The Bandar-Log: A Labor Story of the 1950s Alan Reid’s Previously Unpublished Novel about the Labor Split

The Bandar-Log: A Labor Story of the 1950s is a fictionalised recreation of the great Labor split of the 1950s. This schism in Labor’s ranks began in October 1954 when its erratic federal party leader Dr H.V. ( Doc ) Evatt denounced the perceived influence wielded over the party by the anti-communist Catholic activist B.A. ( Bob ) Santamaria. The resulting donnybrook involved personality clashes as well as ideological conflict. The messy saga featured a diverse array of participants including Catholic churchmen, trade union bosses, state premiers, state and federal Labor politicians and assorted commentators and journalists. The characters appearing in The Bandar-Log mirror, with varying degrees of faithfulness, these actual participants in the Labor split. - Ross Fitzgerald and Stephen Holt, from the Introduction