Critics’ Reviews

Mark Finnane tracks the way that Australian State and Territory police overcame significant obstacles to their right to organise, such as the transfer of union leaders to remote areas and the dismissal of striking police officers. Unions, assisted by sympathetic State Labor governments, gradually gained legitimacy and improvement to wages and conditions. They also developed the capacity to influence government policy, including crime control and prevention measures, resources allocation and police budgets.

The book generally satisfies its claim to present a critical appraisal of the politics of ‘law and order’ in Australia from the perspective of the police as workers and employees and the influence of police unions in public policy debates, with some caveats.

The conflict of interest created by the function of police as unionists … and their role as agents of the state, is a substantial issue requiring closer examination. … Problems with accountability, transparency and corporate governance and the implications for responsible government merited closer examination …

The book provides a well-researched insight into the politics of police unionisation that will be of interest to governments, police administrators and their officers. … – Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol 39 No 1

This wide-ranging book provides much more than just an account of the origins, consolidation and development of police unions. It intricately details the relationship between state police unions and their respective governments and the aggressive tactics employed to gain advantage. It probes police union influence on law and order politics and the ramifications upon the criminal justice system. …

The major source of the book is the union journals of the six states, the various Police Journals. The contentious industrial concerns and the book’s narrative evolve from these rich sources, which have previously been ignored. By diligent analysis, Finnane presents the police unions’ perspective about core industrial issues such as wages, conditions of work, promotion, pensions, transfers and discipline, as well as the priority law and order issues over many decades.

The book makes a significant contribution to industrial history by unravelling Australian police unionism with its commonality but also state-by-state differences …

The book adroitly explores how police have come to play an active role in politics – a theme not pursued elsewhere. Although Finnane rightly documents the limits of police unionism, these unions nevertheless remain powerful bodies. As the guardians of law and order, police are vital to safeguarding internal security, a powerful position. More than 96% of police around Australia are unionised …

Finnane has achieved what he has set out to do, namely, to identify the police union perspective industrially and politically. – David Baker, LABOUR & INDUSTRY, Vol 15 No 2, December 2004 134

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