The following is the story of the events surrounding the building of this pipeline. It is an edited version of a two part series in the June and September 1972 issues of “˜The Australian Pipeliner’ by an unknown author using the pseudonym “˜Stringer Bead’.
The licence to build the pipeline was issued by the Victorian government on 11 June 1970. Victoria’s celebrated 26 “˜rebel’ unions, headed by officials of the Boilermakers and Blacksmiths Society, spearheaded the campaign to stop the project. The rebels imposed a black ban on the line almost immediately.
In the months following, various conservation organisations campaigned against the pipeline. The campaign persuaded the Victorian Trades Hall Council to place a ban on the construction of the line in August 1970. However, following action by the Victorian Government1- which resulted in the enactment of the Environment Protection Act and the production of fresh evidence about the sea bed – the Victorian Trades Hall Council lifted its ban in June 1971. But the rebel union black ban remained.
In September 1971, the Trades Hall Council informed all unions, “that any attempt to continue a ban on the pipeline is in total defiance of the declared policy of Council.” The rebel unions’ spokesman, a Mr Carr responded to this declaration by saying, “We are determined the pipeline won’t be built.”
Because of the long delay which had occurred, Esso-BHP was forced to call new tenders. Late in February 1972 the contract was awarded to Australian Dredging and General Works, with APC retained to undertake the actual laying from the converted barge “˜Beaver.’
Work on the “˜Beaver’ commenced at Geelong in March but the Boilermakers quickly placed the vessel under a black ban. Then, quite inexplicably, welders were allowed to make the vessel seaworthy and the Seamen’s Union – one of the 26 rebel unions – obligingly towed it to Williamstown where work on the rig up continued.
On 27 April an official of the Welder’s Union visited the barge and directed members of the union to cease work. One welder thought it best to give up his job but others continued to work. Members of the Federated Iron Workers Association and the Australian Workers Union, whose unions observed VTHC policy, continued to work despite being branded “˜scabs’ by official Boilermakers.
At 7 am on 29 April, 50 to 60 people were at the Williamstown gate. A heavy chain and lock had been placed on the gate, effectively blocking entry to the “Beaver”. Equipment on the “Beaver” itself had been extensively damaged. Identified in the crowd jostling around the gate were three leading officials of the Victorian branch of the Boilermakers and Blacksmiths’ Society and officials of other rebel unions.
The following weekend, tens of thousands of dollars of damage was done to Australian Pipeline Construction equipment engaged on an entirely separate project in a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne. Sulphuric acid and sand had been poured into radiators, oil pans and fuel tanks of the spread working on a 24 inch oil pipeline.
A hearing, before the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission’s Commissioner Watson on 10 May, of the dispute between APC and the Boilermakers resulted in the Boilermakers being ordered to lift the ban. During these proceedings, Carter Johnson, Manager Director of Australian Pipeline Construction, gave evidence from the witness box. He told the commission of the violence and abuse to which he had been subjected on 29 April.
“As I walked past the fence trying to get past the crowd to where I felt safe to climb over the fence, [Mr X] of the Boilermakers yelled out to some of the men that he would like them to meet Carter Johnson. They started jeering and throwing rocks at me and I was hit twice.”
Mr Johnson was then asked: “Apart from using foul language did [Mr X] take any steps which involved your person?
“Yes he spat in my face on three different occasions and he spat in my face several times on each occasion.”
Late in May the Seamen’s Union and the Boilermakers’ Union lifted their ban on the pipeline. However it soon became apparent that the group calling itself the Anti-Bay Pipeline Committee (ABPC) plus the more militant elements of the 26 rebel unions together with organisations of the socialist-left, particularly the Worker-Student Alliance (WSA) had not conceded defeat.
A few days after the Seamen’s Union had lifted its ban, the dredge “Crocodile” started work on Mordialloc beach. The ABPC immediately claimed that the dredge was polluting the bay by throwing up tons of malodorous black sludge. A Sun News Pictorial cartoonist had Melbourne laughing the next morning with his cartoon, “It’s disgusting, now they’re polluting the bay with the bay.”
“˜Rebel’ leader Mr Carr of the Furnishing Trade Society issued a statement designed to intimidate workers on the project. Conservationists and unionists would, he warned, be taking action against scab labour which he said “meant any member of any union opposing the pipeline who worked in defiance of a union directive.” Mr Carr also warned that the ban would be physically enforced.
Sunday 18 June was the next big event in the master plan. It attracted hundreds of left wing unionists and radical students to the Mordialloc shore. It was a huge day complete with the Red Onion jazz band playing such classics as “˜Working for the Foreign Dollar’ and well-meaning people from the Bird Observers Club and the Field Naturalists Club’ adding just that touch of respectability.
In the days immediately following, the campaign built up to a crescendo. President of the new Amalgamated Metal Worker’s Union, Mr Roulston, made the first move. He went on board the “Beaver” to advise welders to leave their job for their own good. He was jeered and booed off the barge. Next the railway engine drivers union, the AFULE, let it be known that as one of the rebel unions, it also had a ban on the ethane pipeline. Nevertheless, train loads of pipe continued to arrive from the Barry Beach marine terminal in southern Gippsland.
One very prominent member of the ABPC, John Iggulden, parked his car across the pipeline easement and left it locked up for several days. When this tactic failed and work along the easement continued, a major demonstration took place on 20 June, and five people, including Mr Iggulden, were arrested for trespassing. One Boilermakers and Blacksmiths Society official was removed from the work area by police after trying to throw sand in people’s eyes.
During all this Australian Pipeline Construction pushed ahead, and work both on and offshore continued in face of threats and intimidation. Tyres were slashed or deflated; further attempts were made to sabotage equipment. Several sections of pipe welded and ready for putting in the trench on the right of way near Western Port were found to have holes skilfully drilled into them and workers and their families were threatened. It became necessary to hire bodyguards to protect certain individuals.
On 9 July, another rowdy demonstration organised by the socialist left and the WSA took place. A section of the pipeline was uncovered and damaged as press and other photographers clicked their shutters. The damaged pipe was later removed and repairs carried out.
The United Fire Fighters Union joined in the ruckus by imposing its own ban on fighting fires involving contractor’s equipment and material. It was hardly a coincidence that very soon after this announcement, unsuccessful attempts were made to burn down site construction offices and stores with fire bombs.
Despite the violence and sabotage, as July grew to a close, most of the pipeline had been laid in the Mordialloc area and the “Beaver” was gradually moving out of sight.
Australian Pipeline Construction’s Carter Johnson had won the day against a well-organised and at times viciously carried out disruptive campaign. To their great credit, most of the APC employees refused to be intimated and stuck with the man who had stood by them. On 21 December, 1972 The Australian Financial Review reported “More than two years overdue, ethane is flowing through the 10 inch Esso-BHP pipeline from The Western Port terminal to the Altona petrochemical complex.”