Social Justice Almanac

Author: Craig Liddell | Source: 2SER | Date: 04-02-04

The Social Justice Almanac is a multimedia project highlighting pivotal aspects of Australian history that have led to the advancement of socially just outcomes. It was produced by Craig Liddell on behalf of 2SER-FM in Sydney and funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation through the CBOnline Project.

The Social Justice Almanac is compromised of a collection of 12, eight-minute audio programs, accompanying feature articles and 26 short scripts. The material has been created for the use of community broadcasters in their programming and for anyone interested the history of social justice campaigns in Australian history.

The programs are available here as broadcast quality MP3 audio files, and are also being distributed via the community radio satellite, ComRadSat, and the Digital Delivery Network (DDN) to community radio stations around the country. Community broadcasters interested in airing the series should send an email to info@cbonline.org.au.

Copyright for this material is held by 2SER-FM. It may be used and reproduced in whole or part for educational purposes or any purpose consistent with the aims and objectives of community broadcasting, provided that it is attributed to 2SER-FM, the Community Broadcasting Foundation and the CBOnline Project.

The thumbnail image for this page is adapted from an original drawing by Rini Templeton

Click this link to download an MS Word format document containing the text of the twenty six live read scripts.

Formation Of The ACTU - 1927 Back To Contents

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On 3rd May 1927, hundreds of union delegates gathered in Victoria Trades Hall to consider a proposal by the state labor councils of NSW, Melbourne and South Australia. Believing that a united front would benefit workers all around the nation, the meeting voted to form the Australian Council of Trade Unions or ACTU.

The early years of the ACTU were difficult, as the fledgling organisation grappled with structural and financial difficulties. However, the organisation has grown to become the peak body of the Australian Trade Union movement and plays an important role representing the interests of workers in what are usually David and Goliath circumstances.

Since its creation, the ACTU has also been involved in campaigns on wider social issues, such as opposing war and fighting for education and health care. The unions aid agency, APHEDA co-ordinates international campaigns for the organisation.

An informal alliance between the Australian Labor Party and the ACTU was strengthened in the 80's with an agreement known as the Accord, where the Hawke government agreed to increase social welfare spending in exchange for industrial peace.

Despite declining union membership in recent years, the ACTU remains an important player in the Australian political landscape.

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The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights - 1948 Back To Contents

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In the aftermath of Second World War, the newly formed United Nations developed its charter to include the first international commitment to the protection and observance of human rights.

In adopting the Declaration, the United Nations General Assembly, recognised the inherent dignity and the equal rights of all members of the human family, as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.

Over fifty years later, the Declaration provides the foundation for a number of constitutions and provides safeguards against violations of human rights. Australian UN Ambassador and Foreign Minister, Dr Herbert Evatt, was head of the General Assembly and proudly proclaimed the unanimous adoption of the Declaration on December the 10th, 1948.

Despite early calls for the United Nations to enforce the principles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains a benchmark only.

Although Australia was heavily involved in drafting the Declaration, the country's commitment to human rights has been patchy at best. The White Australia Policy of the early twentieth century excluded migrants based purely on race.

Many also believe that human rights have eluded many indigenous people.
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- Feature Article: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, A Blueprint For Social Justice: 82KB MS Word Document
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Immigration and Racism Back To Contents

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Institutionalised racism began early in Australia's history, most notably with the White Australia Policy. Designed to keep out migrants of non-Anglo-Saxon decent, the policy required potential migrants to pass a dictation test in a European language that was chosen to ensure the applicant would fail.

But labour shortages in the post second world war boom meant Australia had to look overseas to swell its workforce.

One project that required more workers was the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.

Over one hundred thousand people worked on the Snowy Scheme. Two-thirds of these were migrant workers who came from over 30 countries, many from World War Two refugee camps.

Further liberalisation of the White Australia Policy did take place towards the end of the 1950s. But again, it was tied to workplace requirements.

The Policy was gradually wound back over a twenty-five period.

A shift away from the assimilation model to multiculturalism in the 1970s saw the White Australia Policy formally abolished in 1973, under the Whitlam Labor Government.

