Barcaldine is a small town located in Western Queensland, Australia, approximately 520 kilometres by road west of the city of Rockhampton. The town is the administrative centre of the Barcaldine Shire, which covers an area of 8430 square kilometres. Town population is around 1900. Major industries are wool and grazing. The town takes its name from a sheep station called Barcaldine Downs, which was named for Barcaldine, Scotland.
Barcaldine played a significant role in the birth of the Australian Labor Party. In 1891, it was one of the focal points of the great Shearers Strike. The landmark 'Tree of Knowledge', under which the strikers met, still stands outside the railway station.
Barcaldine is a small town and Local Government Area located in Western Queensland, Australia, approximately 520 kilometres by road west of the city of Rockhampton.
The town is the administrative centre of the Barcaldine Shire, which covers an area of 8430 square kilometres.
Barcaldine played a significant role in the Australian labour movement and the birth of the Australian Labor Party.
However, both the maritime and shearers' strikes were defeated when the Queensland and NSW governments sided with business interests, which were similarly amalgamating their associations to form a united front to oppose the unions.
A month later the centre of the strike had shifted to Barcaldine, which was the terminus of the rail line from Rockhampton and the commercial centre of the wealthy Mitchell district, where 30 stations were affected by the strike.
The first European to pass through the Barcaldine area was Sir Thomas Mitchell who arrived after good rains and proceeded to sing the praises of the area, describing it as 'the finest region I have seen in Australia' and waxing lyrical about 'grass shooting up green from old stalks'.
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