History
Police strike leads to shooting of Frankston officers By Cameron McCullough
I
t was one hundred years ago, on the evening of 31 October 1923, when a squad of constables at Russell Street police headquarters refused to go on duty. The move would result in the famous 1923 Victorian police strike. Looting and rioting would break out on Melbourne’s streets, and the death of two police officers in Frankston, by the hand of one of their own, would be narrowly averted. Out on strike The police association of the time had made repeated efforts to improve the lot of Victoria’s police. They were considered understaffed and underpaid in comparison to their colleagues in other states. There was no pension system in place, and many police officers were struggling as pre-war standards of living had not returned, five years after the end of the Great War. Things were tense among the force, but the tinder was ignited when the relatively new chief commissioner of police, Alexander Nicholson, set up a system of four “special supervisors" to secretly monitor beat cops as they went about their duties. The police “spies", referred to as “spooks" by rank-and-file members, were a step too far for many police and on the evening of 31 October 1923, Constable William Thomas Brooks led a small group of men out on strike. The trickle became a flood and before the government knew it, a third of the police force was on strike. Most of the strikers were constables. Many were returned servicemen. Senior officers and detectives did not participate in the strike. After 24 hours, the Premier, Harry Lawson, demanded a return to work and promised no victimisation, although there was no promise to meet the strikers' demands. After 48 hours, the Premier again demanded a return to work but with no guarantees regarding victimisation. Failing to get police back on the beat by the deadline, the decision was made to discharge 634 policemen; about a third of the Victorian Police Force.
Left: The first man out. Constable William Thomas Brooks led the police out on strike on 31 October 1923. Right: Special Constables charge the crowd during riots and looting that occurred while the police were on strike. Right Top: The Premier of Victoria, Harry Lawson.
E ssence
82 | PENINSULA
December 2023
