 "There is no greater sorrow on earth than the loss of one's native land." - Euripides 431 B.C. |
A Gallery in Tribute to Heroes of the Political Struggle for Aboriginal Rights: 1900 - 2000 |
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1906 - 1968 | |||
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• Born 1906 Cummeragunja • Father a drover, Bill left home at 16 • 1929 joins unemployed workers camp Sydney • 1938 works with Patten and Ferguson • 1940 Secretary, NSW Aborigines Progress Association (APA) • 1940s active in ALP and trade union circles • 1944 ran fund raising dances in Redfern • 1945 established Redfern All-Blacks rugby league club • 1946 returned to Melbourne • 1946 became President of Australian Aborigines League • 1946-47 Organised support for Pilbara Strike in WA • 1947 Opposed Woomera Rocket testing range in SA • 1951 organiser An Aboriginal Moomba Out of the Dark • 1952 sets up Aboriginal Enterprises - operates till 1968 • 1952 he is refused US visa - pretext of 'communist' affiliations • 1954 gives name Moomba to autumn festival in Melbourne • 1950s - 1960s Mentor to Bruce McGuinness • 1966 President Aborigines Advancement League • !966-67 last campaign for the Referendum • Died December 1968 | ||