The Brisbane Trades Hall is a former Trades Hall building in Edward Street

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia.

First trades hall

The foundation stone of the original trades hall in

Turbot Street Turbot Street runs parallel to Ann Street and is on the northern side of the Brisbane central business district, Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia. It is a major thoroughfare, linking as a three-to-five lane one-way street with the Riversid ...

, Brisbane, was laid on 4 April 1891 by Sir

Charles Lilley Sir Charles Lilley (27 August 1827 – 20 August 1897) was a Premier of Queensland, Premier and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland. He had a significant influence on the form and spirit of state education in colonial Queensland whi ...

. There was a procession of unionists from Ann Street, along Queen Street and then up Edward Street to the building site. However, by the 1920s, a larger building was needed as the labour movement had succeeding in unionising about two-thirds of the workforce. Following on from the extension of the railway line and tunnel underway from Roma Street in 1889 to Central Station, concern with the weight of the first Trades Hall over the tunnel resulted in land resumption, with a new site selected at Upper Edward Street.

Second trades hall

The foundation stone of the second trades hall was laid on 1 May 1920 by the Queensland Lieutenant-Governor William Lennon. The site was on

looking down Edward Street, adjacent to

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder ( he, סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of th ...

. The building was used by the Queensland

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

movement for meetings, offices, social and educational events, and is the location of the

Trades and Labour Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

, now known as the

Queensland Council of Unions The Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) is a representative, an advocacy group, or peak body, of Queensland trade union organisations, also known as a labour council, in the Queensland, Australia. As of 2020, 26 unions and 13 regional branches w ...

. In the late 1960s, part of the building housed the FOCO club and bookshop, where the group Society for Democratic Action (SDA) met. In 1984 the Trades and Labour Council, as the board of management, sold the property and moved to a new property at Peel Street, South Brisbane. As the original property was granted for the specific purpose of being used as a Trades Hall, the ''Brisbane Trades Hall Management Act 1984'' was required to be passed authorising the transaction, with planning controls on the use of the original historic building. The building was subsequently demolished and the site is now occupied by the high-rise IBM building. 348 Edward Street

References

{{coord, 27, 28, 21.81, S, 153, 01, 01.01, E, display=title, region:AU-QLD_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki Trades halls in Australia Former buildings and structures in Brisbane Demolished buildings and structures in Brisbane Buildings and structures demolished in 1984