Author: Labour History Melbourne

The Melbourne Branch of the Labour History Society promotes, preserves and produces radical, political, and working class history.

ONE SONG – MANY LIVES: Remembering the Westgate Bridge tragedy

15 October 1970 is infamous as the date of one of Australia’s worst industrial disasters.  A span of the Westgate Bridge, then under construction, collapsed. 35 workers plummeted to their deaths below.  Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 played havoc with plans to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the tragedy. The annual pilgrimage of remembrance to the memorial plaque was cancelled, but the anniversary was still appropriately observed, with the Memorial Committee’s live stream Facebook event, 3CR’s documentaries from 1990 and 1995, Channel 9’s documentary feature, and Sam Wallman’s magnificent eight-panel artwork. … Continue readingONE SONG – MANY LIVES: Remembering the Westgate Bridge tragedy