Research papers relating to the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 compiled by Dr Heidi Norman, including papers of Frank Walker MP and Maurice Keane MP, [ca. 1977]-24 July 2003

MLMSS 10133

fonds

[ca. 1977]-24 July 2003

Textual Records, Ephemera

9591574

0.32 metres of textual material (2 boxes)

Dr Heidi Norman is Professor in Social and Political Sciences in the School of Communication, University of Technology, Sydney. She researches and publishes in the areas of NSW Aboriginal history and politics, and is the author of "What Do We Want? A Political History of Aboriginal Land Rights in New South Wales" (2015). She is a descendent of the Gomeroi people of north-western NSW.

Frank (Francis John) Walker was elected as the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1970 to 1988, representing Georges River for the Australian Labor Party. He was the NSW Attorney General from 1976-1983 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1981. He established the first NSW Aboriginal Affairs Department, and as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs he introduced the first land rights legislation in NSW in 1983.

Maurice Keane was elected as the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1973 to 1988, representing Woronora for the Australian Labor Party. In 1978 he was appointed chair of the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines, and was author of the two reports titled 'First report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon Aborigines' and 'Second report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon Aborigines'. He worked at the NSW Aboriginal Land Council as advisor and later Director in the period 1990-1993.

References:
What Do We Want? A Political History of Aboriginal Land Rights in New South Wales / Heidi Norman. Canberra : Aboriginal Studies Press, 2015

The Hon. (Frank) Francis John Walker (1942–2012). Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/profiles/walker_francis-john.aspx
(accessed 31 July 2018)

Mr (Maurie) Maurice Francis Keane (1923-2014). Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/member-details.aspx?pk=1828 (accessed 10 August 2018)

Library correspondence file

Material came from the personal archives of Maurice Keane, Frank Walker and papers gathered by Dr Norman in the course of research for her doctoral thesis 'A political history of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Act, 1983'.

Research papers relating to the NSW Aboriginal Lands Right Act 1983 compiled by Dr Heidi Norman, [ca. 1977]-24 July 2003. Also includes Frank Walker's papers relating to his involvement in land rights legislation and the establishment of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs; Maurice Keane’s papers during his time as Chair of the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines, and his diaries from 1991 and 1993 as Director of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Council; Cabinet documents and submissions to the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines from Local Government and Aboriginal nations, including Yuin.

BOX 1
Maurice Keane's desk diary, 1991.
Maurice Keane’s desk diary, 1993. Includes annotated post-it-notes by Dr Norman

Spiral bound volume: Mumbulla - Spiritual - Contact / Guboo T. Thomas and Percy Mumbler, Yuin Tribal Elders ; [photographs by Wesley Stacey], 5 July 1979. [39 unnumbered pages], 31 x 26 cm. Photographic essay submission to the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines.

Folder 1
Folder titled "Local Government and lands", includes:
Photocopies of letters sent to Neville Wran, Premier of NSW, by A. R. L. Gordon, Minister for Local Government and Lands, relating to Proposed Aboriginal Land Rights Legislation Claims in Respect of Crown Land, 1982

Folder 2
Folder titled "Green Paper", includes:
Green Paper on Aboriginal Land Rights in New South Wales / issued by Mr Frank Walker, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, 22 December 1982
Section 2: Explanatory Notes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1982
Section 3: Draft Aboriginal Land Rights Bill [1982]

Folder 3
Folder titled "Select Committee on Aboriginal Affairs", includes:
News clippings, journals articles, media releases, flyers and brochures relating to Aboriginal land rights, health, history, deaths in custody, fashion, and the arts; 1979-1988
Copy of article: "Sacred sites on Mumbulla Mountain", 23 September 1979. Includes annotation: "Copies were sent to all Cabinet members"
Correspondence between Shahida Sweeney, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, and Maurie Keane, M.P., Member for Woronora, 30 January 1986 and 3 March 1987

Folder 4
Folder titled "Land Rights Act, 1983", includes:
Proceedings of the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines, 1979
Notes of meetings held at Bourke, Walgett, Dubbo, and Brewarrina, 1979
Notes of inspection of Aboriginal Reserves and sites, 1979
Memorandum to members of the Committee, and itineraries, 1979
Correspondence including letters sent by Pat O'Shane, for Select Committee Aboriginal Task Force, 3 May-8 May 1979
"Short History on Land Rights in NSW", ca. 1990

