An alien workforceOne of the most interesting periods in the history of Queensland forestry occurred in the years during and after the Second World War. With all Australia involved in the war effort, the construction of defence installations placed a heavy burden on timber supplies. Forestry was regarded as an essential industry and measures were taken to ensure that timber was made available for the war effort. As the male labour force shrunk, European prisoners of war were used to harvest Queensland's timber. Prisoners of war were sent to the Mary Valley as well as the Brigalow district around Chinchilla. The need for timber became even greater for reconstruction after the war. Housing shortages placed a huge demand on wood supplies but the workforce to cut the timber was not available. The solution came in the form of European refugees, officially referred to at the time as displaced persons. The Australian Government agreed to accept these people in July 1947. While millions of war refugees were resettled in the intervening period, about one million refused to return to their homelands. The majority of these displaced persons came from eastern Europe and remained in holding camps in central Europe after the war. There were, however, a number of conditions placed on the agreement between the Australian government and the United Nations, the organisation that coordinated the Displaced Persons Mass Resettlement Scheme. People entering Australia had to agree to work for two years in any employment as directed by the Commonwealth Government. Essential industries in Queensland included the sugar industry and forestry. After this two-year contract expired, displaced persons were allowed to find their own employment. The scheme operated between 1947 and 1952. During this time, between 6000 and 8000 men and women were employed in Queensland. About 1000 were employed by the Department of Forestry. This workforce peaked during 1950 when more than 650 men were employed, primarily in the massive reafforestation program undertaken by the department. The largest concentrations of forestry-employed displaced persons were at Imbil, Amamoor, Widgee, Gallangowan, Yarraman, Benarkin, Blackbutt, Colinton, Chinchilla, Elgin Vale, Atherton and Beerburrum. While some workers objected to the remoteness of the work and gravitated to coastal towns and cities, others remained employed by the Forestry Department after their contract had expired.
Forestry's "reservoir of labour". Former unemployed men work burnt scrub to plant forests during the Great Depression
A safe haven for displaced persons. These temporary forestry camps in rural Queensland were spartan, but were a "million miles" from war-ravished Europe during and after the Second World War |
