The Communist Party v Commowealth
High Court of Australia
Date decided	9 March 1951
Full case name	The Communisty Party v The Commonwealth
Citations	HCA 5; (1951) 83 CLR 1
Judges sitting	Latham CJ, McTiernan, Webb, Dixon, Fullagar, Kitto and Williams JJ
Case history
Prior actions:	none
Subsequent actions:	referendum
Case opinions
The defence power waxes and wanes. At a time of peace, the defence power is not broad enough to allow the Government to outlaw organisations.

The Communist Party v The Commonwealth (1951) 83 CLR 1, also known as the The Communist Party Case, is a very famous case of the High Court of Australia High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... John Latham John Latham (June 27, 1740 - February 4, 1837) was an English physician, naturalist and author. ... Sir Edward Aloysius McTiernan (February 16, 1892 - January 9, 1990) was an Australian jurist, lawyer and politician. ... Hon Sir William Flood Webb KBE (21 January 1887 – 11 August 1972), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. ... Sir Owen Dixon, GCMG, KBE, PC (1886 - 1972), Australian judge and politician, was the sixth Chief Justice of Australia. ... Hon Sir Wilfred Kelsham Fullagar KC KBE (16 November 1892 – 9 July 1961), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. ... Rt Hon Sir Frank Walters Kitto KC KBE PC AC (30 July 1903 – 14 February 1994), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. ... Hon Sir Dudley Williams MC KC KBE (1889 – 1963), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. ... The Commonwealth Law Reports are the authorised reports of decisions of the High Court of Australia. ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

Background

Taking advantage of Cold War concerns. Prime Minister Menzies enacted legislation to outlaw the Communist Party. The legislation also put restrictions on who could hold office in trade unions. Combatants Communists: Warsaw Pact, Soviet Union and its allied Anti-communists: Nato, United States and its allied Peoples Republic of China and its allied Casualties 70 millions civilians The Cold War (Russian: Холодная Война Kholodnaya Voina) was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers...

Decision

The Court decided that the Federal Parliament did not have the power to pass the legislation.

Aftermath

Menzies sough to amend the Constitution to empower his legislation. However he was frustrated by Dr. Herbert Evatt. Rt Hon Dr H.V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt (April 30, 1894 - November 2, 1965), Australian jurist, politician and writer (popularly known as Doc Evatt or H.V. Evatt) was born in Maitland, New South Wales, to a working-class family of Anglo-Irish origin. ...