Tree of Knowledge (Australia)

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For other uses of the term, see Tree of Knowledge.

View of the 'Tree of Knowledge' and railway station, Barcaldine, Queensland, 1987

The Tree of Knowledge was a tree in Barcaldine, Queensland, Australia, the understory of which was regarded as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Tree of knowledge in 1991

It was a 200-year-old ghost gum. It is said that in 1891 a group of protesting sheep shearers founded the Australian Labour Party under the tree.

In an act of vandalism, the tree was poisoned with Glyphosate (a main ingredient in the herbicide RoundUp) in 2006. An arborist declared the tree dead on 3 October 2006. The ALP offered a reward of AUD $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 [1] 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.

Several cuttings propagated from the tree before its death are now growing in Barcaldine.