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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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Politics
Lobbying

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Lobbying

Subject

Transcript: Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association

Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship

Aborigines Progressive Association

Amateur Fishermen's Association

Anti Conscription League of New South Wales

Anti-Chinese League

Artarmon Progress Association

Austral Progress Association

Australasian League for the Abolition of Transportation

Australia First Movement

Australian Aborigines Progressive Association

Australian Committee for Cultural Freedom

Australian Conservation Foundation

Australian Consumers' Association

Australian Council of Social Service

Australian Federation of Employers and Industries

Australian Freedom League

Australian League

Australian Patriotic Association

Australian Women's Guild of Empire

BUGA UP

Balgowlah Heights and Clontarf Progress Association

Balgowlah Progress Association

Balmain Association

Bankstown Soldier Settlement Progress Association

Battlers for Kelly's Bush

Beecroft Progress Association

Blakehurst Progress Association

Camden Residents' Action Group

Campaign Against Moral Persecution Incorporated

Central Federation League

Civic Reform Movement

Coalition of Resident Action Groups

Coloured Progressive Association

Concord Heritage Society

Cooks River Improvement League

Country Women's Association

Cremation Society of New South Wales

Daceyville Preservation Society

Daughters of Temperance

Deewhy Improvement League

Early Closing Association

Eastwood Progress Association

Engadine North Development Committee

Engadine Progress Association

Eureka Youth League

FamilyVoice Australia

Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

Federation of Ethnic Communities' Council

Feminist Club

Free Trade and Land Valuers League

Freedom4tibet Incorporated

Friends of Rodd Island

Funeral Reform Association of NSW

Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby

Gladesville Progress Association

Glebe Ratepayers and Property Owners' Association

Glenorie Progress Association

Granville Progress Association

Herne Bay Progress Association

Hunters Hill Trust

Killara Progress Association

Kissing Point Progress Association

Ku-ring-gai Tree Lovers' Civic League

Labor Council of New South Wales

Ladies' Sanitary Association

Lane Cove Progress Association

Lindfield Progress Association

Local Option League

Matraville Sailors' and Soldiers' Garden Village Welfare Association

Mount Colah Progress Association

Mount Kuring-gai Progress Society

Narellan and District Progress Association

National Council of Women of New South Wales

National Trust of Australia (NSW)

New South Wales Alliance

New South Wales Constitution Committee

New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties

New South Wales Cremation Society

New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies

New South Wales Temperance Society

North Ryde Progress Association

North Sydney Civic Heart Action Group

Northbridge Progress Association

Noxious Traders Association

Old Age Pensions League

Paddington Society

Parramatta Citizens' Movement for Recreation in Open Lands

Parramatta Female Factory Action Group

Pastoral Association

Peace Society, New South Wales Branch

Pennant Hills Progress Society

Political Association

Putney Progress Association

Quay Planning Protest Committee

Redfern Aboriginal Authority

Roseville Progress Association

St Ives Fruit Growers' Association

St Johns Park Progress Society

Sydney Gay Liberation

The Glebe Society

The Rocks Residents Action Group

Wahroonga Progress Association

Waverton Progress Association

West Lindfield West Killara Progress Association

West Pennant Hills Progress Society

West Pymble Residents Action Group

Wilson Crescent Richardson Road Area Residents' Group

Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales

Women's Christian Temperance Union

Women's Electoral Lobby

Women's Federal League of New South Wales

Women's Progressive Association

Woolloomooloo Resident Action Group

Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association, interviewed in 1986

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Lobbying

Transcript: Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association

Mr Peter Serovich was born in Yugoslavia in 1908, came to Australia in 1925, and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers the necessity for a Progress Association for the young and undeveloped suburb of Austral.

Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship

Campaigning group founded in 1956 to achieve equal pay and citizenship for Aboriginal people.

full record »

Aborigines Progressive Association

Aboriginal organisation that fought for equal rights for Aboriginal people from 1937.

full record »

Amateur Fishermen's Association

Sporting association and lobbying group for anglers.

full record »

Anti Conscription League of New South Wales

Political organisation formed by trade union members and other socialist and left leaning groups to oppose conscription. Members were not necessarily anti-war (although many were) but they were opposed to compulsory enlistment.

full record »

Anti-Chinese League

Lobby organisation formed to protest against Chinese immigration and in particular the use of Chinese seamen on Australian vessels.

full record »

Artarmon Progress Association

Community organisation to promote development and amenities in the area.

full record »

Austral Progress Association

As the settlers on the soldier settlement blocks at Austral struggled in the late 1920s the association was set up combining advocacy for community development and a parents and teachers organisation for the area.

full record »

Australasian League for the Abolition of Transportation

Body established to oppose penal settlement to Australia. Although transportation had ceased to Sydney in 1840, fears it would be reinstated meant lobbying continued until 1852.

full record »

Australia First Movement

Australian nationalist movement which was anti-British, anti-communist and anti-semitic, eventually advocating an alliance with the Axis powers thereby leading to suppression of its members in 1942.

full record »

Australian Aborigines Progressive Association

Association campaigning for Aboriginal self-determination and land during the 1920s.

full record »

Australian Committee for Cultural Freedom

Australian arm of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an anti-communist advocacy group funded by the CIA.

full record »

Australian Conservation Foundation

National conservation body established by Francis Ratcliffe from the scientific, political and public service domains.

full record »

Australian Consumers' Association

Non-profit consumer organisation, founded in 1959 to research and campaign on behalf of Australian consumers. It publishes the magazine and website Choice.

full record »

Australian Council of Social Service

Advocacy group formed in 1956 to represent the interests of organisations and people involved in social welfare in Australia.

full record »

Australian Federation of Employers and Industries

Founded in 1903 as the Employers' Federation of NSW, it later became a national organisation and was renamed Employers First, changing to the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries in 2008. It is an independent peak employers group and one of the oldest business advisory organisations in Australia.

full record »

Australian Freedom League

Political organisation opposed to conscription and active in attempting to repeal the compulsory clauses of the Defence Act. By 1914 it had a membership of 55,000.

full record »

Australian League

League created in Sydney by Rev. John Dunmore Lang, James Wiltshire and Sir Henry Parkes in 1850, which aimed to abolish transportation of convicts and establish universal male suffrage and a 'Great Federal Republic of Australia'.

full record »

Australian Patriotic Association

Organisation which sought representative government in the colony and championed the rights of emancipists against the conservative colonists who sought to exclude them. With the passage of the Constitution Act of 1842 and the incorporation of the city of Sydney as a municipality with a broadly based franchise, their goal was achieved and the association disbanded.

full record »

Australian Women's Guild of Empire

Conservative, patriotic organisation which initially raised money for women and children during the Depression but also advocated industrial cooperation and developed strong anti-communist sentiments.

full record »

BUGA UP

Group that defaced unhealthy billboard advertisements, especially for tobacco and alcohol products, with witty and subversive comments that undermined the ads.

full record »

Balgowlah Heights and Clontarf Progress Association

Community group which sought to promote development and amenities in the area.

full record »

Balgowlah Progress Association

Community group established in the 1920s to lobby Manly Council for improvements in roads and other facilities

full record »

Balmain Association

Association formed in 1965 to provide a community voice in planning decisions and heritage issues.

full record »

Bankstown Soldier Settlement Progress Association

Community organisation at Bankstown.

full record »

Battlers for Kelly's Bush

Group of 13 women from Hunters Hill who enlisted the help of the Builders Labourers' Federation to prevent construction work by AV Jennings on the last remaining area of native bushland on the foreshore of the Parramatta River in 1971. The BLF applied a Green Ban to the area.

full record »

Beecroft Progress Association

Community organisation in Beecroft.

full record »

Blakehurst Progress Association

Community association formed in 1921, with the aim of persuading the state government to purchase Carss Estate as a public park.

full record »

Camden Residents' Action Group

Community group formed to protect the cultural identity of the area.

full record »

Campaign Against Moral Persecution Incorporated

Gay and lesbian action group which began in Sydney in September 1970.

full record »

Central Federation League

Organisation established to promote federation.

full record »

Civic Reform Movement

A non-aligned ratepayers' association who contested local political positions.

