Fixing wages for Aborigines in the Queensland cattle industry 1901

Wages for Aborigines in the Queensland cattle industry between 1901 and 1965 were set not by a tribunal but on the advice of the Chief Protector of Aborigines and his successors. These men did not fix wages according to the \u27needs\u27 of Aborigines; rather, they proclaimed wage rates that represented tbe resolution of a variety of considerations, some economic and some political. This paper analyses the fixing of wages for Aboriginal station bands in Queensland under the protectorate system, and contrasts these wages with developments in wages for white workers in the industry