Cirrus@Austlit

Set in the late 1920s, Waterfront begins with the Waterside Workers' Union refusing to abide by the award conditions handed down with the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The waterfronts of all major cities are subsequently shut down, forcing Nationalist Party Prime Minister Stanley Bruce to authorise legislation that permits the employment of non-union labour on the wharves. When the shipping companies take advantage of this law and hire newly arrived Italian immigrants desperate for work, the 'scabs' face bitter resentment from the union as well as shameful and overt racial intimidation and abuse. The ruse of 'free labourers' ultimately works in all the capital cities except Melbourne, where the union executive is strong and determined. Not only are the bosses determined to ride the storm out, but the union comes under increasing hostility from other sections of the community: the strike's consequences extend into neighbouring industries, which, starved of raw materials and export passages, are forced to make redundancies.

The mini-series delves deeply into the issues of eviction, poverty, and racism, while also exploring the political fall-out, where the Victorian State Labor Government (which has a paper-thin majority) is put in the unenviable position of having to support the unions, its political base. Taking advantage of this dilemma, the opposition party eventually introduces a motion of no-confidence in the government and courts the patrician Governor-General. This ultimately leads to the dismissal of the incumbent government.