Dispossession and Land Rights - the story so far.

Since colonisation, Aboriginal people have fought to keep their land and struggled to have it returned to them.

This timeline lists important events in Australian history which have contributed to the dispossession of Aboriginal people and the development of Land Rights in NSW.

1768

Lieutenant James Cook sets sail from England for the South Pacific with instructions to find the Great South Land. There he was to make friends with the Indigenous people and investigate the potential for trade in goods and resources. He was explicitly ordered not to take possession of any territory without the consent of the inhabitants.

1770

Lieutenant James Cook claims to take possession of the whole east coast of Australia by raising the British flag at Possession Island off the northern tip of the Cape York Peninsula - claims the land as "terra nullius" (empty land).

After an encounter with local people in Botany Bay, Cook wrote that "all they seemed to want was us to be gone".

1788

The First Fleet of British convicts, soldiers and officials arrives. On January 26th, Captain Arthur Phillip raises the Union Jack at Sydney Cove and the invasion begins.

Aboriginal population is estimated at between 750,000 to one million at the time. Captain Phillip estimates 1,500 Aborigines are living in the Sydney region.

Resistance and conflict between Europeans and Aboriginal people begins almost immediately.

· In early February, the French fire on Aboriginal people at Botany Bay.

· On the 29th of May, the first conflict between the First Fleet arrivals and Aborigines takes place near Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Two convicts are killed.

· In December, Arabanoo is the first Aborigine captured by Europeans.

1789

A smallpox epidemic wipes out at least half of Sydney's Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people have no resistance to European diseases and even the common cold is fatal.

1790

Pemulwuy and his son Tedbury launch a guerrilla style campaign of Aboriginal resistance which lasts several years.

1791

Convicts who had served their time are granted land around Parramatta.

1792

Colonists spread to Prospect Hill, Kissing Point, Northern Boundary, the Ponds and the Field of Mars.

1794

By August, 70 colonists are farming along the Hawkesbury, dispossessing local Aborigines of their land.

1795

Open warfare breaks out along the Hawkesbury River between Aborigines and Government troops.

1797

Pemulwuy leads the George's River and Parramatta tribes in an attack on the settlement at Toongabbie. A punitive party pursue Pemulwuy and about 100 Aborigines to Parramatta. Pemulwuy is wounded and captured, but later escapes.

1798

Colonists dispossess Aborigines of land around George's River Flats and Bankstown.

1800

The white population in Sydney is estimated to be around 8000, compared to 1000 in 1788.

1802

On June 30, a proclamation is made stating: "His Majesty forbids any act of injustice or wanton cruelty to the Natives, yet the settler is not to suffer his property to be invaded or his existence endangered by them, in preserving which is his he is to use the effectual, but at the same time the most humane means of resisting such attacks".

Shortly after this Pemulwuy is shot by two settlers. Tedbury continues the resistance.

1804

Most of the Cumberland Plain west of Sydney is occupied by colonists. The Darug people are being dispossessed of their land.

1805

Aborigines try to defend their land and kill colonists. Captain William Bligh issues an order to send soldiers "for their [colonists'] protection against those uncivilised insurgents".

1813

Colonists, assisted by Aboriginal people, cross the Blue Mountains. New hostilities develop as they pass through Aboriginal lands.

1814

Governor Macquarie sets up the first Native Institution at Parramatta. It is a dormitory school where Aboriginal children can be educated away from the influence of their families and tribal society.

1815

Remnants of the Broken Bay Aboriginal people are established on a reserve at George's Head.

1816

Aboriginal people attack farms at the edge of Sydney and Governor Macquarie sends Captain James Wallis with three detachments of the 76th Regiment to arrest 'offenders'. They attack a camp near Appin at night and 14 Aborigines are killed.

Macquarie announces a set of regulations controlling the free movement of Aboriginal people. No Aboriginal person is to appear armed within a mile of any settlement and no more than six Aboriginal people are allowed to 'lurk or loiter near farms'. Passports or certificates are issued to Aboriginal people "who conduct themselves in a suitable manner", to show they are officially accepted by Europeans.

Five areas are set aside by Macquarie as agriculture reserves for the settlement of Aboriginal people from the Sydney area. The Aboriginal people who settle on these lands are given seed, tools, stores and clothes for six months. Convicts are assigned to help with cultivation of crops.

1819

Governor Macquarie states that Aboriginal People should be given land, but few received it. Colebee and Nurrangingy are granted land in Blacktown, western Sydney.

1822

The British Government decides to encourage the Australian wool industry by reducing the import duty on Australian wool. This decision is a devastating blow to Aboriginal People in NSW. Big pastoral companies are formed and granted land. The Australian Agricultural Company is granted one million acres (404,000 hectares) of land in the Hunter Valley.

