Huge stacks of printed material were seized in the Melbourne and Sydney offices, and some literature was confiscated in Perth, Hobart and Darwin. The swoop, synchronised in the four States, was the first Commonwealth action under the Communist Party Dissolution Act. Eight officers entered the Victorian headquarters of the Communist party in Elizabeth Street, city, at exactly 4 p.m. and confiscated documents and “other articles” weighing half a ton. Three uniformed constables from Russell-street accompanied the raiding party. The headquarters are in a suite of six offices on the ninth floor of the Australian Building, on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Flinders Lane.

Only three woman typists were in the office at the time of the raid. An official police reports says they were denied that the offices were occupied by the Communist party. They claimed they were “offices of the Political Rights Council.” Communists and police clash at a demonstration outside the Ironworker Building in Sydney in 1950. Credit:John Needham The Melbourne raid was made on a Commonwealth warrant, and the raiding party arrived in two black sedan cars with a 30 hundredweight utility to carry off documents.

The police were in the offices from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., when the second load of documents was removed. Security police made two trips to the offices, and the documents are believed to have been taken to the Commonwealth Security Police headquarters in Flinders Lane – less than a mile from where the raid was made. The outer office of the rooms was open, but two doors had to be forced to gain entry to inner offices. It is believed the majority of the papers, documents and books removed were found lying about the inside rooms in neat piles. One filing cabinet is said to have been forced to obtain other documents.

Damage done by special police during the raid was negligible. Two-Hour Search Two officers of the Commonwealth Investigation Branch entered a building of three floors, including a basement, at No. 40 Market Street, in Sydney. For two hours they searched all the floors. Later the packed large bundles of documents, office records and books into a car and took them away for examination. The raid was made by Detective Inspectors Wilks and McDermott.

When they arrived several known Communists and a solicitor were in the building, which has been the headquarters of the Communist Party in Sydney since Marx House, in George Street, was sold. The raiding party made a systematic search of all floors, including the basement. It encountered no interference from the Communists present. Many left before the officers had completed the search. Detective Inspector Wilks declined to disclose the nature of the documents and books seized. After the books and documents have been examined they will be sent to Canberra.

Darwin Security police and Northern Territory police searched the offices of the North Australian Workers’ Union and “Northern Standard” newspaper in Darwin. They also raided the home of Mr. M. Carne, who has been secretary of the Darwin branch of the Australian Communist party. The officers did not seize anything at the offices, but at the home of Mr. Carne they took possession of several piles of literature. Mrs. Carne was at home when they arrived. Pointing to the stack of literatures she said, “I think this is what you want.”

The police made it clear that they were not raiding the union of “Northern Standard” offices, but the place of employment of two alleged Communists – Messrs. Arthur Olice and M. Carne. Olive is secretary of the union, and Carne is a temporary organiser. Hobart In Hobart security officers raided Communist headquarters in Elizabeth Street. They seized a number of documents and pamphlets.

A union official later commented, “There would be nothing to find, because the Communists had ample time to clear the place.”