Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (Queensland Branch)

This building was built for the Bank of New South Wales in 1887, by local contractor Denis Kelleher. It was designed by the bank’s Sydney architect John Smedley. Construction was supervised by local architects Eyre and Munro and Brisbane architect FDG Stanley. The new premises included the banking chamber, manager and accountant's offices, strong rooms and ablution facilities. The manager's residence included nine private rooms, a kitchen, bathroom linen press and pantry. There were stables, a coach house and a messenger's room. Banking mergers in the early 1930s saw the Bank of NSW relocate to the corner of Flinders and Stokes Streets in 1935. In 1941 the building was purchased by the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU), but during WWII, it was quickly requisitioned for war purposes. A detachment of the Area Signals personnel were here briefly, accompanied by Colonel Frank North, the commander for the Townsville area. The AMIEU moved into the building in 1948 and for the next three decades the building became a bastion of the Labor movement, housing the Trades and Labour Council, the Seaman’s Union and the Communist Party. One of the most infamous union battles fought here was the Mt Isa Mines strike of 1964/65.