Friends & Enemies

Zubrycki’s extraordinary fly-on-the-wall documentary follows the landmark 1985 power dispute in Queensland which saw the rise of the New Right, the full emergence of the processes of privatisation, and demonstrated the union-busting practices of the draconian Bjelke-Petersen government who declared a state of emergency and essentially criminalised industrial action. It provides a remarkably intimate and expansive portrait of the nine-month-long industrial dispute developing out of the laying off of nearly 1000 staff by the South East Queensland Electricity Board and their replacement with contractors.