Frank Anstey, money power and the Labour split in war time

Frank Anstey was a prominent critic of the war and especially the war policy of the Fisher and Hughes governments. He became one of the leading figures in the oppositional left faction of the Labor Caucus that opposed the war policy of the federal government. This article argues Anstey's trajectory was different to most of his left faction due to his theoretical approach to labour matters, which allowed him to develop a distinctive critique of the empire, nation and his own party. He forged a radical populist theory of the political economy of finance capital, which he termed the 'Money Power'. As the Labor Party split and political divisions widened during the war, Anstey steadily distanced himself from the Labor Party and the unions, to identify with what he saw as an insurgent working class.