Freedom Rides
How significant were the Freedom Rides and the Tent Embassy and what has been the long term impact on reconciliation in Australia?
Rights for Aborigines were very limited compared to those for immigrated Australians until very recently. A number of events in the 20th century helped bring more rights to Aborigines. Two of these events were the Freedom Rides of 1965 and the Tent Embassy, first seen in 1972.
The Freedom Rides of 1965 took place in New South Wales from the 12th to the 26th of February in that year. A group of university students called SAFA, Student Action for Aborigines, planned a trip to go around New South Wales and see how Aborigines were being treated in small towns. The students were inspired to start SAFA because of protests going on in the USA. The group had between 29 …show more content…
and 35 members, and their president was named Charles Perkins. Charles, aka Charlie, Perkins was a 29 year old Arrernte man, born in Alice Springs. Charlie wrote a book about the Freedom Rides after it finished, while student Ann Curthoys wrote a diary about what happened.
The ride started in Sydney, home to the Eora people, on Friday, February 12. During the next two days SAFA drove to Wellington, home to the Wiradiuri people, where living conditions were very poor, and to Gulargambone, home to the Wayilwan people, where jobs were uncertain. On Monday the 15th of February SAFA arrived in Walgett, the border of the homes to the Wayilwan and Gamilaraay people. The settlement on the Namoi River had terrible living conditions, with filthy water, mud floors and overcrowded tin shacks. When the students held a protest in front of the Returned Service League Club (RSL) the locals stared at them because nothing of the sort had ever been done in Walgett before. The RSL members that passed the protesters laughed, spat at them and tore up their banners. When some white men began to get hostile an Aboriginal women came out and yelled at the married man for chasing her fellow Aboriginal women in the dark each night. When the students of SAFA were leaving the town cars followed them and a truck pushed their bus off the road. “I yelled, ‘Quick, everybody grab a bottle.’ We were really shaken up and some of the girls were crying. But they grabbed some weapon or another. Jimmy Spigelman and I raced up to the front. He had a shoe or some other stupid thing in his hand. I don’t know what he was going to do with that. I had a milk bottle and a Coke bottle and I don’t know what I was going to do with them either,” (Charles Perkins, A Bastard like Me). Footage of the bus being pushed off the road was shown on the news to city dwellers who were shocked at the racism.
The next day the students went to Moree, home to the Gamilaraay people.
The housing was better but Aboriginals weren’t allowed in the public swimming pool, so the students protested for 25 minutes to let some in. Later that day a meeting was held in the Memorial Hall where the students were able to get 88 votes to 10 to remove the segregation in the swimming pool. The following day SAFA arrived at Boggabilla, the border between the homes of the Bigambul and Gamilaraay people. There they found the Aborigines living in overcrowded weatherboard houses with no gas or electricity and often no windows. The police in Boggabilla came often, “to find out who had been drinking. Also they ‘did what they liked’ with the women,” (Ann Curthoy’s diary from the Freedom Rides). On Thursday the 18th, the students went to Tenterfield, home to the Marbal people, and found out that the segregation in Moree had been reinstated, so they decided to go back. During the two days that SAFA was in Moree again, the locals got violent and the police was told to remove SAFA from the pool gates, where they had started their protest. Eventually the mayor of Moree came and officially broke the ban on
Aborigines.
For the remainder of the trip the students went to Grafton, the border between the Bundjalung and Gumbaynggir people’s homes, Lismore, home to the Bundjalung people, Bowraville, home to the Gumbaynggir people, and where they met the worst discrimination they had ever seen and Kepmsey, home to the Dhanggati people. SAFA’s whole journey was filmed and some of it was broadcast on the news. When back in the city, Charles Perkins spoke to a crowd of 200 at the 1965 Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders conference, and because of this the Welfare Board agreed to spend £65,000 on housing in Moree. The Freedom Ride was televised and printed not only in Australia, but around the world. This showed many city people how Aborigines were really being treated and it led to a big amount of pressure being put on the government to fix this. The Freedom Ride also inspired Aborigines to fight for change, instead of just accepting that the way their lives were now were the way it was always going to be. This inspiration eventually lead to the Tent Embassy.
The Tent Embassy was first created on January 26, 1972 by 4 Indigenous men by the names of Billy Craigie, Tony Coorey, Michael Anderson and Bert Williams. The men planted a beach umbrella on the front lawn of the Canberra Parliament House and sat underneath it holding posters protesting against the lack of land rights for Aborigines. Many previous events inspired and led the men from Sydney to come up to Canberra and start the Tent Embassy. In 1966 there was the Gurindji strike in which 200 stockmen, domestic cworkers and families started a strike that would last 7 years protesting about issues like unequal pay, living and working conditions and land rights. In 1967 there was a referendum that recognised Aborigines as citizens of Australia. In 1971 there was the Milirrpum vs Nobalco Northern Territory Supreme Court case about land rights, and on the night of the 1972 Australia Day or Mourning Day the McMahon Government implemented a new system denying Aborigines independent ownership of traditional land.
On the 6th of February of 1972 the Tent Embassy issued five demands to the Government that entailed: 1. Complete rights to the Northern Territory as a state within Australia and the instillation of a primarily Aboriginal State Parliament. These right would include all mining rights to the land.
