The Tree of Knowledge was a heritage listed ghost gum in the main street of the small town of Barcaldine in western Queensland.
So why was this tree heritage listed?
Barcaldine was at the centre of the Great Shearers Strike of 1891 as it was at the end of the rail line from Rockhampton to the rich pastoral lands in the west. At that point in time, wool was the backbone of the colonial economy.
Despite the back breaking nature of the work and the collective wealth of the pastoralists, the shearers were one of the lowest paid workers in the colony. The pastoralists wanted to reduce the shearers wages even further from £1 per hundred sheep and the shearers took collective action and went on strike and took other aggressive activities such as burning down wool sheds, setting fire to grass lands and abducting "scab" labourers. The shearers used to hold their meetings under a large ghost gum (Eucalypt) that stood in the main street of Barcaldine and the tree became known as the Tree of Knowledge.
Eventually troops were sent in to break up the striking shearers and the ring leaders were tried and convicted and sent to the St Helena Island prison near Brisbane for 3 years.
While the strike was unsuccessful, it led to calls for a new political party to represent the interests of working people, which resulted in the formation of the Labour Electoral Leagues and then later, the Labor Party, one of Australia’s two main political parties and its oldest. In 1892, one of the striking shearers, T.J.Ryan, a member of the Labour Electoral Leagues was elected in Queensland and became the first 'Labour' representative in any government, anywhere in the world. In 1915, he became the Premier of Queensland.
The role that this humble ghost gum played in this historical event had been recognised for many years and it was placed on the National Heritage Register in 1992. In 2006, the tree was poisoned (you wouldn’t have to be Einstein to work out of what political persuasion the offender would have been) and despite attempts to save the tree, it died in 2007. However, the remains of the tree were preserved and this memorial to the events that took place here, and to the tree itself, was built over the preserved remains on spot where it once grew.
I hope the person responsible for the poisoning chokes every time he sees it.
Thanks for adding all the info - I was wondering about it significance! That's a fascinating story - and no one was ever prosecuted for poisoning it? And my other question - did they use the wood from the tree to build the structure?
So why was this tree heritage listed?
Barcaldine was at the centre of the Great Shearers Strike of 1891 as it was at the end of the rail line from Rockhampton to the rich pastoral lands in the west. At that point in time, wool was the backbone of the colonial economy.
Despite the back breaking nature of the work and the collective wealth of the pastoralists, the shearers were one of the lowest paid workers in the colony. The pastoralists wanted to reduce the shearers wages even further from £1 per hundred sheep and the shearers took collective action and went on strike and took other aggressive activities such as burning down wool sheds, setting fire to grass lands and abducting "scab" labourers. The shearers used to hold their meetings under a large ghost gum (Eucalypt) that stood in the main street of Barcaldine and the tree became known as the Tree of Knowledge.
Eventually troops were sent in to break up the striking shearers and the ring leaders were tried and convicted and sent to the St Helena Island prison near Brisbane for 3 years.
While the strike was unsuccessful, it led to calls for a new political party to represent the interests of working people, which resulted in the formation of the Labour Electoral Leagues and then later, the Labor Party, one of Australia’s two main political parties and its oldest. In 1892, one of the striking shearers, T.J.Ryan, a member of the Labour Electoral Leagues was elected in Queensland and became the first 'Labour' representative in any government, anywhere in the world. In 1915, he became the Premier of Queensland.
The role that this humble ghost gum played in this historical event had been recognised for many years and it was placed on the National Heritage Register in 1992. In 2006, the tree was poisoned (you wouldn’t have to be Einstein to work out of what political persuasion the offender would have been) and despite attempts to save the tree, it died in 2007. However, the remains of the tree were preserved and this memorial to the events that took place here, and to the tree itself, was built over the preserved remains on spot where it once grew.
I hope the person responsible for the poisoning chokes every time he sees it.