1923 Victorian police strike

The 1923 Victorian police strike occurred in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In November 1923, on the eve of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, half the police force in Melbourne went on strike over the operation of a supervisory system using labour spies, nicknamed "spooks". Riots and looting followed as crowds poured out of the main Flinders Street railway station on the Friday and Saturday nights and made their way up Elizabeth and Swanston streets, smashing shop windows, looting, and overturning a tram.