By Iain McIntyre. The Communist Party affiliated Proletarian Hall operated in Lydia Street during the 1930s providing a soup kitchen as well as a base for unemployed organizing. A number of unemployed organizations sprang up around the country in the early period of the Depression. With governments floundering in response to mass poverty many were […]
Tag: Great Depression
Lock Out the Landlords : Brunswick Town Hall
By Iain McIntyre As most people would be aware the collapse of the New York Stock market in October 1929 led to a devastating global economic downturn. Reliant on overseas exports and heavily indebted to European and American banks, Australia was hit particularly hard. Unsurprisingly not everyone was equally affected by the economic crunch and […]
Lock Out the Landlords : The Barkly Street Commune
By Iain McIntyre. In late 1930 a number of single unemployed men set up what were essentially communal households in Barkly Street. These households formed the backbone of many of the militant demonstrations and anti-eviction actions that took place in the area. As a result they were placed under regular police surveillance. Most of the […]
Lock Out the Landlords : Eviction showdown, July 1930
By Iain McIntyre. Evictions were a major problem for the unemployed during the Depression. Between 1930 and 1933 11,000 warrants were served in the Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions and over 5000 evictions carried out. This only accounts for a fraction of the actual number of people put on the street however as thousands more […]
Lock Out the Landlords : Anti-Eviction Protest, 1932
By Iain McIntyre. Eviction resistance, which had begun in Brunswick with a successful protest in 1930, continued during 1931 and 1932. These actions drew large numbers and one in Larnoo Avenue in Brunswick West saw 1000 people force a Bailiff to sign an agreement stating that “he would not act in such a capacity again […]
Lock Out the Landlords : Rose Street Brunswick
By Iain McIntyre. In one of many such cases the Commercial Banking company obtained a court order in April 1931 to evict an unemployed family in Rose Street, Brunswick. On this occasion a real estate agent and two police were confronted by a crowd of 100. After the family were evicted the crowd grabbed their […]