Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth civil liberties grounds, and the proposal was narrowly defeated. Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth, also known as the Communist Party Case, was a legal case in the High Court of Australia described as "undoubtedly one of the High Court's most important decisions." In a general election held on 10 December 1949, Prime Minister Robert Menzies led a Liberal-Country Party coalition to government pledged to dissolving the Communist Party of Australia. The Party had been banned before: following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Party had opposed Australian involvement in the Second World War in 1939, which
Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia) the list of Secretaries, since the first appointment was made on 1 January 1912. Within days of John Gorton becoming Prime Minister, the functions of the Prime Minister's Department was split and a Department of the Cabinet Office was established. On taking office as Prime Minister in 1971, William McMahon reversed Gorton's changes and restored earlier changes via the creation of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. A lesser role of Secretary to the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council was established for a short time; abolished in the early days of the Whitlam government. Upon