The Australian Worker

The Hummer was the first union-owned newspaper in New South Wales (there was a privately owned pro-labor paper called The Shearers' Record published by Andrews and Taylor), and was born out of the perception that many or most mainstream newspaper proprietors and editors were sufficiently hostile to Unionism to suppress or mutilate letters and news items sympathetic to workers' rights, and to come down heavily on the side of business owners in any dispute.

The men behind this bold move, which may have contravened the constitutions of the unions involved, were Wagga Branch officials Walter Head, Arthur Rae and J. J. Mooney.

Publication resumed in a reduced size on 31 August 1897, operated by the Bourke Branch of the AWU and with artwork generously provided by its Queensland counterpart.

In 1900 they moved to 311 Kent Street, Sydney, and a Cox-duplex flat-bed rotary press, capable of printing 5000 sheets per hour was installed.

In that year the member levy was increased to 5s., which enabled the employment of additional literary staff and the purchase of freehold property at 129 Bathurst Street, so the business was no longer at the mercy of the landlord.

[6] Its circulation peaked in 1917, when Billy Hughes was running the conscription referendum; the Worker was solidly behind the 'No' case.

Cartoonists: 1907 Claude Marquet, followed by Will Donald, Pat Sullivan[8] Women's Pages:Mary Gilmore Business manager: J. F. "Jack" Higgins Editors: Walter Head,[9] Arthur Rae, J. Medway Day, Hector Lamond, William Lane, George Mure Black (1854–1936), E. J. Brady, Henry E. Boote (1865–1949), Sub-editors: Frank Barnes, William David "Jack" Heher (c. 1872 – 27 December 1951) Writers and Journalists: Most issues of The Hummer, The Worker, The Australian Workman and The Australian Worker from 5 March 1914 to 20 December 1950 are available on-line and accessible via Trove, a service of the Australian National Library.

Curiously, The Hummer, which was published in Wagga is indexed by the Australian National Library as "The Hummer (Milsons Point, NSW : 1891–1892)" whereas The Worker, for almost its entire history produced in Sydney, is indexed as "The Worker (Wagga, NSW : 1892–1913)".