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Tree of Knowledge (Australia)
Encyclopedia
Barcaldine, Queensland
Barcaldine is a small town in Western Queensland, Australia, approximately by road west of the city of Rockhampton. The town is situated on Lagoon Creek, which flows into the Alice River approximately five kilometres south of the Barcaldine. This is the administrative centre of the Barcaldine...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the understory of which was regarded as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
(ALP). This was because the town was the headquarters of the 1891 Australian shearers' strike
1891 Australian shearers' strike
350px|thumb|Shearers' strike camp, Hughenden, central Queensland, 1891.The 1891 shearers' strike is one of Australia's earliest and most important industrial disputes. Working conditions for sheep shearers in 19th century Australia weren't good. In 1891 wool was one of Australia's largest industries...
where policy and decisions were made. It was a 200-year-old Corymbia aparrerinja
Corymbia aparrerinja
Corymbia aparrerinja commonly known as Ghost Gum, is an evergreen tree that is native to Central Australia....
ghost gum.
Demise
In 1991, the tree was found to be suffering from dieback. In an act of vandalismVandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
, the tree was poisoned with Glyphosate (a main ingredient in the herbicide
Herbicide
Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are pesticides used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant...
RoundUp
Roundup
Roundup is the brand name of a systemic, broad-spectrum herbicide produced by the U.S. company Monsanto, and contains the active ingredient glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the USA, and Roundup has been the number one selling herbicide worldwide since at least 1980...
) in 2006. An arborist
Arborist
An arborist, or arboriculturist, is a professional in the practice of arboriculture, which is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants...
declared the tree dead on 3 October 2006. The ALP offered a reward of A$10,000 for any information that will help identify those responsible.
The remains of the tree were removed on 29 July 2007. According to a Queensland Government release the tree is undergoing a process of wood preservation and the remains of the tree - 7 metres tall and 2 across - are being transferred to a special preservation facility. The tree was successfully cloned
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
in 2008 by workers at the former Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
Several cuttings propagated from the tree before its death are now growing in Barcaldine. A new timber box shaped memorial covering the original standing of the tree costing about A$5M was due to be officially opened on May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
(1 May) 2009. There are mixed views from locals and tourists as to the design and construction of the memorial.
Symbolism
It is said that in 1891 a group of protesting sheep shearerSheep shearer
A sheep shearer is a worker who uses -blade or machine shears to remove wool from domestic sheep during crutching or shearing.-History:...
s founded the Australian Labor Party under the tree. Meeting records of shearers striking for better conditions show they were held at the main strike camp at the edge of the town on Lagoon Creek.. Non-union labour would arrive in the town by rail where they were met by the striking shearers. These impromptu meetings arose at a Cabbage Gum tree near the station where the strikers attempted to rally union members to their cause and block non-unionists.