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Stolen Wages - a campaign for justice

Media release
National Tertiary Education Union (Queensland)

2003 - The National Tertiary Education Union (Queensland) is supporting a public campaign for justice for the generations of Aboriginal workers whose wages were stolen by the Queensland government.

Thousands of Aboriginal workers across several generations lost an estimated $500 million because of the Queensland Governments' negligence, through diverting withheld wages to raise government revenue, and through misuse of Trust monies.

The Beattie Government has made an offer of $55 million as settlement, but this is only a tiny fraction of the "stolen wages" and former workers have declared the offer inadequate.

Support Aboriginal workers' fight for justice

A postcard campaign has been launched with the aim of drawing Premier Beattie's attention to community outrage over stolen wages. You can obtain postcards from the Queensland Council of Unions (3846 2468), ANTaR Qld (3844 9800), FAIRA Aboriginal Corporation (3391 4677), and Radio 4AAA (3892 0100).

Also send letters to Queensland Premier The Hon Peter Beattie and/or The Hon J Spence Minister for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Policy both at PO Box 185 Albert Street Brisbane 4002.

The campaign around this issue is being directed by The Queensland coalition of indigenous organisations: FAIRA, ACC, GMAG and others. Contact the Coalition via Christine Howes at chowes@hotkey.net.au .

The campaign is supported by ANTar Qld, the Queensland Council of Unions and the Victorian Trades Hall Council.

Source: NTEU

Interview with Lanora Jackson

National Tertiary Education Union (Queensland) - Henry Jackson was 13-years old when he was taken from his grandfather and sent to work as a stockman on a remote Queensland cattle station.

For 13 years he worked on cattle stations, cane farms and saw mills without receiving any wages. Henry only received board and lodgings in return for his labour.

Successive Queensland Governments stole Henry Jackson's wages for the first 13 years of his working life. The Queensland Government is currently offering a miserly $4000 as compensation for all of those years of lost income.

Henry's daughter, Lanora Jackson, was in Melbourne last week to deliver the Stolen Wages postcards. The postcards are available from Trades Hall and union members are encouraged to send them to Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, and Queensland Council of Unions secretary Grace Grace, to help these workers receive a fair and just outcome.

In the following interview Lanora Jackson tells of the injustice inflicted on generations of Aboriginal workers from the 1890s until the 1970s in Queensland. Her father Henry's story is just one of thousands.

Why are you involved in the Stolen Wages Campaign?

My father was taken away from his home on Palm Island at 13 years of age and sent to work as a stockman on a station called Dover. He was there for a year and never received any wages. All he received was food and lodgings.

While he was there his grandfather died. They didn't inform my father and he only found out when he returned to the mission. Dad's grandfather was very important to him because he kept the family together.

I have got all the records that prove my father worked at various places. The Government claim that they have pay slips that indicate that he was supposed to be paid, but he never received anything in his hand. The money went to the government. I remember looking at one of the pay slips that indicates he was paid 8 shillings but he never received any money.

My father was born in 1928 and started work in 1941 when he was only 13-years old. It wasn't until 1954 that he actually got a job with Qld railways and received wages for that job.

I am here to deliver these postcards because my father is not well enough to be very active in the campaign. He did come to the rallies and meetings earlier on but he has become more fragile so I am campaigning for him.

What do you think of the Government's compensation offer?

It is an insult, absolutely disgusting. It doesn't come anywhere near compensating dad, not only for the loss of wages but the emotional trauma he suffered. Not knowing his parents and being separated from his grandfather and not even told of his death. Dad's grandfather took the children to Palm Island to try to keep the family together. Palm Island was a penal colony back in those days. They were originally sent to Mornington Island but they weren't given enough rations to feed the children.

As my father gets older he breaks down a lot. As a young person he kept all of the pain inside and wasn't able to deal with the trauma he had been through - now the memories keep coming up and he finds it very difficult.

This campaign is not just about money. Dad lost his family, his culture and his language. The Beattie Government is trying to get most of the claimants to accept the lousy $4000. Beattie knows that most of these claimants are very old and that some of them are taking the money because they don't understand the law and they feel intimidated.

My dad won't be accepting the money being offered. He just wants to make sure his name is on the list of claimants. He took part in a claim back in 1994, relating to under-award wages, which was settled with a payment of $7000.

What do you hope to achieve with the postcard campaign?

I am hoping that the postcards will generate a lot of attention around the issue. We feel the Queensland campaign could set a precedent for other states in Australia.

It is important to make the public aware of what has happened because a lot of people in the community don't know the facts. They might think we are asking for a hand out but that is not the case at all. I can't see anyone working for nothing these days. Everyone expects to receive their pay at the end of the week. This is a wage claim and the people involved should be adequately compensated.

Handing over the postcards here in Victoria has been a fantastic experience. We have been pleasantly surprised with the interest and support for the campaign. A visiting delegation of Korean unionists took hundreds back to Korea. We met with Dave Cushion and Kevin Braken from the Victorian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia. They explained that they never understood the issues but now both of them feel it is a wage and therefore union issue and should be treated as such. We have support from the ACTU and met with Sharan Burrow also. It is great that these people are taking notice and supporting us.

Where to from here?

My involvement has been on a personal level so far but after this trip I feel even more committed. I am not going to back off. This campaign is urgent because these people are getting old. I would personally like to see my father benefit from the compensation. He is still struggling to make ends meet and he will be 75 in December.

Interview by Victorian Trades Hall Council

What can I do?  See addresses to write to ›› 

Further information:

• Stolen wages, missing Trust funds : The fight for justice in Queensland
  Article by Dr Ros Kidd
• Media reports

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