Denis Kevans
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TEDFrom Pig Iron ROACHHero to Long Bay Gaol Denis Kevans Edited by Sophia Kevans (with Bob Fagan and Bill Egan) “This is a very important book. It is a significant piece of political history and every Australian should read it.” —Jack Mundey “Ted Roach was the type of individual who had a fighting spirit; somehow a flame that never died. A flame that never burnt out. His one aim was to see the waterfront a much better place to work and he achieved just that.” —Walter Bailey (Port Kembla wharfie)* Quoted in Gary Griffith, ‘Obituary: Ted Roach (1909–1997)’, Illawarra Unity - Journal of the Illawarra Branch of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour His- tory, 1 (1997), pp. 30-34. Ted Roach – From Pig Iron Hero To Long Bay Gaol A Wharfie’s Life Denis Kevans Edited by Sophia Kevans (with Bob Fagan and Bill Egan) First published online in 2021 by Sophia Kevans with assistance of the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History (ASSLH) Copyright Ó Sophia Kevans 2021 [email protected] This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior written permission of the copyright owner. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Kevans, Denis (1939-2005) Title: Ted Roach – From Pig Iron Hero to Long Bay Gaol / by Denis Kevans; eds Sophia Kevans, Bob Fagan and Bill Egan ISBN: 978-0-9803883-7-4 (ebook) The editors would like to acknowledge gratefully the assistance of Dr Julie Kimber, Secretary, ASSLH, in commenting on the manuscript and helping to organise online publication. i ABOUT THE AUTHOR …………...………………………………………………………………………….…………………. vi ABOUT THE EDITORS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………….………………………………………….......………… viii EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION…...…………………………………………………………………….……..………………… ix ABBREVIATIONS……………...…………………………………………………………..……….……..……………………. xx DRAMATIS PERSONAE…...…...…………………………………………………………………..….…..….……………… xxiii IMPORTANT DATES…………...………………………………………………………………….………….………………. xxvi INTRODUCTION…...…………...…………………………………………………………………………. 1 PART 1: EARLY LIFE AND DEPRESSION YEARS Chapter 1 TED READS “BOSTON” BY UPTON SINCLAIR ................................................................... 5 Chapter 2 FROM COLEDALE TO MACKAY: WWI AND THE DEPRESSION .................................... 7 Chapter 3 BACK TO NEWCASTLE, 1931-1937 ..................................................................................... 21 PART 2: PORT KEMBLA, 1937-1942 Chapter 4 PORT KEMBLA: TED ROACH AS BRANCH SECRETARY WWF .................................... 27 Chapter 5 THE DALFRAM PIG IRON DISPUTE ..................................................................................... 35 Chapter 6 KEMBLA DAYS: LIFE AFTER DALFRAM, 1939-1942 ........................................................ 47 Chapter 7 RED DUST AND ROTARIES, 1940 ........................................................................................ 51 Chapter 8 SMEARS, SUCCESSES AND SOUTH COAST FAREWELL, 1941-1942 ............................ 56 PART 3: TED ROACH AS ASSISTANT-GENERAL SECRETARY, 1942-1951 Chapter 9 FEDERAL OFFICE: TED ROACH - ORGANISER ................................................................ 66 Chapter 10 THE DUTCH SHIPS DISPUTE: BACKGROUND ................................................................ 73 Chapter 11 THE DUTCH SHIPS DISPUTE: GARLANDS OF FLOWERS………………………………… 84 Chapter 12 TED ROACH’S LEADERSHIP AT THE NATIONAL OFFICE, 1946-1947 ........................ 98 Chapter 13 ROACH DOES “MOST OF THE CORRESPONDENCE”: LEADERSHIP IN 1948 .......... 107 Chapter 14 IT’S ON!: TED ROACH CHASES MELBOURNE GROUPERS ........................................ 111 Chapter 15 THE NSW COAL STRIKE, 1949 .......................................................................................... 120 Chapter 16 THE BRISBANE ROTARY HATCH DISPUTE, 1950 ........................................................ 127 Chapter 17 THE BASIC WAGE DECISION 1951: FOSTER GAOLS TED ROACH ........................... 143 Chapter 18 LONG BAY GAOL, 1951: “KEEP STEP, 103” .................................................................... 159 PART 4: AFTER LONG BAY Chapter 19 BLAND’S SECRET LETTER TO HAROLD HOLT, 22 May 1951 .................................... 173 Chapter 20 UNITY … THE WINNING WEAPON, 1953: KWINANA AND “OPERATION CAIN” ...... 185 Chapter 21 TED ROACH IN THE 1950S: SHAKING THE SHIP OWNERS ......................................... 198 Chapter 22 DEATH OF JIM HEALY, 1961: TED AND THE CPA ........................................................ 