Communists Put It Over the Air—Incident At Melbourne

Grey River Argus, 25 February 1949, Page 8

Communists Put It Over the Air—Incident At Melbourne

MELBOURNE, Feb. 24. Police reinforcements were rushed to the Melbourne Town Hall when it was reported that 4000 people were crowding the footpath and interrupting traffic. The crowd proved orderly and police action was not necessary.

A crowd had collected because John Rogers, director of AustraliaSoviet House, who had been refused the use of the Town Hall for an address, had stated that he would speak outside the Town Hall. The crowd listened to a five-minute recorded address, although Rogers was not near the Town Hall at the time. The address was recorded and played through amplifiers placed on the roof of the Melbourne Age building without the permission of the proprietors. Rogers, in his address, bitterly condemned the City Council for closing the doors of the Town Hall to him, while opening them to “the detractors of Russia.”