Timeline of Anarchism in Oceania

File:Oceania.JPG

This is a timeline of various political, legal, military, social, economic and environmental events that have occurred in Oceania (a region encompassing the states of Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Micronesia, Tonga, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Nauru) that are relevant to libertarian socialism.

1900s

1902: Prisoners at Fremantle Prison riot in protest of poor quality food.
1908: American IWW activists help create partially self-managed workplaces among meat industry workers in Northern Queensland.

1910s

1912: General Strike in Brisbane occurs over the right to form legal trade unions.^[1]
1918: A near-revolution occurs in Darwin, Australia led by trade unions demanding democratic and workers rights.

1920s

1923: The police in Melbourne, Australia go on a three day strike which leads to the collapse of private property and the control of city streets by strikers.^[2]
1924: Dockworkers in Fremantle strike.
1927: Indigenous Mau in Samoa begin a six-year campaign to resist occupation of the island by New Zealand.^[3]

1930s

1936: Workers from the Torres Strait Islands strike to for greater workers' rights in the pearling industry.^[4]
1938: The Dalfram Strike sees Australian dockworkers try to stop the export of iron to the Japanese Empire in protest of their atrocities and war crimes in China.

1940s

1942: The Battle for Brisbane sees US and Australian soldiers fight as tensions had been raised.
1942: The Townsville Mutiny occurs as black US soldiers attempt to kill their white commanders in response to racial abuse in Australia.
1943: The Maasina Ruru movement for indigenous and workers rights on the Solomon Islands begins.
1943: Soldiers from the Torres Strait Islands hold a sit-down strike for equal pay and greater rights.^[5]
1943: The Battle of Manners Street occurs in Wellington, New Zealand between white US soldiers and Maori NZ soldiers over access to military social centers.
1945: Dockworkers across Australia refuse to serve Dutch ships as a gesture of solidarity to the Indonesian Revolution.
1947: Villagers with the Maasina Ruru begin to declare villages around the Solomon Islands autonomous from the British Empire and refuse to pay taxes or work on plantations or in factories.
1948: Railworkers' across Queensland, Australia strike for better wages.
1949: Coalminers' across Australia strike for for a 35-hour workweek and wage increases.

1950s

1951: Dockworkers in New Zealand attempt to strike for a 15% wage increase, but is defeated, marking the end of militant unionism in New Zealand.
1956: Dockworkers in Fremantle, Western Australia, begin a strike in protest of a lack of wage increases.

1960s

1964: The Mount Isa Mines Strike occurs over pay disputes, but soon sees a complex struggle evolve for control of the union either by the IWW, communists, liberals or corporation.
1966: Aboriginal farm workers begin the nearly 10-year long Gurindji Strike in Kalkarindji, Australia.
1969: Construction workers and environmentalists join forces to block the construction of a nuclear power plant in Jervis Bay, Australia.

1970s

1971: The Harco Work-In occurs as steel factory workers in Sydney, Australia protest their firing and treatment by management.
1971: The four-year long Green Ban movement begins across Australia, where construction workers refuse to work on projects harmful to the environment or local communities. These actions save many iconic streets, buildings and natural reserves from development.
1971: The Melbourne University Resistance Commune occurs, as students occupy buildings in Melbourne University for two days to protest Australia's policy of conscription and support for the US-led war in Vietnam.
1972: Construction workers take over the unfinished Sydney Opera House in Australia and run it as a self-managed workplace in protest of the unjust firing of a fellow worker. Not only does this improve productivity, but it also results in large gains for the working class across Australia.
1972: The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is founded in Canberra, Australia as a permanent occupation and protest camp highlighting the treatment of Aboriginal Australians by the Australian state.
1972: Mineworkers take over the Clutha Development Mine in Australia and run it as a self-managed workplace to prevent closure of the mine.
1972: The Whyalla Glove Factory Work-In as workers respond to the closing of their factory, where it is then converted into a worker cooperative.
1974: Construction workers take over the unfinished Wyong Plaza in Australia and run it as a self-managed workplace in protest of the unjust firing of a fellow worker.
1975: Coalminers' take over the Nymboida Coal Mine in Australia, running it for 4 years as a self-managed enteprise.
1975: The Coal Cliff Work-In occurs in Australia.
1978: Factory workers at a Sanyo Television Factory in Wodonga, Australia take over their workplace at run it as a self-managed site in protest of the factories closure.
1979: Factory workers at a Union Carbide factory in Melbourne, Australia, stage a work-in and run it as a self-managed enterprise.

1980s

1980: Government office workers in Australia takeover the Department of Social Security.
1982: The blockade during the Franklin River Campaign begins, stopping the construction of environmentally destructive dam along the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia.
1986: The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation is founded in Melbourne, Australia.

1990s

1990: Tramworkers' in Melbourne, Australia take over the trams and depots, placing them under workers' control in protest of efforts to privatise the tram network.

2000s

2001: Environmentalists occupy a nuclear power plant in Sydney, Australia, leading to a slow-down of operations at the site.^[6]
2001: The Hat Factory is squatted in Sydney, Australia serving as a shelter for homeless people, domestic violence survivors and mentally ill people.
2005: Government workers in Tonga strike to win massive wage increases and democratic reforms.^[7]

2010s

2011: The Occupy Movement spreads to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.
2015: The Matagarup Refugee Camp is formed in Heirisson Island, Perth, Australia to fight back against discrimination of Aboriginal Australians.
2018: The Student Climate Strike spreads to major and regional cities across Australia and New Zealand.

References

[1] ttps://libcom.org/history/1912-brisbane-general-strike

[2] (Note: Source is not sympathetic to the strikers) - https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/when-an-australian-city-went-mad-the-unprecedented-chaos-that-engulfed-melbourne-for-three-days/news-story/6285b87b97f55a22a0b8a8e3a56bfe46

[3] ttps://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/mau-opposition-new-zealand-rule-samoa-1927-1933

[4] ttps://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/torres-strait-islanders-hold-maritime-strike-against-pearling-industry-1936

[5] ttps://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/torres-strait-soldiers-stage-stay-home-strikes-demand-full-pay-and-end-discrimination-army-1

[6] ttp://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2001/12/18/443080.htm

[7] ttps://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/tongan-public-servants-strike-higher-wages-2005

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