Sunshine Harvester Works

**History of Sunshine Harvester Works:**
– Established agricultural implement works in Ballarat.
– Moved factory to Braybrook Junction in 1906 and named it Sunshine Harvester Works.
– Factory became the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
– Locality officially renamed Sunshine in 1907.
– McKay’s factory employed over 400 workers in 1907, expanding to around 1500 by 1910-11, and nearly 3,000 workers later.
– Town of Sunshine was compared to the Birmingham of Australia.

**Significance of the Harvester Judgement (1907):**
– Industrial dispute between McKay and unions in 1907.
– Case heard by H. B. Higgins at the Commonwealth Court.
– Higgins obliged McKay to pay employees a reasonable wage, leading to the creation of the minimum basic wage in Australia.
– A benchmark industrial decision for Australian workers.

**Sunshine Harvester Works during Different Periods:**
– The Inter-war period:
– McKay’s factory covered 75 acres by 1926.
– Massey Harris bought controlling interest in 1930.
– Developed the world’s first self-propelled harvester in 1924.
– The Post-war period:
– McKay family sold to Massey Ferguson in the 1950s.
– Factory progressively contracted from the 1970s.
– Most of the factory demolished in 1992.

**Heritage Sites and Recognition:**
– Massey Ferguson Complex, HV McKay Memorial Gardens, and HV McKay Offices listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
– Former factory structures listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
– Development of Sunshine Marketplace on the factory site.

**Additional Resources and Academic Works:**
– Museum Victoria’s archived information.
– Labour History article on Sunshine Harvester Works.
– ACTU Fact Sheet on the Harvester judgment.
– Research Data Australia on H.V. McKay Sunshine Collection.
– Various academic works related to town planning, human geography, and the history of Sunshine Harvester Works.