Egg Throwing Incident
| Egg Throwing Incident | |
|---|---|
| 260px
Information board about the incident, 2015
|
|
| Date | 29 November 1917 |
| Location |
Warwick, Queensland
|
| Caused by | Conscription |
| Methods | Civil disobediance |
| Parties to the civil conflict | |
| Lead figures | |
| Units involved | |
| Number | |
| Casualties and losses | |
| Casualties | |
The Egg Throwing Incident occurred on 29 November 1917 in Warwick, Queensland, Australia. An egg was thrown at the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes at the Warwick railway station during his campaign for the 1917 plebiscite on conscription. The egg was thrown by Patrick Michael Brosnan, possibly assisted by his brother Bartie Brosnan.[1]
Contents
Background
Pressured by British leaders for increased Australian participation in the war effort, Labour Prime Minister Billy Hughes announced his intention to hold a national referendum on compulsory military conscription in October 1916. After a particularly bitter campaign, a majority of Australians voted against the proposal, the issue splitting the Federal Labor Party. After joining with the conservative Opposition to form a nationalist government in February 1917, Hughes resolved to hold a second conscription referendum the following December.[2]
The campaign was just as volatile as the first, and with the Queensland Government under Premier T.J. Ryan strongly anti-conscription, Hughes decided to tour southern Queensland in a bid to whip up support for his cause.[2]
Warwick speech
Hughes ordered the local police officer, Sergeant Kenny, to arrest Brosnan but the policeman said "you have no jurisdiction".[3][4][5]
Aftermath
This incident has been associated with the forming of the Commonwealth Police.[6] There had been plans to create such a police force for over a decade but it is felt that this incident acted as a catalyst for it to happen.[7]
In November 2007 the 90th anniversary of the Warwick Egg Incident was celebrated with an historic re-enactment at Warwick railway station.[2][8]
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Egg Throwing Plaque", Monuments Australia accessed 22 June 2015
- ↑ " Early vision for national policing body", Australian Federal Police accessed 22 June 2015
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Attribution
This Wikipedia article contains text from "Number 120 – Telegram from Prime Minister Hughes to the Commissioner for Police regarding being egged (later referred to as the “Warwick Egg Incident”)" published by the Queensland State Archives under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (last updated 5 March 2012, accessed on 18 October 2015, archived on 18 October 2015).
