Blackbirding in Queensland Australia

Vanessa Ceccato

Blackbirding refers to a time in Australian history that is not talked about enough.
Throughout the time period of the 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of South Sea Islanders,
were persuaded and kidnapped into coming to Queensland, Australia to work on sugar and
cotton plantations. 57 years of harsh living conditions, 57 years of unfair payment and 57
years of separation from their home lands. It was Robert Towns’ (who would later be
remembered as the namesake of the town Townsville) idea to “employee native labour
from the Pacific Islands”i. In the end shiploads of South Sea Islanders were brought to
Australia and sent to work. Throughout this illustrated essay I plan to highlight the truth of
blackbirding and bring conversation to what happened and how after 150 years it still
affects communities to this day.
It was in 1863 when the first shipload of the blackbirding victims were welcomed to
Australian shore, many by force. This first ship carried 64 young men who would only be the
first of thousands. The South Sea Islanders were sent to cotton and sugar plantations to
begin their work. This was a time where the sugar and cotton industries were hugely
popular and the white man’s wage was too high for the employers and many European
settlers did not want to work in such harsh conditionsii. Figure 1 shows South Sea Islander
individuals working on a sugar plantation with a white male watching over. iii This male is
unknown however, it could be stated that he was in charge to make sure the South Sea
Islanders did their work. From looking at Figure 2 it can be seen that these blackbirding
victims were brought over in large groups and many do not seem truly happy to be leaving
their homesiv . Robert Towns first thought was to almost rent these individuals and to return
them back to their native land
after a 12 month trial. This did
not last, as many South Sea
Islanders ended up staying in
Australia until they were
deported by new legislation. Not
only were many men, women
and children taken by force,
there were a number of
individuals who were misled and
lied to.
Throughout their time on the Queensland sugar and cotton plantations, the blackbirding
victims were not treated with dignity or respect. While many do call them “sugar slaves”
they were in fact paid even if it was a very small amount. This is why an 1868 newspaper
article describes the South Sea Islanders as “neither slaves nor freeman”v they were paid,
but were at the mercy of their employer and could not do as they pleased. In an earlier 1865
newspaper article the journalist visited a cotton plantation and took note of what he
encountered. A Mr. Challinor who was in charge of this particular plantation started to pay
all his workers half a penny per day, this was for all men, women and childrenvi. This is the
payment they would get for picking around 1000 pounds of cotton per day. Figure 3 shows
evidence of South Sea Islander women working on a sugar plantation and just how many
plants they were made to look after and harvest when the time camevii. The journey to
Queensland was not an easy on them and it is noted by a blackbirding recruiter that
shipwrecks did occurviii. Life did not become easy when these individuals started working,
their were days filled with picking cotton as Australia at this time would produce around
one million tons annuallyix, working barefooted in the direct sunlight is not easy on anybody.
A recent newspaper article about the treatment of blackbirding victims brings to light that
because of the working conditions on these plantations and the exposure to new European
diseases, the death rate was very high for these South Sea Islander workersx. Approximately
15,000 of these South Sea Islanders died through the process of blackbirdingxi. With so
many deaths occurring, these individuals did not get proper burials instead being placed in
unmarked graves that are still being found todayxii. These blackbirding victims were
nameless workers to their employers, their families to this day may not know what truly
happened to their ancestors. They were treated like cattle, thrown away when they were of
no use anymore.

21 years after the first fleet brought the South

Sea Islanders to Queensland, the Queensland
government wrote and implemented The
Polynesian Labourers Act 1884 (Qld)xiii. It was
this document that was the first step to stop
the forceful immigration and blackbirding of
South Pacific Islanders to Queensland.
Through this document the Queensland
government wanted the South Sea Islanders
to come to work on the plantations by choice,
instead of by the act of blackbirding. The act
also made note of the horrible conditions that
these Islanders would live through on the
ships to Queensland, now there would have to
be minimal ideal living conditions on these
ships. There would be officials who would be
in charge of overseeing that these changes were made and this act would be followed.
However there is no way to know if the living conditions on these ships did get any better
for those who were forced to live there.

