AustLit

'Buckley speaks of his English working class family background, impact of the outbreak of WWII on his education, enlisting in the Army at 19, serving as a British officer in Greece, after returning to England in 1946 he joined the League of Democracy in Greece and the Committee for Cypriot Self-Determination, joining the Communist Party in 1942 in order to further socialist change, resigning in 1956 as a result of Krushchev's speech against Stalin and the Russian invasion of Hungary, graduating in 1948 and lecturing at Aberdeen University until taking a post at Sydney University, emigrating in 1953, how he became Federal Secretary of the Federal Council of Australian University Staff Association (FCAUSA) which protected members against political discrimination, how ASIO vetted appointments at the University of New South Wales, member of editorial board of the journal Outlook which catered for disillusioned Marxists.

Buckley speaks of joining the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) in 1954, along with Dick Klugman and Jack Sweeney he founded the Council for Civil Liberties (CCL) in Sept. 1963 in an attempt to counter corruption by the police, how the Council provided free legal aid for citizens whose human rights had been violated, being indicted for Vietnam War protests, how there was no solidarity among unions or CPA for the work of the CCL, why few academics are prepared to speak out for freedom of speech and the role of ASIO in suppressing left-wing views, the contention over the teaching of political economy in the 1960's and 70's, retired in 1989, his publications and editing of Labour History.' Source: http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/ (Sighted 29/01/2009).