William Ferguson (Australian Aboriginal leader)
Encyclopedia
William Ferguson was an Indigenous Australian leader.
He was born at Darlington Point, Waddai, New South Wales, and worked as a shearer, labourer and mailman in the west of the State. His first political involvements were as an organiser of shearers for the Australian Workers Union and then secretary of a local branch of the Australian Labor Party
. From 1933 he lived at Dubbo with his wife and children.
While he had lived outside of the system of 'protection' of Aborigines, he was well aware of the conditions under which other Aboriginal people lived. From 1936, when parliament amended the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) to increase its powers to govern Aboriginal people's lives, he began speaking and lobbying for civil rights. He launched the Aborigines Progressive Association
(APA) at Dubbo in 1937 and was a witness before the Legislative Assembly's select committee on the administration of the Aborigines Protection Act (which failed to initiate any reform). With William Cooper
and John Patten
, he organised a Day of Mourning
for Aboriginals on Australia Day 1938. Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights! was the pamphlet that he wrote with Patten to promote their cause. He organised five APA conferences in country towns from 1938. He also was elected a member of the Aborigines Welfare Board, after the government responded to APA criticism by deciding to have two Aboriginal people on the board. While on the board he was shocked by the complaints received about conditions in Aboriginal reserves, and attempted to force some changes.
In 1949 he went to lobby the national Chifley
Labor government in Canberra as a representative of the Australian Aborigines' League, asking for many administrative reforms, which he had drafted. The Minister for the interior, Herbert Johnson
, was unresponsive. Ferguson was furious, resigned from the Labor party, and stood as an Independent candidate for Parliament in his electorate of Lawson, but drew only a small number of votes. He collapsed after a final speech, and died of hypertensive heart failure on 4 January 1950 in Dubbo Base Hospital.
He was born at Darlington Point, Waddai, New South Wales, and worked as a shearer, labourer and mailman in the west of the State. His first political involvements were as an organiser of shearers for the Australian Workers Union and then secretary of a local branch of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. From 1933 he lived at Dubbo with his wife and children.
While he had lived outside of the system of 'protection' of Aborigines, he was well aware of the conditions under which other Aboriginal people lived. From 1936, when parliament amended the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) to increase its powers to govern Aboriginal people's lives, he began speaking and lobbying for civil rights. He launched the Aborigines Progressive Association
Aborigines Progressive Association
The Aborigines Progressive Association, was established in 1937 by William Ferguson, Pearl Gibbs and Jack Patten in Dubbo, New South Wales. Ferguson and Gibbs led a group in the western part of the state, while Patten assemble an alliance of activists in the north-east...
(APA) at Dubbo in 1937 and was a witness before the Legislative Assembly's select committee on the administration of the Aborigines Protection Act (which failed to initiate any reform). With William Cooper
William Cooper (Aboriginal Australian)
William Cooper was an Australian Aboriginal leader.-Early life:Born in Yorta Yorta territory around the intersection of the Murray and Goulburn Rivers in Victoria, Australia, he was forced to work for a variety of pastoral employers...
and John Patten
John Patten
John Patten is the name of:*John Patten , American soldier and politician from Delaware*John Patten , British Conservative politician*Jack Patten, Australian Aboriginal leader-See also:...
, he organised a Day of Mourning
Day of Mourning
The Day of Mourning was a day of protest held by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938, the sesquicentenary of British colonisation of Australia...
for Aboriginals on Australia Day 1938. Aborigines Claim Citizen Rights! was the pamphlet that he wrote with Patten to promote their cause. He organised five APA conferences in country towns from 1938. He also was elected a member of the Aborigines Welfare Board, after the government responded to APA criticism by deciding to have two Aboriginal people on the board. While on the board he was shocked by the complaints received about conditions in Aboriginal reserves, and attempted to force some changes.
In 1949 he went to lobby the national Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
Labor government in Canberra as a representative of the Australian Aborigines' League, asking for many administrative reforms, which he had drafted. The Minister for the interior, Herbert Johnson
Herbert Johnson (Australian politician)
Herbert Victor Johnson was an Australian politician.Johnson was born in Northampton, Western Australia and educated at the local convent school. He worked as a shearer and became the first Western Australian shearer to join the Australian Workers' Union when it organized the shearers in 1908. ...
, was unresponsive. Ferguson was furious, resigned from the Labor party, and stood as an Independent candidate for Parliament in his electorate of Lawson, but drew only a small number of votes. He collapsed after a final speech, and died of hypertensive heart failure on 4 January 1950 in Dubbo Base Hospital.