1824

A mission is established at Lake Macquarie, north of Sydney.

1827

John Oxley leads an expedition to the Liverpool Plains west of present day Tamworth, NSW. This area is settled in the 1830s, with an increase in settlers during the 1837-1845 drought, when more land is needed. The Kamilaroi people are dispossessed of their land.

1830

Squatters occupy land in earnest without consulting authorities. In one instance a Government surveyor called Henry Dangar grants himself 100,000 hectares of land on the Liverpool Plains in the Hunter region.

1834

In South Australia, an attempt to amend the SA Constitution Bill's recognition of the Aboriginal people is defeated, despite the Colonial Office urging that it should be a condition of the establishment of a colony there.

1835

The Dunghutti people of north coast NSW are now confined to 40 hectares of land on the Bellwood Reserve, near present day Kempsey. They previously owned 250,000 hectares.

1836 - 1837

A select committee of the British House of Commons says that Aborigines have a "plain right and sacred right" to their land. The committee reports genocide is happening in the colonies.

1837

Conflict between Aborigines and settlers, stockmen and shepherds increases on the Liverpool Plains between 1827 - 1837.

1837 - 1845

Drought on the north-west plains of NSW. The drying up of creeks and waterholes, forces Aborigines to kill sheep and cattle on European holdings and move towards settlements looking for food.

1838

In January, Mounted Police, mostly European volunteers, set out in response to conflict on the Liverpool Plains of north central NSW. At Vinegar Hill, a site on 'Slaughterhouse Creek', 60 - 70 Aborigines are reportedly killed. The only European casualty is a corporal, speared in the leg.

On 11 April, 10 Europeans travelling south from NSW with G. P. Faithful, are killed by Aboriginal people at Owens Creek, Victoria. This becomes known as the "Faithful Massacre".

'The Bushwack' or 'The Drive' against Aborigines is initiated by squatters and their stockmen to clear the Myall Creek area, near present day Inverell, NSW.

On June 10, the 'Myall Creek Massacre' occurs. Twelve heavily armed colonists round up and brutally kill 28 Aborigines from a group of 40 or 50 people gathered at Henry Dangar's Station, at Myall Creek. The massacre is believed to be a payback for the killing of several hut keepers and two shepherds, but most of those killed are women and children. On 15 November, 11 Europeans are charged with murder but are acquitted. A new trial is held and seven men are charged with murder of one Aboriginal child. They are found guilty and hanged in December.

Competition for water between Aborigines and colonists develops on the Bogan River, west of present day Dubbo. Seven Europeans and their overseer are killed on William Fee's outstation. Border Police, formed after the Myall Creek Massacre, arrive from Bathurst and almost all of the Aboriginal men from the tribal group involved are killed.

Reports of poisoning of Aborigines on 'Tarrone' near Port Fairy, West Melbourne and 'Kilcoy', north-west Moreton Bay. Flour is poisoned and left in shepherds' huts on 'Kilcoy' in the expectation that Aborigines, now dispossessed of hunting ground, would steal and eat it.

1842

The Land Act of 1842 sees the creation of reserves on Crown land for the use of Aboriginal people. These reserves are created by the government with the intention that Aboriginal owners would have continuing secure occupation over at least some of their own country.

1845

About 50 remaining Aboriginal people from the Sydney and Botany Bay area are living at a camp on Botany Heads.

1849

Land Commissioner McDonald reports widespread food shortages among Aborigines in the Murray District after their displacement by pastoralists.

1874

The Maloga Mission is established as a refuge for the 9,000 surviving Aborigines in NSW.

1880

A Protector of Aborigines is appointed in NSW. The Protector has the power to create reserves and to force Aboriginal people to live on them.

1883

The Aboriginal Protection Board is established in NSW and takes over the administration of reserves. Aborigines at Maloga Mission on the Murray River are moved to Cumeroogunga. By the end of the 1880s several reserves have been established in NSW. Reserves are set up far enough away from towns so that contact with Europeans is limited. Segregation is a key part of Aboriginal Protection Policy.

1909

The Aboriginal Protection Act of 1909 introduces powers to move people away from towns and reserves and leads to the institutionalisation of Aboriginal people.

1910

There are 116 reserves totaling 10,500 ha, 65 per cent of these are created as validation of Aboriginal occupation or in response to requests for land.

1911

The Aboriginal Protection Board ceases to defend tenure on reserves, and by 1915, is seizing reserve land to lease to whites. Of the 27,000 acres of reserve land, 13,000 are lost by 1927.

1920s

A number of organisations lobby for civil rights, self-determination and the abolition of the Aborigines Protection Board.

