A Turbulent Decade: Social protest movements and the labour movement, 1965-1975

By Beverley Symons And Rowan Cahill Eds, Newtown: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, 2005, 94 pages, paperback, $24.00. Reviewed by Maryrose Casey in the May 2006 issue.

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The radical sixties exist in the popular imaginary as a quasi-mythical era of student riots, antiwar movements, free love and drugs, a time of 'social and political upheaval that shook the world'. (p ix) As an 'era', the period, usually from the early to mid 1960s to the early 1970s, is presented as a time of cultural revolution; the moment of birth of many aspects of contemporary society from Australian theatre and film to the beginnings of a less racist and sexist Australia. A Turbulent Decade: Social Protest Movements and the Labour Movement, 1965-1975 is a collection of reminiscences from 39 people who participated in a broad range of groups working for social change in the 1960s primarily in Sydney. In the introduction, Rowan Cahill argues that this work is a step towards 'plugging the political and cultural gap in the historical record relating to Australia in the 1960s and early 1970s'. (p ix) There is no doubt that the text provides an extraordinary resource for any one beginning to research the political movements of the time.

The text is a 'lightly' edited transcription from tape recordings of the presentations at the 'Social Protest Movements and the Labour Movement 1965-1975' Conference held in Sydney in 2001. These years are framed by and around Robert Menzies' Liberal-Country Party Coalition government's decision to commit a battalion of troops to the war in Viet Nam in 1965 and the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government and election of the Malcolm Fraser led Liberal-Country Party Coalition in 1975. The participants at the conference were all veterans of social protest movements of the 1960s, the anti-Viet Nam War and anti-conscription movements, the student and New Left movements, Women's Liberation, the movement for Gay and Lesbian rights, the Aboriginal land rights and civil rights movements as well as the anti-Apartheid movements and the Trade Union movement.

The presentations, as Cahill states in the introduction, 'are not academically researched and footnoted papers, but rather ... talks by period activists'. (p ix) The results are rich and provocative glimpses of a variety of social protest movements and the individuals who joined them in the sixties. The book is divided into 8 sections mirroring the structure of the panels at the conference. Under the heading the 'Anti-Viet Nam War and Anti-conscription Movements', Mavis Robertson, Bob Gould and Jack Gambourn recall pivotal events and practices that led to the Viet Nam moratoriums. Charlie Bowers talks about the formation of Catholics for Peace and Noreen Hewett details the beginnings of the Save Our Sons movement. In each story are details of individuals who worked for or against these coalitions for social change and pivotal events. Within the title the 'Student, New Left and Counter Culture Movements', Greg Mallory, Cahill, John Percy, Wendy Bacon, Hall Greenland and Gillian Leahy narrate their personal journeys towards radicalisation in the student movements. In the process they give a picture of events and organisations.

The most rewarding sections of the book are those focused on the Anti-Apartheid movement, particularly the protests against South African sporting teams, and the Trade Union movement and the Green Bans. Meredith Burgmann paints a vivid picture of anti-Apartheid protest actions such as throwing dye bombs in the Drummoyne Swimming Pool to disrupt swimming meets. She completes the picture with the story of protestors mesmerised by the effectiveness of their own actions and belatedly fleeing the scene chased by the police, and only escaping arrest by hiding in toilets. Burgmann, Peter McGregor and John Myrtle give a history of the organisations and individuals involved in the movement against Apartheid with layers of detail about actions, campaigns and individual contributions. The Green bans and the penal clauses that faced trade unions in the sixties are discussed in detail by Diane Fieldes, Paul True, Jack Mundey, Tom McDonald, Joe Palmada and Barrie Unsworth. As initiators and participants they share a deep knowledge of the campaigns and the history behind them.

The middle decades of the twentieth century in Australia are a fascinating period that is only beginning to be documented and interrogated in any depth. One of the most interesting aspects of the period is the mythology that paints the era as something separate. The period has often been presented as a complete break with the past. Everything was new. In the Australian context this denial of the past is a recurring and powerful trope and act. This collection is caught in some ways in the middle of this tension of recognising the work undertaken in the 1940s and 1950s and at the same time perpetuating the myths that everything began in the 1960s. Cahill argues that the social protest movements of the period and their achievements have been trivialised and marginalised by conservative forces that portrayed the time and actions as 'an alien, hedonistic blip on the otherwise clear radar screen of Australian history'. (p ix) On a fundamental level this dismissal of the achievements of the sixties protest movements is strengthened and supported by their own mythology that the 'revolution' of the sixties was something new rather than part of a longer tradition. This collection documenting the reminiscences of participants of a number of organisations has the potential to be part of a more meaningful assessment and understanding of the period.

Citation

• Maryrose Casey. 'Review: A Turbulent Decade: Social protest movements and the labour movement, 1965-1975 by Beverley Symons and Rowan Cahill eds' [online]. Network Review of Books (Perth, Australian Public Intellectual Network), May 2006. Availability: <please cite the web address here> ISSN 1833-0932. [accessed 18 May 2013].

Back Cover Blurb

• During the tubulent decade 1965-1975 a cultural revolution took place in Australia. The future was seeded with movements and ideas that changed Australian society and culture, and enlarged the space for democratic action. This book brings together the candid, at times vulnerable, recollections and reflections on that period of 39 participants in the events of the decade. The focus is on Sydney/New South Wales; much that is new is added to the public record.