Rights for Aborigines were very limited compared to those for immigrated Australians until very recently. A number of events in the 20th century helped bring more rights to Aborigines. Two of these events were the Freedom Rides of 1965 and the Tent Embassy, first seen in 1972.
The Freedom Rides of 1965 took place in New South Wales from the 12th to the 26th of February in that year. A group of university students called SAFA, Student Action for Aborigines, planned a trip to go around New South Wales and see how Aborigines were being treated in small towns. The students were inspired to start SAFA because of protests going on in the USA. The group had between 29 …show more content…
and 35 members, and their president was named Charles Perkins. Charles, aka Charlie, Perkins was a 29 year old Arrernte man, born in Alice Springs. Charlie wrote a book about the Freedom Rides after it finished, while student Ann Curthoys wrote a diary about what happened.
The ride started in Sydney, home to the Eora people, on Friday, February 12. During the next two days SAFA drove to Wellington, home to the Wiradiuri people, where living conditions were very poor, and to Gulargambone, home to the Wayilwan people, where jobs were uncertain. On Monday the 15th of February SAFA arrived in Walgett, the border of the homes to the Wayilwan and Gamilaraay people. The settlement on the Namoi River had terrible living conditions, with filthy water, mud floors and overcrowded tin shacks. When the students held a protest in front of the Returned Service League Club (RSL) the locals stared at them because nothing of the sort had ever been done in Walgett before. The RSL members that passed the protesters laughed, spat at them and tore up their banners. When some white men began to get hostile an Aboriginal women came out and yelled at the married man for chasing her fellow Aboriginal women in the dark each night. When the students of SAFA were leaving the town cars followed them and a truck pushed their bus off the road. “I yelled, ‘Quick, everybody grab a bottle.’ We were really shaken up and some of the girls were crying. But they grabbed some weapon or another. Jimmy Spigelman and I raced up to the front. He had a shoe or some other stupid thing in his hand. I don’t know what he was going to do with that. I had a milk bottle and a Coke bottle and I don’t know what I was going to do with them either,” (Charles Perkins, A Bastard like Me). Footage of the bus being pushed off the road was shown on the news to city dwellers who were shocked at the racism.
The next day the students went to Moree, home to the Gamilaraay people.
The housing was better but Aboriginals weren’t allowed in the public swimming pool, so the students protested for 25 minutes to let some in. Later that day a meeting was held in the Memorial Hall where the students were able to get 88 votes to 10 to remove the segregation in the swimming pool. The following day SAFA arrived at Boggabilla, the border between the homes of the Bigambul and Gamilaraay people. There they found the Aborigines living in overcrowded weatherboard houses with no gas or electricity and often no windows. The police in Boggabilla came often, “to find out who had been drinking. Also they ‘did what they liked’ with the women,” (Ann Curthoy’s diary from the Freedom Rides). On Thursday the 18th, the students went to Tenterfield, home to the Marbal people, and found out that the segregation in Moree had been reinstated, so they decided to go back. During the two days that SAFA was in Moree again, the locals got violent and the police was told to remove SAFA from the pool gates, where they had started their protest. Eventually the mayor of Moree came and officially broke the ban on
Aborigines.
For the remainder of the trip the students went to Grafton, the border between the Bundjalung and Gumbaynggir people’s homes, Lismore, home to the Bundjalung people, Bowraville, home to the Gumbaynggir people, and where they met the worst discrimination they had ever seen and Kepmsey, home to the Dhanggati people. SAFA’s whole journey was filmed and some of it was broadcast on the news. When back in the city, Charles Perkins spoke to a crowd of 200 at the 1965 Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders conference, and because of this the Welfare Board agreed to spend £65,000 on housing in Moree. The Freedom Ride was televised and printed not only in Australia, but around the world. This showed many city people how Aborigines were really being treated and it led to a big amount of pressure being put on the government to fix this. The Freedom Ride also inspired Aborigines to fight for change, instead of just accepting that the way their lives were now were the way it was always going to be. This inspiration eventually lead to the Tent Embassy.
The Tent Embassy was first created on January 26, 1972 by 4 Indigenous men by the names of Billy Craigie, Tony Coorey, Michael Anderson and Bert Williams. The men planted a beach umbrella on the front lawn of the Canberra Parliament House and sat underneath it holding posters protesting against the lack of land rights for Aborigines. Many previous events inspired and led the men from Sydney to come up to Canberra and start the Tent Embassy. In 1966 there was the Gurindji strike in which 200 stockmen, domestic cworkers and families started a strike that would last 7 years protesting about issues like unequal pay, living and working conditions and land rights. In 1967 there was a referendum that recognised Aborigines as citizens of Australia. In 1971 there was the Milirrpum vs Nobalco Northern Territory Supreme Court case about land rights, and on the night of the 1972 Australia Day or Mourning Day the McMahon Government implemented a new system denying Aborigines independent ownership of traditional land.
On the 6th of February of 1972 the Tent Embassy issued five demands to the Government that entailed: 1. Complete rights to the Northern Territory as a state within Australia and the instillation of a primarily Aboriginal State Parliament. These right would include all mining rights to the land.