Jack Henry, a Communist Leader in Australia’s “Deep North”
Queensland is often viewed as a hopelessly conservative state. But the story of Jack Henry, the Australian communist who organized the Far North, suggests that this stereotype is far from the truth.
We need to preserve the memories of Australia’s communist militants, unionists, and organizers — and to make their experience relevant to a new generation of leftists.
Jack Henry was a lifelong Communist Party of Australia (CPA) member and a key party leader in the nation’s “Deep North,” Queensland. A gifted organizer, he won respect among both CPA members and nonparty workers for his work as a union militant, a steadfast internationalist during the heyday of the White Australia policy, and a selfless, indefatigable comrade who faced hardship in a spirit of solidarity and friendship.
Today, Queensland is regarded as an inherently conservative region. But in the first part of the twentieth century, this was not the case — the Communist Party built an impressive and powerful movement, winning victories on the picket line and at the ballot box. And at the heart of these efforts stood Jack Henry.
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