TEAR OUT MAP #28

DARLING DOWNS PART 1 DON’T SASS BILLY HUGHES WORDS/PHOTOS COLIN WHELAN

Warwick on the Darling Downs has a few claims to fame but by far the best is being responsible for the formation of what is now the Australian Federal Police.

In November 1917, then PM Billy Hughes arrived at Warwick on a train and set about addressing a large crowd at the station on the issue of conscription. A couple of eggs were quickly thrown at him, one knocking off his hat. There was immediate ‘tumult, excitement and confusion’ and Hughes himself waded into the brawl.