23/2/1965

Bowraville

This morning we arrived in Bowraville at 11:30am.  We were greeted by some women from an aboriginal welfare committee, saying that there is no discrimination in this town, which we found out later to be wrong.  Some of us went out to the nearby reserve which was in a terrible condition, it had no manager, so the 26 year old houses hadn't been looked after in 15 year.  After speaking to some of the aborigines in the overcrowded houses we found their biggest concern was the lack of job opportunities, Bowraville didn't have many jobs - any that were available went to the white people.  We also learnt of segregation in the pubs, cafes and even instances at the school.  By far the worst discrimination we heard of today was that the Bowraville picture theatre was partitioned, so the aboriginal people couldn't sit with the whites.  The aboriginal people also had to buy their tickets separately and could only enter through a back entrance when the film had started.  They also had to sit on hard wooden fold-out chairs and had to tilt their head back to see the screen, whereas the whites got the nice comfy seats with a good view.  It appeared to me that the aboriginal population and the white population were almost completely separate.  When we got back to town we tried to confront the manager of the picture theatre but he shut the door on us.  We decided we would picket the theatre later.  The crowd outside the theatre wasn't as hostile as some of the other places but they still didn't want to do anything to help the aboriginal people.  We finished picketing at 9pm and left to Kempsey.

Bowraville Picture Theatre

Posted by Aiden Foy at 22:00

17/5/1965

Moree

This morning we went out to the nearby mission and reserve to conduct surveys.  The mission was in a better condition than the reserve but there was a manager who was very disliked and seemed rather unpleasant.  Then we went to Bingara Road reserve where the conditions were terrible.  We moved on and picketed the council chambers because of the swimming pool segregation but it was boiling hot so no one came.  So we went to the swimming pool with six aboriginal boys but the manager refused them entry.  After protesting for about 25 minutes we were let in.  Then Charles came with a bus load of 21 more aboriginal boys and they were let in.  After dropping the boys back we went to a public meeting at the memorial hall. There were over 200 people there and at first the atmosphere was very hostile.  Jim Spigelman spoke about who we were, then John Powles spoke about our surveys and Charles (Perkins).  After some questions someone named Mr Kelly got up and said that the section in the towns rules about segregation in the swimming pool should be removed.  He was backed by Bob Brown.  We were delighted to here that the vote was 88 to 10 in favour of getting rid of the segregation rules.  That evening we celebrated in the church hall with tea and coffee.

Charles Swimming with the Aboriginal Boys

Posted by Aiden Foy at 21:00

15/5/1965

Walgett

Today we woke up in Walgett.  We decided to hold a protest outside the front of the RSL club at 12pm because we heard the indigenous veterans were only allowed in once a year on ANZAC day.  We started the morning with some surveys, discovering that the conditions were terrible, they had to use dirty water and lived in overcrowded tin shacks with mud floors.  At 12pm we lined up in front of the RSL club holding signs that said: "Acceptance, Not Segregation", "End Colour Bar" "Bullets did not Discriminate", "Walgett - Australia's Disgrace", "Why Whites Only" and "Educate the Whites".  A crowd started to gather and Charles spoke to them, entering into discussions about segregation with the help of the local aborigines.  Whilst that was happening some of us went and protested outside a dress shop that refused to serve indigenous people, but they closed shop half-an-hour later, so we went back to RSL club.  At about 7pm we pack up after having intense arguments for the last two hours with the locals about aboriginal rights.  That night we decided to leave after being refused another night's stay.  About 200 aborigines and some whites came to see us off.  We left Alex Mills behind because the pub goers were starting to get hostile, meaning we had to leave quickly.  A few kilometres down the road a truck tried to push us off the road.  On the first two attempts our driver managed to swerve but on the third attempt the truck hit us forcing the bus to tip but not roll.  They probably did this because they didn't like what we were doing.  The police came and took a statement and we spent the night in the park at Walgett.

Protesting Outside Walgett RSL

Posted by Aiden Foy at 23:45

14/2/1965

Gulargambone

We arrived in Gulargambone at 11:30am this morning.  It is a very small town with a nearby aboriginal reserve (plot of land given back to the indigenous people after being pushed off their land by the European settlers).  We discovered in Gulargambone that segregation exists, we were told that only certain aborigines allowed in pub, and aborigines not served in the cafe (the only one).  We got permission to go to the aboriginal reserve but for only one hour, to conduct some interviews, learning more about the racism the aboriginal people faced.  During one of the interviews with an old couple, I was told that is impossible for aboriginal people to get jobs in the town.  Most of the time they got jobs like shearing, which do pay well but are only seasonal.  Whilst we were on the aboriginal reserve I noticed how poor the housing was, most of them looked like old corrugated iron sheds.  That afternoon we did some surveys learning more about the racism towards the aboriginal people, then left for Walgett at 4pm.  We arrived at Walgett at about 7pm.  We went for a swim and then some of us went and played basketball against the local aboriginal teams, making me feel like our project had support.

Housing on the Reserve

Posted by Aidan Foy at 22:30