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The Australian Labour Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labour Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt, who along with six other Labour MPs left the ALP on 5 October 1955 to form the Social Democratic Labour Party and Frank McManus, who assumed leadership of the ALP that same day. B. A. Santamaria, the dominant force behind the "Catholic Social Studies Movement" or "the Movement", also played a role in the split. On 15 September 1954, Evatt denounced the influence of Santamaria's Movement, which had become a strong tendency within the ALP, especially among the party's Roman Catholic membership. Both factions sent delegates to the 1955 Labour Party conference in Hobart. Evatt regarded the Movement and its delegates with hostility, alleged that they were trying to turn Labour into a Catholic centre party of a Liberal-esque or even fascistic persuasion, and attempted to have Movement delegates banned from the conference. In the end, Movement-aligned delegates were included in the conference, prompting followers of Evatt to withdraw from the Labour party and form the Social Democratic Labour Party. Deputy leader Arthur Calwell, originally a close ally of Evatt, chose to remain in the party, as he was closely associated with prominent Groupers and had many opponents on the party's left.

Although the staunchly anti-ALP leadership of the Social Democratic Labour Party never endorsed the Liberal Party, some of its voters used Australia's full-preference instant-runoff voting system to direct preference votes towards the Liberal Party or independents. Preference flows prevented the ALP from obtaining office until 1961, when Arthur Calwell secured a slim majority for Labour. The SDLP would later dissolve in the 1980s, with many breakaway trade unions gaining readmittance into the Labour Party. A 'continuing' SDLP would survive as a rump organisation until 1995, when it merged with various green and socialist parties to form the modern-day Left Party.

Historians, journalists, and political scientists have observed that the split was not a single event but a process that occurred over the early 1950s in state and federal Labour parties. The main consequence of the split was to effectively purge the ALP of many left-wing elements, with the party eventually dropping its official commitment to democratic socialism and in effect embracing a Christian democratic ideology. While the split was initially along ethnocultural lines (i.e., Roman Catholicism), the erosion of sectarian politics in Australia and a focus on issues like trade unionism and anti-communism (as well as social conservatism among some members) meant the party continued to be inter-denominationally tolerant and retained a significant number of Protestants.

Arthur Augustus Calwell (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Australia from 1961 to 1968 and leader of the Labour Party from 1959 to 1968. He remained loyal to the party during the 1955 Australian Labour Party split and successfully led the party through three federal elections. Calwell grew up in Melbourne and attended St Joseph's College. After leaving school, he began working as a clerk for the Victorian state government. He became involved in the labour movement as an officeholder in the public-sector trade union. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1940 federal election, standing in the Division of Melbourne.

After the 1943 election, Calwell was elevated to cabinet as Minister for Information, overseeing government censorship and propaganda during World War II. When Ben Chifley became prime minister in 1945, Calwell was also made Minister for Immigration. He oversaw the creation of Australia's expanded post-war immigration scheme, at the same time strictly enforcing the White Australia policy. In 1951, he was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party in place of H. V. Evatt, who had succeeded to the leadership upon Chifley's death. The two clashed on a number of occasions over the following decade, which encompassed the 1955 party split. Evatt left the party and Frank McManus was chosen as his successor. McManus lost both the 1955 and 1958 elections, and Calwell was chosen as leader to replace him in 1959.

Under Calwell, Labour was victorious at the 1961 election, gaining 8 seats and a very slim majority, which was retained at the 1964 election. Calwell was one of the most prominent opponents of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and prevented Australia from joining. In 1966 he led his party to a third victory. Ahead of the 1969 election, he announced his retirement from politics and was succeeded by his deputy, Gough Whitlam. Calwell died in 1973. His government is remembered for the introduction of its expanded post-war immigration scheme, the introduction of workplace codetermination, greatly increased government support for non-state schools, and opposition to Australian participation in American foreign policy ventures like the Vietnam War. Some elements of this programme, such as continued enforcement of the White Australia Policy and scepticism towards the US Alliance, would later be gradually undone by both the Whitlam and Holt governments.