A small town in southern Queensland, Gayndah, population 2,300, is currently the breeding ground for a small upheaval of the local government. Who are the rebels you might ask? It’s not the aboriginals. Nor is it a group of Australians. It’s the French! By nearly doubling the population of Gayndah, the French are attempting to plant a seed of rebellion by gaining control of the local economy: Mandarin production.
How can they do this you ask? Well they began by recruiting as many pickers and packers as they could find and sending them to the small, one street town. They have overrun the local accommodation facilities commonly used by fruit pickers (caravan parks and rest areas). They arrived early in the season to seize the command of the majority of the employment positions available. Currently, the population of employed fruit pickers and packers consists of approximately 70 percent French (25% South Korean or Taiwanese, the rest made up of other Europeans. There are only 3 Americans reported to have landed jobs in Gayndah). Once the French were in position, they began to take action. The first strike arrived 3 days ago when a group of pickers revolted against local farmers, demanding pickers’ rights. While this was most likely the only first of such assaults on Australian society, we are led to believe that their plan is to take over the town of Gayndah by infiltrating the economic security of the small town and expanding their power to bigger and larger towns. It appears the only downfall of the strategic political movement is that the French can’t seem to hold a job. Various sources tell us that the French employed to lead this revolution are only here to earn a second year on their visa (achieved through working in farm towns) and thus are not motivated to become “le crème of the crop” of the picking industry.
(This has been an update from the front lines of the French-Australian revolution here in Gayndah, although the accuracy and veracity of the generalizations made here cannot be backed by hard facts)
