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Shorti O'Neill interviewed by Lyn McLeavy [sound recording]
Bib ID 2504190
Format AudioAudio [sound recording]
Author
O'Neill, Shorti, 1942-, Interviewee
 
Access Conditions Access closed. 
Description 2000 
8 digital audio tapes (ca. 390 min.) 
Summary

Shorti O'Neill, Aboriginal rights activist, recalls his early years at Rose Bay Aboriginal Camp, Qld. and at Palm Island Aboriginal Reserve, Qld; leaving Palm Island to work on a cattle station for a few months (1953-1954); joining a boxing troupe touring New South Wales and Victoria; becoming co-director of the Palm Island Adult Education Centre (mid 1970s), which produced a newspaper reporting on political issues with the Queensland (Qld) government; establishing ATSI Health Service in Mackay, Qld; his work as editor of NQLC newspaper Messagestick, Cairns (1978-1982); his election as an executive member of the North Queensland Land Council (NQLC) (late 1970s); establishing NQLC Support Group in Melbourne, Vic.; living conditions under the 1939 Aboriginal's Preservation and Protection Act, Qld; the Black Publishing Company (ca.1977),Townsville, Qld; the film Protected about the 1957 Palm Island strike; his overseas commitments, working as a lobbyist for indigenous rights; being the first Aboriginal Ambassador to the northern hemisphere; his address to a United Nations meeting; his work coordinating the Imparja Television licence in Alice Springs; Townsville Aboriginal & Islander Media Association; creating a national Messagestick; community activism in Happy Valley, Qld (1987-1992)

O'Neill speaks about his involvement in the Aboriginal rights movement, dealing with issues ranging from the establishment of the North Queensland Land Council; the National Federation of Aboriginal Land Councils and it's embassy in London (1980-1986); reconciliation and the call for a treaty; the Palm Island wage case against the Queensland (Qld) government; the Joh Bjelke-Petersen years in Qld (Qld Premier 1968-1987); trade union support for Aboriginal workers claims; the Fraser and Hawke federal governments (1970s-1980s); 1988 Barunga Declaration; 1992 Reconciliation Committee; Howard federal government; 1978-1979 Aurukun and Mornington Island opposition to the Qld government; the 1979 Yarrabah worker and Australian Workers' Union court challenge to the Slow Workers' Clause; Alcoa, Portland, Vic.1981 protest; the Australian Mining Industry Council Fund; the first Coalition of National Aboriginal Organisations, Canberra, A.C.T.; the Aboriginal protest against proposed amendments to the Northern Territory Land Rights Act in Canberra, 1985; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)

Notes

Recorded on Oct. 1, 2000-Oct. 2, 2000 in Cairns, Qld.

Index/Finding Aid Note Timed summary (8 p.) and uncorrected transcript (typescript, 136 leaves) 
Subjects O'Neill, Shorti, - 1942- - Interviews.  |  National Federation of Land Councils.  |  National Coalition of Aboriginal Organisations.  |  North Queensland Land Council.  |  Message stick (MacKay, Qld.)  |  Political activists, Aboriginal Australian - Queensland - Cairns - Interviews.  |  Aboriginal Australians - Civil rights.  |  Social justice - Australia.  |  Native title (Australia)  |  Indigenous peoples and mass media - Australia
Occupation Aboriginal rights activists
Other authors/contributors McLeavy, Lyn, 1948-, Interviewer

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    ORAL TRC 4771 (transcript)
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    ORAL TRC 4771
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    Members of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Maori communities are advised that this catalogue contains names and images of deceased people. All users of the catalogue should also be aware that certain words, terms or descriptions may be culturally sensitive and may be considered inappropriate today, but may have reflected the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written.