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The Australian labour movement began in the early 19th century and since the late 19th century has included industrial (Australian unions) and political wings (Australian Labor Party). Trade unions in Australia may be organised (i.e., formed) on the basis of craft unionism, general unionism, or industrial unionism.
The 1891 shearers' strike is credited as being one of the factors for the formation of the Australian Labor Party. On the 9 September 1892 the Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party was read out under the well known Tree of Knowledge at Barcaldine following the Great Shearers' Strike. [4] The State Library of Queensland now holds the manifesto.
The defeat was a heavy blow for the labour movement and was a major factor in encouraging Billy Hughes, the Prime Minister, to attempt a second conscription referendum in December 1917. The referendum was defeated, however, and the unions had recovered their strength by 1919, with the strikebreakers driven out of the coal mines and the ...
The Labor Party is commonly described as a social democratic party and its constitution stipulates that it is a democratic socialist party. [4] The party was created by, and has always been influenced by, the trade unions, and in practice Labor politicians regard themselves as part of the broader labour movement and tradition.
A white Australia also meant the exclusion of cheap Asian labour, an idea strongly promoted by the labour movement. [57] According to historian John Hirst, "Federation was not needed to make the White Australia policy, but that policy was the most popular expression of the national ideal that inspired federation." [58]
The defeat of the great 1891 shearers' strike and the 1890 Maritime strike led the AWU to reject direct action, and it has been a force for moderation in the Australian union movement ever since. It was a firm opponent of the Industrial Workers of the World , the Communist Party of Australia , NSW Premier Jack Lang and other radical forces in ...
The Tree of Knowledge was a key site during the Shearer's Strike in 1891, a confrontation between capital and labour that was a major event in Queensland's history. The strike was a watershed in the development of the labour movement and the formation of the Australian Labor Party. [2]
The split had different impacts in different states. In Queensland there was no significant split at all, with the state Labor Party having experienced the loss of many early members a decade earlier when William Kidston led a breakaway group out in 1907. [2] During the war Premier T. J. Ryan made strong efforts to minimise losses. [3]