Workingman’s Paradise, a novel by William Lane, was originally published under the pseudonym of “John Miller”. It is set amongst the backdrop of late 19th century colonial Australia, within the fiery world of the Labour Union movement.
Lane parodies the common sentiment that Australia was a “workingman’s paradise”, exploring the struggles and disenfranchisement of the Australian worker in the developing Nation. A core motivation for writing this work was to raise funds for unionists imprisoned after the shearer’s strikes.
William Lane was an English born writer, and advocate of Socialist politics.