50th Anniversary of the ‘Tower Mill’ Protests

The challenge was set. Brisbane Writers Festival [BWF] asked me to find the ex-Wallaby footballer who’d addressed over 1000 students at the University of Queensland refectory in mid-1971. I was 18 then, and never had any personal contact with the legendary Anthony Abrahams since he took a fearless stance against apartheid in South Africa.

I googled and searched, checked recent internet profiles, followed random leads. I spoke with a sympathetic young man at University of Sydney’s Alumni, and sent an email: ‘Anthony Abrahams AM, c/- Uni of Sydney Alumni. Please forward.’ Fingers crossed! The next evening, I received a call from Anthony. He gracefully accepted the invitation to speak at BWF’s special event, marking the 50th anniversary of the South African rugby union tour of Australia.

There were dramatic and violent protests across Australia, but the violence experienced in Brisbane was extreme. Joh bussed in 600 additional country police to enforce his brand of law and order. Hundreds of police attacked peaceful demonstrators outside the Tower Mill motel and throughout the streets of Brisbane. Young and old activists braved the brutal force of police retaliation. Importantly, this tour and the resultant protests united young white radicals with the groundswell of black activism that had been growing through the 1960s to fight apartheid and racism here in Australia. That struggle continues.

Find out more about this Brisbane Writers Festival event at the University of Queensland - Political Football: The Radical Legacy of the Anti-Apartheid Protests in Brisbane.

State Library of Queensland collections include a variety of items relating to the history of protest movements in Queensland.