Page 23 - Memory of the World filled with Color_revised Edition_online

42 ★ For consistency, the spelling “Labor” is used to refer to the political party (with the exception of the 43
title of the inscription), and “Labour” to refer to the wider, non-parliamentary movement

One way or another, we are all labourers. Although most populations on this Earth are
workers, it has not been long since voices for labor interests and requests for improved
working conditions have been heard. The Manifesto of the Queensland Labour Party,
dated 9 September 1892, is regarded as one of the formative documents of the present-
day Australian Labor Party, a heritage which also contributed to the development of

labor movements.

Queensland's late 19th century was an ardent era for labour action. Active participation
of the working classes, both in voting and candidacy, shows their incredible attention
to their labor value. This eagerness inspired the establishment of the Australian Labour
◆
Federation (ALF) in May 1889. The ALF proliferated until the Great Shearers' Strike
followed by a massive economic depression in 1892. This
◆
Considered as one of Australia's earliest and
most important industrial disputes, the Great economic knockdown collapsed numerous societies,
Shearers' Strike (1891) served as a momentum businesses, and trade unions. The number of unionists
for the founding of the Australian Labour Party.
fell from 21,380 in 1890 to 240 by 1895, and only seven
trade unions remained of the previous 54. It was from this devastating background that
the Manifesto was written.

Under the famous Tree of Knowledge, the Manifesto was pronounced during
extraordinary activism, conflict, and working-class resolve for Queensland. The
document mirrored the troubled times – deprivation, unemployment, the declining

welfare of farmers and workers, the enormous and rising public debt. Its statements
emphasized wide-scale contemporary concerns, providing details of the party's
grievances, with a focus on the ruling classes of the time, including squatters,
employers, and the government.

Becoming one of the fundamental grounds where Queensland and the Australian labour
movement puts base, the Manifesto emphasized the need for successful elections and

better representation in Parliament as a means of advancing its goals and aspirations.
Its pronouncement influenced the formation of the first labour government globally
and contributed to labour movements internationally. The cross-influences between
the Queensland Labor Party and other labor organizations and individuals of various
nations raised the relevance of the Manifesto and the significance and universal value of
labour, inspiring contemporary labourers and labor parties to this day.

Manifesto of the

Queensland Labour Party

to the people of Queensland