Through an engaging arrangement of oral history and historic images, this video explores the tenacity, camaraderie, humour and hard-work of the South Sea Islander and Indian populations who worked the banana farms and cane fields of the Tweed River region.
A Tweed River Regional Museum and NSW Migration Heritage Centre video.
The DVD was directed and edited by Magali McDuffie, Pandion Pictures - pandion1@bigpond.com - the participants were interviewed by Mary Lee Connery, who also did the research with the Tweed’s South Sea Islander and Indian communities, for the Tweed River Regional Museum’s affiliated local historical societies.
Sweet Harvests Steering Committee at Murwillumbah (Photo: John Petersen)
Background
The Tweed, being the northern-most coastal Shire in New South Wales, has seen a long and rich history of banana growing and sugar cane farming. Its labour history is intertwined with the arrival of several groups of migrants over time. In particular, the local South Sea Islander population and the Tweed’s Indian communities, have shaped and grown these industries alongside others (including the local Aboriginal, Italian and Macedonian communities).
The banana and sugar industries continue to dominate in the Tweed. The industries have undergone significant technological changes in the 20th century, which have impacted upon their respective workforces.
Read about the Sweet Harvests project more 
Sweet Harvests Steering Committee at Murwillumbah (Photo: John Petersen)
