17 November, 2014

October 2014 marked the passing of two Legends of Land Rights.

Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam will always be remembered for handing back land to the Gurindji people in the Northern Territory. Many will remember the iconic photograph of Mr Whitlam pouring dirt into the hands of Vincent Lingiari, taken by NSW Brewarrina man Mervyn Bishop, as a profound symbol of the beginning of Land Rights. The Whitlam Government introduced the Northern Territory Land Rights legislation that was thankfully continued by Malcolm Fraser in 1976.

New South Wales Aboriginal Chairman Craig Cromelin said, “Without Gough Whitlam, it is doubtful that Aboriginal people in New South Wales would have achieved Land Rights.”

Many, across the nation, know the legacy of Mr Whitlam but few are aware of the impact Mr Maurie Keane had on Land Rights in NSW. Mr Keane passed away just over a week before Mr Whitlam. He chaired the 1978 NSW Parliamentary inquiry into Land Rights which led to the creation of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983.

The following is an excerpt taken from the speech delivered by NSWALC Chairman Craig Cromelin at Maurie Keane’s funeral service.

“Under Keane’s guidance MPs from across the political divide came to be convinced of the primacy of recognising Aboriginal Land Rights and the protection of sacred sites as the first and critical step in achieving social justice.

The recommendations from the two reports were comprehensive and provided a blueprint for not only the Land Rights laws that followed in 1983 but a series of new initiatives in health, housing and education all guided by the principle of self determination. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 followed most of the recommendations of the First Keane Report with the exception of heritage protection”.

An adaptation of the full speech read by NSWALC Chairperson Craig Cromelin at the funeral service of Mr Maurie Keane.

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Mr Maurie Keane. Maurie was the Member for Woronora from 1973 to 1988 and chair of the Government’s 1978 ground breaking committee that recommended Land Rights and laid the path for a host of new programs in Aboriginal health, housing and education guided by the principle of self-determination. Maurie also spent several years working at the state Aboriginal Land Council office as political advisor and later Director from 1989 to 1993.

Maurie Keane was a good friend to the NSW Aboriginal community and he counted his contribution – the recognition of Aboriginal Land Rights and reforms in health, housing and education – as his life achievement. His desire to make a difference through the NSW Parliament saw him gain the support of the Premier and Minister Walker to conduct an Inquiry into Aboriginal land rights in 1978 which he went on to Chair. Keane’s Committee broke new ground in how the Government consulted Aboriginal people. Keane appointed an Aboriginal Taskforce to guide the work of the committee (with members Pat O’Shane, Kevin Gilbert, Burnum Burnum, Marcia Langton) and he arranged for the MPs to move outside the Parliament visiting reserves, camps and community halls where they listened, and observed the total neglect of government services with no running water, electricity, roads and racism.

Under Keane’s guidance MPs from across the political divide came to be convinced of the primacy of recognising Aboriginal Land Rights and protection of sacred sites as the first and critical step in achieving social justice. The recommendations from the two reports were comprehensive and provided a blue print for not only the Land Rights laws that followed in 1983 but a series of new initiatives in health, housing and education all guided by the principle of self determination. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act (ALRA) 1983 followed most of the recommendations of the First Keane Report with the exception of heritage protection. The ALRA, following Keane’s recommendations, and well before the High Court’s Mabo decision, acknowledged ‘land was traditionally owned and occupied by Aborigines’ and recognised that ‘land is of spiritual, social, cultural and economic importance to Aborigines’. This was the logic that informed the ALRA.

Saving Land Rights

The Greiner Government’s election in 1988 saw Maurie and many other Labor Members lose their seats.   Greiner came to office with a determination to abolish Aboriginal Land Rights. At one of a series of demonstrations outside the NSW Parliament, Maurie found himself now on the other side of the fence – standing in Macquarie Street on the back of a truck addressing the land rights rally. He saw himself as continuing the important fight and was soon to take a more active role as advisor to Council on political strategy and campaign director. Working closely with then chair David Clark he devised a ‘grass roots’ campaign and media strategy to secure land rights. Petitions, rallies and concerts eventually saw the Greiner Government back down, but not without some small but significant changes to the ALRA.

These were difficult times for NSWALC. There were enormous divisions and tensions over the decision to accept the Greiner government’s ALRA amendments in 1990 which among other things, saw the abolition of the Regional Council tier and perceived concentration of power at the State office level at the expense of community control. The 1990 amendments changed the way Councillors were elected and the State office took over the functions and the assets of the regions. In this difficult time, Maurie kept the State office on track; he wisely guided the purchase of the Parramatta building where NSWALC is based today.

Maurie Keane not only drafted up the blue print for land rights, he changed the way government related to, communicated and consulted with Aboriginal citizens and he fought to secure Land Rights from certain abolition under the Greiner Government.

Maurie continued to show an abiding interest in Aboriginal affairs in his retirement; he cut articles from the paper underlining key points and kept abreast of the comings and goings at NSWALC. He held a deep affection for the many people he worked with over the years including Pat O’Shane who he recruited to lead the taskforce in 1978 and NSWALC Councillor Dave Clark amongst many others.