The present-day Communist Party of Australia had one councillor elected to Auburn City Council from 2012 until 2016, which remains its only electoral victory.

Its membership rose to 20,000, it won control of a number of important trade unions, and a Communist candidate, Fred Paterson, was elected to the Queensland parliament in April 1944.

At the statewide local elections in December, a total of 16 Communist candidates won seats across six different LGAs, with its best results in Kearsley and neighbouring Cessnock.

[3] Reacting to the election of the Communists, other councils − including Albury, Maitland, Muswellbrook and Taree − accused Kearley of "deplorable action" and "disloyalty".

[7] Allan Opie resigned from council on 14 August 1947, and Bernard Tonner took his place as one of the candidates on the Communist ticket in B Riding.