Queensland State Archives posted a photo:
Barcaldine is a rural town 520 km west of Rockhampton, best known as the ‘birthplace’ of the Australian labour movement. By the late 1880s Barcaldine became a centre of activity in western Queensland for the organisation of shearers and rural labourers. Pastoralist, concerned about this growing assertiveness, formed the Pastoral Employers’ Association in Barcaldine in 1889, and reduced rates of pay for shearers.
The response was a firming of union membership, and by 1891 hundreds of shearers and rural workers were camped around Barcaldine waiting for work and threatening to take action in non-union workers were brought in. Mass meetings were held under a ghost gum, the Tree of Knowledge, now commemorated at the birthplace of organised labor, trades union and the Australian Labor party.
Description source:
Queensland Places
View the original image at Queensland State Archives:
Digital Image ID 17218