Obituaries Australia

Alf [Alfred Deakin] Watt, who died on July 24 at the age of 79, was a committed communist. He believed in both theory and practice, and study played an important part in his life, beginning with night classes when he was obliged to leave school. He took up carpentry and joined the BWIU.

Alf joined the ALP but at 19 he left that party for the CPA. In the depression years he was attacked and jailed while speaking at street meetings. In the illegal period he moved to Adelaide and changed his name so that he could continue his work. He became state CPA secretary in Sth Australia during the '40s. In 1950, Alf came to Sydney to edit Tribune, and was a member of the Central Committee for some years.

He was a staunch friend of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, always aware that their way forward would not be easy. From 1963 he spent two and a half years in Moscow as Tribune correspondent. After he returned, he opposed ideas in the Australian party which he saw as detrimental to the cause of socialism. He published the Australian Socialist, and was expelled from the CPA. In 1971 he joined the SPA and ended his days working for that party.

Alf was a true and passionate revolutionary who lived a full life, putting others before himself. Even if you didn't agree with him you had to listen and respect his views. He will be long remembered by his many friends and comrades. Tribune extends sympathy to his wife Rae, and to his sons Gerry and Terry, and their families. — L. Gilmour (from the funeral oration given by Alan Miller.)