page_title: Attempted exclusion of Egon Kisch from Australia
section_title: Leap into history
hierarchical_section_title: Attempted exclusion of Egon Kisch from Australia / Leap into history
caption_attribution_description: Information - Portrait of Robert Gordon Menzies, former en:Prime Minister of Australia, taken by Luke Monte (1885-1962). Source - National Library of Australia Copyright Information - picture was taken in the 1930s - for photographs taken prior to 2005, Australian copyright expires 50 years after the photograph was taken. This photo is in the public domain. License:
context_page_description: In late 1934 and early 1935, the United Australia Party Government of Joseph Lyons failed to exclude Egon Erwin Kisch, a member of the Communist Party of Germany, from entering Australia.
context_section_description: On 12 November 1934, large groups of Kisch supporters gathered in Melbourne and the Strathaird was surrounded by boatloads of Kisch well-wishers. The International Labour Defence (another Münzenberg Trust front) engaged Melbourne barrister Joan Rosanove, who, with a group of Kisch supporters, went aboard the Strathaird and initiated a habeas corpus action.
  The Melbourne court hearing the action delayed any immediate decision on Kisch, leaving him in custody aboard the Strathaird as it departed the city.
  On 13 November, Kisch defied Australian authorities when he jumped over five metres from the deck of the Strathaird onto Melbourne's Station Pier, breaking his right leg. The Victoria Police quickly took charge of Kisch and carried him back on board the Strathaird.
  The next day, the issue rose to national prominence when Labor MP for Batman, Frank Brennan rose in the House of Representatives to accuse the Lyons government of cowardice. He asked why Kisch's right to speak in Australia was being restricted just because the Lyons administration disagreed with him.
  In response, the Attorney-General Robert Menzies pointed out that every civilized country had the right to determine who should or should not be allowed in, and that, since Kisch was a revolutionary and since revolution involved violence, he was not to be permitted entry.
caption: Attorney-General Robert Menzies prosecuted the Lyons Government's case against Kisch
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