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2 unusual facts about Barcaldine


Barcaldine, Argyll

The town of Barcaldine in western Queensland, Australia is named (indirectly) after Barcaldine in Argyll.

Freedom on the Wallaby

The last two stanzas of the poem were read out by Frederick Brentnall MP on 15 July 1891 in the Queensland Legislative Council during a 'Vote of Thanks' to the armed police who broke up the Barcaldine strike camp.


Corymbia aparrerinja

In 1891 in Barcaldine, Queensland, a Ghost Gum, known as the Tree of Knowledge, was the focal point of a gathering of striking sheep shearers, a key event leading to the formation of the Australian Labor Party.

Freedom on the Wallaby

The "Rebel flag" referred to in the poem is the Eureka Flag that was first raised at the Eureka Stockade in 1854, above the Shearers' strike camp in 1891 and carried on the first Australian May Day march in Barcaldine on 1 May 1891.

Lake Eyre basin

It rises in the form of two central Queensland rivers, the Thomson between Longreach and Charters Towers, and the Barcoo in the area around Barcaldine, about 500 kilometres inland from Rockhampton.


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