Categories Events and Organisations Strikes and workplace conflicts Feminism, Sexuality, Gay Liberation and gender related Anti-nuclear and anti-uranium Life in the 1920's and 30's Featured Pamphlets and Books Index of Articles by Bob James Index of Articles by and on the Englart familly Australian Anarchist Gatherings/Conferences Index Sydney Libertarians and Anarchism Index Bibliography of Anarchism & Syndicalism Australian Anarchist Centenary (1986) Posters Australian Anarchist Centenary Posters 1986 - Part of the Labadie anarchist poster collection at the University of Michigan

Events and Organisations

• May 2003 - May Days in Brisbane - Official and unofficial May Day marches. While the ferals and anarchists reclaimed the streets on May 1st, the union movement marched in large numbers on the Labour Day Public Holiday the following monday.

• May 2003 - Anarchy for Life..... - Brisbane Anarchist & Autonomist Conference.

• The Revolution will not be Televised! A Campaign for Free Expression in Queensland (1982-1983) ....Ciaron O'Reilly
  The successful Free Speech campaign in Brisbane during 1982 and 1983 is well documented in this pamphlet by Ciaron O'Reilly. Since the late 1960's Brisbane has had an active and diverse number of anarchist and libertarian groups, which have been prominent in all protest movements and local campaigns.

• 'Anarchism in Sydney 1975-1981' Reprint of John Englart's A Short History of recent Sydney and Australian Anarchism originally published in Freedom (UK) June 1982. Contains extra photos and graphics. This period of time was formative for the revival of the anarchist movement in Australia. A number of organisations, such as Jura Books in Sydney, and the Libertarian Workers in Melbourne, came into being in this period. John Englart continues the story of Anarchism in Sydney in documenting the split in the Jura Books Collective during 1982, then details Anarchism in Sydney 1982-2002, the story of the two anarchist bookshops, Jura Books and Blackrose. In 2002 Jura Books has been going for 25 years and Black Rose for 20 years. In Rebel Worker and Accountability John Englart examines the 20 year history of Rebel Worker, initially the paper of the Australian IWW, then of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation, and presently of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Network.

• Historical Overview of Anarchism in Melbourne. Anarchism in Melbourne has a long tradition go back to the formation of the Melbourne Anarchist Club on 1st May 1886. This index pulls together many of the stories and people involved in the anarchist movement. The Melbourne Anarchist Archives: Drafts and Documents 1966-1973 provides substantial information on the theoretical development of anarchism in Melbourne for the Melbourne/La Trobe current, as well as current issues and debates at the time including: Conscription, Maoism, Anti-war, support for the NLF, student protest, May Day, Workers' Control, the Moratorium movement, Czechoslovakia, Student action for Education.

  Outside the anarchist student activism in the universities (see Melbourne Anarchist Archives), the other major anarchist current in Melbourne was what was loosely termed 'carnival anarchism'. It revolved around the Solidarity (1969-1970?), Assassin and Outlaw magazines, the Collingwood Freestore (1971-1972), Working Peoples Association and Dingo newspaper, and the Feminist Self Management Group who morphed into the Anarcho Surrealist Insurrectionary Feminists.

• The Tottenham Tragedy - two Australian I.W.W. workers executed 1916.
  Roland Kennedy and Frank Franz, two Australian I.W.W. members, were executed at Bathurst Gaol in 1916 for the murder of a Tottenham police officer. Although there had been no executions in New South Wales for over a decade the government was hell bent on hanging them. On the 30th of November 1916, just two weeks before the first conscription referendum in December 1916, the New South Wales Executive Council decided that the men must hang.

• In 2004 the 150th anniversary of the Eureka Rebellion will be celebrated. Read Dr Joe Toscano's commentary and analysis on the Eureka Rebellion. Participate by coming to Ballarat to celebrate the anniversaries on 3rd December, each year.

• In Origins of the Hunter Labour Movement Dr Bob James presents local labour history of Newcastle and the Hunter River in an exciting and varied format, which "allows the movement to grow out of working people's lives, as it did in practice".

• Harry Hooton (1908-1961) was a poet and philosopher ahead of his time. This is an updated biography by Sasha Soldatow based on the book, Poet of the 21st Century - Collected Poems - Harry Hooton, which he edited. Hooton was part of the Libertarian Push in Sydney during the post WW II years, with connections to Angela "Annie" Westbrook of the IWW and many of the poets and writers active in Australian Literature of the time. The anarchist philosophy he developed was anarcho-technocracy and The Politics of Things, which are prescient pieces of writing on anarchism, technics and society, still relevant today.

