Walter Threlfall

Interviewed by
Rodney Sullivan and Robin Sullivan
Jun 27 2013
Walter Threlfall, 2013

Trade Unionist Walter Threlfall became Assistant State Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in 1983. He discusses his time as an ETU member and official from 1972 until the mid-1990s in North Queensland, with particular reference to the infamous SEQEB dispute of the Bjelke-Petersen era and the Mount Isa Mine lockout.

Biography
Time Summary Keywords
00:00:00

Walter Threlfall speaks about growing up in Newcastle, New South Wales, and completing his apprenticeship as an electrical fitter and mechanic with Commonwealth Steel. He discusses his parents' occupations and his father's involvement with trade unions.

 apprenticeships, Miscellaneous Workers Union, Seamen's Union
00:02:50

Walter Threlfall describes the role of unions in his apprenticeship, and speaks about his membership of the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU). He reflects on the Labor-sympathetic and heavily unionised nature of Newcastle in the 1970s.

 AMIEU, ETU, Newcastle
00:06:10

Walter Threlfall discusses the trade unionists who had an influence on him in his early career.

 Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, Col Emery, ETU, Fred Thompson, Mount Isa Mines
00:08:36

Walter Threlfall recounts the positions in the ETU that he has held, and describes the duties ascribed to each role. He discusses his efforts to remain up to date with union policies and implement them in his workplace.

 ETU, Malcolm Fraser, Mount Isa Mines, union delegate, union positions
00:12:29

Walter Threlfall comments on some of the industrial disputes he witnessed and took part in during his career. These include the ETU's 1982 general strike and the South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB) dispute.

 ETU, industrial disputes, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Neville Warburton, SEQEB dispute
00:17:41

Walter Threlfall discusses his personal role in the SEQEB dispute and describes the march and picketing in New Farm, Brisbane, undertaken by striking members of the ETU.

 ETU, industrial disputes, Seamen's Union, SEQEB dispute
00:23:28

Walter Threlfall details other industrial disputes in which the ETU was involved, particularly the Mount Isa Mine lockout and the Weipa dispute in the early 1990s.

 ACTU, Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, AWU, ETU, industrial disputes, Mount Isa Mines, Rio Tinto, Weipa
00:28:33

Walter Threlfall discusses the interactions of the ETU, the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, the AWU and the ACTU in the Mount Isa Mines lockout in the early 1990s.

 ACTU, AWU, Bill Ludwig, David Harrison, ETU, industrial disputes, Martin Ferguson, Mount Isa Mines, SEQEB dispute
00:31:58

Walter Threlfall reflects on militancy in the union hierarchy and on his time as a union organiser at the Mount Isa Mines.

 industrial disputes, Mount Isa Mines, union militancy, union positions
00:34:47

Walter Threlfall reflects on the intertwined history of the Labor Party and the trade union movement. He conjectures that trade union principles have remained the same, but that Labor Party principles have become overly politicised. He discusses his own membership of the Labor Party.

 Gough Whitlam, industrial disputes
00:37:39

Walter Threlfall describes working with the bureaucracy of employers and unions. He discusses the MUA dispute.

 AWU, ETU, MUA dispute
00:42:05

Walter Threlfall discusses declining membership of the ETU after the Mount Isa Mines dispute.

 declining union membership, ETU, industrial disputes, Mount Isa Mines
00:43:45

Walter Threlfall discusses the amalgamation of unions, and the effect that has on the members of those unions.

 union amalgamation
00:46:10

Walter Threlfall recounts his involvement in and relationship with peak trade union bodies in Queensland generally, and locally in Townsville.

 ACTU, ACTUQ, peak bodies, Townsville, Trades and Labor Council
00:47:36

Walter Threlfall reflects on the differences in disputes and employment in North Queensland, as compared to South East Queensland.

 ETU, Fred Thompson, North Queensland, South East Queensland
00:49:17

Walter Threlfall discusses the influence of Communism on trade unions in North Queensland. He comments on the decline in trade union activism and in the Communist Party in North Queensland.

 Communism, ETU, Frank Bishop, North Queensland, union activism
00:50:39

Walter Threlfall describes the union involvement in wider social and community issues in North Queensland.

 AWU, North Queensland, union campaigns, uranium mining
00:52:20

Walter Threlfall discusses union involvement with Indigenous issues in North Queensland, particularly in the community of Yarrabah.

 ACTU, Eddie Mabo, Gough Whitlam, Indigenous issues, Keating Government, Townsville, Trades and Labor Council, Yarrabah
00:55:26

Walter Threlfall details the dispute over Labour Day in Townsville in the mid-1990s between the ALP and the union movement.

 Labour Day, QTU, Stuart MacDonald, Townsville
00:57:09

Walter Threlfall reflects on the biggest disappointments he met with in his career as a trade union official, particularly the disillusionment he felt with the Queensland Government over the SEQEB incident. He comments on his most satisfying memories, which include day-to-day, minor achievements that made his job enjoyable.

 AIMS, industrial disputes, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, SEQEB dispute, union positions
01:01:19

Interview ends
Position:
Trade Unionist
Bailiwick:
Electrical Trades Union
Decade:
1970s, 1980s, 1990s
Sound byte: 

Walter Threlfall

Biography

Walter Threlfall, 2013

Trade Unionist Walter Threlfall became the Assistant State Secretary of the Australian Electrical Trades Union in 1983. Throughout his career, he has been involved in campaigning for better conditions and greater job security for electrical workers.

Born 3 December 1948, Walter Threlfall was raised in Newcastle, New South Wales, and attended local schools. After completing junior high school he left school to take up an apprenticeship as an Electrical Fitter and Mechanic with Commonwealth Steel.

Threlfall had contact with trade unionism through his father who belonged to three different unions during Threlfall's childhood and adolescence. Threlfall himself joined the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in 1972.

After moving to Mount Isa to work in the mines Threlfall took up the position of electrical shop steward, a voluntary union position with the ETU. From there, he applied for and was successful in gaining the role of sub-branch secretary in 1977. In this capacity Threlfall was the top ETU official in the Mount Isa region. In 1983, Threlfall became the Assistant State Secretary of the Electrical Trades Union.

Walter Threlfall's career has spanned many industrial conflicts, the most infamous of which is the South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB) dispute in 1985, when the Bjelke-Petersen government sacked 1100 electrical workers. Threlfall was also involved in the Mount Isa Mine lockout.

Walter Threlfall has worked with the Townsville branch of the Trades and Labor Council and is a longstanding board member of Powerlink Queensland. He has had a career in trade union activism, and witnessed first-hand sector-defining industrial disputes.

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