Following a century-long fight for recognition, the South Sea Islander community have had the abhorrent true origins of the Queensland workforce formally acknowledged.
On Friday, Bundaberg mayor Jack Dempsey said the practice of forcing indentured labour into Queensland cane fields was equivalent to slavery and abhorrent .
It marks the first formal apology by a government official to those who were taken from their Pacific Island homes and their descendants.
The practice known as Blackbirding saw an estimated 60,000 South Sea Islanders brought to Australia between 1863 and 1904 to work on sugarcane and cotton farms in Queensland and Northern NSW.
Chairwoman of the interim national body for Australian South Sea Islanders, Waskam (Emelda) Davis, said the apology was many years in the making.
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A local mayor has entered territory no state or federal politician has ventured after apologising for the blackbirding practices that helped build Queensland s sugarcane industry.
Bundaberg mayor Jack Dempsey said the practice of forcing indentured labour into Queensland cane fields was equivalent to slavery and abhorrent . Today I wish to extend a sincere apology on behalf of the Bundaberg region community for the abuse which occurred in blackbirding people from Vanuatu and other Pacific Islands to work in the Queensland sugarcane industry, he said at a ceremony on Friday morning. Our sugarcane industry was built on the backs of Pacific Island labour, along with much of our infrastructure such as rock walls, which are still visible today.
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New AgTech Hub to drive innovation and jobs in agriculture
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities The Honourable Mark Furner
The new Bundaberg AgTech Hub is set to unlock the enormous potential of agricultural technology across the region and enable local farmers to explore the latest innovations.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner officially launched the Bundaberg Regional Council’s
AgTech Hub today at Bargara.
“The adoption of AgTech by producers is key to the future profitability and sustainability of Queensland’s agricultural supply chain,” Mr Furner said.
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