1891 Australian shearers' strike wrote his novel in 1892, T"he workingman's paradise", with two aims: to support fundraising efforts for the imprisoned unionists, and to explain unionism and socialism to those who would listen. Banjo Paterson's song Waltzing Matilda, an unofficial Australian anthem, was also written about this era of shearers' industrial disputes in Queensland. Helen Palmer's song 'The Ballad Of 1891', set to music by Doreen Jacobs, details the lead up to the strike and aftermath. The 1975 film Sunday Too Far Away, directed by Ken Hannam has been partly inspired by the events surrounding this strike. The site of the striking shearers'
Strawhead (band) fueled some controversy when it made a derivate work from an old ballad entitled "The Bold Fusilier". "The Bold Fusilier" is a British song which some argue predates the 1903 tune to "Waltzing Matilda". "Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known folk song, and has been referred to as 'the unofficial national anthem of Australia. There are similarities between "Waltzing Matilda" and "The Bold Fusilier", making for argument that one of the songs is based on the other song. There is no evidence that "The Bold Fusilier" is older than "Waltzing Matilda" and Australia and most sources reject the idea