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the early 1900s a new type of canecutter entered the industry. These were young European migrants
who came to Australia to "make their fortune" on the cane fields. Italians in particular contributed to
the growth of the Australian sugar industry with large numbers being brought to Australia as
canecutters in the mid 1950’s. The sugar industry boomed and dramatic changes were taking place
within Queensland. In 1954, bulk handling of raw sugar was introduced into Australia replacing
bagged sugar and mechanical cane harvesters gradually began to replace manual labour in the fields.
By the late 1960s, more than 85 percent of Australian sugar crops were mechanically harvested. In
1979, Australia achieved 100 percent conversion to mechanical cane harvesting.
The Australian cane industry today produces 32-35 million tonnes of cane per year, which when
processed, equates to around 4.5-5 million tonnes of sugar, the majority for export markets.
Figure 1.2 The cane growing regions on the NE seaboard of Australia (source :
www.canegrowers.com.au)
1.1.2 Crop Species
Mallee System
Mallees are multi-stemmed native eucalypt low tree or shrub species. They are deep rooted and
sprout or coppice freely after the main trunk has been damaged by fire or removed for biomass. The
range of mallee species planted in WA (and also in NSW and Victoria) are detailed in Table 1.1.
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