Most Sydneysiders and millions of tourists know The Rocks as a historic precinct in which it is possible to have a good night out while enjoying the ambience of a genuine nineteenth-century townscape – all within a stone’s throw of the harbour and the CBD.

In 1973, The Rocks was far from peaceful. The events there, early on a cold morning late in October, would become famous in the annals of the Australian urban conservation movement. An old building in Playfair Street was the focus of the action. Despite a green ban by the Builders Labourers Federation, or BLF, on demolitions in the wider Rocks area, non-union labour had commenced pulling down the building. A passive occupation of the site was seen as a way of furthering the conservation cause and ensuring that the green ban held. But under instructions from the state government and premier Askin, a large force of police arrived shortly after dawn to ensure that the non-union workforce could continue the demolition.

This is an edited extract from Jim Colman’s new book, The House That Jack Built: Jack Mundey, Green Bans Hero, published by NewSouth.