Brunswick, Victoria - Politics

Politics

During the Great Depression in 1933 Brunswick was the site of free speech meetings by the Unemployed Workers Movement which were harassed and suppressed by the police. Young Australian artist Noel Counihan played a significant part in this campaign. A Free Speech memorial was built in 1994 outside the Mechanics' Institute on the corner of Sydney and Glenlyon Roads to commemorate the free speech fights. Counihan's work as an artist and local resident is also commemorated by the Counihan Gallery run by the City of Moreland.

Brunswick has long been a stronghold of left-wing politics in Melbourne, with the federal and state parliamentary seats held by the Australian Labor Party with very comfortable margins over free enterprise parties. Greens candidates are gaining an increasing proportion of the vote, and in 2002 elected a Greens Councillor to Moreland Council, with a second Greens Councillor being elected in 2004. As well as the "mainstream" left, however, Brunswick and nearby suburbs have for many years been a holdout of other left-wing parties, radical socialists and anarchists.

The Brunswick Progress Association has had an active role in representing residents particularly on local issues to Council, but also at the State and Federal levels. It was formed in 1905. At the 2010 Australian federal election, The Greens polled over 30% in most of the Brunswick booths including 41.20% in Brunswick north east.