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Oral History

Oral History - Craig Joh...
- Interview transcri...
- Interview audio - ...

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Series

City of Sydney oral history collection, 1982 - ongoing

Collection

Our City

Organisation

Sydney City Council

Person

Johnston, Craig Fredric

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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Oral History - Craig Johnston, 2017

Descriptions

Unique IDOH-000002SeriesCity of Sydney oral history collection, 1982 - ongoingInterviewerLaila EllmoosProject nameCity of Sydney staff & CouncillorsThemeOur CityDate of interview21st November 2017Date qualifierexactFormatAudio - DigitalSummary of interviewCraig Johnston was a former alderperson for the City of Sydney Council from 1984-1987. He was always drawn to politics, first inspired at high school after reading John Maynard Keynes General Theory of Mon-ey and by growing up in the Whitlam era. It was no surprise that Craig joined the Labor Party in his last year of school, however he quickly moved further left to Marxism when he was studying at Sydney University.

Being an activist and ‘fighting against oppression in a capitalist society’ also meant fighting for gay rights. Craig came out as gay in the early 1970s, and gay rights was close to his heart, as was unionism, workers’ rights and being part of the development of Sydney Mardi Gras.

Craig talks about rejoining the Labor Party, the gay demographic within the party at that time as well as the Gay Rights Lobby fighting for the laws prohibiting sexual activity between males to be changed. He was elected as a Labor ‘alderperson’ in his early 30s and continued advocating for social justice and gay rights equality. Craig discusses the political make-up of the City of Sydney Council, the various amalgamations, the new stream of left-wing councillors with the Labor Party and the Community Independents, as well as the changing political landscape over the years.LanguageEnglish (eng)Digitised recordNoBorn digital itemYes

Items, Oral Histories

Interview transcript - Craig Johnston

Interview audio - Craig Johnston

Craig Johnston, 2017. Photograph by Laila Ellmoos

Contributor

SurnameJohnstonGiven namesCraig

Characteristics

SoundStereoDuration (hr:min:sec)01:51:58

Access

Subject tagsPolitics and governmentAustralian Labor PartyLabour unionsLGBTIQA+Oxford StreetDarlinghurstKings CrossPublic access statusOpen to public access

Relationships

CollectionOur CityOrganisationSydney City CouncilPersonJohnston, Craig Fredric

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Oral History - Craig Johnston, 2017