Memories of a political prisoner, Pentridge Gaol 1972 Part 2 uniforms and haircuts Barry York 1992

This is the second instalment of excerpts from the recording I made in 1992 for the National Library of Australia's oral history collection, talking about my experience as a political prisoner in Melbourne's notorious Pentridge Gaol in 1972. In this edited excerpt, my topic is uniforms and haircuts - how they were designed to strip prisoners of individuality and, in the context of the era, to attempt to crush the rebelliousness of young men who grew their hair long.

Background:

This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of Australia's most significant free speech struggles. In 1972, three student activists at La Trobe University, Fergus Robinson, Brian Pola and Barry York, were imprisoned without trial or sentence, without rights to bail or appeal, at Pentridge Prison. Their 'crime' was to enter the premises of La Trobe University in defiance of a Supreme Court injunction banning them from the campus: contempt of court.

The University authorities deemed them leaders of a militant student movement which over the previous two years had stood up to police violence and won the right to march along a local street in protest against the US war in Vietnam and then in 1971 had launched a successful struggle against the University Chancellor, whose company had government contracts for the war and also had investments in South Africa under the apartheid system.

La Trobe students were expelled (suspended) and fined by the university and arrested by police. The struggle continued into 1972 when the University Council tried to stop the Students Representative Council from using its funds to pay the fines of students.

In order to thwart this struggle, the University Vice Chancellor and Council obtained injunctions against the three abovenamed students and a fourth, Rodney Taylor (who was never captured). It was extraordinary to have activists gaoled without sentence in a maximum security prison: ie, for an indeterminate period.

The injuctions simply banned them from the campus. It did not prohibit them from specific activities. It was clearly an attack on free speech. The authorities had lost the debate of ideas and resorted to the organised violence of the police and prisons.

I shall do further clips drawing on excerpts from my 1992 monologue for the National Library of Australia. I also recorded Fergus and Brian for their memories of Pentridge and their interviews are also held in the Library's Oral History collection.

Видео Memories of a political prisoner, Pentridge Gaol 1972 Part 2 uniforms and haircuts Barry York 1992 канала Barry York