Bastard Boys

Last updated

Bastard Boys
Written by Sue Smith
Directed by Raymond Quint
Starring Jack Thompson
Colin Friels
Dan Wyllie
Geoff Morrell
Rhys Muldoon
Anthony Hayes
Daniel Frederiksen
Justin Smith
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers Miranda Dear
Scott Meek
ProducersBrett Popplewell
Ray Quint
Running time55 minutes
Production companyFlying Cabbage Productions Pty Ltd
Original release
Network Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Release13 May (2007-05-13) –
14 May 2007 (2007-05-14)

Bastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on ABC Television in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute.

Contents

Plot

The series tells the story of the waterfront dispute, when businessman Chris Corrigan and the Liberal government at the time illegally dismissed the unionised workforce. The story is related from four perspectives: "Greg's War", from the point of view of union leader Greg Combet; "Josh's War", from the point of view of lawyer Josh Bornstein; "Sean's War", from the point of view of dock worker Sean McSwain; and "Chris' War", from the point of view of Patrick Stevedores managing director Corrigan.

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Greg's War"Ray QuintSue Smith13 May 2007 (2007-05-13)

In November 1997, the National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), John Coombs, receives a mysterious phone call warning him of a top secret plan to remove union members from the waterfront. John calls upon Greg Combet , Assistant Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) for support. Suspecting the government is somehow involved, they devise a three-pronged strategy to fight back. The union wins round one!

Then, out of the blue, the wharfies are locked out of Patrick Stevedores' berths at Melbourne's Webb Dock. With John in Sydney, Greg must try to salvage the situation. It will be a long, hard fight ahead.
2"Josh's War"Ray QuintSue Smith13 May 2007 (2007-05-13)

Young up-and-coming lawyer Josh Bornstein is outraged by the events taking place on the docks in Melbourne and offers his services pro-bono to Greg Combet and the union movement. Amazed to discover Greg hasn't finalised any sort of legal strategy yet, Josh urges a radical new approach - don't wait to be attacked. Attack first. Take the company and possibly even the government to court for conspiracy. It's visionary and scary!

Josh and the team engage in a race against time to try to forestall what they know is now imminent - the mass sacking of Patrick's entire unionised workforce. But literally hours before they're due in court, the event they've all been dreading takes place. In the dead of night, three days before Easter, security guards with batons and dogs march MUA members off the Patrick docks around the country. Before it is over, the entire country will be divided.
3"Sean's War"Ray QuintSue Smith14 May 2007 (2007-05-14)

Dock worker Sean McSwain is elected as the State Representative for the MUA, just as non-union labour begins working on Berth 5 at Patrick's Webb Dock in Melbourne. It becomes his responsibility to run the protest at the Melbourne docks. It is a mission that will test everything he has as an organiser, a mate, and a man.

This forces Sean directly up against Tony Tully, a second-generation wharfie, who is used to the Union's old ways of fighting. Angry at the no-violence rule, he and his son Brendan are not the only ones who believe the Union's gone soft. But secretly, Tony is scared of the changes looming. Fear makes him lash out with dire consequences.
4"Chris's War"Ray QuintSue Smith14 May 2007 (2007-05-14)

Chris Corrigan is the Managing Director of Patrick Stevedores. He pits his will, strength and determination against the full resources of the labour movement, the media, the banks and, increasingly, the public, as Australian sentiment swings in behind the Union.

The Federal Court brings down its finding in favour of the Union: Patrick Stevedores must reinstate its sacked workers as soon as possible. Corrigan finds himself cornered - his wife Valerie and family are receiving obscene and threatening phone calls; he is forced to stay under constant security surveillance; to travel only in the security of a laundry van. He appeals against the decision.

Production

A retrospective from the ABC on the real dispute.

Most of the characters portrayed are real individuals, many of whom were interviewed in the process of writing the drama. However, a number of characters were invented and events were considerably compressed for dramatic purposes. Notably, the waterside workers portrayed in the drama were composites, based on interviews with many waterside workers. [1]

Another example of invention was the placing of lawyer Josh Bornstein at a key protest, which would have been illegal because of a court injunction [2]

Release and home media

Bastard Boys was broadcast on ABC1 in May 2007.

The series was later issued by ABC and Roadshow Entertainment in their "Masters collection" as a two-DVD set (220 mins), packaged with the tele-film Curtin (93 mins) as a third disc.[ citation needed ]

Reception

The Age's Debi Enker described it as a "thoughtful, illuminating and superbly cast account of a seminal event in our recent history [which] represents exactly the kind of drama that one would want the national broadcaster to nurture." [3]

Partisan criticism

In 2006 Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, while the series was still in production, called it wasteful spending and criticised it as "anti-government, pro-left propaganda". [4] Journalist Michael Duffy described the series as pro-union propaganda. [5] Chris Corrigan, who was involved in the dispute and attempted to sack the unionised workforce and replace it with strikebreakers, was highly critical of the series. [2] Then-Prime Minister John Howard also labelled the series "political propaganda", saying that it ignored the notorious inefficiency of the Australian waterfront and years of collaborative failures to change this. [6]

Criticism also came from some members of the union movement. According to Phillip Adams, unionist Bill Kelty was concerned that "no researcher, writer or producer - spoke to him about the dispute or his role in it. Yet they haven't hesitated to put words into their Kelty's mouth that the original Kelty never said". [7] Chris Corrigan's brother Derek Corrigan has disputed claims that the broadcasting of Bastard Boys was timed to support Greg Combet's run for politics". [8]

Accolades

The script, published by Currency Press, won the 2007 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Television Script. [9]

The film received seven nominations in the 2007 Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Telefeature or Mini Series and Best Direction in Television with Sue Smith winning Best Screenplay and Paddy Reardon winning Outstanding Achievement in Television Screen Craft. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Phoenix</i> (Australian TV series) Australian police drama television series

Phoenix is a Logie Award-winning Australian crime drama television series broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1992 to 1993. It was created by Alison Nisselle and Tony McDonald.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 Australian waterfront dispute</span> Event in Australian industrial relations history

The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was an event in Australian industrial relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of dismissing their workforce. The restructuring by Patrick Corporation was later ruled illegal by Australian courts. The dispute involved Patrick Corporation terminating the employment of its workforce and locking out the workers of the workplace after the restructuring had taken place, with many of these workers members of the dominant Maritime Union of Australia. The resulting dismissal and locking out of their unionised workforce was supported and backed by the Australian Liberal/National Coalition Government.

