Pre-history… In 1989, local anarchists established a group known as the International Workers’ Club. The IWC aimed to raise enough money to purchase a warehouse to establish an anarchist social centre. By 1994, a little less than $10,000 had been raised. At a final meeting of the IWC, it was decided not to proceed with the purchase of a space and to instead fund two new projects: Barricade, and the Black Star PA system…
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Barricade opened its doors for the first time at 115 Sydney Road, Brunswick on February 4, 1995; the outcome of several years preparation by a loose association of local anarchists. Notably, Barricade is the fourth such shop to open in Melbourne since the beginning of the 1970s, but by far the longest running and most successful.
Barricade’s opening doesn’t go unnoticed, as just five months later, on July 3, police raid the premises (with an unsigned warrant). Three items of stock are confiscated: a pamphlet (Left Libertarianism’s Lavender Lineage) and two t-shirts, one with the word “fuck” on it, the other with a picture of a penis. A worker is charged with selling ‘obscene’ materials. A week later, on July 11, in a further act of harassment, neo-Nazis smash the shop’s windows. As a result, for almost two years, the infoshop looks like a real live barricade, with ‘temporary’ iron sheets placed over the front windows. Still, the infoshop continues to function.
The smashing of the shop’s windows, and their replacement with temporary hoardings, is followed by various forms of low-level harassment, including the painting of swastikas on the shop’s front door on Invasion Day, January 26, 1996. An anti-fascist demonstration is held in Brunswick soon after, and marches to Barricade in solidarity.
Finally, in June 1997, at the end of a long but eventually successful battle with the local council, the shop is fitted with bullet proof plexi-glass. Having survived police and fascist intimidation, so ends the first chapter in Barricade’s history.
To be continued…
Some images of the shop at its previous location:
