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National Civic Council

This organisation was founded in 1957 by B.A. Santamaria after the Catholic hierarchy ordered the closure of its predecessor, the Catholic Social Studies Movement, which, since 1938, had been attacking communist influences within trade unions and the Australian Labor Party. The National Civic Council (NCC) used its newspaper, and a regular spot on television, to campaign for Australian participation in the Vietnam War and later, against economic globalisation and the breakdown of the traditional family. Although its membership has declined from an early peak of 11 000 to less than 2000, the organisation still attracts sufficient external support to cover its $2 million annual budget.

Shurlee Swain