The NSW Northern Rivers - a rich history of Aboriginal resistance and Activism
The Northern Rivers region of NSW with its Bundjalung, Gumbainggir and Yaegal people has always been hotspot for Aboriginal resistance to injustice.
While the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA), recognised as the country’s first politically organised, united Aboriginal activist group, held its first meeting in Sydney in 1925, the subsequent three meetings were Kempsey in late 1925, Grafton in 1926 and Lismore in 1927. About 700 people attended the three-day Kempsey conference, which featured exclusively Aboriginal presenters and organisers.
These areas had been particularly ruthlessly subjected to the NSW 'Protection' Board's policy of arbitrarily removing Aboriginal children and evicting successful Aboriginal Farmers from their land in what came to be called the 'Second Dispossession' and was later found to be illegal even under the laws of the time. (When the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was introduced in 1983, accompanying legislation restrospectively made those illegal evictions legal.)
The AAPA was vehemently opposed to the involvement of the NSW Aborigines Protection Board in the lives of Aboriginal people, and called for its abolition. They demanded that Indigenous affairs be managed by Indigenous people.
Later in the 1970s, Gumbainggir brothers Gary and Cliff Foley joined the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and went on to lifetimes of passionate and effective but at times very divergent activism, with Cliff on the board of ATSIC and Gary a trenchant critic, for instance.
Brett Duroux, inspired by his mother and father, Rodney and Diane Duroux, and his famous Uncles, Gary and Cliff, was one of the first outside the IAPA's Barkindji base to join up to the party. He and his then partner, Renee Sales were instrumental in recruiting many of the members which got the IAPA over the line with federal registration. The the results of that recruiting effort still show today with Page have the second highest number of members in the country after Parkes.
Statistics about Page:
Aboriginal / Torres Strait Islander population: 11 3198 (6.6%) Compared to 3.4% NSW & 3.2% Aust.
Indigenous status not stated: 6.6% (Compared to 4.8% NSW & 4.9% Australia)
Includes: Lismore, Grafton, Casino, Kyogle, Yamba, Iluka, Maclean, Nimbin, Evans Head, Bonalbo, Woodburn, Coraki, Coramba, Korora, Woolgoolga
IAPA Vote HoR 2022 Brett Duroux: 1533 (1.7%) Best booths Nimbin 42 (4.9%) South Grafton Central 44 (4.4%) Lismore 15 (4.1%)
IAPA Vote Senate 2021 Owen Whyman & Lawrence Brooke: 1 457 (1.6%) Best booths Lismore 15 (4.0%) Nimbin 42 (3.9%)
Brett Duroux IAPA backed Independent at NSW State Election March 2023 Clarence District: 633 (1.5%) Best booths Baryulgil 3 (8.6%) Christ Church Cathedral Grafton 51 (5.1)
IAPA Members (as of 7/4/24): 146
'Voice' Referendum YES vote: 33.0%
Indigenous Median Weekly Household Income: $1 377( 12% less than NSW Indigenous people in general, 9% less than Indigenous people Australia wide, 25% less than all people in NSW & 21% less than all people Australia wide)
Indigenous Median Age: 24 (Basically the same as Indigenous people in NSW (23) & Australia Wide (24) but starkly different to the median age for all people Page 46, NSW 39, Aust. 38.
Bachelor Degree and above: 7.6% (about half of the all NSW & Australian rates)
Both parents born overseas: 12.1% (about a third of all NSW & all Aus rate)
Average Indigenous people per household: 3.1 (The same as Indigenous people in NSW & Australia Wide (3.1) but 20% above the average for non Indigenous people; Page 2.4, NSW 2.6, Aust. 2.5
Less than $650 Household Weekly Income: 23.0% (about 25% higher rate than for all people in NSW 16.3% & all people Australia wide 16.5%
More than $3000 Household Weekly Income: 12.0% (about half that for all people in NSW 26.9% & Australia wide 24.3%)
* Taken from the latest (2021) Census 'QuickStats' summaries - Only figures showing stark differences listed above.
(There has been a federal redistribution. NSW and Victoria have lost an electorate each and WA will gain one, taking the number of federal seats back to 150. Unfortunately that will mean changes to the boundaries of seats in most electorates in all those States.)
The early days - Grafton - Picture Gallery below:
Between the launch of the of the IAPA in Wilcannia in October, 2020 and AEC Registration in November 2021 a number of events were held in various centres around NSW. One such event was in Grafton. A good feed was always a feature. See the photo gallery below featuring Brett Duroux, Renee Sales, family and supporters.
Northern River Times - Candidate for new Indigenous Party
Uncle Owen Whyman and Lawrence Brooke from the National Executive meet and greet supporters of the IAPA on the Central Coast. It was terrible weather but everyone had a good time and had plenty of opportunity to ask Uncle Owen and Lawrence more questions about the Indigenous - Aboriginal Party of Australia.
