Electors arriving to vote, Mackay, 1877

• This sketch depicts the strong language used for slogans in support of W H Long, who opposed Henry Rogers Beor (1846-80) in the by-election for the seat of Bowen in 1877. The references to 'slavery' refer to Beor's support for the continued use of indentured labour from the South Pacific Islands. Supporters of the practice argued that the labour was necessary for the development of Qld, opponents that it was 'slavery' that threatened white jobs and wages.
• The word 'Kanakas', used in this sketch, was a derogatory term for South Pacific Islanders, who were treated virtually as slaves in the sugar industry. Often kidnapped in the early years of the practice, they undertook arduous work believed at the time to be too difficult for Europeans in the tropics. The death rate of Islanders in northern Qld was four times that of Europeans due to poor food and housing, medical neglect and mistreatment.
• The issue of South Pacific Islander labour, prominent in this sketch, reflects the importance of the sugar industry to Mackay and the belief among sugar producers that white workers were unsuited to sugar-cane work in the harsh tropical conditions. Mackay became the largest sugar-producing area in Qld within a decade of being founded in 1862 and the region remains the largest sugar-producing area in Australia. It also has the largest population of people of South Pacific Islander descent in Australia.
• Beor won the by-election and joined the Liberal government, retaining the seat until his death in December 1880. Beor, a Brisbane barrister, argued for the retention of South Pacific Islander labour, fearing that to ban it would cause negative effects such as scarce labour, higher labour costs and reduced sugar production. He also advocated territorial separation of northern and southern Qld, supporting Bowen as the hub of the north. Long was against separation.
• The diary from which this sketch is taken is a particularly important historical record because in 1918 a major cyclone and a tidal wave hit the Mackay area, destroying much of the town's documented history. The diary is part of the Rawson Archive held by the State Library of Qld, a collection of handwritten pen-and-ink diaries and photographs that provides a record of Mackay at the time.

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