History of
Labour Day

Labour Day – or Eight Hour Day as it was formerly called – marks the long struggle by the working class to achieve an eight-hour working day.

It was first commemorated in Queensland on March 1, 1865, to mark the date that stonemasons won an eight-hour day.

The date shifted to May 1 – the celebration of International Workers Day – during the 1891 Shearers Strike in Barcaldine, the birthplace of the Australian labour movement.

More than 1000 people participated in the march and carried the Eureka flag. Cheers were given for “the eight-hour day”.

The first Brisbane May Day march was held in 1893.

Eight Hour Day was formally changed to the first Monday in May in 1901, when it was gazetted as a public holiday. In 1912 it was renamed Labour Day.

August 21, 2012

The LNP Government has overturned the former ALP Government’s decision to move the Queen’s Birthday public holiday to the first Monday in October, instead deciding to move Labour Day from May to this date.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Jarrod Bleijie today introduced the Holidays and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 into State Parliament to make the change.

“By moving the Labour Day public holiday to October it will break up the concentration of public holidays that generally fall in the April-May period and provide a break to workers during the second half of the year because of an even spread of public holidays,” Mr Bleijie said.

It would also keep the Queen’s Birthday public holiday consistent with other States and Territories with the exception of Western Australia.

Mr Bleijie said the reinstatement of the June long weekend would also boost tourism in a traditionally quiet time of the year.

“Having the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in early June makes sense from a tourism perspective as it encourages people to make the most of the extra day off and take a mini-break away – whether it is to the coastal, mountain, outback or winery regions of Queensland,” he said.

“This change should also result in little, if any, additional costs to business in relation to penalty rates or paid days off as the number of public holidays per year has not increased – it is simply changing the time of the year in which Labour Day is observed.”

The change to Queensland’s public holiday schedule will come into effect for 2013.

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Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has thrown her support behind the announcement.

She said the move was designed to break up the concentration of public holidays in the April-May period.

She said a review of the 2011 amendment to the Holiday Act 1983 showed strong community support to move Labour Day as opposed to the Queen’s Birthday public holiday.

The move was also supported by a newspaper survey earlier this year where more than 70 per cent of respondants wanted the Labour Day holiday moved.

“Having the Queen’s Birthday holiday in June has always been seen as major benefit to the state’s tourism industry, as it allows people to take a break during the quiet winter months,” Mrs Frecklington said.