The Hon. IAN WEST [6.43 p.m.]: Sydney town in the 1930s Depression landscape was physically and psychologically an island unto itself—a place forced to come to terms with a rapidly ever-evolving world that little resembled Australia's Sydney town. Sydney was a hot bed of political, industrial and economic fault lines. The bush was becoming the city, industry was developing, and manufacturing, stevedoring and production-based heavy industries generated great returns from capital. Thousands upon thousands of people were on the wallaby in search of opportunities, and between 1929 in 1931 Australia's gross domestic product was cut by 10 per cent and our unemployment rate reached a peak of 29 per cent—some figures even estimate as much as 32 per cent.

In 1929 in the Hunter Valley at Rothbury a teenage unionist was shot dead on a picket line. The public mood was changing and dark clouds were gathering. In 1931 the people of New South Wales elected Labor Premier Jack Lang in a landslide victory. In May 1932 the Governor sacked Jack Lang as Premier for refusing to adhere to the Melbourne agreement—an agreement that was to destroy economic growth and debilitate our chances to effectively combat the global economic downturn. As they did again in 1975, the reactionary puppets of capital overthrew the democratically elected leader of the government. Political and economic savagery was erupting all over the world. Fascism was spreading around the globe and war was brewing. Japan was to begin its expansion through Asia, invading Manchuria in 1931. Fascist organisations sprung up across the globe.

Here in New South Wales the New Guard was a fascist group largely comprising right-wing monarchists, ex-service men and Empire loyalists opposed to a free and democratic society, especially one that was governed by labour—a Labor Government improving the health, welfare, life opportunities and choices of workers and the disadvantaged through implementation of fair and responsible social and economic policies and appropriate legislation. One of the founders of the New Guard was a solicitor named Eric Campbell, who in 1933 toured Europe to liaise with other fascist groups. Campbell met with the British Union of Fascists and was inspired by what he learned overseas. The British Union of Fascists journal Black Shirt reported that the meetings between leading British Fascists and the Australian New Guard Eric Campbell were a great step forward for international fascism.

Born in Young New South Wales of patrician stock, Eric Campbell had weaved his way up the social ladder to become a successful solicitor and company director, and was highly involved and respected in several of Sydney's gentlemen's clubs. He was typical of the elite leadership of the Sydney fascist scene. A new book entitled Radical Sydney, written by Terry Irving and Rowan Cahill, provides insight into the shady movement. The Japan Australian Friendship Society formed in 1929 was an invitation-only group comprising academics, conservative politicians, and owners of pastoral, stevedoring, banking and insurance companies. Australian capitalists were under no illusions. They had much to gain from expanding fascist dominion. The conservative governments of the time largely turned a blind eye to Japanese militarism and imperialism—first when Japan invaded Manchuria, and even with the invasion of China in 1937 the attitude did not change.

This policy of implicit appeasement and favour for commercial allies was embodied in the 1938 Wollongong dockworkers dispute. When dockworkers refused to ship iron ore to Japan while Japan was waging war against the innocent Chinese, Deputy Prime Minister Menzies stepped in under the guise of defending Australia's trading interest. His support for these commercial interests caused him to be famously and forever labelled "Pig Iron Bob". In 1955 during the Petrov royal commission a document that revealed pre-war connections between prominent Australian conservative business and political figures was discovered. These men would have emerged to collaborate with the Japanese had they invaded Australia and formed a new government.

The development of Australian society follows the common fabric of human development and the constant struggles for social justice: the colonisation of a native land by a foreign invader, in the form of our convict past as a penal colony; slavery from blackbirding of Kanakas in Queensland; wage slavery, in the form of our lowest paid, hardest working and most undervalued workers; and the hegemony of the oppressor over the oppressed. Sydney town's brush with fascism should be a constant reminder of the fragility of the limited gains we have made. Things we take for granted such as free speech, freedom of association, collective bargaining and the right to vote—all signifiers of an advanced society—can be taken away in a breath. [Time expired.]