• In Recovering Our Roots: Mutualism, Mutuals and the ALP Dr Race Mathews argues for the Australian Labor Party to look to its roots and adopt policies friendly to Mutualism. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the discrediting of State Socialism, this is part of a reappraisal of socialist and social democratic vision taking into account libertarian currents such as Mutualism overshadowed by Marxism/ Leninism. In Mutuality Dr Bob James gives a a brief history lesson on the origin of Friendly Societies and Trade Unions, and presents a critique of the demutualisation debate. See also The Tragedy of Labour History by Bob James for a more detailed examination of the exclusion of mutualism from official Labour History.

• Australian Draft Resistance and the Vietnam War - statements by Michael Matteson and Geoff Mullen
  Much has been written about the Vietnam anti-war movement in Australia, but there has been little acknowledgement of the role of individual anarchists or anarchist groups in the anti-war and conscription debates. The Brisbane libertarian pamphlet, 1945: The Saigon Insurrection, reports on the suppression and murder of radical dissidents by the Vietminh Committee, and the reactionary politics of nationalism.

• Protests against World Economic Forum at Melbourne Crown Casino September 11 - 13, 2000....Takver
  Two eyewitness reports of the protests in Melbourne against Corporate globalisation and neo-liberalism. Includes a link to the Barret Report which examines the media buildup and reporting of the event.

• Secret Handshakes and Health Care in Australia...Bob James
  Provides us with the story of the spread of health care throughout Australia through the efforts of ordinary working people. The story of Friendly Societies, in this case the Grand United Order of Oddfellows, is a remarkable story of mutual aid which for too long has been ignored by labour historians. Part One tells the story of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in Australia. Part Two is a more personal account of Lodge history told through an elderly woman in a letter to her grandchildren.

• 925 - working class poetry 925 was a free poetry magazine about work, published in Melbourne, that came out for 20 issues between 1978 to 1983. This little magazine was important in expressing working class culture and in its way contributed to a radical tradtion of subversive culture.

• Index of Articles on Australian Anarchist History....published by the Anarchist Media Institute's Anarchist Age Site

• The I.W.W. in Australia....Mark McGuire
  A brief account of the Industrial Workers of the World in Australia, and an analysis of its impact on working class struggle in Australia. McGuire firmly places the I.W.W. within the syndicalist international tradition which is closely aligned with anarcho-syndicalism. This is a very brief informative, but rather dry factual description. Two World War I anti conscription cartoons from the I.W.W. paper - Direct Action - are also included.

  Since the mid 1970's the IWW has had a small but active presence in Australia, predominantly functioning as small propaganda groups in working class struggles. The Australian IWW is on the web at www.iww.org.au

• The beginnings of May Day in Australia....Joe Toscano
  A brief account of May Day in Australia and its importance to anarchists.

• Scabs, Coppers, Strikes and Footy....
  Radical Politics and sport, in particular, Australian Rules Football, has a long history. Here is some of it.

• Bodysnatchers - the theft of body parts from radicals....
  A rather goulish account of how colonial/capitalist victors have desecrated and dissected the bodies of radicals - often for use as trophies. Five instances are explored - Yagan, Pemulwuy, Ned Kelly, Peter Lalor, Joe Hill. More recently, in 1997 the Anarchist Media Institute campaigned for the burial of skulls belonging to two working class women who were executed at the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1894. The skulls were on loan from the State Government to the National Trust as part of a display on phrenology for tourists visiting the Old Melbourne Gaol.

• The flogging of a Master - Bushranging as Class Struggle 1836....
  Taken from an historical deposition, this gives a minor insight into how poorer people sometimes fought back.

• Sailor's riot in Sydney 1851....
  Whilst such disturbances were common place at the time this particular riot is interesting in that it was sparked by the arrest of a sailor for wearing women's clothing, was led by military men and involved attacks on a number of police watch-houses.

• Squatting after World War II - 1946-1947....
  The late 1940's was a period of shortages and hardships with much gender, class and social conflict. Often returned servicemen assisted communists in helping poor families to squat unused houses.

• Moralism and the C.P.A. - the 1962 Peace March....
  Commentary on moralism and acceptable behaviour on the Peace Committee March from Sydney to Canberra in 1962.

• Stop the F19 Freeway Campaign....Julie New
  An interview with a participant in this 1970's antifreeway protest in Melbourne which featured barricades in the street.

Strikes and Workplace Conflicts

The Waterfront

• My Union Right or Wrong
  A history of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union 1900-1932 by Issy Wyner. A comprehensive history of the union politics, and its relationship to current events, issues, and political organisations of the same period, including the Labor Council, ALP, Communist Party, IWW, and One Big Union.

