The impact of the 1890 Maritime strike on the formation of the Labour Party in Queensland

Abstract

The Maritime Strike of 1890 has famously been described as the 'great turning point in the history of Australian Labor'. This paper argues that, at least in Queensland, the strike had no marked effect. Industrially, the strike affected relatively few workers, given that the shearing season was already over in the northern colony. Nor did the strike have a marked political impact. The decision to form a Labor Party was made prior to the strike's commencement. In Queensland the Labor Party, and the labour movement more generally, were the creation of decades of achievement, not one or two tumultuous events.