In 1974, Frank Sinatra came out of a short retirement to tour Australia for the first time in over fifteen years. The legendary crooner was not prepared, however, for the changed political landscape Down Under.

Increasing numbers of women were entering higher education and professional and public life. The women’s liberation movement was challenging sexist social attitudes and demanding access to abortion and childcare as well as equal rights in education and employment.

It was part of a broader upheaval. The half decade before Sinatra’s tour also saw a massive surge in industrial militancy, kicked off by the general strike of 1969 and a rebound in union membership, which had been in decline since 1948.