A Study Of Pacific Islander Labour On Queensland Sugar Plantations(1863-1906)

Sugar industry has a long history as an important agricultural sector in Queensland,Australia.At the beginning of the rise of the industry in the 1863,in order to meet the needs of production development and alleviate the problem of agricultural labor shortage,sugar cane growers and labor traders in Queensland introduced cheap islanders from the neighboring island regions to replace white labor,thus giving birth to the islander labor trade in the South Pacific region.Under the effect of this trading system,tens of thousands of islanders traveled to and from the plantations of the Queensland colony and the Pacific Islands,triggering regional population movement and material and cultural exchanges.At the beginning of labor trade,due to the lack of relevant legislative norms,the recruitment process of islanders labor was full of bloodshed and violence,and the status and treatment of workers were almost slaves.After the 1870 s,with the improvement of management and the introduction of islander legislation,the living and working conditions of workers improved.Influenced by the growing demands of the colonial sugar industry,the number and size of islander workers entering the Queensland colony increased and peaked in the mid-1880 s.In 1904,the Pacific Islander labor trade was suspended after 40 years because of colonial racial consciousness and the white workers’ movement,and two years later,any Pacific Islander worker was prohibited from entering Australia.As an important attempt in the economic and social development of modern Australia,the recruitment of Pacific Islanders not only effectively filled the labor gap in the colonial sugar industry,promoted the prosperity and development of the industry,but also had a great impact on the politics and society of the colonies.In addition,islanders from different islands and ethnic groups have also become an important carrier of cultural exchanges between the two places,contributing to the emergence and development of the modernity of Pacific Island society.