1929 - 2020

‘Bondi belongs to Australia,’ declared activist Jack Mundey at a beach press conference in 2016 as a union Green Ban was placed on the Bondi Pavilion.

Jack Mundey AO was an environmental and union activist most notable for his work in the 1970s as the New South Wales secretary of the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF which preceded the CFMEU). During this time, Mundey oversaw the first trade union Green Ban on environmentally or socially destructive projects. A Green Ban was a form of strike action in which construction workers would not commence work on a project. These were generally implemented for environmental and conservation purposes.

The most famous Green Ban of the 43 that occurred between 1971 and 1975 prevented high-rise development of the historic Rocks area in Sydney and resulted in hundreds of protesters being arrested, including Mundey. The BLF imposed Green Bans only after community groups with significant public support approached it about an issue.

John ‘Jack’ Mundey was born on Queensland’s Atherton Tableland in 1929 and moved to Sydney aged 19 to play for the Parramatta Eels reserve grade. In the late 1950s, he worked as a builder’s labourer and joined the BLF, rising to NSW secretary and overseeing the imposition of the first Green Bans. His tenure as BLF secretary ended in 1974.

Mundey continued to shape environmental politics as a City of Sydney councillor in the 1980s and supported community conservation campaigns well into his retirement.

When Waverley Council unveiled a $38 million plan for Bondi Pavilion in late 2015, it was met with public outcry, with many locals fearing the heritage-listed Pavilion would be lost as a public asset. Mundey’s Green Ban contributed to changes to the Bondi Pavilion plans. Mundey was 86 when he took on campaigning for the Bondi Pavilion.

In 2000, Mundey was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his service to the identification and preservation of significant sections of Australia’s natural and urban heritage.

Images courtesy of the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and SEARCH Foundation.