full record »

Coalition of Resident Action Groups

Umbrella organisation which enabled resident action groups to share resources and co-ordinate protests.

full record »

Coloured Progressive Association

Organisation of mostly Indian British subjects who lobbied for changes to the Australian Immigration Restriction Act in the early 20th century.

full record »

Concord Heritage Society

Community group to preserve the history of the Concord area. Established in 1994 and incorporating the Concord Historical Society and the Friends of Yaralla Group.

full record »

Cooks River Improvement League

Organisation now known as the Cooks River Valley Association which was formed by concerned citizens in 1925 to protest the pollution and health risks associated with the river.

full record »

Country Women's Association

National social and cultural body that works to improve conditions for country women and children. Branches are found in most rural communities.

full record »

Cremation Society of New South Wales

Organisation formed in 1908 to lobby government for the erection of a crematorium. It developed from the 1890s organisation with a similar name, 'New South Wales Cremation Society'.

full record »

Daceyville Preservation Society

Community lobby group established to preserve the suburb.

full record »

Daughters of Temperance

Social movement urging reduced use, or total abstinence, of alcohol. It began in Australia in the mid 1830s promoting moderation rather than abstinence.

full record »

Deewhy Improvement League

Fundraising organisation which held carnivals and competitions to raise money for local projects during the 1920s.

full record »

Early Closing Association

Association first established in Brisbane by a group of draper's assistants to discuss the hours worked by shop assistants. The New South Wales branch was active in 1898 and 1899 in proposing a draft Early Closing Act to limit hours to four days closing at 6pm, one day at 10pm and one day at 1pm.

full record »

Eastwood Progress Association

Association of citizens formed to lobby local and state government on matters concerning Eastwood.

full record »

Engadine North Development Committee

Community group formed to lobby for better facilities and services for the area.

full record »

Engadine Progress Association

Community lobby group formed by the residents of Engadine and Heathcote.

full record »

Eureka Youth League

Social action group with the aim of supporting the war effort while protecting the rights and conditions of women, youth and juveniles in industry and to provide training for a new socialist order.

full record »

FamilyVoice Australia

Organisation promoting Christian family values which was founded in Adelaide.It has lobbied against pornography and euthanasia and opposes same sex marriage and same sex couple adopting.

full record »

Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

Campaigning organisation that fought for rights for Indigenous people from 1958.

full record »

Federation of Ethnic Communities' Council

Organisation representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds which provides advocacy, develop policy and promote issues to government and the broader community.

full record »

Feminist Club

Women's club formed to 'work for equality of status, opportunity and payment between men and women', which concerned itself with many issues, including Aboriginal rights, child welfare and divorce law.

full record »

Free Trade and Land Valuers League

Lobby group whose philosophy was shaped by the beliefs of Englishman Henry George. He argued that a single tax on the value of land is economically efficient and fair and that many of the economic problems of society could be attributed to private ownership of land.

full record »

Freedom4tibet Incorporated

Organisation run by volunteers to raise awareness of the Tibetan people's ongoing peaceful struggle.

full record »

Friends of Rodd Island

Resident action group formed to lobby against commercial development on Rodd Island

full record »

Funeral Reform Association of NSW

Organisation formed to promote simple funeral customs which was in sharp contrast to the pomp and ceremony which was the norm amongst the wealthy in the nineteenth century.

full record »

Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby

Organisation which advocates on behalf of lesbians and gay men providing referral and educative resources on gay and lesbian rights to the media, policy makers and the community.

full record »

Gladesville Progress Association

Established in the 1890s to lobby for improved community services and infrastructure for the suburb of Gladesville

full record »

Glebe Ratepayers and Property Owners' Association

Local association to represent residents and commercial interests in Glebe and to select candidates for local government elections.

full record »

Glenorie Progress Association

Community group established in the 1890s to lobby for improved community services and infrastructure for the suburb of Glenorie

full record »

Granville Progress Association

Local community organisation in Granville.

full record »

Herne Bay Progress Association

Community group formed to improve services in the area which often involved objecting to the large Aboriginal population living nearby.

full record »

Hunters Hill Trust

Community organisation established to preserve the unique heritage of the suburb.

