The Star Hotel riot, occasioned by the closing of a popular pub, was one of the largest riots in Australian history. An estimated 4,000 people fought with police on the streets of Newcastle, New South Wales on the night of 19 September 1979.
History
The Star Hotel was originally built in the West End district of Newcastle, Australia near the corner of present-day Devonshire street by Ewen Cameron who was born in Scotland and arrived in Sydney, Australia in 1838. He purchased the land and erected the building in 1855 from money made at the Rockhampton gold rush. The Star Hotel was originally known as the Star Inn or Cameron's Inn. After the death of Ewen in 1890 his son Hugh Cameron purchased the Star and in 1910 demolished the original inn. A brand new two-storey brick hotel was built in its place.
In 1920 Hugh's eldest daughter Lena Campbell purchased the star from her father. Lena decided to lease the premises to Tooth and Co. who then subleased the hotel to publicans. Additional renovation work was carried out on the building in the 1920s. The Star was in the Cameron family for nearly 80 years when in 1934 Lena Campbell agreed to sell it to Tooth and Company Limited.
For many years the Star was frequented by visiting seamen to the city of Newcastle. In the late 1960s the King street bar which was known as the Star's back bar, was opened to gay and lesbian patrons. The drag shows and all male revues performed at the Star were so popular that it led to a bigger stage being built. This became known as the middle bar.
In the 1970s the Star became a popular pub for young people, university students and for the performing of live music. Don Graham took over as the licensee in December 1973 and decided to introduce live rock and roll bands six nights a week. Only local bands were employed to play. The Star quickly became the place to visit with many famous bands playing at the hotel with Benny and the Jets being closely associated with the establishment. In 1979 Don Graham chose to ban homosexuals from entering the Star which lead to the gay and lesbian community picketing outside protesting the ban.
The owners, Tooth and Co. closed the bar with one week's notice. On 12 September 1979, George Spencer Tooth's commercial manager announced that the Star would close on the night of Wednesday, 19 September 1979. The hotel had been in disrepair and Tooth and Co. claimed it was financially better to demolish the building rather than upgrade it to the standards required by the licensing authorities. This inspired a protest campaign and patrons were able to arrange a petition that gained 10,000 signatures but this was not enough to stop the closure of the hotel.
Riot
On the day of 19 September 1979, live music started from 12 midday. The pub had 3 bars. The front bar was called the Seamans bar, the middle bar was for gay and transgender people and the back bar was on King street where the rock bands played. The back bar was small so on the night most of the people were outside. It is estimated that there were between 2000 and 5000 people present near the Star Hotel that night. At 10 pm police cars, paddy wagons and the big prison van drove through the crowd on King street and stopped outside the bar. General duties officers had to sort out the traffic problems caused by the larger than normal crowd numbers and enforce the hotel's 10 pm closing time. Police who first attended the Hotel made their way through the crowd and into the back bar, where one officer signalled to the band to stop playing. The band the Heroes were on their last song of the night when 2 police officers entered and jumped the bar. One of the police officers grabbed the microphone stand and shook it several times hitting lead singer Pete de Jong in the mouth. Pete de Jong was later arrested for calling the police pigs. The Heroes band members included Pete de Jong (vocals/guitar), Mark Tinson (guitar/vocals), Jim Porteus (bass/vocals), Phil Screen (Drums).