The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association is formed in 1925. The Australian Aborigines' League and the Aborigines Progressive Association soon follow. Amongst other things, the League calls for self-sufficiency on land claimed by right or prior ownership.

1938

January 26 sees the first major political rally by Aboriginal people who gather in Sydney on Australia Day, calling for a "Day of Mourning" and protest over discrimination against Aboriginal people.

1940

The Aborigines Act of 1940 introduces a new policy of "assimilation". The Protection Board is abolished and replaced by the Aborigines Welfare Board. In the name of assimilation, the Board concentrates on the revocation of reserves and the relocation of residents into towns. This policy is opposed by white rural communities and leads to struggles over segregation. White residents refuse to sell land to the AWB, thus denying Aboriginal people even a house block in their own country.

1949

Australian Citizenship Act gives Aboriginal people the right to vote in Commonwealth elections if they are enrolled for State elections, or have served in the armed services. Aboriginal men can legally vote in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and NSW. However, few Aboriginal people know their rights - so few vote.

1962

All Aboriginal people are given the vote in Commonwealth elections. The Menzies Liberal and Country Party Government give the Commonwealth vote to all Aborigines. Western Australia give them the State vote in the same year. Queensland follows in 1965.

1963

In 1963, the Yolngu people of Yirrkala send two petitions to the Federal Government. The petitioners unsuccessfully seek the Commonwealth Parliament's recognition of rights to their traditional lands on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. Though the documents do not achieve the constitutional change sought, they are effective in making way for the eventual recognition of Indigenous rights in Commonwealth law.

1965

The "Freedom Ride", led by Charles Perkins, tours rural NSW in a bid to highlight segregation and racism in country areas.

The Federal Government introduces an integration policy for Aborigines.

1966

In August 1966, the Gurindji workers withhold their labour from the Wave Hill cattle station in the Northern Territory, camping in a make-shift village in close proximity to the most sacred of their sites at Wattie Creek. Initially it is thought the Gurindji's demands are solely about improving conditions for Aboriginal workers on the cattle station, however their primary demand is for the return of their tribal lands.

The Gurindji strike is not the first or the only demand by Aborigines for the return of their lands - but it is the first to attract wide public support.

The Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966 is enacted in South Australia. It creates an Aboriginal Lands Trust to hold freehold title to former reserves consisting of all Aboriginal representatives for the first time.

1967

Ninety one percent of Australian citizens vote YES in a referendum to count Aboriginal people in the census and give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal people.

1972

Election of the Whitlam Labor Government sees Aboriginal Affairs becomes a separate ministry served by a separate Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA). The Whitlam Government brings in a policy of self-determination and the outstation/homeland movement gains momentum as thousands of Aboriginal people move out of missions and settlements and back onto traditional lands.

On January 26 Aboriginal activists set up the Tent Embassy on the lawns of Federal Parliament House to agitate for Land Rights.

1974

The (Woodward) Aboriginal Commission Report proposes Aboriginal legislation for the NT.

The Coalition Government sponsors the establishment of an Aboriginal Lands Trust (formerly the Aborigines Advisory Council), giving it freehold title to former reserves and making it landlord to 20% of the Aboriginal population.

1975

The Whitlam Government hands leasehold title to 3238 square kilometres of Wave Hill Station back to the Gurindji people.

1976

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) is passed by the Fraser Government. It represents a watered down version of the 1975 Whitlam Government bill but provides recognition of Aboriginal land ownership to about 11,000 Aboriginal people.

The Commonwealth Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 allows for the establishment of Local Land Councils in a bid to encourage a degree of Aboriginal self management.

1978

The Jerringa Tribe submits a claim for Roseby Park, near Nowra.

The Yuin Tribe submits a claim for Wallaga Lake, near Bega. This claim is of particular significance to the struggle as it involves Mumbulla Mountain which was being logged at the time. Largely as a result of these claims, the Select Committee on Aborigines was set up in November.

1979

NSW legislates to establish an Aboriginal Lands Trust comprising members of the Aborigines Advisory Council. The Trust was given freehold title to most former reserves and the power to sell and acquire land.

1979 - 1980

Other claims are submitted by Aboriginal people at Wilcannia, La Perouse, Bodalla, Toomelah and Bourke.

Early in their investigations, the Select Committee resolves to concentrate on the terms of reference which relate to land rights and hands down an interim report on the issue.

All lobby groups are involved in consultations for the Inquiry. In August, the Final Report is tabled in the NSW Parliament and is accompanied by a large demonstration outside Parliament House. The report outlines the urgent need for land rights and emphasises the long wait Aborigines have endured.

