Torres Strait Islands 1936 maritime strike remembered

CELEBRATIONS have been held on Thursday Island to mark 90 years since the 1936 Torres Strait Islands Maritime Strike.

The strike was focused on the pearl-shell industry, a sector that was notoriously dangerous and difficult.

According to the ACTU Institute, many workers were indentured labour from parts of Asia, while the Torres Strait islander workers had limited civil rights.

Before the strike, the government protector, JD McLean, sought to make the pearling industry more efficient and introduced measures widely seen as racist such as imposing a curfew at night and meddling with the islander pearlers’ personal finances. 

Torres Strait Islander people went on strike, defying police who arrested 30 strikers.

Pay increases were offered to encourage them to work but this was rejected, the strike being not only about money but also the terrible conditions islander pearl divers experienced at the time.

After a strike lasting several months, the protector McLean was forced to leave the Islands.

Among the dignitaries to attend included Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Member for Leichardt Matt Smith and Senator Nita Green.

Senator Green said the strike was “remarkable not only for its scale across the Islands, but for the discipline, unity and strength shown by Torres Strait Islander workers”.

“Torres Strait Islanders stood up for fair wages and the right to control their own affairs, and 90 years on, that same courage lives on through the fight for climate action and cultural preservation,” she said.

Mr Smith said the strike was “a line in the sand moment for industrial relations and making sure people get what they deserve”.

“People got together, they wanted better dignity, they wanted the right to spend the money where they wanted to spend it,” he said.

“They wanted to raise curfews; essentially this was slave labour and a collective movement, with messages literally written underwater to get the islanders to push back.”