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Shearers Strike MonumentPrint Page Print this page

Shearers Strike Monument
Shearers Strike Monument

Photographs supplied by Diane Watson

The Cairn commemorates the site where striking shearers camped for four months during the 1891 strike and is dedicated to the memory of those shearers.  

In early 1891, central Queensland shearers went on strike. From February through until May, central Queensland was on the brink of civil war. Striking shearers formed armed camps outside of towns. Thousands of armed soldiers protected non-union labour and arrested strike leaders. The unionists retaliated by raiding shearing sheds, harassing non-union labour and committing acts of sabotage. But the shearers were unable to hold out.

By May the union camps were full of hungry penniless shearers. The strike had been broken. The squatters had won this time. But the squatters realised that the industry could not afford to win such costly battles. They knew they would have to work more closely with the Shearers' Union. The outcome is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the Australian Labour Party and the rise to power of a pro-Labor Party faction in the Australian Socialist League. 

Location

Address:Bladensburg Road , Red Creek Crossing, Winton, 4735
State:QLD
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -22.455556
Long: 143.003333
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Government
Sub-Theme:Dissent

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Thursday 16th August, 1973
Front Inscription

THIS MEMORIAL CAIRN 
MARKS THE SITE OF 
THE WINTON STRIKE CAMP 
DURING THE 1891-94 SHEARERS STRIKE.

THE EFFORTS AND SACRIFICES OF 
THE OUTBACK QUEENSLAND WORKERS 
OF THIS ERA WERE INSTRUMENTAL 
IN THE FOUNDATION OF 
THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY.


          THIS CAIRN
IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF THESE MEN 
                    BY 
WINTON BRANCH OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

BART LOURIGAN  
A.L.P, STATE SECRETARY

WINTON DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY  
CATHERINE HARDWICK  
SECRETARY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BRUCE SIMPSON
PRESIDENT
 WINTON BRANCH A.L.P. & WINTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
AUGUST 16th 1973

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au