journalist. In 1907 it had about 2,000 members. In 1907, the VSP, plus similar groups in the other Australian states, came together in a loose federal organisation calling itself the Socialist Federation of Australia, but this never became a functioning national party. Like other socialist parties, the VSP supported the "One Big Union" campaign advocating a united national labour movement, a campaign which led to the establishment of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused a crisis for the VSP. Like most socialists, the party initially welcomed the revolution, but by 1920 democratic socialists such as Ross had become critical of the Bolshevik regime. In 1921 a VSP member who had moved to Sydney, Bill Earsman, was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Australia. Many VSP members joined the new party, but the majority, led by Ross, remained aloof. "The labour movement's championing of democratic rights and improved standards of life has so altered the Australian environment as to make Bolshevism inapplicable," he wrote. Ross's two sons, Lloyd Ross and Edgar Ross, however, both became prominent Communist Party members. The VSP faded away in the following years, finding that there was little political space between the Australian Labor Party and the Communist Party of Australia. Cameron remained its secretary until 1932, by which time the party was moribund. See also Socialism in Australia The Socialist (1906–1923), newspaper of the party References 1906 establishments in Australia 1932 disestablishments in Australia Communist parties in Australia Defunct communist parties Defunct political parties in Victoria (Australia) Political parties disestablished in 1932 Political parties established in 1906