{{Short description|Landscaped park in Perth, Western Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}} {{Infobox park | name = Solidarity Park | image = Solidarity_Park.jpg | map = Australia Perth | location = Perth, Western Australia | coordinates = {{coord |region:AU-WA_type:landmark_dim:{{wikidata |property |qualifier |raw |P625 |P2386 |format=%q}} |display=inline,title |format=dec}}{{EditAtWikidata|pid=P625}} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-custom = {{maplink |frame=yes |plain=yes |frame-align=center |frame-width=250 |frame-height=155 |zoom=17

|type=shape |stroke-color=#81AF81 |stroke-width=1 |stroke-opacity=0.7 |fill=#165916 |fill-opacity=0.4 |title=Solidarity Park

|type2=point |marker2=park |marker-color2=#759F4F |title2=Solidarity Park }} | mapframe-caption = Solidarity Park ({{colorbull|{{Lighten|{{hex2dec|16}}|{{hex2dec|59}}|{{hex2dec|16}}|40}}|round}}) is located opposite Parliament House in Perth, Western Australia | opened = {{Start date and age|1997}} | manager = UnionsWA | website = {{official URL}}<!-- Use Wikidata --> | module = {{Infobox designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = State Register of Heritage Places | designation1_offname = | designation1_type = State Registered Place | designation1_criteria = | designation1_date = 20 Apr 2004 | delisted1_date = | designation1_partof = | designation1_number = {{SRHP|15850}} }} }} '''Solidarity Park''' is located opposite Parliament House in Perth, Western Australia. In 1997 a 'workers' embassy' was set up on vacant land opposite Parliament House during union protests of the Court Government's 'third wave' legislation for industrial relations. What began with a caravan and portable barbecue soon transformed into a landscaped shelter with a monument to the trade union workers who have died during their work. The monument was particularly dedicated to Mark Allen, a young CFMEU organiser who was killed on a building site while attempting to get workers down from an unsafe roof.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Allen {{!}} Monument Australia |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/tragedy/display/61228-mark-allen |access-date=2025-01-13 |website=monumentaustralia.org.au}}</ref>

==History== The workers embassy, in the form of a caravan, was first established on the grounds of Parliament House on 29 April 1997 as part of the campaign against the 'third wave' industrial relations legislation, when an estimated 30,000 people marched through the city to Parliament House.<ref name=":3" /> Three unionists had parked the caravan to act as a distribution point for information and a collection point for donations during and after the rally.<ref name=":0" /> When approached by security, they claimed it to be a first aid post and were able to leave it in place.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Oliver |first=Bobbie |title=Unity is Strength: A History of the Australian Labor Party and the Trades and Labor Council in Western Australia, 1899–1999 |publisher=API Network |year=2003 |isbn=1 920845 00 3 |pages=356}}</ref>

Four union officials were subsequently arrested on the night of the 30 April for remaining on the premises,<ref name=":4" /> with the workers embassy relocated to a site across the street from Parliament House.<ref name=":0" /> On 1 May 1997, Mike Mitchell, an organiser from the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing, and Allied Services Union (CEPU), marked out the {{convert|510|m2|adj=on}} site under the Mining Act using a prospector's license.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=REGISTER OF HERITAGE PLACES - ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTATION |url=https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Admin/api/file/3e0ae59b-4318-d145-ab3e-1c558d6e08eb |website=Heritage Council of Western Australia}}</ref>

Unions occupied the site 24 hours a day for six months.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solidarity Park {{!}} Monument Australia |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/government/dissent/display/61233-solidarity-park- |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=monumentaustralia.org.au}}</ref> In July 1997, the workers embassy was renamed ''Solidarity Park''.<ref name=":0" /> In July and August, multiple structures were established on the site including the Mark Allen Memorial, which features a triple-8 symbol to represent the labour movement's historic struggle for the 8-hour day, the People's Wall to replace the original sandbag wall around the site, the Fountain for Youth, and the Commemorative Rock.<ref name=":0" /> As a result, Solidarity Park is the location of the highest concentration of labour monuments in Western Australia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Heritage Council of WA - Places Database |url=https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/8b40654a-f7c9-45de-954c-bf0e0be87730 |access-date=2024-06-01 |website=inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au}}</ref>

The 'third wave' industrial relations legislation was overturned following the election of the Gallop Government in 2001,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2017-04-29 |title=Passions still high 20 years after WA's massive 'third wave' IR fight |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-29/anniversary-of-third-wave-industrial-relations-union-march-perth/8481984 |access-date=2024-06-01 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> and Solidarity Park was permanently listed on the State Register of Heritage Places in 2004.<ref name=":1" />

An International Workers Memorial Day event is held at Solidarity Park every year.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Solidarity Park/Memorial Day |url=https://www.unionswa.com.au/about-us/solidarity-park-memorial-day/ |website=UnionsWA}}</ref> UnionsWA is currently responsible for the management and maintenance of the site.<ref name=":2" />

==See also== * UnionsWA

==References== {{Reflist |30em}}

==General references== {{Refbegin |30em}} * ''Nearly a year and Embassy still stands'' .W.A. construction worker, Autumn 1998, p.&nbsp;37, – referring to both the – Solidarity Park (Perth, W.A.) and the Workers' Embassy (Perth, W.A.) * ''The Workers Embassy Scrapbook''. Papers in labour history, No. 20 (Aug. 1998), entire issue devoted to issue. {{Refend}}

Category:Parks in Perth, Western Australia Category:West Perth, Western Australia Category:Labor monuments and memorials Category:Labour movement in Australia Category:Labour history of Australia