Badges of Honour

Broken Hill’s Amalgamated Miners Association (AMA) and the Barrier Labour Foundation (BLF) instigated badge show days in 1913. The wearing of badges was compulsory for all members and instigated to boost union membership and prevent ‘scabs’ (non-union labour) from entering or working on the mines. Mining managers had hired scabs during the long 1909 strike, […]

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Pure Water Drinkers

Although there was one pub for every 182 people in Broken Hill during the boom of 1888 the presence of the temperance movement was strong, presenting a distinct and often overlooked contrast to the commonly-held image of a hard-drinking outback mining town. The youth and single status of many of Broken Hill’s early miners, combined […]

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