12
The Industrialist, the Solicitor,
and Mr Justice Higgins
Some Biographical Insights into the Harvester
Case of 1907
Peter Yule
The Harvester Case of 1907 was the key case in the development of Australia’s
unique industrial relations system.^1 Essentially, the case determined that
Australia should have a minimum wage set, not by market forces, but a judicial
determination of the needs of workers and their families. The uncoupling of
wagefixing from the laws of supply and demand, or even a general assessment
of economic conditions, was the single most dramatic step that established
Australia’s special path in industrial relations early in the twentieth century,
and it still resonates in Australian public policy debate in the early twenty-first
century.
This chapter provides a biographical appreciation of the actors behind this
key piece of‘institutional’history.
12.1 Three Irish Families
The story of the Harvester Case is bound up with the history of three Protest-
ant families from Ireland, the Higginses, the McKays, and the Shaws. Henry
Higgins, Hugh McKay, and George Shaw were centralfigures in the case, and a
study of their attitudes, beliefs, and actions helps to explain how Australia’s
unique industrial relations system was shaped.
(^1) Ex Parte H V McKay2 CAR 1 1907.