A "bizarre" collection of Canberrans congregated in support of striking nurses on this day in 1970, as they rounded out a third week of action to demand better pay.
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Picketing the Northbourne Avenue home of the chairman of Canberra Hospital's Board, Allan Fraser, 25 Australian National University students represented the Labor Club, the Students for a Democratic Society, the Women's Liberation Front, and anarchists.
The daughter and wife of the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, John Wilton, joined them; Miss Wilton held a placard saying: "Conscript nurses, too?"
"Only Canberra could produce such unity in diversity among demonstrators," a report in The Canberra Times said.
"Perhaps a satirist was the most competent person to cover it."
A game three ladies left the protester's stronghold on a nature strip to approach Mr Fraser's door and share their qualms about nurses' treatment. They were directed away by his wife, who said he could be reached at his office in Parliament House.
Canberra nurses' strike action echoed national efforts to ensure better conditions for the workforce, including in NSW and Victoria.