General News
20 November, 2023
Clunes riot on display
A century and a half ago a historical moment was taking shape in Clunes, with miners at the time staging one of the earliest local protests for improved labour rights — today, an exhibition seeks to bring those efforts to light. On December 9...
A century and a half ago a historical moment was taking shape in Clunes, with miners at the time staging one of the earliest local protests for improved labour rights — today, an exhibition seeks to bring those efforts to light.
On December 9, 1873, the gold mining town of Clunes was the centre of a significant uprising against, what was thought to be, Chinese miners — however, the Clunes Museum is now reexamining this version.
According to the museum’s committee member Richard Scollay, recent reports indicate that the incident was related to miners at the Lothair mine advocating for their rights after they were asked to work extra shifts for the same wage — a grievance that was compounded by a range of factors including a poor working environment and additional work on the weekends.
The Clunes Museum is putting up an exhibition to commemorate the 150th anniversary of these riots, Mr Scollay said.
“[They] were striking for better conditions,” he said.
“At the time, they were working below the ground in really bad circumstances — with foul air and in a poorly ventilated space. On top of this the mangers of the mines wanted to bring in a
Saturday afternoon shift, which was normally their day off and they wanted the miners to work on Sundays as well.
“In response to the strike the directors decided to bring in labour from other mines in Ballarat and Creswick and these strike-breakers were Chinese — which led to the riots because the local miners were opposed to the idea of other workers taking their jobs away, it didn’t matter that they were Chinese, they could’ve been British or anybody else, they would’ve been met with the same resistance.”
The free Clunes Riot exhibition will get underway this Thursday, November 23 at the Esmond Gallery in the Warehouse on 36 Fraser Street, Clunes.
For more information visit the museum website — clunesmuseum.org.au