Free the blacks and smash the Act! : Aboriginal policy and resistance in Queensland between 1965 and 1975

Abstract

This thesis focuses on both the State and Commonwealth Governments' involvement in Aboriginal affairs in Queensland from 1965 to 1975. It also examines the way in which the world anti-racism and decolonisation process was heavily influential not only upon the Australian Government's policy but also upon Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people's responses and methods of protest as well. Because Australia is a settler colony with an Aboriginal population estimated as only 1% between 1965 and 1975, this thesis observes how the United Nations remained particularly watchful over Australia. This occurred at a time when Australia was attempting to convince the international community that it was condemning racism and treating Aboriginal minority populations properly within a post-colonial climate of expectation. However, whatever label either Commonwealth or State Governments placed on newly formed Aboriginal policies, this thesis argues that they were merely more acceptable up-to-date methods of colonisation aimed predominantly at averting criticism. Given the overwhelming outcome of the 1967 referendum, the Commonwealth had to address Aboriginal affairs in Australian States, especially Queensland. Initially the Commonwealth provided much needed funding to the Queensland Government to provide health, education and housing on reserves. In the late 1960s, the Commonwealth had started to provide funding to the State Government for housing outside of reserves for Aboriginal families. By the early 1970s, the Commonwealth was funding Aboriginal community-based organisations direct (despite Queensland Government's objections), set up a national elected representative Aboriginal organisation, committed to remove discriminatory legislation from Australian statutes and introduced legislation to outlaw discrimination, attempted to address economic development and committed to the provision of Aboriginal land rights. Using mostly primary resources including speech notes, annual reports and cabinet submissions and other related papers and files from AIATSIS, National Australian and Queensland State archives, the State and Commonwealth Governments' tactics are examined. The examination of activism and resistance provides not only an overview of the workings of organisations in relation to challenging both the State and Commonwealth Governments, but more importantly, the use of the enhanced Australian public opinion together with the UN and international community as effective leverage at a time when the Australian Government was attempting to convince the world that it was committed to protecting the rights of Australia's Aboriginal peoples. The influx of vast numbers of Aboriginal people into Queensland towns and cities facilitated the politicisation of many and led to the emergence of more radical organisations like the Black Community Centre, Act Confrontation Committee, Black Panther Party, Aboriginal Legal Service and Black Community Housing Serves to name a few. Most of these organisations played a role notifying the world about the Queensland Government's tactics and embarrassed the Commonwealth. Aboriginal organisations used Australia's need to avert UN criticism as effective leverage in Queensland particularly between 1965 and 1975. Show more