On 16 December 1929, at the Rothbury colliery near Newcastle, thousands of miners protesting against an illegal wage cut were fired on by police with tragic results. But the battle began long before the bullets started flying. For most of that year, these miners had been at the centre of a bitter battle that toppled a federal government, saw the NSW state government use basher gangs of police and resulted in a new Labor prime minister committing an act of political betrayal — all just as the economic after-shocks of the Wall Street Crash were starting to be felt. **This episode was originally released in December 2019** Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode: [email protected] or https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia Check out my books: The Murder Squad https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.html Hanging Ned Kelly https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html Australia’s Sweetheart https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.