Folder 5
Folder titled "Submissions", includes:
Photocopy of letter sent from Eric Bedford, Minister for Planning and Environment, to Neville Wran, Premier of NSW, 12 November 1982
Handwritten notes titled "Aboriginal Affairs" being summary of details of Cabinet Minutes, [ca. 1986]

Folder 6
Folder titled "Aboriginal Affairs, 1982-1982", includes:
Photocopies of Cabinet Minutes relating to: proposed legislation to repeal Aborigines Act, 1969 and to grant land rights to Aboriginal people in New South Wales; Aboriginal Lands Trust; Aboriginal Land Councils; ca. 1982
Letter from Frank Walker, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, to N. K. Wran, Premier and Minister for Mineral Resources, re Land Rights Legislation - Land Claims, November 1982
Letter from Frank Walker, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, to N. K. Wran, Premier and Minister for Mineral Resources, re advice received in relation to the respect of mining on land owned by the Aboriginal Lands Trust, November 1982
Decision of Cabinet, re proposed legislation to repeal Aborigines Act, 1969 and to grant land rights to Aboriginal people in New South Wales
Letter from J. R. Hallam for Premier Neville Wran to M. J. Keane, M.P., Chairman, Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines, concerning the freeze on development of unalienated Crown Land sites, 26 September 1979


BOX 2
Folder 1
Papers relating to the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines, including:
Establishment of the Committee, 1978
Terms of reference. Includes Keane's handwritten notes re memo from Pat O'Shane, 25 June 1979
Research work for the Committee, including field trip reports, 1979
Minutes of meetings, January-February 1979
Staffing of the Committee, December 1978-May 1979

Folder 2
Funding of the Committee, June 1979
Timeframe of the work of the Committee. Includes letter from Neville Wran, Premier, to M.F. Keane re bringing the Committee's work to an end, 11 September, 1979
Research schedule, 1979
Memo from Pat O'Shane to M. F. Keane re implementing publicity, 1979
Copy of speech made by M. F. Keane, M.P. at the Anti-apartheid Conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, June 1977
Submissions to the Committee, including submissions from: South Coast Tribal Elders; Gilgandra Shire Council; H.C. Coombs, The Australian National University; The Australian Labor Party, (New South Wales Branch), Aboriginal Affairs Committee; The Council of the Shire of Bourke; 1979-1980

Folder 3
Summary of the First Report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines; Recommendations from the Final Report; 1981

Folder 4
Second report from the Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly upon Aborigines: Part II - Minutes of evidence from 14 August 1980 to 15 April 1981

Folder 5
The Rationale for Granting Land Rights, draft. Includes handwritten annotations, 8 January 1980
Spiral bound copy of Devolution : the issue of Aboriginal Participation in Welfare / by Jim Alexander and David Pollard. Haymarket: Social Research and Evaluation, 1983.
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, Minister's notes, including: Aboriginal Land Rights for N.S.W. : Land Rights Legislation proposed by Mr Frank Walker ... Minister for Aboriginal Affairs - The Main Questions Answered; copy of speech to introduce to the House the First Land Rights Act in the State of New South Wales, presented Thursday, 24 March, 1983
NSW Wales Aboriginal Land Council Discussion Paper, Issue no. 1, March 1987
Koori-Murri : Liaison News and Views. Sydney: Select Committee of the Legislative Assembly Upon Aborigines. Issues no. 2-3, [1979]
Australian Labor Party policy including: "NSW Australian Labor Party Platform, Aborigines", [1978]; handwritten notes: Politics in the Pub / [Maurice Keane], 12 March 1999; handwritten notes: 20 years of of Aboriginal Land Rights in the State of N.S.W, 1983-2003 / by Maurice Keane, 24 July 2003

Copyright status:: In copyright
Copyright holder:: This collection has multiple copyright holders. Copyright in the material of Frank Walker and Maurice Keane was transferred to Dr Norman.
Rights and Restrictions Information:: No reproduction without prior written approval of copyright holder
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder