The 1998 waterfront dispute was the biggest Australian industrial dispute in a generation or more, possibly the biggest ever. The dispute was also one of the major media events in Australian history, polarising the nation and attracting more than twice the public attention of the ensuing federal election.
This book is the first rigorous historical account of the event, with fresh interpretation based on many new sources that will become the standard reference.
Drawing on a wealth of sources, many for the first time, this book is the most complete account of the event to date. More than another chronicle and description, it is a critical analysis of both the conflict and the insights it harbours about Australian society, which has never doubted the historical significance of what happened when Patrick brought the dogs onto its wharves on the Tuesday night before Easter 1998.
