| 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)
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