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Just days before the Melbourne Cup of 1923, more than a third of the city’s police force walked off the job. Relations between police and government had been strained for more than 20 years, since parliament abolished police pensions. Victoria’s police had long endured poor pay and conditions. The breaking-point came when ‘special supervisors’ (‘spies’, the police called them) were appointed to monitor the police force’s performance. With few police on duty, public order in the city completely broke down over the weekend of 3–4 November 1923. Mobs derailed trams, terrorised theatre-goers, smashed windows, looted shops, and rioted in the streets. The newspapers branded it ‘Australia’s worst episode’. To restore order, the government called for people to volunteer as ‘special constables’. Town halls all over Melbourne became recruiting stations, with thousands of men signing up for duty – most of them returned soldiers who had served in World War I. Premier Lawson refused to reinstate even one of the 600-plus striking police officers, and their jobs were filled permanently from the ranks of special constables. It wasn’t long before the conditions the strikers had been fighting for were granted to their replacements. Illustration |
