Workers from across the Illawarra and beyond did not mince words as they converged on Port Kembla, holding signs and shouting loud, direct messages to urge the government to keep nuclear submarines out.
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But, for one minute during this year's raucous May Day March rally, the hundreds-strong crowd fell silent and still, in recognition of fellow unionist Steven Tougher.
Two years ago at the same march, he was part of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association contingent as they fought to improve their pay and conditions.
The strong union convictions of the 29-year-old, who became a paramedic in 2022 and was allegedly stabbed to death while on a break during an overnight shift in Campbelltown last month, were remembered as his paramedic and former nursing colleagues wore black arm bands and bowed their heads with the rest of the crowd.
May Day Committee president Mick Cross, also praised the crowd for the best ever turnout for the worker's celebration day, said it was the right and expectation of every worker to come home safe.
"We fight for that every day, but unfortunately in recent times one of our own went to work, he went to work to do his job and he never came home in the most horrific circumstances I think I've ever seen," Mr Cross said.
"I'd like us all to bow our heads and pay a minute's silence in respect to Steven Tougher."
Outside of this tribute, the annual rally was themed "Peace, Jobs and Justice" and focused mainly on a push to get the government to rule out Port Kembla as a future base for nuclear submarines.
For the first time, the event was relocated out of Wollongong with protesters instead marching down to Wentworth Street to draw attention to this cause.
The port has been reported to be the favourite of three possible locations - ahead of Brisbane and Newcastle - which the Morrison government named as sites for a new east coast base.
The Labor government has delayed a decision on the location, saying it will come late this decade, with Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlewaite telling reporters in Wollongong last week that he had not been heard from defence that they had a preferred location for an east base.
Speeches at the march focused on the concerns that a submarine base would make Port Kembla a military target, and that any required containment zone would displace investment and jobs in renewable energy.
Port Kembla resident Alexander Brown, from Wollongong Against War and Nukes, criticised the decision to spend $368 billion on the secondhand submarines amid so many other budget pressures and said many residents were scared about what becoming a submarine base would mean.
"My children attend school and preschool here, we want to live our lives in peace. but this announcement cast a shadow over us," he said.
"We're already dealing with the toxic legacies of industrial pollution here in Port Kembla, we don't want to add nuclear radiation to the mix."
The Voice to Parliament was also a major focus of the day, with workers posing with a "Yes" sign to show their support for the constitutional recognition of indigenous people.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
