Action and adventure in frontier Australia. A story based on the explosive true events of the 1890s 'Shearers' War' that inspired the song 'Waltzing Matilda.'
Across a territory twice as big as Texas, the half-tamed West of Queensland is aflame with rebellion. Violence erupts as Bush workers are urged to help bring down the 'Squattocracy, ' the big landholders of the Outback. The unionists are being manipulated by shadowy leaders, whose secret agenda is to make Australia the world's first Socialist republic. Caught in the middle are Free Labourers like Matt Conlan. When his independent principles bring Matt into conflict with his fiery young wife and her fiercely pro-union family, he leaves Sydney to seek a freer life in Queensland, and runs into bigger trouble. His travels involve him with cattle kings, camel chieftains, and troopers of the Native Police and soldiers of the Light Horse. On 'The American Place, ' he survives a cattle stampede and the dangerous infatuation of the owners' teenage sister. Landing in a camp of the rebel army, Matt faces a firing squad, and the ultimate test of his courage and resolve.