It would be wrong to think nobody knew how bad conditions were on many of the Aboriginal Missions of Reserves in the first half of the 20th Century. If our governments are good for nothing else, they are world champions in the art of initiating endless inquiries into inconvenient truths - then finding reasons to do nothing.
The 1890s depression, World War I, the 1929 depression, World War II... were all deemed higher priorities than Aboriginal Welfare.
A convention held in Melbourne in 1929 by organisations who wanted some action on Aboriginal issues resulted in a succession of further inquiries and recommendations. Aboriginal affairs were gradually becoming politicised, Aboriginals would soon become more active themselves and, Heaven help us, some of the whitefellas stirring things up were Communists.
The 1890s depression, World War I, the 1929 depression, World War II... were all deemed higher priorities than Aboriginal Welfare.
A convention held in Melbourne in 1929 by organisations who wanted some action on Aboriginal issues resulted in a succession of further inquiries and recommendations. Aboriginal affairs were gradually becoming politicised, Aboriginals would soon become more active themselves and, Heaven help us, some of the whitefellas stirring things up were Communists.
In 1946, the Western Australian born poet Dorothy Hewett went to the Pilbara region to report on a strike by Aboriginal stockmen. Western Australia’s commercial press effectively censored all reports of the strike and the Communist Party’s newspaper was the only one to give the story any coverage at all.
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