1901 was the year that the Australian Government believed it was time to put a stop to the
Pacific Islanders coming to work in Australia. The Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 (Cth)xiv
was introduced. On the front page of the act in Figure 5, it has written “to provide for the
Regulation, Restriction and Prohibition of the Introduction of Labourers from the Pacific
Islands and for other purposes”, this is exactly what happened. This document identified
that all of those individuals who did not hold a valid permit would be sent back to their
native islands, where they were once forced to leave. By enacting this law the sugar and
cotton industries suffered economical loses, however this was a new wave for the White
Australian Policy which was seen as the more pressing issuexv. Australia wanted to go back
to being a white European society with white European workers, even though this would
have negative effects on the economy. Out of roughly 10,000 islanders living in Queensland
at the time of this act, only 700 were granted the permits needed to stay. Resulting in
thousands of individuals once again forced to live their home, at the hands of the Australian
Government. Many of this Islanders had created homes and families in Australia, some of
these individuals had not been back to their native lands in a very long time. This act shows
that the Australian government had a lot of power and influence over these South Sea
Islands and their people.
There has been some recognition of these South Sea Islanders. The
Australian Government in 1994 acknowledged the South Sea
Islanders and in 2000 the Queensland Government recognised the
South Sea Islanders as a distinct cultural groupxvi. However, this is
not enough for the ancestors of the blackbirding victims. As of May
2018, there has been no formal apology given by the Australian or
Queensland governments to the South Sea Islander people. The
first South Sea Islander elected MP broke down in parliament
where he retold the stories of his ancestors being unwilling
participates in blackbirding and forced away from their families and
communitiesxvii. This shows that blackbirding still effects
communities and families to this day. A statue of Robert
Townsxviii, has been the target of protest lately, as the families of those individuals affected
by blackbirding believe their ancestors should also be remembered in Townsville history.
This was the man that decided the fate of their ancestors and who tore families apart. By
having his statue up, with no mention of what he created, leaves a big gap in the history of
Australia and Robert Towns himself. Based on the Victorian Curriculum (2018)xix there is no
section that would allow teachers to teach their students about this time in Australian
history. If it is left out
in school curriculum,
where most people
would learn about our
countries history, then
how are we meant to
learn about this? How
are we giving
recognition to those
who suffered?
It is time for better recognition. It is time for an apology. People like to forget and run away
from the truth that our nation was once a part of such a horrible history, that Australia was
once a terrifying place for people. Unfortunately, the ancestors of those affected cannot
hide away, they cannot forget, this is their history, this is their story. We need to be
accountable for our nations actions and hope we never return to such a dark time.
Blackbirding was a key time in Australian history and these individuals helped to make
Australia what it is today. It is time they are acknowledged and thanked for their part in
Australian history.
Bibliography:

Primary Sources:

‘Cotton’, Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser, Wed 19 Apr 1865, 2, in
Trove [online database], assessed 1st Oct. 2018.

Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 (Cth)

Pacific Island Labourers Act Amendment Act 1884 (Qld)

‘Polynesian Labourers’, South Australian Register, Fri 24 Jul 1869, 2, in Trove [online
database], accessed 5th Oct. 2018.

Queensland Government , Queensland Government recognition statement : Australian

South Sea Islander Community / Queensland Government, Brisbane, Qld, 2000, 1.

South Sea Islander women working on a sugar cane plantation at Hambledon, Queensland,
about 1891. John Oxley Library, negative number 172501 [image], (2004),
http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/primo-
explore/fulldisplay?docid=slq_alma21219991810002061&context=L&vid=SLQ&lang=en_US
&search_scope=SLQ_PCI_EBSCO&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=all&query=any,
contains,John%20Oxley%20Library,%20negative%20number%20172501.&offset=0
,accessed 1st Oct. 2018.

State Library of Queensland, Ship load of South Sea Islanders arriving in Queensland [image],
(17 Sep. 2017). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/ship-load-of-south-sea
-islanders-arriving-in-queensland/8942048 accessed 17th Sep. 2018.

Unknown creator, Blackbirding [image], (c. 1890) <

https://www.britannica.com/topic/blackbirding> accessed 23rd Sep. 2018.

Secondary Sources:

Birch, Alan ‘The implication of the White Australia Policy in the Queensland Sugar Industry
1901-1912’. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 11/2, 1965, 198.

Denisbin, Statue of Robert Towns in Townsville, Queensland [image], (24 Aug. 2017)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-24/statue-of-robert-towns-in-townsville,
-queensland/8839310 accessed 30th Sep 2018.

Doherty, Ben, ‘Full truth: descendants of Australia’s blackbirded islanders want pioneer
statues amended’ The Guardian, 24 Aug. 2017, 8,
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/24/full-truth-needs-to-be
-told-descendants-of-blackbirded-south-sea-islanders-want-memorials-amended
accessed 11th Oct 2018.
Griggs, Peter, ‘Sugar Plantations in Queensland, 1864 – 1912: Origins, Characteristics,
Distribution, and Decline’ Agricultural History, 74/03 (2000), 609-647.

Higginbotham, Will ‘Australians ‘just starting to wake up’ to historical South Sea Islander
slavery’, ABC News, 18 Sep. 2017, 6, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09
-17/australians-just-starting-to-wake-up-to-slave-history/8887262 accessed 10th
Oct. 2018.

Kesteven, Sophie, ‘Blackbirding history uncovered in unmarked graves in north Queensland

cemetery’ ABC News, 8 Jun. 2016, 2, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06
-07/discovering-umarked-australian-south-sea-islander-graves/7484830 accessed
10th Oct. 2018.

