CPA National Training Centre
Minto, New South Wales
CPA National Training Centre is located in New South Wales
CPA National Training Centre
CPA National Training Centre
Coordinates34°02′01″S 150°52′50″E / 34.0337452°S 150.8804265°E / -34.0337452; 150.8804265
Established1958
Abolished1991

The CPA National Training Centre was a communist training camp and assembly operated by the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) from 1958 until the party's dissolution in 1991.[1]

History

Located in Minto, NSW, the camp operated under the front of the "Bushlovers' Club".[2] The camp initially attracted controversy on the tail of the second red scare wave, being described as a "brainwashing" institution by the National President of the RSL[3] and connected to various industrial agitations.[4] Over its lifetime, Eric Aarons served as the school principal and was a key figure in its formation and operation.[5]

Activities

Up until the 1980s[6] part of the site's function was as a school in Marxist thought, economics, and their relation to Australian politics.[5] During this period, and for the remainder of its life, the site also functioned as an assembly grounds where seminars on gay rights, feminism, and Indigenous Australian autonomy were held.[5][7]

This association with Indigenous land rights movement led the National Party[8] and the League of Rights[9] to portray Indigenous Australian sovereignty as a communist conspiracy to establish a Marxist state within Australia.[10] This, largely discredited,[11][12] theory was first advanced by a book written by a former member of the CPA,[13] which saw minor success as a result of this publicity[14][15] but drew heavy criticism from Jewish groups over its antisemitic publisher[12][16] and its association with racist, antisemitic organisations.[17][9]

References

  1. ↑ Eric, Red (3 March 1993). "The party's over for a true believer". Macarthur Advertiser.
  2. ↑ "MINTO MARE'S NEST". Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991). 25 June 1958. p. 12. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Reds Train 'At Bush Schools'". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 18 July 1962. p. 9. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "INDUSTRIAL NEWS". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 8 October 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Minto school and Communist party camp | The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Strauss, Richard (1 January 2007). "The Outdoor Living Supplement: Outdoor Recreation in Post-War Sydney, 1945 –1975". Macquarie University ResearchOnline: 170–180.
  7. ↑ Patricia Gifford, The Communist Party of Australia Residential National School (Minto) or the Bushlovers' Club, c1958–65: Communist Education, Cultural Nationalism and Conservative Reaction, BA Honours thesis, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, 1999
  8. ↑ "Premier warns of communist threat". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 26 May 1982. p. 13. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  9. 1 2 "TIMES ANALYSIS Revisionist historian in strange link with Australian publisher". Australian Jewish Times (Sydney, NSW : 1953 - 1990). 23 September 1987. p. 12. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  10. ↑ McDonald, Geoff (1983). Red over Black. Australia: Veritas Publishing Company.
  11. ↑ Boughton, Bob (1999). "The Communist Party of Australia's Involvement in the Struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' Rights 1920-1970". University of Wollongong Research Online: 43, 44.
  12. 1 2 "ParlInfo - LEAGUE OF RIGHTS". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Moonies on the march: doing Reagan's dirty work in NZ and Palau". Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991). 14 October 1987. p. 12. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "ULTRA RIGHT". Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991). 17 August 1983. p. 10. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  15. ↑ "BRIEF". Tribune (Sydney, NSW : 1939 - 1991). 30 September 1987. p. 12. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "Federal subsidy for Nazi books". Australian Jewish News (Sydney, NSW : 1990 - 2008). 5 October 1990. p. 6. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  17. ↑ "RACISM NOT AUSSIE WAY". Australian Jewish News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1935 - 1999). 26 October 1984. p. 11. Retrieved 11 July 2021.


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