1980

The NSW Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly on Aborigines tables its first report dealing with land rights and sacred and significant sites. The report recognises that in NSW, the destruction and fragmentation of Aboriginal society has been so severe that the normal definition of traditional lands does not apply. Land rights are recommended on the basis of need and as compensation for land lost, as well as prior ownership and tradition.

1982

The NSW Government establishes the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs to coordinate the implementation of legislation and to develop policies in areas affecting the lives of Aboriginal people.

The NSW Task Force on Aboriginal Health reports that the intolerably low health status and material, social and cultural deprivation of Aborigines is directly caused by their dispossession and the destruction of their way of life.

1983

The NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act is passed. The Act recognises dispossession and dislocation of NSW Aboriginal people. It sets up the three tiered NSW Aboriginal Land Council with a 15-year period of funding from non-residential land tax as compensation for lost lands and for Aboriginal people to establish an economic base.

1984

Yorta Yorta LALC is granted remnants of Cummeragunja Reserve.

1985

La Perouse LALC is given title to Yarra Bay House.

1988

As mainstream Australians celebrate 200 years of European settlement on Australia Day, over 40,000 Indigenous people and supporters take part in the "Invasion Day" demonstration. The protest marks the beginning of wide-spread and increased awareness of Aboriginal history and issues.

The Greiner Coalition Government is elected with a policy of abolishing NSW Aboriginal Land Rights legislation.

The Greiner Coalition Government produces two discussion papers - the "Black Paper" and the "Green Paper" - recommending "mainstreaming" of all Aboriginal special services and creation of a Commission to replace NSWALC and the three tiered system of Land Councils. The papers provoke community outrage.

Greiner Government attempts to take over the NSW Aboriginal Land Council's financial assets is rejected by the Supreme Court.

1989

The Coalition Government contracts Charles Perkins to compile a report proposing sweeping changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act and a Commission to replace NSWALC and its three tiered system of Land Councils.

1990

The Perkins Report is published reflecting the Government's position on the Land Rights legislation. Aboriginal consultants employed by Perkins publicly claim that the Perkins Report does not truly portray what Aboriginal people are saying.

A mass meeting of Aborigines at Bathurst completely rejects the Perkins report and makes suggestions for improving the Act. Premier Greiner refuses to negotiate with the Land Council on the Bathurst Conference recommendations.

1992

The High Court of Australia recognises native title within the Common Law. The Court rules in the Mabo case that native title exists over particular types of land - unalienated Crown land, national parks and reserves - and that Australia was never terra nullius or 'empty land'.

1993

Federal Parliament passes the Native Title Act 1993 after Federal Cabinet approves a package negotiated with a small group of Indigenous representatives. The Act requires that claimants prove ongoing cultural links with their land. Aboriginal people who are forcibly removed and those living in urban areas have great difficulty proving such links. As a consequence, the majority of Aboriginal people in NSW living in cities and other urban areas (70%) are dispossessed of their native title.

1996

The Dunghutti (Dhangadi) people of NSW are involved in the first successful resolution of a claim under the Native Title Act, and the first recognition of actual native title on mainland Australia.

With the Wik judgement, the High Court rules that pastoral leases (covering approximately 40 % of Australia) do not necessarily extinguish native title - this propels native title back to the top of the national political agenda.

1997

Representatives of the NSWALC and ATSIC hold a meeting in the NSW Legislative Assembly. The event is described as the first "Black Parliament".

1998

The 15 year period of Government funding for the NSW Aboriginal Land Council ends under the Land Rights Act "Sunset Clause". This allows the NSWALC to begin operating independently and to become self sufficient.

2000

The "Australian Declaration towards Reconciliation" and the "Roadmap for Reconciliation" are presented to the Nation's leaders as a part of the Corroboree 2000 Summit in Sydney. Over 300,000 people join the "Peoples' Walk for Reconciliation" across Sydney Harbour Bridge.

2001

NSWALC launches its "Talking Treaty" campaign and NSWALC & ATSIC commence joint community consultations on the notion of a Treaty.

NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NSW) is amended.

SOURCES

NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs website

Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

NSWALC

South Australian Museum

Australian Museum website

Bostock, Lester, 1990 The Greater Perspective, Special Broadcasting Service

Fraser, Bryce, (ed) 1983 The Macquarie Book of Events, Weldon,

Directorate of Special Programs, NSW Department of Education, 1982 Aboriginal Australia, a Preliminary Chronology

Jonas, Bill and Langton, Marcia 1994 The Little Red, Yellow and Black (and Green and Blue and White) Book, AIATSIS

Horton, D (ed) 1994 Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Studies Press

Butler, Kevin, Cameron, K & Percival, B 1995 The Myth of Terra Nullius, Invasion and Resistance -the early years, Board of Studies

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