Moonlight Creek Coal Co. – Concept (continued)
Trouble at Mill!
The late 1920s was not a good time to start a mine. The demand for coal dropped during the Depression, and there was fierce competition for sales. The directors of the Moonlight Creek Coal Co. were prepared to undercut the price of coal from the longer established mines at Paparoa and Roa. Because no other jobs were available, Moonlight Creek miners were forced to accept a form of contract work known as the tribute system, which was strongly opposed by the large mining unions. This was to lead to an ugly confrontation.
In the early hours of 26 May 1931, more than 200 miners, led by union officials from the Paparoa and Roa mines, trekked up the Moonlight Creek railway, arriving just as work was about to start. They frog-marched the Moonlight Creek miners back to Paparoa where they were forced to leave the district, under police escort, showered, with what The Grey River Argus termed, “Irish confetti” (bricks or stones).
The government sent police to restore order, and the protest leaders were subsequently arrested and fined. Within a few weeks the Moonlight Creek mine was working again, but the events were to leave a legacy of mistrust that persisted for decades. Over the years a number of private mines opened in the area, but the miners there remained apart from the strongly unionised miners south of the Grey River.