Most of the immigrant workers from the Snowy Mountains Scheme stayed in Australia and became citizens, which significantly changed the make up of Australia's population.

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- Feature Article: Immigration and Racism Feature Article: MS Word Document
- Audio Feature: Immigration and Racism: 9.2MB MP3 160Kpbs 8:02
The Push - 1960's Back To Contents

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In the wake of the buttoned-down fifties, and disillusionment with the dry rhetoric of the traditional Left in Australia, The Push represented a dazzling new alternative for many of Sydney's youth.

Emerging in the sixties, The Push ethic as characterized by rigorous critique of every form of power, including morality and sexual authority.

Born out of the Sydney Libertarian movement, the Sydney Push was peppered with figures such as Wendy Bacon, Frank Moorhouse, Germaine Greer and others who would meet for intense critical discussion and drinks in the Royal George Hotel.

In the late sixties the Push took on a more active element, involving themselves in other social justice causes and many Push people attracted the attention of ASIO. Push figure Wendy Bacon was eventually jailed on obscenity charges.

Critics of the Push saw only drunken debauchery in their activities, but members of the movement believed they were breaking down moral authority with their revolutionary brand of intellectualism. Nothing was sacred, and everything was questioned, and Push attitudes have been credited with forming the basis of many of the sixties liberation movements in Australia.

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The Freedom Ride - 1965 Back To Contents

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In the early sixties, students at Sydney University had demonstrated in support of the American civil rights movement.

But they copped a lot of criticism from Aboriginal people for not doing anything about black rights here.

So students began organising ways to challenge racism in Australia.

Two key campaigners were Jim Spigelman, who later became Chief Justice of New South Wales, and a young Aboriginal activist named Charlie Perkins.

Student Action for Aborigines, or SAFA, organised Australia's own version of the famous US Freedom Rides - The SAFA Bus Trip.

While travelling from town to town, the group held peaceful demonstrations, visited Aboriginal missions and won important victories for Indigenous people living in isolated towns.

In Moree, the group demanded Aboriginal access to the local swimming pool, while in Walgett, they challenged the local RSL club's decision to refuse Aboriginal ex-servicemen membership.

In spite of the resentment they faced, the busload of activists spent two weeks on the road covering over three thousand kilometres.

After returning to Sydney, the group lobbied politicians, contributed to inquiries and added to the momentum for the 1967 Referendum that saw Aboriginal people become Australian citizens under the Constitution.

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- Feature Article: The Freedom Ride - Challenging The Colour Bar: MS Word Document
- Audio Feature: The Freedom Ride: 9.2MB MP3 160Kpbs 8:02
The Gurindji Strike - 1966 Back To Contents

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Pastoralists in the mid sixties could claim a "slow worker" clause that excused them from paying their Aboriginal workers the award wage for stockmen.

On 26th August 1966, 200 Gurindji stockmen walked off the job, taking their families and settling on a nearby riverbank. They were employed at a British owned cattle station at Wave Hill in the Northern Territory, but were paid appalling low wages and treated with even more disrespect than ordinary station workers.

In late 1966 the Northern Territory government offered a compromise pay rise of one hundred and twenty-five per cent, but the strikers still demanded wages equal to those of white stockmen. Soon the focus of the strike broadened to include demands of the return of Aboriginal land.

The Gurindji strikers set up a new settlement, Daguragu, at Wattie Creek and drew up maps showing areas they wanted excised from pastoralists land and returned to them.

The land rights movement gained momentum and public attention on the strikers increased. In 1972, a small area of land at Wattie creek was granted to the strikers and newly elected Prime Minister Gough Whitlam opened a royal commission on land rights, headed by Justice Woodward.

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May 1968 Back To Contents

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In May of 1968, student-led demonstrations brought France close to revolution.Students occupied universities, while millions took to the streets seriously questioning power and the right of their government to wield it.

Rallies, occupations and nation-wide general strikes were followed by mass arrests but many gains were also made - closed universities were re-opened, workers gained significant improvements in working conditions and the de Gaulle government was very nearly shaken from power.

