Aboriginal activism - Charles Fredrick Maynard

Aboriginal activism is spearheaded by a Worimi man from Port Stephens, Charles Fredrick Maynard. He establishes the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association (AAPA), the first politically organized and united Aboriginal activist group. Through Maynard’s leadership, Aborigines voice their disapproval through street rallies, meetings and conferences, the media, letters and petitions to government and the King about injustice and inequality. Members are especially vocal about the loss of Aboriginal reserve lands and their most strident attack is directed at the APB. Significant members are: William and John Ridgeway from Tea Gardens, J Johnstone from the Wingham reserve, James Linwood from the Macleay area, Joe Anderson and his brothers from the Burragorang valley, and Jane Duren from Bateman’s Bay. A meeting held in Kempsey during 1925 attracts over 500 Gooris. Newspaperman from Newcastle, Mr J J Maloney, supports the AAPA by printing their editorials. Maynard’s capacity to inspire an audience alarms the authorities and he is denied the right to speak on Aboriginal reserves. The APB seeks to stop Aboriginal protest by silencing the AAPA. But the groundswell has begun. (Maynard, Fred Maynard and the AAPA, 1997; Broome, 1982: 166; Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association)