Jack Mundey AO became a national figure in the early 1970s when he led the Builders' Labourers Federation's famous "Green Bans". This extraordinary conservation campaign redefined the development of Australia's major cities. The BLF refused to work on developments thought to be destructive of the environment or requiring the demolition of buildings considered part of our social heritage. Under Jack's guidance, they joined with local communities to preserve such significant sites as Sydney's historic Rocks area, Centennial Park, Victoria Street in Kings Cross and the last stretch of public bushland on the Parramatta River.
A crusading unionist and Communist Party member, Jack also fought for safety reforms on building sites and helped usher in a new era of union activism for wider social issues, from feminism and gay liberation to land rights and international politics. In 1976, he was a speaker at the first United Nations Conference on the Built Environment.
Jack was elected to the City of Sydney council in 1984, ending his term in 1987. In 1988 the University of Western Sydney bestowed an honorary Doctor of Letters and also an honorary Doctor of Science in recognition of his years of service to the environment.
In the 1990s Jack was made a Life Member of the Australian Conservation Foundation and in 1995 he was appointed Chair of the Historic Houses Trust of NSW. He was a lecturer at London's Centre of Environmental Studies and he supported community groups, indigenous Australians, educational institutions, and anti-nuclear campaigns, and he spoke regularly at launches of environmental initiatives throughout Australia.
In 2000, Jack was made an Officer in the Order of Australia “for service to the identification and preservation of significant sections of Australia's natural and urban heritage through initiating ‘Green Bans’ and through the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales”.
A specially created degree of Master of Environment (honoris causa) was conferred upon Jack by the University of Sydney in 2001.
In February 2007, the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales renamed a portion of Argyle Street in The Rocks "Jack Mundey Place" in recognition of his leadership "in the fight to preserve such significant sites in the historic Rocks area."
In 2014 Jack was named Patron of the Friends of Millers Point when he joined the fight to save the Sirius apartments which were built for the people of The Rocks when the Green Bans saved them from eviction and The Rocks from demolition forty years ago.
Jack Mundey had a lifelong commitment to social justice. May he rest in peace. Solidarity forever.
I Know That Place. Portrait of Jack Mundey in the Rocks