In Australia, the events unfolding in France fed growing dissent here. Much of the revolutionary activity was focused around the Vietnam war, and in early July huge anti-war rallies began happening regularly.

Anarchist groups in Australia were particularly inspired by the self-organising of the French May '68 protesters, as well as their ability to question the legitimacy of all forms of power. Groups such as Melbourne based anarchist collective, T.R.E.A.S.O.N - The Revolutionary Emancipists Against State Oppression and Nationalism - became more active during 1968.

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Vietnam - 1964 to 1972 Back To Contents

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By the late 1950s, armed struggle between South Vietnam and the communist insurgents from the North was fuelling Western fears of a communist expansion in the area.

The United States responded by sending military support to South Vietnam, and was joined by Australia.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War was conscription. In 1964, Prime Minister Robert Menzies introduced national service for some men who were twenty years old.

A small group of contentious non-compliers began to mobilise around their opposition to the War, and as resistance grew, a much broader range of people began to question the authority of the state.

Soon, a massive peace movement was active in Australia, participating in radical actions such as draft resistance. Peace activist Tony Dalton set up a Draft Resisters Union, and many people were gaoled for refusing national military service.

Around 340,000 people took part in a number of protests around the country in 1970 and 1971.

The government response was initially unsympathetic, with Harold Holt famously declaring Australia would go "all the way with LBJ".

However, the massive moratorium marches forced Gough Whitlam to end Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war when he became Prime Minister in December 1972.

Australia's popular protests of the 1960s presented a fundamental challenge to not only the policy positions of government but also the legitimacy and authority of the state itself.

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- Feature Article: The Vietnam War Feature Article: MS Word Document
- Audio Feature: TheVietnam War: 9.2MB MP3 160Kpbs 8:02
Green Bans - 1970's Back To Contents

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At the end of the Second World War, Sydney was booming. Huge construction projects sprang up all over the city, and developers were able to cash in old and valuable areas of Sydney.

But the builders working on these sites were not so lucky. Dangerous, low-paid and arduous work wasn't made any better by a corrupt and ineffective Builder's Labourers Union, also known as the BLF.

After a rank and file driven democratisation campaign in the early seventies, the NSW branch of the BLF was transformed into a radical and active organisation.

Wins on workplace demands soon led to BLF involvement in campaigns on wider social issues such as the anti-Vietnam War and the women's rights movements.

It wasn't long before the NSW BLF turned its attention to the environment.

Led by brickie turned union official, Jack Mundey, the NSW BLF collaborated with other activist organisations to implement the world's first Green Bans - stop work campaigns to save areas of Sydney from the fate of hungry developers.

Working with the community, the NSW BLF Green Bans were vital in preserving valuable Sydney sites such as The Botanical G ardens and The Rocks.

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- Feature Article:Green Bans Feature Article: MS Word Document
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The Green Movement - 1970's Back To Contents

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In 1967, the Tasmanian Hydro-Electric Commission developed the Gordon River Power Scheme that would flood Lake Pedder, creating jobs and providing a source of energy for industry.

Bi-partisan support in the state for the project meant that it was up to the people to act to save the beautiful lake.

A budding environmental movement was formalised with the creation of the United Tasmania Group, which stood candidates in the 1972 election. The group lost the campaign to save Lake Pedder, but struggled on to form the Tasmania Wilderness society, led by Tasmania's Dr Bob Brown.

In the early eighties, the group turned its attention to blocking the Hydro Electric Committee's next scheme - damning the magnificent Franklin River.

After work on the Franklin Dam began in 1982, thousands of people peacefully blockaded the river and over fifteen hundred were arrested. Six hundred were jailed, including Dr Bob Brown, but the resistance led to Federal Government intervention in 1983 and the Franklin River was saved.

The Greens Party, now led by Dr Bob Brown, continues to attract voters while maintaining its involvement in grass roots social justice and environmental campaigns.

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- Feature Article: The Green Movement: MS Word Document
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Aboriginal Tent Embassy - 1972 Back To Contents

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After the 1967 referendum outcome gave Aboriginal people a place in the Australian Constitution, many were optimistic that the win would result in greater rights and equality.

However, successive Federal Governments failed to embrace the spirit of the changes. A major sticking point was the slow progress on land rights. In 1972 a group of Kooris met in Sydney responded to this by setting up their own embassy in Canberra. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy, complete with it's own flag, represented a sovereign Aboriginal nation.

Governments have tried to remove the embassy by banning it, using police force, through planning guidelines and direct negotiation. Some simply turned a blind eye hoping the embassy would fizzle out.

But in 1995, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy's place as a symbolic site was recognised through its listing on the National Estate by the Australian Heritage Commission.

It was the only place offered national recognition for the role it played in the political struggle of Aboriginal people.

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- Feature Article: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy Feature Article: MS Word Document
- Audio Feature: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy: 9.2MB MP3 160Kpbs 8:02
Broadmeadows Strike - 1972 Back To Contents

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In the early seventies, the Broadmeadow Ford factory was a stressful workplace. Workers were forced to speed production to meet rising demands but wages remained low.

Seventy two per cent of the factory workforce were recent migrants, which allowed factory management to use language difficulties to deflect complaints about unsafe working conditions and pay disputes.

In May 1972, four thousand workers at the Ford plant gathered for a rank and file meeting, and decided to stop work until things improved.

Official union attempts to limit the strike were met with resistance from the Broadmeadow workers, many of who had been exposed to more militant forms of collective organizing in countries such as Italy and Spain.

By June 1972 the strike was still on and Ford was facing losses of up to 27 million dollars. Factory management put forward a compromise pay offer, but riots by the strikers won them an increased wage rise. The victory package also included promises to slow production, hire women, allow more toilet breaks and increase the safety of working conditions.

Throughout the strike, the workers were supported by the local council and the Greek Orthodox Church, but the union leadership remained distant from the rank and file strikers.

The Broadmeadow strike brought the needs of migrant workers to national attention, and provided and example of people from many different ethnic backgrounds working together for a common goal.

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Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) - 1972Back To Contents

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When Peter Bonsall-Boone, a Sydney church secretary came out as a gay man on national television in 1972, he was one of the first to be so open about his sexuality.

At a time when having a same sex partner was illegal in the eyes of the law, Boone was the New South Wales secretary of an organisation called the Campaign Against Moral Persecution or CAMP, which had been founded in 1970.

CAMP established a media monitoring service where each time a media organisation either defamed a gay person or showed ignorance, they would write and complain.

The philosophy of being highly visible and politically active that gave the organisation momentum, and left Australia with the lasting legacy of the idea of gay pride.

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- Feature Article: CAMP - Out Of The Shadows: MS Word Document
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The Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) - 1972 Back To Contents

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By the early 1970s, Beatrice Faust had become increasingly frustrated by what she saw as the lack of any achievements by the Women's Liberation Movement in Australia.

Up until then, women's groups had responded to grievances largely through protest, epitomised in bra burning ceremonies across the country. But that held little sway with Faust, who believed civil liberties and abortion, the issues of most concern to her, could only be corrected by legislation.

Working with other women, Beatrice formed the Women's Electoral Lobby in 1972. The WEL was keen to work within existing political structures to bring about change. In an attempt to gauge the commitment of politicians to key issues of concern to women, the WEL surveyed over six hundred candidates for the 1972 Federal Election, focusing on issues such as child care, equal pay, and education.

While this approach caused tension with more revolutionary sections of the women's movement, Beatrice Faust believes that the Women's Electoral Lobby played a key role in sparking legislative change.

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- Feature Article: The Women's Electoral Lobby: MS Word Document
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Nagle Royal Commission - 1974 Back To Contents

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In the sixties, conditions in the Bathurst's crowded maximum security gaol were appalling. Prisoners spent eighteen hours a day in their cells, and the lack of windows meant they were wet by rain or troubled by insects attracted by overflowing sewerage systems.

Only two or three showers a week were allowed, food was often rotten and inmates were subject to petty rules such as being forbidden to wear jumpers in winter, despite the cold.

Unable to bear the conditions, prisoners staged an occupation in October 1970, and upon surrendering were severely physically assaulted by guards. Several were hospitalized.

In February 1974 inmates rioted again and several gaol buildings were burned. Prison guards fired on the inmates from watch towers, including wounded prisoners surrendering under a white flag. Some were shot in the back.

After these riots, a Royal Commission into NSW Prisons was opened, headed by Justice Nagle. In his final report, released in 1978, Justice Nagle was highly critical of the Department of Corrective Services, recommending the removal of its Commissioner.

Although the government refused to prosecute any prison officers implicated in the Bathurst prison riots, many of the Nagle reports recommendations were implemented.

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Mardi Gras - 1978 Back To Contents

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The Stonewall riot of 1969, where hundreds of gay people resisted police intimidation and arrest at New York's Stonewall Inn, helped radicalize gay people all over the world.

The Campaign Against Moral Persecution, or CAMP, was made up of people who would write and complain every time a media outlet depicted homosexuality unfavourably and this group formed the beginnings of Australia's gay pride movement in the 1970's.

As momentum built, it was decided that a parade celebrating homosexuality ought to be held - Sydney's first gay and lesbian Mardi Gras. On the night of June 24th, 1978, just over 1000 gay and lesbian Sydney-siders marched in the parade, but were soon violently disbanded by police. Fifty three arrests were made, and many participants were injured.

Refusing to surrender, parade participants turned up again a year later - and have done every year since - making the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras an annual event now enjoyed by a wide cross-section of society.

However, the Mardi Gras is not without it's opponents. Conservative political figure, Reverend Fred Nile, famously prays for rain on the night of the event, while other gay and lesbian activists say the

But Mardi Gras retains its political roots, with floats frequently lampooning political figures or alluding to current affairs. The yearly event is a potent reminder of how far the fight for queer rights has come - and how far there is to go.

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Wollongong women's BHP Strike - 1985 Back To Contents

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During World War Two, BHP employed many women in heavy industry, but in years following the war, work for females dried up. Although BHP employed four thousand ironworkers in the late seventies, only fifty-eight of those were women, and waiting lists for women looking to work in the company were enormous.

Finally, seven hundred women lodged sexual discrimination claims with BHP, saying that in the 70's and 80's they were refused work because of their gender.

The campaign for equal opportunity for employment included Wollongong women chaining themselves to Port Kembla Steelworks, demanding the right to work in the male dominated industry. Women who were employed were relegated to tasks such as cleaning or secretarial duties.

After gaining support from the public, trade unions and from a significant number of male steelworkers, the women saw victory in September 1985. Total damages awarded by the Equal Opportunity Tribunal were around $1 million dollars. BHP lost its appeal in the High Court and has since reshaped its image to emphasise its status as an equal opportunity employer.

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The Battle Over Higher Education - 1986 Back To Contents

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As long as there are universities, the concept of free education will be hotly debated.

In 1986, the Labor government attempted to introduce a two hundred and fifty dollar Higher Education Administration Charge, ending the free education system established by the Whitlam government in 1973.

The ambitious Minister for Education, Employment and Training, John Dawkins argued that as long as universities remained the domain of the middle class, ordinary people shouldn't have to pay for it.

As the free education campaign grew in response to Dawkins' reforms, some of the student movement began supporting the idea of a national union.

But many on the left questioned why such a huge bureaucracy was required when student mobilisations were winning some concessions.

Despite this, the National Union of Students was created in December 1987 and entered into negotiations with the Labor Government to establish an Education Accord. This was similar to the Prices and Income Accord that had been set up between the Federal Government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Ten years after the Higher Education Administration Charge was introduced, students paid at least twelve times the original two hundred and fifty dollars if the degree was completed in minimum time.

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- Feature Article: Education. Free For All?: MS Word Document
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The Fitzgerald Inquiry - 1987 Back To Contents

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In 1987 the ABC's 4 Corners program, aired Moonlight State, a documentary by investigative journalist Chris Masters. The program alleged that under the leadership of Premier Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen, Queensland's public service was steeped in dishonesty; a place where crooked cops worked with politicians and businessmen and made shady deals in drugs and prostitution.

The broadcast of Moonlight State sparked the Fitzgerald Inquiry, which eventually revealed a rotten streak of corruption throughout Queensland.

The inquiry's chair, barrister Tony Fitzgerald QC, handed down his report in 1987. He recommended several accountability measures, including the creation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Criminal Justice Commission.

Several senior figures from the Bjelke Petersen government were sentenced to jail, and Sir Joh himself only narrowly escaped conviction for perjury, dashing his prime ministerial hopes and ending his 19-year reign as Queensland's most conservative Premier.

While subsequent Royal Commissions revealed police corruption continued to exist in other states, the Fitzgerald Inquiry was an important step toward transparency and accountability in the Australian public service.
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Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody - 1988 Back To Contents

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In 1983, 16-year-old John Pat died while in police custody in Western Australia. He was just one of a rising tide of black deaths in custody, most of which were passed off as suicides even in the most dubious of circumstances.

A campaign by the Committee to Defend Black Rights (CDBR) gained momentum in the mid-eighties and after extensive lobbying, appeals the UN and direct action, a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was opened in 1988.

The final report, released in April of 1991, focused its recommendations on reducing the rate of incarceration of Indigenous people.

Despite Commonwealth promises of $400 million to implement these recommendations, Aboriginal people are still far more likely to be incarcerated than white people, and deaths in custody remain a sad reality.

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Gay Rights in Tasmania - 1988 Back To Contents

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In Tasmania in the late eighties, a man could be sentenced for up to 21 years jail if he slept with another man. Despite criticism from the United Nations, homosexuality remained a crime.

In 1988 the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group (TGLRG) was formed. The collective aimed to raise consciousness about the rights of gays and lesbians through stalls, rallies, speak outs and an extensive lobbying campaign.

A major clash between police and TGLRG members occurred in 1989 when Hobart police broke up a stall at Salamanca markets, detaining anyone displaying a pink triangle. In all, 130 people were arrested.

After both Labor and Liberal governments rejected proposals for gay law reform, the TGLRG lodged a case with the High Court in 1995, arguing that federal sexual privacy legislation overrides the Tasmanian upper house's decision.

The break through came in May 1997, when the Tasmanian parliament abolished the state's anti-gay laws and homosexuality was finally decriminalized.

Now, Tasmania is Australia's most progressive state on homosexuality, and gay and lesbian couples can register their relationships, strengthening their legal and financial rights.

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The Mabo Decision - 1992 Back To Contents

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In 1982 Eddie Mabo and four other members of the Torres Strait's Mirrian people began a land rights action in the High Court of Australia.

The group claimed that their land rights had not been extinguished when the islands became a colony of Queensland in 1879.

In 1992, six months after the death of Eddie Mabo, the High Court handed down the sensational judgement that created the Mabo Act.

The High Court overturned the doctrine of Terra Nullius; the theory that nobody inhabited Australia when the British arrived in 1788. Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander, was given back the territory of his ancestors.

The Commonwealth responded with the Native Title Act of 1993, the creation of an Indigenous land fund, and implementation of social justice measures.

Despite the early optimism, Mabo failed to establish an adequate system of land rights.

In 1996, The High Court decided in Wik Peoples versus Queensland that native title is not necessarily extinguished by the grant of a pastoral lease and that native title can co-exist with other interests in land. But pastoralists did have the final say in the case of a dispute.

In 1997, the Howard Coalition Government released an amended Wik ten point plan and The Native Title Amendment Act was passed the following year.

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The Waterfront Dispute - 1996 Back To Contents

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When John Howard's Coalition Government came to power in 1996, they made it clear that industrial relations reform was on the agenda.

A year later, the Workplace Relations Act came into effect. The Act pushed individual employment contracts, introduced harsh penalties for illegal strikes, and reduced the powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

The implications of the new legislation were first tested during the Waterfront Dispute, where the Government aimed to weaken the union movement by reducing the influence of the Maritime Union of Australia, the MUA.

Patrick Stevedores, a major employer of waterfront workers, launched a plan to de-unionise ports and lock out workers. Patrick's Chairman, Chris Corrigan, also hired an ex-SAS employee to train scab workers in Dubai.

All of Patrick's initiatives were undertaken with the backing of the Government, with Workplace Relations Minister, Peter Reith announcing that loans of up to two hundred and fifty million dollars were available to any stevedoring company to pay worker's entitlements when they were sacked.

The Maritime Union of Australia undertook legal action in the Federal Court, and the High Court upheld the decision that Corrigan was taking action against employees for no other reason than being members of a union.

After Patrick's began negotiations with the Union in May 1998. It was agreed that all Patrick's terminals would be re-opened, employees were transferred back to the main company, and enterprise agreements would be re-negotiated.

For it's part, the MUA agreed to over six hundred voluntary redundancies, and not everyone in the labour movement was pleased with the deal.

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Roxby Downs 1997 Back To Contents

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In 1975 copper and uranium deposits were discovered in the Olympic Dam area, 560 km north of Adelaide near the town of Roxby Downs. Both major political parties were quick to support mining in the region.

Environmentalists and local indigenous groups feared that over-mining, exposure to radioactive uranium and pollution of nearby Lake Eyre would ruin the region around the mine, and that the mine operators would go unpunished.

In response to the growing concern, a desert action and festival was planned - Roxstop 97. Over 250 anti-uranium activists met in the desert over ten days in late September 1997, participating in actions such as site tours, blockades and gatherings with local Indigenous people. A roadblock was formed, and succeeded in slowing construction of a steel pipeline for the mine.

The company that runs the mine, Western Mining Corporation, has been dogged by troubles. In 1994, five million cubic litres of radioactive waste was leaked, and in late 2003 around 145,000 litres of uranium contaminated liquid seeped from a ruptured pipe. WMC has also been embroiled in land disputes with Aboriginal people of the area, and one person died in land riots in 1995.

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Jabiluka - 1998 Back To Contents

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Kakadu National Park harbours a third of Australia's bird species and hundreds of species of flora and fauna. It's a fragile eco-system that has earned world heritage listing.

But the discovery of uranium and gold deposits in the area in 1971 soon led to three mines in the region. The most controversial was called Jabiluka.

230kms east of Darwin, Jabiluka overlaps Kakadu National Park. Environmental activists and the local Mirrar people feared a mine meant radioactive waste and pollution of nearby water systems.

Resistance to the mine peaked in 1998, when up to 5000 people participated in a site blockade. Five hundred and twenty-seven people, including Mirrar senior traditional owner Yvonne Margarula, were arrested. Meanwhile, other campaigners urged companies to withdraw investment in the project.

The demonstrators succeeded in drawing attention to the issue, and in 1999 a Senate Inquiry found that "The mine should not be allowed to proceed."

The biggest win of the Jabiluka campaign came on the 12th of August 2003 when Rio Tinto, the parent company behind the mine, announced a backfilling and rehabilitation program at Jabiluka. Fifty thousand tonnes of uranium ore, extracted in 1999, were to be put back into the ground.

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September 11 Anti Capitalism Protests - 2001 Back To Contents

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On the 30th of November 1999, around 30,000 people converged on the US city of Seattle, in an attempt to shut down the meeting of the World Trade Organisation, an organisation protesters said was undemocratic and exploitative.

It wasn't long before Australia's activist community saw a chance to mobilise around the anti-capitalism sentiment highlighted by the massive turnout in Seattle.

On September 11, 2000, over 12,000 people blockaded all entrances to Melbourne's Crown Casino, turning away hundreds of delegates due to meet for the Asia Pacific World Economic Forum. The police response was initially subdued, but escalated as horses, capsicum spray, batons and vehicles were used to break the picket line and escort WEF delegates into the conference. Hundreds of protesters were injured and several police and journalists also suffered in the clashes.

Away from the battle lines of the blockade, a carnival atmosphere prevailed with music, workshops, graffiti and food provided by vegan food activists, Food Not Bombs. Though the protest lasted only three days, many say the September 11 protests of 2000 gave real meaning to the protest's slogan: "Another world is possible."

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