So much of the inner city owes its existence to Jack Mundey and the green bans he led as secretary of the NSW Builders’ Labourers Federation.
Dorothy McRae-McMahon remembers how she met Jack Mundey in her capacity as Minister of the Pitt Street Uniting Church. “Back in the early 1970s when it was the main city Congregational church, there was a proposal to pull it down, as it had a very small congregation. Even though he was an atheist and communist, Jack opposed its demolition and saved that grand old church from becoming an office block.
I would often come out of my office on a weekday to see Jack sitting by himself in the church. One day, I asked him why he did that, given he was a committed atheist. He told me, even though he didn’t believe in God, when he sat silently in our church he experienced a gift of spirituality which added peace and strength to his life.
The last time I saw him, he greeted me with, “God bless you, Dorothy!” I responded, “Thanks Jack, but I thought you didn’t believe in God?” He said, “What did I say? Oh, I didn’t notice that!”
For artist and environmental campaigner Jess Harwood Jack was a family friend as well as a legend. “When I was 12 I entered a competition with a poem about Jack saving a wharf on Sydney’s foreshore from demolition. I got a prize for it and Jack was sent a copy.
“Months later, I got a letter from Jack thanking me for the nice poem and asking if I would like to meet in The Rocks for a pub lunch. I wrote back saying I’m 12, so I don’t think I’m allowed. He replied, saying that’s nonsense, bring your parents!
“We met at The Mercantile in The Rocks. After lunch we had a great privilege as he took us around The Rocks and told us the story of how it was saved!
“Over the years he came to stay at my parent’s place. Mum cooked him his favourite curries, always served with a glass of red, as he talked to Dad about mechanics and construction, and to Mum and me about politics and the environment. I’m sure he put the fire in my belly for social change.
“Imagine if unions took this moment to demand a just transition for workers from fossil fuels to renewables? It’s what Jack would have done – without a doubt.”