full record »

Killara Progress Association

Community organisation established around 1900 to promote suitable development of the area.

full record »

Kissing Point Progress Association

Community organisation which formed after World War II.

full record »

Ku-ring-gai Tree Lovers' Civic League

Early conservation organisation, a forerunner of the National Trust of Australia.

full record »

Labor Council of New South Wales

Peak body for trade unions in New South Wales whose membership comprises over 67 affiliated unions and regional Trades and Labor Councils.

full record »

Ladies' Sanitary Association

Women's community organisation which delivered lectures on sanitary housekeeping and disease prevention particularly in poor suburbs and communities and which lobbied for public conveniences for women.

full record »

Lane Cove Progress Association

Community group which lobbied for improvements and development of the area.

full record »

Lindfield Progress Association

Community organisation established in 1897 to lobby for improved infrastructure and services for the Lindfield area.

full record »

Local Option League

Temperance lobby group which sought to give voters in each electorate the right to prohibit the sale of liquor.

full record »

Matraville Sailors' and Soldiers' Garden Village Welfare Association

Residents' organisation of the Garden Village erected for returned World War I sailors and soldiers

full record »

Mount Colah Progress Association

Community organisation established in the 1930s to lobby for improved infrastructure and services for the Mt Colah area

full record »

Mount Kuring-gai Progress Society

Community group which lobbied for improved services and amenities.

full record »

Narellan and District Progress Association

Community group established in 1913 to lobby for improved services and amenities

full record »

National Council of Women of New South Wales

Umbrella organisation for a large and diverse number of affiliated women's associations. As a political lobby group it attempted to influence all levels of government for the interests of women and children.

full record »

National Trust of Australia (NSW)

An independent community-based organisation that has advocated the conservation of built, cultural and natural heritage since its foundation in Sydney in 1945.

full record »

New South Wales Alliance

Lobby group which identified parliamentary candidates who were sympathetic to the temperance movement.

full record »

New South Wales Constitution Committee

Committee formed to lobby for full powers of self government as it believed the Australian Constitutions Act passed in Britain in 1850 still restricted local control of revenue and legislation.

full record »

New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties

Leading human rights and civil liberties organisation, which monitors and fights against infringement of these rights and liberties and the abuse of power by government, its agencies and others.

full record »

New South Wales Cremation Society

Organisation formed in 1890 to lobby for cremation as a viable alternative for disposal of the dead. It was superceded by the Cremation Society of New South Wales in 1908.

full record »

New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies

The officially elected representative body of the Jewish community in New South Wales, representing 61 major communal organizations.

full record »

New South Wales Temperance Society

Organisation promoting abstinence from the consumption of alcoholic beverages, which also lobbied governments to restrict the sale of alcohol.

full record »

North Ryde Progress Association

Community group formed about 1890 as North West Ryde Progress Association to lobby for improved facilities and infrastructure in the area.

full record »

North Sydney Civic Heart Action Group

Resident action group formed in the early 1970s to battle overdevelopment in North Sydney.

full record »

Northbridge Progress Association

Non-profit community organisation formed to inform and represent residents of Northbridge, Sydney.

full record »

Noxious Traders Association

Organisation established in the late 1870s to protect the interests of 'noxious trades' and to lobby for areas to be reserved for them away from built-up areas

full record »

Old Age Pensions League

Organisation formed to lobby government to provide a pension for the aged poor at a time when there was over 3000 adults crowded in to dirty and unsuitable institutions.

full record »

Paddington Society

Resident action group formed in 1964 to preserve the environmental and social amenity of Paddington.

full record »

Parramatta Citizens' Movement for Recreation in Open Lands

Public lobby group to ensure public access to the park for recreation.

full record »

Parramatta Female Factory Action Group

Community action group formed to protect, conserve and ensure access to all, recognising the cultural and historical importance of the site.

full record »

Pastoral Association

Organisation formed to lobby for the interests of pastoralists and freeholders to occupy Crown land.

full record »

Peace Society, New South Wales Branch

Pacifist group which grew out of the anti-Boer War campaigns, opposing the principle of compulsory military training and promoting arbitration as a means of settling international disputes.