Knight, Roger, ‘Australia's sugar industry in regional and historical perspective [ Review of
Graves, Adrian. Cane and Labour: The Political Economy of the Queensland Sugar
Industry (1993)’. Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, 22 (1994) 132-
135.

Koenig, Rick, ‘South Sea Islanders call for Australian Government apology’ Tweed Daily
News, 15 May 2018, para. 2, https://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/south-sea
-islanders-call-for-australian-government/3415641/ accessed 30 Sep. 2018.

Lack, Clem, ‘Pirates, blackbirders, and other shady characters.’ Journal of the Royal
Historical Society of Queensland, 6/2, 367

Victorian Curriculum (2018) History. Assessed from

http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/the-humanities/history/curriculum/f-
10#level=7-8

Wawn, William T, The South Sea Islanders and the Queensland labour trade (Canberra ACT:
Australian National University Press, 1973)

i
Clem Lack , ‘Pirates, blackbirders, and other shady characters.’ Journal of the Royal Historical Society of
Queensland, 6/2, 367.
ii
Peter Griggs, ‘Sugar Plantations in Queensland, 1864 – 1912: Origins, Characteristics, Distribution, and
Decline’ Agricultural History, 74/03 (2000), 609
iii
Unknown creator, Blackbirding [image], (c. 1890) < https://www.britannica.com/topic/blackbirding>
accessed 23rd Sep. 2018.
iv
State Library of Queensland, Ship load of South Sea Islanders arriving in Queensland [image], (17 Sep. 2017).
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/ship-load-of-south-sea-islanders-arriving-in-queensland/8942048
accessed 17th Sep. 2018.
v
‘Polynesian Labourers’, South Australian Register, Fri 24 Jul 1869, 2, in Trove [online database], accessed 5th
Oct. 2018.
vi
‘Cotton’, Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser, Wed 19 Apr 1865, 2, in Trove [online
database], assessed 1st Oct. 2018.
vii
South Sea Islander women working on a sugar cane plantation at Hambledon, Queensland, about 1891. John
Oxley Library, negative number 172501 [image], (2004), http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/primo-
explore/fulldisplay?docid=slq_alma21219991810002061&context=L&vid=SLQ&lang=en_US&search_scope=SL
Q_PCI_EBSCO&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=all&query=any,contains,John%20Oxley%20Library,%
20negative%20number%20172501.&offset=0, accessed 1st Oct. 2018.
viii
William T, Wawn, The South Sea Islanders and the Queensland labour trade (Canberra ACT: Australian
National University Press, 1973)
ix
Roger Knight, ‘Australia's sugar industry in regional and historical perspective [ Review of Graves, Adrian.
Cane and Labour: The Political Economy of the Queensland Sugar Industry (1993)’. Journal of the Historical
Society of South Australia, 22 (1994) 132.
x
Will Higginbotham, ‘Australians ‘just starting to wake up’ to historical South Sea Islander slavery’, ABC News,
18 Sep. 2017, 6, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/australians-just-starting-to-wake-up-to-slave-
history/8887262 accessed 10th Oct. 2018.
xi
Ben Doherty, ‘Full truth: descendants of Australia’s blackbirded islanders want pioneer statues amended’ The
Guardian, 24 Aug. 2017, 8, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/24/full-truth-needs-to-
be-told-descendants-of-blackbirded-south-sea-islanders-want-memorials-amended accessed 11th Oct 2018.
xii
Sophie Kesteven ‘Blackbirding history uncovered in unmarked graves in north Queensland cemetery’ ABC
News, 8 Jun. 2016, 2, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-07/discovering-umarked-australian-south-sea-
islander-graves/7484830 accessed 10th Oct. 2018.
xiii
Pacific Island Labourers Act Amendment Act 1884 (Qld)
xiv
Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 (Cth)
xv
Alan Birch ‘The implication of the White Australia Policy in the Queensland Sugar Industry 1901-1912’.
Australian Journal of Politics & History, 11/2, 1965, 198.
xvi
Queensland Government , Queensland Government recognition statement : Australian South Sea Islander
Community / Queensland Government, Brisbane, Qld, 2000, 1
xvii
Rick Koenig, ‘South Sea Islanders call for Australian Government apology’ Tweed Daily News, 15 May 2018,
para. 2, https://www.tweeddailynews.com.au/news/south-sea-islanders-call-for-australian-
government/3415641/ accessed 30 Sep. 2018.
xviii
Denisbin, Statue of Robert Towns in Townsville, Queensland [image], (24 Aug. 2017)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-24/statue-of-robert-towns-in-townsville,-queensland/8839310
accessed 30th Sep 2018.
xix
Victorian Curriculum (2018) History. Assessed from http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/the-
humanities/history/curriculum/f-10#level=7-8