Out of sight, out of mind' : A comparative study of race and labour in the Mackay district, 1930s-1940's

This chapter endeavours to identify and discuss the labour and economic conditions of three groups, Aboriginal, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander people within the Mackay region. The time period for this analysis is from 1930 to the 1940s. The research will analyse the origins of differences where they exist as well as documenting similarities between the three groups. To achieve this task the investigator first gleaned informants' perceptions of labour and economic conditions from representatives of the three groups in the Mackay region for this period. For this task, the investigator engaged three older participants, living in Mackay, one from each of the groups mentioned above. Their oral histories are contextualised, where possible, with relevant academic accounts, and government publications to clarify the broad contexts, economic and industrial, in which these groups worked and interacted.