First Day in Walgett

14th February. 1965

The day has finally arrived, I’ve been waiting in anticipation for this big trip.  I am excited to travel around New South Wales for fourteen days with Charles Perkins and 28 other University students experiencing how other people live. I have only ever lived in Sydney and my family and I never travelled as we can never afford it. So for me it I can hardly believe that I am going to visit twenty-one towns in New South Wales over the next fourteen days.  All going well, our 3200km journey will end in Sydney on the 26^th February.

Our trip has been inspired by "Martin Luther King’s examples of non-violent direct action."(Wheel of Change, 2011).   The purpose of our trip is to achieve two goals.

1.       To raise awareness about the poorness of living conditions for Aboriginal people, the lack of education and paid work available to them and the serious health problems they suffer from.
2.       To minimse the 'social barrier' between Aboriginal and white people.

We elected Charles Perkins as the president of the 'Student Action for Aboriginals' (SAFA) in 1964. Charles has played a big role in getting our bus trip up and running. 

It has been a long few days travelling in the bus, driving through and stopping to visit the towns of Orange, Wellington, Dubbo and Gulargambone. What a relief, we have finally arrived at Walgett, one of the main stops on our Freedom Ride trip.

Walgett certainly isn't the way I imaged it, having never left Sydney before, I didn’t know what to expect, but certainly thought that it would look more like home. 

Instead dry, dead grass and shack looking houses surround our bus.  Looking at the houses, I’m sure they would leak when it rains.  A long dirt road going straight through the middle of town is something new to me.   It’s been amazing how much I have noticed the difference between my living environments to the Aboriginal people here. 

Walgett will be home for the next couple of nights, before we head to Moree on the 16^th February.  Tomorrow we are planning to conduct a protest outside of the local R.S.L. targeting racial discrimination.  Following this I hope to interview local people and survey them about what they know and understand about discrimination against Aboriginal people.  I’ve read some information before coming on this trip, and I am looking forward to learning more. 

I strongly believe in equal rights for all people regardless of race or religion, and I am sure that I am going to meet people here that agree and disagree.

I haven't been banned from anywhere before but I can begin to imagine the feeling. If I was banned from a local area such as the town pool or cafe I would feel left out and alone, as though everyone wanted to have fun, but with out me there.

Can you imagine being banned from most clubs, swimming pools, cafes, cinemas and local town houses just like Aboriginal people were?  How would it make you feel? How might you respond?

If you believe in equal rights for all people and want to have your say, I’d encourage you to come down to the local R.S.L tomorrow from 12 noon and join in our protest. 

The local R.S.L is known for excluding Aboriginal ex- servicemen, clearly unfair and unjust. 

We need your support! Help us win this protest, and stand up for equal rights for Aboriginal people!  It is only fair if we are all treated equally!

Aboriginal Poor Housing
(Curpheymedia.com, 2015)

References:

Sydney University Museums News,. (2011). The Wheels of Change. Retrieved 15 June 2015, from http://sydney.edu.au/senate/documents/Students/Freedom_Ride_2.pdf

Indigenousrights.net.au,. (2015). Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973. Retrieved 15 June 2015, from http://indigenousrights.net.au/civil_rights/freedom_ride,_1965

Charles Perkins and the Freedom Rides,. (2015). Freedom Rides. Retrieved 15 June 2015, from http://perkinsforfreedom.weebly.com/freedom-rides.html

Curpheymedia.com,. (2015). Freedom Ride Followups | Curphey Media. Retrieved 15 June 2015, from http://www.curpheymedia.com/?page_id=65