Paul Freeman (communist)

Paul Freeman (c. 1884 – 24 July 1921) was a political activist known for his deportation from Australia in 1919 and his subsequent role as a liaison between the Communist International and the Australian communist movement.

Freeman's origins are unclear, although he was probably American. He arrived in Australia in 1909 and lived for several years in Broken Hill, New South Wales, where he became involved with militant leftist groups. He later worked as a miner and prospector in Queensland. In 1918, after leading a strike at the Mount Elliott Copper Mine, Freeman was expelled from the country without trial under emergency war-time powers. His deportation became a cause célèbre amongst the local labour movement, whose direct action tactics ultimately failed to prevent his removal from the country.

In 1920, Freeman travelled to Soviet Russia and secured the patronage of Bolshevik leader Fyodor Sergeyev, who had previously spent time in Australia. He was dispatched to Australia under an alias with the aim of encouraging the small local communist movement, but was embroiled in factional conflict. Freeman returned to Russia in 1921 leading the Australian delegation to the Communist International and Red International of Labor Unions. He was subsequently killed in the wreck of the Aerowagon, an experimental high-speed railcar, and became one of the few Westerners interred at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.