Yakka: Australia at Work on ABC – Since colonisation in the 18th century, mining has shaped Australia economically, politically and culturally.
In 1949, a coal miners’ strike brought the country to a standstill and threatened to undermine the post-war recovery. Although defeated, the strike effectively ended the Labor administration and ushered in 25 years of conservative government.
Inadvertently, mining also gave a spur to the political ambitions of First Nations Australians when the Yolgnu people protested against mining in Yirrkala; the protests of the 1960s and ‘70s were a catalysts for Land Rights.
By 2010, miners were exercising their political power again when they took on the Rudd government over a tax on mining super profits – the result was eerily reminiscent of 1949.
Series Producer Mike Bluett. Executive Producers: Alan Erson, Dr Holly Trueman, Serge Ou. ABC Executive Producers Leo Faber and Madeleine Hawcroft.
Yakka: Australia at Work on ABC and ABC iview – Tuesday 5 December, 2023 at 9.00pm
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