The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Qld, after being moved off their land and often institutionalised, were required to work for little or no cash in both private and public employment, while their money was kept in trust by the State. These wages were never paid.

After a concentrated campaign in 2001, a negotiating document was prepared with a claim of $500 million to be paid to claimants in stages, based on the number of years worked. The claimants were strongly supported by ANTaR Queensland and the union movement.

The Qld Government came back with an offer of $55.5 million - $444 million short of the actual amount required to pay back the people whose wages were stolen.

In this Indigenous Wages and Savings Reparations Scheme, a take-it-or-leave-it offer, amounts were limited to $4,000 for older people and $2,000 for younger people. Claimants had to have sufficient documents to make a claim, and the heirs of dead workers could not claim on behalf of their parents. An indemnity had to be signed ruling out any future actions.

In his autobiography Making a Difference Peter Beattie wrote:
• “Now at last, we are starting to see a significant shift, particularly during the 1990s, in Indigenous people’s own thinking about their situation and the way forward. From the completely paternalistic scenario of forty or more years ago, we have moved to a point where, not only do Indigenous people want to take control of their own lives, they know they’ve got to make it happen themselves.”

Peter Beattie’s comments clearly show that he never really accepted that Aboriginal workers were systematically and continuously ripped off, nor that the results are several generations of Indigenous Queenslanders who suffered enforced poverty, poor education, dreadful housing, poor health and over-representation in the criminal justice system.

Claimants and their supporters protested about the inadequate offer but unable to negotiate a better deal. By July 2007, 4211 people had received payments of $4000, and 1342 received $2000. Over 3,500 claimants were deemed ineligible.

In 2007, the government agreed to consult with claimants about how to disburse the $35 million that remained in the IWSR Scheme. This remainder was due to the number of people who had had their claims knocked back because the Government records were missing, and due to number who had already died remembering that their heirs were debarred from making their claim.

Claimants have consistently insisted that they are owed every cent of the IWSR plus millions of dollars more. This view was strongly reiterated in the consultations carried out through 2007, in spite of the Government’s promotion of their Option, in which a limited extra payment of $3,000 and $1,500 would be paid to successful claimants. Unsuccessful claimants were not allowed to re-apply with affidavits to support their claims (as in NSW) nor were any new claims allowed. Some people had refused to claim due to the insultingly small amounts offered but might have agreed to claim for the sum of $7,000.

On 25 March, the Minister Lindy Nelson Carr announced the government’s second round offer and the remaining $21 million was allocated to an education Trust Fund. This was a decision that directly contradicted the Claimants expressed desire to have the remaining amount allocated across already successful claimants.

The Government Fact Sheet adds ‘The IWSR scheme has been in addition to the over $40 million paid out to Indigenous Queenslanders in under-award wages matters’.

The Fact Sheet does not mention that every cent paid re under-award wages has been disputed by the Queensland Government and has been dragged from them through stressful, expensive and life-sapping court cases, the settlement of which have invariably ended up with ‘confidential, out of court settlements.’

At the meeting on 25 March 2008 with the Stolen Wages Working Group, including some on a phone hook-up, the Minister informed the group of the Government’s decision. Minutes record the following reactions from those present.
Working Group response:

1. We are not obligated to other people, to look after them (ie young people)
2. It is our wages money, money we earned
3. People worked hard, under difficult conditions, for this money
4. We are not children, and we're tired of the government making decisions for us
5. You have not consulted with us in good faith
6. How far does "sorry" go? Prime ministers can make statements, but government departments don't have to care about it, and can carry on as usual
7. In our communities we are spokespeople and elders, listened to and treated with respect, and you are ignoring us
8. We've worked for years on this, voted and given our decisions, and you've made us look like fools
9. The government is always making our decisions for us
10. It's alright for older non-Indigenous people to go off spending their savings instead of leaving them for their children's inheritance; we can't even get hold of our savings

What now?

The Stolen Wages Working Group and the Claimants have asked for support from the unions. This is a call that has been taken up by the Unions and they are currently fighting two test cases before the Qld Courts. You can support this campaign by writing to the Qld Premier and asking her to “do the right thing” and pay claimants their dues.