full record »

Pennant Hills Progress Society

Community lobby group established to improve amenities and services in the area.

full record »

Political Association

Political organisation which championed democratic ideas and opposed unfair electoral distribution.

full record »

Putney Progress Association

Association formed to protect and advance the interests of residents of Putney. The association lobbied for town water, street lighting and a public school, as well as establishing a bowling club.

full record »

Quay Planning Protest Committee

Committee formed to co-ordinate the protest movement against the proposed rail and road expressway across the Quay. Their alternative plan for a road viaduct from Harrington to Bridge streets was rejected.

full record »

Redfern Aboriginal Authority

Peak body for Aboriginal organisations, active in resisting state government takeover of land in Redfern.

full record »

Roseville Progress Association

Community lobby group founded by Stanley Vere Toose to encourage development and improved amenities in the area.

full record »

St Ives Fruit Growers' Association

Lobby group of farmers and orchardists formed primarily to negotiate over road maintenance with the council.

full record »

St Johns Park Progress Society

Community association which lobbied for better amenities and services.

full record »

Sydney Gay Liberation

Radical homosexual organization advocating unity and militant action by all oppressed groups such as homosexual, women and blacks.

full record »

The Glebe Society

Resident action group formed to protect the heritage of Glebe and provide community input into decisions affecting the area.

full record »

The Rocks Residents Action Group

Lobby group formed in the 1970s to oppose proposed extensive new residential developments in the area. The trade union movement, and Jack Mundey of the Builders' Labourers' Federation, became involved in the protests and imposed green bans on building sites in the area. As a result redevelopment of the area was severely limited.

full record »

Wahroonga Progress Association

Association formed in June 1895 by George Collingridge to promote the development and amenities of the area.

full record »

Waverton Progress Association

Formed in 1911 to oppose the erection of gasworks at Oyster Cove, changed its name to Waverton after it successfully lobbied for the change of station name.

full record »

West Lindfield West Killara Progress Association

Community lobby group which helped in driving the provision of services and amenities in the area.

full record »

West Pennant Hills Progress Society

Association established in 1925 to promote the development and amenities of the area including a community hall and scout group.

full record »

West Pymble Residents Action Group

Community lobby group.

full record »

Wilson Crescent Richardson Road Area Residents' Group

Resident action group formed to lobby for the conservation and preservation of historically significant sites in Camden area.

full record »

Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales

Campaigning group, formed in 1891 out of the Women's Literary Society, that led the fight for women's suffrage in New South Wales, under the motto 'Equality is equity'.

full record »

Women's Christian Temperance Union

Women's movement begun in the United States of America which strove to reduce the destructive power of alcohol in the community. It continues to promote a drug free lifestyle and Christian values.

full record »

Women's Electoral Lobby

Political lobby group founded to protect the rights of women. The forty women who attended the first meeting had been involved in childbirth education, women's health issues, abortion law reform and women's liberation and many of these issues continue to be supported.

full record »

Women's Federal League of New South Wales

Women's organisation formed to lobby for a 'yes' vote for Federation.

full record »

Women's Progressive Association

Campaigning organisation that broke away from the Women's Suffrage League in 1901 and allied itself more closely with the labour movement and the concerns of working-class women.

full record »

Woolloomooloo Resident Action Group

Community action group formed in 1972 to fight the massive commercial development proposed for Woolloomooloo. It was largely successful with the support of the Green Bans imposed by the Builders Labourers Federation.

full record »

Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association, interviewed in 1986

full record »

Mr Peter Serovich was born in Yugoslavia in 1908, came to Australia in 1925, and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers the necessity for a Progress Association for the young and undeveloped suburb of Austral.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: You said you joined the Progress Association. What progress did they make?

PETER: Well, they were trying to build the roads up, and get things done, like a school. In those days there was only two little rooms, when we first came here there were two little rooms. They brought another room from La Perouse, so there were three old rooms. Gradually the Parents and Citizens [Association] tried, from the Department of Education, to improve it, and then they built the big room. Gradually they worked it out, and lately they've spent a lot of money on Austral school.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Peter Serovich for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

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