The Pivotal Year of 1963

This chapter brings the reader to perhaps the most pivotal moment of the period, when Croatian nationalism emerges publicly as an issue that the Australian government and ruling Liberal Party had to deal with. The events that brought the existence of clandestine Croatian Australian groups into the open are themselves remarkable and will be considered. However, it was the strong political reactions by both the Liberal Party and the Labor Party that will be the focus of this chapter. Year 1963 in many ways set the stage for the violent Croatian nationalism controversy in Australia. Both the Liberal and Labor Parties picked up the issue to use as a bludgeon against the other and this chapter sets up the parameters of the controversy as it went forward. Facts were not top of mind when it came to partisan jousting and this reality becomes very apparent tracking the reaction to violent Croatian nationalist activities.