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Big Fella, the Coat Hanger, and Worker Solidarity

My visit to the bridge

B R

B R

— 3 min read

4 April, 2023 | Sydney, Australia

A short breakfast nearby my accommodations and off I went, back to Circular Quay. This time to hit up The Rocks and the South Tower of the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Neat little back streets and small passes like Nurse’s Walk

The Rocks are an old part of town that, by intention, tried to keep looking old - even though a huge number of buildings were demolished following an outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1900. The plan was to blast it all away in the 1970s and put up skyscrapers, but the residents correctly believed it would gentrify them out so they banded together with the Builders Union to impose a ban. This forced the city’s hand and now the place is only partially impossible to afford to be in.

Touristy and gentrified, but still has a bunch of public housing.

The other thing I came here to see was the view from the South Tower of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. You’ve probably seen this bridge before.

This is the exception that proves the rule that all of my photos are terrible.

My host, Robert, had recommended it over any of the other claptrap stuff like the weirdos that pay through the nose to walk up and over the arc.

They paid money for this.

And he was absolutely right. While it cost a modest fee and was a nice hike up, the view was excellent.

On the walk up, you get a history of the bridge and its construction.

They also call the bridge “the coathanger”. I’m not sure why they were constantly negging on this thing it’s cool

It’s worth noting the towers on either side - including the one I am standing in - are purely ornamental. They offer nearly nothing related to structural support but serve the important purposes of (1) looking good and (2) giving rubes - e.g., me, before this information - more confidence the bridge is stable. It cost actually quite a lot to put them in and get the granite for it.

On the opening of the bridge in 1932, a member of a fascist paramilitary organization named the “New Guard” ran up and cut the red tap with a saber before PM Jack Lang could do it.

I was hoping to find out De Groot was rolled up when the British entered WWII like Oswald Mosley but I guess he just went back to Ireland at some point and died in 1969. Worst person from Ireland so far featured in this blog.

The story of these guys is long and stupid but the upshot is they were, like all fascists, losers - and they faded out after the left-of-center Lang was thrown after a wild constitutional crisis that is literally never referenced in any museum I managed to visit. Not even Robert mentioned it, and we talked for like hours about politics (again, get a real AirBnB is the lesson it’s awesome).

Jack Lang, nicknamed “Big Fella”, was basically like FDR for the US, if FDR had been thrown out by a royal governor before any of his plans could be implemented. Yeah, they can just do that. The US system is far from good, but throwing the British out was a really good idea.

If this blog is anything, it’s a close examination of esoteric political history, what queer folks are up to internationally, and a few selfies so people know I am still alive. So I feel like this should have come up somewhere. Anyway, Lang was right and the deflationary policies during the Great Depression he fought against were stupid as hell.

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