Jack Mundey
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Jack Mundey (born 1929) is one of the most well known union and environmental activists in Australia. He came to prominence during the 1970s for leading the New South Wales Builders' Labourers Federation (BLF) in the famous Green Bans, whereby the BLF led a successful campaign to protect the built and natural environment of Sydney from excessive and inappropriate development. Mundey is now Chair of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.
Born in the Atherton Tableland in far north Queensland, Mundey came to Sydney in the early 1950s. In that time he played Rugby League for Parramatta and joined the Communist Party of Australia.
During the 1960s Mundey was a crusading unionist, who advocated in relation to a wide range of issues, from safety reforms on building sites to wider social issues, such as feminism, gay rights, and the impact of international politics. Mundey considered all of these as subjects worthy of union activism.
The Green Bans
In 1968, he was elected Secretary of the NSW Builder's Labourers Federation. From this position, Mundey became the highly visible individual who, with his union and supportive community members, was responsible for the Green Bans that saved much of Sydney's heritage and built environment. He insisted that the priorities of development be reversed such that the open community spaces and heritage buildings be preserved and that affordable public housing was more important than accumulating empty or underused commercial buildings.
Jack Mundey has since described the Green Bans as follows:
- I think the Green Bans were probably the most exciting innovation that the Builders Labourers became involved in. There was so much development taking place and at the outset there was this feeling that 'all development was good - it was progress...' But as historical buildings, and buildings worthy of preservation were knocked down, and whole neighbourhoods were disrupted - for example all the working class people in the Rocks were going to be thrown out for high-rise development - a segment of the population said 'well, we should be concerned about our vanishing heritage.
Later career
During the 1980s, Mundey became involved in local government, becoming a councillor of Sydney City Council. He was also a member of the Council's Planning Committee in 1984 and 1985. In 1988 the University of Western Sydney bestowed an honorary Doctor of Letters and the University of NSW also bestowed an honorary Doctor of Science in recognition of his years of service to the environment for the last 30 years.
Mundey was made a Life Member of the Australian Conservation Foundation in the 1990s. In 1995, in keeping with his continued deep interest in Sydney and the state's urban environment and heritage, he was appointed Chair of the NSW Historic Houses Trust.