Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson wrote some of Australia's best loved poems. Mainly about bush people they are full of action rhythm and humour. Paterson is also the author of 'Waltzing Matilda' the nation's best known song.Paterson wrote most of his poems in the 1890s. This was a time of droughts economic depression strikes and the rise of unions especially the shearers' union. It was also a time of increasing nationalism and of the movement towards federation of the separate Australian colonies.