in 1959 there was a huge brawl (sounds like it was between Anglo Australians and European migrants? unclear) at a rock n’ roll club in Footscray and it started a huge drama around youth culture, bodgies and widgies, rock music, and xenophobia

Local councillor Keily had gone undercover as a bodgie to investigate the subculture and he was FREAKED out. he moved that council ban the venue from having future rock n’ roll nights, which passed unanimously

Council laid blame for the brawl on migrants — not just the kids involved, but also the guy who ran the venue, a Mr Galichio (probably an Italian immigrant). Councillor Hatfield said “it is a pity these gentlemen new to Australia open halls contrary to our by-laws”.

“Cr. Keily sips a milk shake in his ‘bodgie’ attire”

“Cr. Keily, who said he attended the dance dressed as a bodgie and has paid 5/- for admittance and remained there for some time, added: ‘what I observed was not nice for the morals of the city’.” The old perv

the Footscray Mail concurs with the Footscray Advertiser that the brawl was between Anglos and European migrants. However, the only people to face charges were two young men from Greece and Malta

it’s important to remember at this point that Australia had only begun allowing large numbers of non-British European migrants about ten years prior, in the late 1940s, after failing to attract enough white British migrants to meet government targets for population growth

why was (white) population growth so important to the government of the day? fear of Asia and Asians. in 1947 the (Labor Party) Immigration Minister Calwell said "We have 25 years at most to populate this country before the yellow races are down on us."

so Southern and Eastern Europeans were considered not ideal but at least white-ish, although you do come across references to Maltese immigrants in particular being called “black” as a slur. point is 1959 Australia was very, very xenophobic

the Menzies (conservative) government had begun slowly dismantling the White Australia policy, but it was still mostly in place by 1959. It was only in 1958 that Australians had been allowed to sponsor an Asian spouse for residency

most of the councillors who went ham on blaming migrants for the bodgie brawl were Labor Party members. Footscray has been Labor heartland since the Party was established — the local Council was split between the ALP and Independents

I’d have to double check the affiliation of the rest of them but Keily was definitely a Labor man

Footscray Mail editorial: “ROCK ‘N ROLL BRAWL... it was certainly an un-Australian affair and, seeing that several New Australians were involved, it would certainly seem that we have a long way to go in the assimilation of newcomers into our country’s way of life”.

the young Greek guy, Peter Tsalacopoulos, was sentenced to seven days jail, which would’ve been awful, but I gotta say that being called “ROCK N ROLL BRAWL YOUTH” in a headline is the coolest shit I’ve ever seen

the following week a Sydney journalist called Footscray out on its over-the-top response to the brawl and called the suburb a xenophobic (fair) industrial wasteland (hey!). pandemonium ensued

Bulletin writer: “Considerable importance has been attached to, of all things, a rock n’ roll brawl in Footscray, the overblown Melbourne industrial suburb —”
Footscray councillors: let me visit you in person and explain my passions

“Assimilation of New Australians... seems to have been accomplished with far more ease than might have been expected, but there are pockets, notably... from Kensington to Footscray, where the newcomers are resented and harassed.”

Cr Hatfield (remember, the same guy who had a go at the migrant club owner the previous week for being in-Australian) responds “the article is untrue right from the beginning... Why, New Australians have told me they are happy to be in Footscray.” No migrants are quoted

please read the article in the photo if you can it’s so fucking funny/awful. “how DARE you say Footscray doesn’t have much to recommend it we have FIVE youth clubs and a LIBRARY”

incidentally here is another headline from the same paper about two pages later

the Bulletin article also rated front page outrage in the other local paper, the Footscray Mail

I can’t emphasise enough that the Footscray council response to negative publicity was “come and say that to my face you pussy”

like... I wonder why your kids got in a street brawl

the other guy who faced charges from the brawl, a 19-year-old Maltese immigrant from Kensington named Charles Seguna, was fined £50 plus £5 costs (equivalent to about AU $1,700 today)

there was a lot of angst in the area about bodgies and widgies anyway because one of their fave hangouts was a speedway in Maribyrnong. here’s a dad swearing in court that his 17 year old son is going to stay aWAY from the speedway and bodgie/ widgie culture

the ultimate upshot of the brawl was that the council put some effort into promoting weekend sport and everyone in local media, government, and police continued to be xenophobic bullies, but very pro-union. and that’s 50s Australia in a nutshell

If anyone knows anyone involved in the 1959 Footscray bodgie street riot, or their families, please get in touch! Especially keen to know more about how Peter Tsalacopoulos or Charles Seguna dealt with being so unfairly scapegoated

god I fuckin forgot to define a bodgie/widgie in this thread. it’s an Australian greaser. Just normal 50s youth culture tbh

bodgies and widgies were directly influenced by Black American culture, and sure enough 50s anti-bodgie moral panic rhetoric hits all the same beats of cops talking about West Sydney rappers http://home.dictionaryofsydney.org/bodgies-and-african-american-influences-in-sydney/

I found the Bulletin article Footscray councillors were complaining about! Full text here: https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/233675714