1894 Australian shearers' strike

After the 1890 Australian maritime dispute and the 1891 Australian shearers' strike both of which were long, drawn out affairs in which trade unions were defeated, running out of funds, actions by increasingly militant and desperate unions led up to perhaps the most violent shearers' strike, in 1894.

[2][3] Particularly due to falling wool prices in London, pastoralists were motivated to cut pay rates and hire non-union labour, which was plentiful due to mass unemployment during the 1890s depression.

The most famous incident during the strike was the burning and sinking of the steamer Rodney, which was transporting non-union labour up the Darling River.

When the boat was moored in a swamp 23 miles (37 km) above Pooncarie, a few miles above the Moorara shearing shed, unionists boarded, took control, offloaded all passengers, then soaked the hold in kerosene and set it alight.

The owner of the homestead and three policemen gave chase to a man named Samuel Hoffmeister – also known as "French(y)".