212 Chapter 23 “COMRADE, FAREWELL!” ................................................................................................ 218 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................................... 220 vi ILLUSTRATIONS Fig 1 ASIO surveillance photo, May Day March Sydney, 1964 ……………………… vii Fig 2 Denis Kevans at Sydney Domain ………………………………………………. viii Fig 3 S.E.A.L’s Campaign Poster, Sydney 1969 …………………………………. xxxiv Fig 4 ‘Fill ‘em Up Again’ (1915) ………………………………………………………. 8 Fig 5 Nobby’s Camp, Newcastle (1938) ……………………………………………… 12 Fig 6 ‘Spider’ Roach ………………………………………………………………….. 15 Fig 7 ‘Look at the Sacrifice He Makes’ (1939) ……………………………………….. 35 Fig 8 Menzies and Pig Iron, 1942 ……………………………………………………… 36 Fig 9 Pig Iron Loaded Into a Ship’s Hold, Port Kembla ………………………………. 37 Fig 10 Meeting with Attorney-General Menzies, 6 December 1938 …………………… 40 Fig 11 ‘War on the Waterfront’ (1987) …………………………………………………. 41 Fig 12 ‘Ted Roach Honoured At Social Gathering’ (1942) …………………………….. 45 Fig 13 Memorial to 50th Anniversary of Dalfram Dispute (1988) ……………………… 46 Fig 14 Candidates for WWF Assistant Secretary and Organiser, 1942 ………………… 61 Fig 15 The Unknown Warrior’ 1939-1947 ……………………………………………... 70 Fig 16 Letter to WWF National Office From A.I.F. Soldiers, 1945 ……………………. 75 Fig 17 Ted Roach and ‘Sourabaya Sue’, Public Lecture ……………………………….. 89 Fig 18 ‘Go to Arbitration – Or’: NSW Coal Strike 1949 ………………………………. 121 Fig 19 ‘The Spanish Mackerel’ (1950) ………………………………………………… 127 Fig 20 ‘Nearer the Edge’ – Rolling Strikes in Brisbane 1950 …………………………. 128 Fig 21 ‘Dislocation Plans for Industry’ (1950) ………………………………………… 132 Fig 22 ‘How Long Must We Take It?’ (1950) …………………………………………. 133 Fig 23 ‘Egg Strike’ – Roach in Charge? (1950) ……………………………………….. 136 Fig 24 ‘Sleight of Hand and the £1 Basic Wage Rise’ (1951) …………………………. 148 Fig 25 Ted Roach Taken to Long Bay Gaol, March 1951 ……………………………… 152 Fig 26 ‘Roach Gets 12 Months for Contempt’, March 1951 …………………………… 153 Fig 27 ‘Cargo Working Halted’ (1951) ………………………………………………… 154 Fig 28 ‘Carrying the Struggle Into Long Bay Gaol’ (1979) ……………………………. 160 Fig 29 Ted Roach Outside Sydney Town Hall, 17 December 1951 ……………………. 162 Fig 30 Ted Roach Banner, Park St Sydney, May Day 1951 ……………………………. 163 Fig 31 ‘ACTU Condemns Savage Sentence of Ted Roach’ (1951) ……………………. 164 Fig 32 ‘Release Roach’ (1951) …………………………………………………………. 165 Fig 33 ‘Release Roach” (p. 2) (1951) …………………………………………………… 166 Fig 34 High Court Appeal Quashed (1951) ……………………………………………. 168 Fig 35 United Federation Candidates for the WWF 1949 Elections …………………… 177 Fig 36 United Federation Candidates for the WWF 1949 Elections …………………… 178 Fig 37 Ted Roach with ‘Dutchy’ Young in China, May 1953 …………………………. 187 Fig 38 A Cargo of Steel Rails …………………………………………………………... 194 Fig 39 Ted Roach’s Visit to Queensland Branches, November 1959 ………………….. 207 Fig 40 Ted Roach’s Itinerary of Branch Meetings, November 1959 …………………... 208 Fig 41 Ted Roach in Retirement ……………………………………………………….. 219 iii ABOUT THE AUTHOR Denis Kevans (1939-2005) had a prolific literary output, mostly of poetry and song, for over 50 years. Born in Westlake, Canberra, to a Catholic working-class family, he won a scholarship to Sydney’s St Joseph’s College where he excelled academically and in sport. A star performer on the cricket field, he was selected in 1958 by Robert Menzies to play in the traditional Prime Minister’s XI cricket match against the visiting English team. There is wonderful irony in the contrast between the loyalty of the anti- Communist Menzies to Australia’s British heritage, and his young cricketer’s developing loyalty to Australia’s Irish heritage, republicanism and socialist politics. Denis initially studied medicine at the University of Sydney but was encouraged by his father Mick to abandon what Denis by now saw as a bourgeois establishment degree to concentrate on writing about the truth and social justice. Soon after, he joined the Communist Party. “I was a member of the CPA from 1960-1970 and worked on the Communist paper the ‘Tribune’ from 1964-1965.”1 Fig 1 ASIO surveillance photo, May Day March, Sydney, 1964 Source: Courtesy, National Archives of Australia *Denis Kevans, far right 1 Kevans, D. 2005. iv At a time when many young people lived under the spell of an impending revolution, Denis became an activist participating in May Day (Fig 1) and anti-war marches. He recited to crowds at rallies and in Sydney’s Domain (Fig 2). In the early 1960s, the young Denis Kevans was secretary of the left-wing Sydney Realist Writers’ Group and his poems frequently appeared in their journal, Realist Writer. Strongly anti- war, he was the first poet to openly oppose the sending of Australian