On 22 October 1977 Senator George Georges led 5,000 people in a march out of King George Square in Brisbane/Meanjin. The march was in opposition to Uranium Mining and Export in Queensland and opposed the Fraser government’s decision for Australia to enter the global nuclear fuel industry.
418 people were arrested.
It turned out to be one of the longest periods of mass defiance against a government in Australian history (with the exception of Aboriginal resistance). From 4 Sept 1977 till July 1979 Queensland police made over 3,000 arrests.
It is important to remember this movement and others that formed part of the extra-parliamentary opposition to repressive right wing governments in Australia. We forget that many ordinary workers have given up their freedom to resist the capitalist system that made it possible for both Labor and Liberal governments to support the world wide nuclear industry causing the deaths of millions, many refugees and to have the threat of nuclear apocalypse hanging over people’s heads.
Ian Curr
3 May 2022
Song
Ukes not Nukes playing “If I had a Hammer“.
“If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” is a protest song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays.