Episode 317 - The Pilbara Pastoral Workers Strike (1946-1949) Part 1

Weird Crap in Australia

In 1946, on the back of decades and generations of racist government and pastoralist policy 800 First Nations people walked off the stations they'd been assigned in the Pilbara Region, risking prosecution and assault by the law-keepers.
Three years later, the strike broke, but only through underhanded tactics by the government and farmers put out by the strike. This was a failed strike in terms of their £1 per week demands, but in terms of scaring the Western Australian government and gathering sympathy in the people of Perth, it was a winner.
This was the longest industrial action strike in Australia's history. More would follow, but we pay tributes to the original, and the chain of actions their strike spawned.
Join Holly & Matthew as they read up on the strike, the people, and the repercussions.
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