Stolen wages campaign continues

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, Lenore Jackson, was in Melbourne last week to deliver the 
Stolen Wages postcards. The postcards are available from the Victorian 
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 Lenore 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 eight 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 Queensland 
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 his 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 [ACTU President] 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.

Stolen Wages postcard campaign

You can help by supporting the national postcard campaign. Three postcards 
have been produced. They tell the story of forced unpaid and underpaid 
labour of Aboriginal people over the past century.

One card supports the unions' backing of the campaign, one for sending to 
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and the third has details of a fighting 
fund to be set up for a longer term campaign.

The postcards call for the return of the stolen wages to the workers and 
their families.

From the 1890s until the 1970s the wages and savings of Aboriginal workers 
were controlled by successive governments under compulsory labour 
contracts. In Queensland wages and other monies belonging to these workers 
were kept in government-held "trust" accounts.

Since the 1980s these workers have waited in good faith for their wage 
claims, which records show could amount to as much as $500 million. In May 
2002 the Government offered just $55.6 million as a "take it or leave it" 
deal.

Support these workers in their fight for what they are really owed in 
missing, unpaid and underpaid wages. Support their claim for all their 
stolen wages.

* * *

Postcards are now available from:
4US in Rockhampton, 4K1G in Townsville, 4C1M in Cairns,
the Woorabinda BRACs and council offices and the Mackay CDEP offices.

Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council (07 4044 2999)
FAIRA (07 3391 4677) and 4AAA (07 3892 01100)
Queensland Council of Unions (07 3846 2468)
ANTaR Qld (07 3844 9800)
ANTaR National in NSW (02 9555 6138)
Australia Asia Worker Links in Victoria (03 9663 7277)
Victorian Trades Hall Council (03 9662 3511)
ACTU (03 9663 5266).