Attempted exclusion of Egon Kisch from Australia
He was also the author of many travel books and a famous journalist, and as the leading proponent of German-language reportage became known to admirers and critics alike as "The Whirling Reporter from Prague".
The Communist International's 1934 policy to build popular fronts of all political parties opposing Fascism was to be promoted by Kisch's Australian visit.
In response, the Movement Against War and Fascism proposed holding an Australasian conference, timed to coincide with the British Royal Tour of the celebrations.
The ship was promptly boarded by representatives of the Federal Government who refused Kisch entry to Australia on the ground that he was "undesirable as an inhabitant of, or visitor to, the Commonwealth".
Kisch was required to stay in the custody of Captain Carter on board the Strathaird as it proceeded through Australian waters via Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
The International Labor Defense (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.
In response, Attorney-General Robert Menzies stated 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.
Kisch attended a Fellowship of Australian Writers luncheon in honour of British poet laureate John Masefield, along with Albert Piddington, Kenneth Slessor and Norman Lindsay.
The reception committee organized concerts featuring performances from Greek, Italian, Yugoslav, Jewish, Russian and Aboriginal artists with the theme of international opposition to fascism.
Kisch's legal team were able to demonstrate that Constable Mackay, who had administered the test, although born in Scotland, was not actually able to understand the Lord's Prayer in Scottish Gaelic himself.
Crucially, the Court ruled that the dictation test had been invalid in any case, in that Scottish Gaelic was not "a European language" within the meaning of the Immigration Restriction Act.
In December 1934, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons contacted the British Government and received the following written advice: "Position is that Egon Kisch was refused leave to land in the United Kingdom in September 1933 on account of his known subversive activities.
Evatt pointed out that, under the law, the minister had no power to rule on immigration matters after a person had entered Australia and he set up a hearing of the Full Bench of the High Court for March.
He became a popular figure, addressing meetings, rallies and crowds in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, warning of the dangers of the Nazi regime.
All his limbs were broken gradually, and he died.Facing the dilemma that further persecution and legal wrangling simply promoted Kisch's cause, the Lyons Government proposed a compromise.
Having achieved notoriety above and beyond anyone's expectations, and public exposure of his warnings of Adolf Hitler and the dangers of fascism, Kisch accepted their offer and departed Sydney on the Orient Steam Navigation Company liner Ormonde, bound for Marseille.
Melbourne communist writer Frank Hardy detailed Kisch's Australian visit in his fictionalized version of John Wren's life, Power Without Glory (1950).
In 1951 Christian Jollie Smith worked with H. V. Evatt to prevent an attempt by Menzies (now Prime Minister) to ban the Communist Party in Australia.