• War on the Wharfies 1998 (February - August 1998)
  My website coverage of the rightwing conspiracy and attack on the Maritime Union of Australia by Patrick Stevedores, the National Farmers Federation (NFF), Peter Reith (Workplace Relations Minister, and the Federal Government.

• Brisbane 1946 - Workers' Control on the wharf
  Two photos documenting wharfies taking control in 1946.

• Ted Englart - "The Workers Will Win"....Claude Jones, Pete Thomson, Alby Graham
  Collected from Obituaries in Tribune and Maritime Worker.

• Sea Change: An essay in Maritime Labour History........Rowan Cahill
  A very moving and sympathetic account of the life of a "working class hero" - Long time Seamen's Union Secretary (1941-1978), Eliot V Elliott (1902-1984). Elliott steered the Seamen's Union of Australia through the difficult changes in technological development in seafaring during the post war decades of the twentieth century. He was both forward looking and dedicated to the interests of seamen, in Australia and internationally.

• Maritime Strike 1890........Anarchist Media Institute
  

• Maritime Strike 1878-1879........Anarchist Media Institute
  

Other

• 1934 Canecutters' strike in North Queensland....Peter Sheldon from Rebel Worker

• The Queensland Railway Strike 1948....Doug Olive
  A concise analysis and description of this important strike, with the lesson that "Labor Governments will use measures no less repressive and violent than Tory Governments to smash strikes and defend the bosses' profits."

• Pat Mackie and the Mount Isa Dispute 1964/5. Pat Mackie, an IWW member, played a pivotal role in the 1964/1965 Mount Isa Dispute in central Queensland. National Archive Files show that during 1965 the Menzies government seriously investigated whether Mackie could be deported.

• Ford Riot at Broadmeadows - 1972....
  When workers rebelled against conditions at Ford, they found their enemy was not only the company bosses, but also their union bosses..

• Chrysler Factory at Tonsley Park (Adelaide) 1976-1978 Anatomy of an Industrial Struggle by Garry Hill is an honest analysis of an industrial struggle at a Chrysler factory when the motor industry was in the process of globalising manufacturing. Union officials of the Vehicle Builders Union and the ALP come in for heavy criticism.

• The Australian Pilot Dispute of 1989....Dick Curlewis
  How the Hawke Labor Government betrayed unionism and crushed the Australian Federation of Air Pilots

• The Melbourne Tram Dispute and Lockout of 1990....Dick Curlewis
  An important contribution to the history of workers' direct action in Australia.

• Picket Line Despatches from the Joy Mining Machinery Dispute, 2000 by Rowan Cahill
  is an important chronicle of this dispute, which highlighted the neo-liberal agenda for attacking workers, their conditions, and union organisation.

Feminism, Sexuality and Gender Stories

• Anarcho-Feminist Celebrations - 1986 Camp....
  60 Anarcho-feminists gatherered in a camp in the Victorian Alps to network and learn from each other.

• From Anarchism in Australia: an anthology:
  Women in the Early Anarchist Movement.....Bob James
  Emma Goldman: the Australian connection.....Bob James
  Sex and Censorship - 1971 ....Wendy Bacon
  Anarcho Surrealist Insurrectionary Feminist Manifesto - AS IF (Melbourne 1973) ....AS IF Collective
  Anarchism and Feminism (1974)....anon.
  Feminism and Men - 1975....Chris Nicol
  Theses against Seperatism (1975)....anon.
  

• Wily Wheelwomen of the 1890s....Question Mark Collective
  The invention of the bicycle had a liberatory effect on women's clothing as can be seen from this contemporary letter.

  

• On Lesbian Separatism - Women wimmin womyn womin whippets....Julie McCrossin
  Julie McCrossin's pamphlet challenges the tenets of lesbian seperatist ideas in the women's movement during a visit by Mary Daly to Sydney in the early 1980's. Julie McCrossin in the late 90's has earned fame as part of the panel in the satirical comedy television program Good News Week.

• Bill Edwards - Gender Rebel (1881-1956)....
  Marion Edwards forsook the life of domestic work for the wealthy or a working class marriage, to lead an independant life as Bill Edwards. She dressed in male clothing and spent much of her life working as a station hand,shearer, bar man, horse dealer, and french polisher.

  
  

• What is this Gay Community Shit? - The Sydney Gay Mardi Gras and the Left....Sasha Soldatow
  Sasha Soldatow presents the early history of Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras. In doing so he illuminates the sellout by the 'Gay Left' to gay captalism. New Introduction - March 2001

  "...the emerging gay community was dismantling a whole history of radical political action..... Simply put, the whole gay community thing was twaddle; it was a matter of emerging gay capitalists smelling the dollars that could be milked from men's cocks."

  
  
• Gay Pride 1973 - Gay Liberation hits the streets of Sydney....John Englart
  The diary entries by John Englart detail some of the celebration and protest events of Gay Pride week in Sydney during September 1973.
  

Anti-nuclear and Anti-uranium

• FoE Ride Against Uranium: 1976....John Englart, Mick Waters (Chain Reaction)
  The second Ride against Uranium in May 1976 kept the spotlight on Uranium Mining with the new Fraser Liberal Government.

• FoE Ride Against Uranium: 1977....John Englart
  The third Ride against Uranium in May 1977 featured multiple routes, each independently organised and converging on Yass for the final ride to Canberra.

• Libertarian Socialist Alliance for Self Managed Energy Systems: 1978-1979....Takver
  The Libertarian Socialist Alliance for Self-Managed Energy Systems included six anarchist groups in four states. Delegate members from the six groups met on a number of occasions in 1978 and 1979 to produce and distribute a leaflet, pamphlet, poster and badge, that was used to launch a campaign about Self-Managed Energy Systems.

• Ride Against Uranium: 1981....John Englart
  The Ride against Uranium in support of Trade Union Bans from Sydney to Canberra in May 1981.

• Atom Free Embassy: 1981....John Englart
  After its mysterious burning down outside the Lucas Heights Reactor, the Embassy was re-established by the Ride against Uranium on the lawns of Parliament House in 1981.

• World Bike Ride: for Peace and a Nuclear Free Future (1982-83)....John Englart; Stephanie Pillora, Christopher Williams, Oliver Portway (Freewheeling); Paul Marshall (Chain Reaction)
  left Canberra on March 6, 1982 with 50 cyclists to travel over 6,000km up the East Coast via Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, and Mt Isa to Darwin. Five months later 44 cyclists rode in to Darwin. The ride continued through Asia and Japan and in Europe during 1982 and 1983.

• 'The State and the Explanation Of Nuclear Technology' (1984 & Social Control Conference) ....Val Plumwood
  

• Ride to Roxby (1984)....John Englart, Meredith Brownhill (Freewheeling)
  A contingent of cyclists organised to ride 500 km from Broken Hill to Roxby Downs, meeting Adelaide cyclists midway, to join the Roxby Downs Uranium Mine blockade.

• Jabiluka Blockade and Protests - 1998....Takver
  Anarchists have been involved in supporting aboriginal land rights and opposing uranium mining for many years. A number of anarchists were involved in the campaign during 1998 to stop the Jabiluka Uranium Mine from progressing. Some attended the blockade itself, organised in conjunction with the Mirrar people. Others protested in the capital cities, putting pressure on North Ltd, the corporate owner of Energy Resources Australia who own the mining lease. Subsidiary pressure was also applied to major shareholders, including the Westpac bank, and politicians. In 2004 it was announced the mine would not proceed. A Victory!

• Singing the anti-nuclear message
  Some lyrics of songs learnt by participants on early rides against uranium.

• Historical impact of the FoE rides against Uranium of the 1970s
  Uranium Mining has not been stopped, but it is far more regulated with continuous public scrutiny, largely due to the campaign against Uranium Mining which the rides were an important part of. The rides also stimulated an interest in cycling, cycle touring and cycle protests over sustainable transport policies, which has been largely unacknowledged.

Life in the 1920's and 1930's

• 'The proletarian migrants: fascism and Italian Anarchists in Australia'....Gianfranco Cresciani
  An important study of the influence of Italian anarchists in the Italian community in Australia between the first and second world wars.

• The Unemployed Workers Movement in Melbourne - 1920's-1930's....Jim Munro
  A talk by Jim Munro about life between the wars when unemplyment was always high. The unemployed organised, but they found that Trades Hall was no friend to the Unemplyed Workers Movement - something which Chummy Fleming had already experienced a generation previously.

• Raised a Radical - the Englarts in Brisbane 1920-1939....Vince Englart
  Vince Englart's childhood recollections of growing up in a communist family in Brisbane during the 1920's and 30's. Interspersed with working class humor and social observation.

• Homegrown Communism - recollections of the YCL in 1930s Brisbane....Ron Brown
  Ron Brown candidly shares his experiences of growing up a communist in Brisbane during the Depression years of the 1930s.