Rhys Muldoon is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, music, theatre and radio. He has had leading and recurring roles in series such as Chances, The Genie from Down Under, Big Sky, The Secret Life of Us, Lockie Leonard and House Husbands. He was also a presenter on the popular children's series Play School.

Kevin Harrington is an Australian stage, television and film actor and comedian who is perhaps best known for his roles as Kevin Findlay on the Australian drama SeaChange in the 1990s and as David Bishop on the soap opera Neighbours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Burnside</span> Australian barrister and Kings Counsel since 1989

Julian William Kennedy Burnside is an Australian barrister, human rights and refugee advocate, and author. He practises principally in commercial litigation, trade practices and administrative law. He is known for his staunch opposition to the mandatory detention of asylum seekers, and has provided legal counsel in a wide variety of high-profile cases. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2009, "for service as a human rights advocate, particularly for refugees and asylum seekers, to the arts as a patron and fundraiser, and to the law." He unsuccessfully stood for the Division of Kooyong at the 2019 federal election as an Australian Greens candidate, but achieved the highest vote for the Greens in the seat at a federal election and allowed the party to enter into the two-party preferred vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Combet</span> Australian politician and trade unionist

Gregory Ivan Combet is the chairman of Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund. Prior to this he served as chair of the Australian Government Net Zero Economy Agency, overseeing the economic transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy and net zero emissions.

Juanita Phillips is an Australian former journalist and news presenter and reporter. Phillips was previously the weeknight presenter of ABC News NSW in Sydney.

Josh Bornstein is an Australian lawyer specialising in employment and labour relations law who has acted in several high profile legal matters. He is a member of the Board of economic think tank, Per Capita and the Advisory Board of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne. He is also head of Industrial Relations at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, is deputy Chair of the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board. He is President of Tzedek.org, an advocacy organisation for victims of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community in Australia. Bornstein regularly represents women who have been subject to bullying or sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2021, Bornstein ran for preselection to represent the Australian Labor Party. Bornstein withdrew from the nomination following an article by The Australian, after it was revealed he had referred to Chris Bowen as a "muppet". Bornstein is said to be considering a second attempt at running for the senate.

Chris Corrigan is an Australian businessman. He was the managing director of the Patrick Corporation until it was taken over in 2006.

Justin Smith is an Australian actor, best known for his AFI nominated performance as barrister 'Josh Bornstein' in the ABC mini-series Bastard Boys. He is also known in Australia for his TV, film, theatre and television commercial work.

<i>The Hollowmen</i> Australian TV series or program

The Hollowmen is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Their brief is long-term vision; to stop worrying about tomorrow's headlines, and focus on next week's.

Jane Harber is an Australian actress who is known from her role as Zara Perkich in the television series Offspring.

Daniel Frederiksen is an Australian actor who has worked in television, film and live theatre.

<i>Its a Date</i> (TV series) Australian television series

It's a Date is an Australian ensemble comedy series which began screening on ABC1 on 15 August 2013. The eight-part series was written by comedian Peter Helliar and directed by Helliar and Jonathan Brough. The first series was produced by Laura Waters. Each episode poses a question about dating—such as 'should you date a friend's ex?'—and follows two sets of people as they grapple with the question.

Yasmin Maree Catley is an Australian politician who has served as New South Wales Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism and Minister for the Hunter since 2023. She was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Swansea for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South Wales state election.

The Warriors is an eight-part Australian television comedy-drama series that premiered on ABC on 12 April 2017, created by Tony Briggs and Robert Connolly.

Surviving Summer is an Australian teen drama television series that premiered on 3 June 2022 on Netflix. The first season consists of 10 episodes. In November 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on 15 September 2023.

Significant Others is an Australian drama television miniseries created by Tommy Murphy and directed by Tony Krawitz.

Racket was an Australian music television show broadcast by the ABC. It aired after 10pm on Saturday nights leading into Rage. It was presented by James Valentine with Toby Creswell, Stephanie Lewis, Joanne Corrigan and Tim Richie. It was aimed at an audience aged from 25 to 39. It was taken of the air after its initial run of 10 episodes.

References

  1. ↑ "The Reality of Television". The Age. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Reloading history". The Age. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  3. ↑ Debi Enker (10 May 2007). "Reliving the waterfront war". The Age. Retrieved 15 May 2007.
  4. ↑ Rachel Browne (13 May 2007). "ABC did not influence Boys". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
  5. ↑ Michael Duffy (12 May 2007). "ABC unloads a shipload of bias". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 May 2007.
  6. ↑ "Howard hits out at 'lopsided' 'Bastard Boys'". ABC. 17 May 2007. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  7. ↑ Phillip Adams (15 May 2007). "Don't lose plot over 'true' stories". The Australian. Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  8. ↑ ABC News Online (15 May 2007). "Suggestions 'Bastard Boys' timed to Combet election run 'bizarre'". ABC. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
  9. ↑ Smith, Sue. "Bastard Boys". Currency Press. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Winners & Nominees: 2007". AACTA. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.