALP and capitalist press join forces against Australian Communist<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Premier Hanlon expressed his indignation at the demonstrators\u2019 behaviour and his admiration for the police. He called the events \u201ca deliberately provoked brawl by the communist element which saw defeat staring it in the face. I have reports of their [police] tolerance, patience and care in handling people during this difficult period\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The violence marked the end of Fred Paterson\u2019s political career. He struggled to recover from his injuries. The&nbsp;ALP&nbsp;government also redrew the boundaries of his electorate, making it unwinnable for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, Paterson\u2019s story of struggle and resistance guarantees his place as the only Australian Communist ever elected to an Australian Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"230\" height=\"387\" src=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/brisbane-telegraph-1948.webp\" alt=\"Brisbane Telegraph 1948\" class=\"wp-image-409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/brisbane-telegraph-1948.webp 230w, https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/brisbane-telegraph-1948-178x300.webp 178w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brisbane Telegraph 1948<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-relevant-material\">Relevant Material<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/australian-left\/\">Australian Left Links<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/australian-socialists\/\">Australian Socialists<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/public-services-sector\/\">Public Services Sector<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/welfare-rights\/\">Welfare Rights<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other Material<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.robpyne.com.au\/struggle-and-resistance-in-the-far-north\/\"><strong>Struggle and Resistance in the Far North<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/eco-socialism\/\"><strong>Eco-Socialism<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/socialism-explained\/\"><strong>Socialism Explained<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/socialist-media\/\"><strong>Socialist Media<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/socialist-parties\/\">Socialist Parties Worldwide<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/world-socialism\/\"><strong>World Socialism<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/\">Socialist Australia<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fred Paterson the only Communist ever elected to an Australian Parliament, possessed a legendary intellect, work ethic and political ability. This is his story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[10],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.5 (Yoast SEO v22.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fred Paterson was our Communist Hero! - Socialist Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fred Paterson, the only Communist ever elected to an Australian Parliament possessed a legendary intellect, work ethic and political ability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/socialistaustralia.org\/fred-paterson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fred Paterson was our Communist Hero! 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