Darwin rebellion

12°28′06″S 130°50′37″E / 12.46833°S 130.84361°E / -12.46833; 130.84361

The Darwin rebellion of 17 December 1918 was the culmination of unrest in the Australian Workers' Union which had existed between 1911 and early 1919. Led by Harold Nelson, over 1,000 demonstrators marched on Government House at Liberty Square in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia where they burnt an effigy of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John Gilruth, and demanded his resignation.

Their grievances were against the two main Northern Territory employers, Vestey’s Meatworks and the Commonwealth of Australia, and concerned political representation, unemployment, taxation and ongoing industrial disputes following the implementation of the White Australia policy. Gilruth and his family left Darwin soon afterwards under the protection of HMAS Encounter, while the Vestey company permanently closed its Darwin operations in 1920. The event was described as the nearest thing to a revolution in Australia since the Eureka Stockade rebellion at Ballarat in 1854.