1923 police strike and riots in Melbourne: The officer at the centre of it all moved to Hay

Above: Constable William Thomas Brooks, the organiser of Australia’s only police strike. Image: Victoria Police Historical Society.

By Krista Schade

The November 1923 riots in the centre of Melbourne were so violent and prolonged that it has found its way into the history books and Australian folklore.

The police constable at the centre of the workplace dispute that resulted in the deaths of three people was never re-instated and instead moved with his family to Hay to become a night watchman and bore sinker.

Constable William Thomas Brooks became a Victorian police officer in 1911, at a time when tensions about workplace conditions and equal pay were beginning to simmer.

He served in the mounted police, then as a foot constable in Seymour, Prahran and South Yarra. Commended twice he was described as a supervisor and being “well conducted”.

At the time the Victorian police force was understaffed and underpaid compared to police forces in other states. They operated in terrible conditions, and it was said that the police horses were better treated than the men themselves.

Instead of negotiating with officers the chief commissioner of police instead set up a system of special supervisors who spied on and monitored officers. They quickly became hated by the force, who nicknamed them the ‘spooks’.

A fierce campaigner for better conditions for several years, Brooks had once gathered the signatures of more than 700 officers, which made him wildly unpopular with the police force hierarchy. Despite a stellar career in licensing, with more than 800 prosecutions against the sly grog trade, Brooks advocacy meant his days were numbered.

When Brooks and 16 colleague were dismissed from the better paid licensing squad jobs, and returned to the beat without reason or explanation, the strike began. 29 officers walked off the job on October 31, 1923, the eve of Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival.

Victorian Premier Harry Lawson demanded a return to work after 24 hours, and when he was ignored, again appealed to the strikers after 48 hours, promising no penalty would be paid by the officers.

None of Brooks’ demands were met, and so the strike continued, and Brooks and his colleagues toured police stations, rallying others to strike.

For four days striking officers, supporters and police clashed in the streets of inner city Melbourne, swamping Flinders, Elizabeth and Swanston Streets.

Police who chose not to strike were declared ‘scabs’ and subjected to attacks by frustrated strikers. The city boiled over as both sides set about recruiting the public for their cause.

The Police deputised a total of 5,000 members of the public as volunteer special constables, hastily sworn in and identified with an armband stitched with the word ‘special.’ They were given an instruction booklet and baton, and when the batons ran out, were deputised and given and axe or broom handle as their only defence.

The podcast ‘Forgotten Australia’ describes how police visited cinemas and theatres in the city, imploring men to join them in the fight against the strikers, who were also their fellow Melbournians.

The strikers were joined by those with a grudge against police, or those simply seeking excitement, meaning the protests were destined to get out of hand.

Shop fronts windows were smashed, either in the fighting, or deliberately while police were otherwise occupied and shops looted. A tram was even overturned, but tram staff managed to right the carriage, and ensure it’s safe passage out of the heaving city centre.

On November 6, 1923 The Riverine Grazier ran the headlines “The Melbourne Police Strike. Numerous casualties and arrests. The Blackest Page in Melbourne’s History”

“More than 200 people were injured in the street riots… The most darstedly crime was the murder of an ex-soldier within full view of scores of people.”

The premier requested support from the armed forces, which was refused by army generals, as many of the striking police officers were returned servicemen from the Great War. Eventually the Commonwealth stepped in and troops from Adelaide marched into the city centre and restored order.

In the aftermath of the strike and subsequent riots more than 630 policemen were discharged and two dismissed - including Brooks. This mass sacking accounted for more than a third of the entire Victorian Police Force at the time.

It seems that despite being the officer at the centre of the original protest William Thomas Brooks did not take part in the rioting, but he was never re-instated and instead moved from Melbourne to Hay, NSW in 1923 or early 1924.

He did not benefit, but the investigations and Royal Commission held after the strike led by Brooks saw almost immediate improvements in pay and conditions for Victorian police, and the establishment of a pension scheme before the end of 1923.

He settled in the small town with his wife Mary Ethel Booth gaining work first as a water-boring contractor and then as a night watchman, using his police training to keep the town safe. His classified advertising in The Riverine Grazier lists the Brooks’ address as ‘Irrigation Area Hay.’

A farmer’s daughter, Hay was Mary’s hometown and from their marriage in 1915, the couple went on to have seven children.

Mary’s father, Thomas Clarence Booth, was born near Wagga Wagga, but moved to Hay and worked in Maclures, Meakes and Wheelers and Hay Cash Store. Turning to the land, Thomas took up land that became known as Old Rosevale and Eli Elwah.

He built the original Rosevale homestead and lived there until selling to W Milliken in the late 1930s. His sweeping gardens and vegetable patch was well-known throughout the district.

When the family made the decision to move, the congregation of St Paul’s held a farewell function, which was covered by the Grazier, who reported the many speakers each said the family would be missed.

In July 1943 Brooks and his family moved to Ballarat, where he became the caretaker of St Patrick’s College, but died soon after, in November, at age 54.

As reported in the Grazier, Brooks had promised the Archdeacon of St Paul’s “…that in six years he would come back to Hay if he was well and able, and if the position was vacant he would again take up his duties at the church.”

Unfortunately William Thomas Brooks did not live to keep that promise. He was survived by Mary and three daughters.

His obituary was published in The Riverine Grazier.

“Fourteen years ago he commenced a service as nightwatchman, being engaged by most of the business houses of the town. He carried on in this capacity with considerable success, very little crime or robbery occurring in the town in that period.

“His hobby was gardening and in addition to a fine vegetable garden at his house, he undertook, first of all as a memorial to his young son, the supervision of the gardens at the St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral.

“This work was later carried on by him as an employee of the Parochial Council, and has been very much admired. He transformed a barren dusty church ground into a place of beauty, one of the show corners of the town, with lawns, trees, and shrubs.”