Remembering Charlie

During frequent flights over this vast country of ours I often marvel at the sheer beauty of the landscape below; a painter’s ideal canvas of contrasting green undulating hills, barren plains and spasmodic strips of blue that often reach unnatural conclusions on long meandering stretches of waterways.

On terra firma I sit in awe of the landscape as it unfolds before my eyes from much closer quarters. I often envisage this view through the eyes of my ancestors and immediately know that they were truly blessed with an abundance of flora and fauna.

But nowhere on Australia's vast landmass will you find an exact replica on wood or rock of an Indigenous leader or warrior made before the contact era (pre-1788).

Besides the revealing images of ancient mythical figures painted in caves, in rock etchings or on ornaments, Indigenous Australians never sought to honour their heroes in the same manner as non-Indigenous people did by erecting statues.

Perhaps our ancestors saw no need for such public displays of vanity using grand statues for their leaders but rather relied, as they did with their oral history, in storing fond thoughts of them in their encyclopaedic minds.

However times have changed, and just as we have moved on from an oral history to written recordings of past and present deeds, so should we adopt new codes of respecting and honoring the outstanding work of our past and present leaders.

With the exception of the handsome statue of Yagan in Perth I don’t recall seeing any other statue of famous Indigenous Australians prominently placed in our cities’ public spaces in my travels. But I can name countless statues of non-Indigenous leaders punctuating city skylines - in botanical gardens, city squares or at major junctions - of male anglo-saxons in victorious poses or astride a horse, for example.

But even poor old Yagan didn’t appear in a highly visible public park on the Swan River without controversy.

From the mid-1970s, members of the Noongar community lobbied for the erection of a statue of Yagan as part of the WAY 1979 sesquicentennial celebrations. Their requests were refused, however, after then Premier of Western Australia Sir Charles Court was advised by local historians that Yagan was not important enough to warrant a statue.

Respected Indigenous leader Ken Colbung claimed at the time "Court was more interested in spending tax payers' money on refurbishing the badly neglected burial place of Captain James Stirling, WA's first governor".

Despite this setback, the Noongar community persisted, establishing a Yagan Committee and running a number of fund-raising drives. Eventually, sufficient funds were collected to allow the commissioning of Australian sculptor Robert Hitchcock to create a statue.

The result was a life-size statue in bronze, depicting Yagan standing naked with a spear held across his shoulders. Hitchcock's statue of Yagan was officially opened by Yagan Committee chairperson Elizabeth Hanson on September 11, 1984. It stands on Heirisson Island in the Swan River near Perth.

It is therefore fitting that the subject of honouring our great leaders of the past, whose very actions have shaped our future, is recalled for further praise in the weeks succeeding the 1967 Referendum 40th Year celebrations.

And as far as I’m concerned there is no greater leader of the post 1967 Referendum year than Charles Nelson Perkins - more affectionately known as Charlie.

Charlie (1936-2000) was born at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Aboriginal Reserve in the Northern Territory in 1936. His parents were Arrente and Kalkadoon people. Removed from the Reserve at the age of 10 he was sent to a home for boys in Adelaide where he completed his schooling. He qualified as a fitter and turner in 1952. A talented soccer player, Charlie played as a professional with English club, Everton, and on his return to Australia with the Adelaide Croatian and then the Sydney club, Pan Hellenic.

While studying at Sydney University, Charlie became increasingly active in Indigenous rights issues. In 1965 he gained notoriety by leading a group of fellow students on the Freedom Ride - a tour of rural New South Wales to highlight the discrimination that existed for Indigenous people in many country towns.

Charlie joined the Commonwealth Office of Aboriginal Affairs in 1969. His career grew with the Commonwealth’s increasing role in Indigenous issues after Gough Whitlam gained office as prime minister in 1972 and the government commenced a major funding program of new policy initiatives for Indigenous Australians.

Charlie advised the government on these new policy initiatives and on the structure and implementation of the first nationally elected Indigenous body in 1973, the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC), and thereafter had an influence in various capacities, as Chairman or CEO, of all major federally funded Indigenous bodies: Aboriginal Development Commission (ADC), Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA).

Charlie was a talented, visionary and compassionate man who was loved by all and had a remarkable memory for names. He knew just about every major family group throughout the country and was on first name terms with chairpersons of every Indigenous legal service, medical service, housing company and native title committee.

Sure, there were those who had a great dislike for Charlie but they were few and far between and who parted ways from him for various political reasons: maybe he didn’t give them a job, fund their project or recommend them for a committee.

In his later years Charlie returned to live in Alice Springs. He was elected as a Commissioner to the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Commission (ATSIC) in 1993 and served as its Deputy Chairman in 1994-95. He also served as a mentor to several of Australia’s leading Aboriginal athletes.

To show appreciation for the immense contribution Charlie made in advancing the cause of Indigenous Australians I propose the establishment of a “Remembering Charlie Committee” to take charge of a major fund raising program to erect a life size bronze statue of him in a prominent public space in Sydney: a city where Charlie started and finished his political career and where all his immediate family reside today.

I’ve shared this concept with Charlie’s wife Eileen and she informed me that it would please her and her children and grandchildren to have a statue of Charlie in the beautiful harbour city in recognition for his lifelong service to his people.

It is my intention to provide the names of prominent Indigenous, civic, sporting and business leaders who will comprise the “Remembering Charlie Committee” after further discussion with Eileen in the following weeks and to publish the committee in the 403rd edition of the Koori Mail.

The committee will be charged with raising funds for a statue - for cost comparison a bronze statue of flamboyant former Whitlam Immigration Minister, Al Grassby was unveiled in Canberra on May 18 at a cost of $72,000; consulting with Sydney’s traditional owners on cultural protocols; consulting with the Sydney mayor and town councillors on a prominent and accessible location; opening a bank account for public donations and setting a significant date for an unveiling.

For what its worth I would recommend to the committee that they aim high and include a water feature, similar to the Martin Luthur King Memorial in San Francisco Square that would allow for an in-depth reflection, images and quotations on the walls, on the many achievements of Charlie - but of course would cost significantly more than the Al Grassby statue.

A further suggestion would be to aim to raise $250,000 by offering naming rights; individual, family, organisation or corporation, to each tile or brick at a price of $250 per 1,000 on offer.

I would take great pride in seeing my family name on a tile at this location marked “Hagan family - Toowoomba” as I’m sure many others would of their mob.

There are literally hundreds of NAIDOC balls, sporting carnivals, business conferences taking place in the coming months around the nation where organisers may wish to ask for a gold coin donation to go towards the “Remembering Charlie” fund raising campaign.

Indigenous organisations; medical, legal, housing, native title, education, and so on, could have a money tin at their reception for clients who may wish to make a gold coin donation. The tile will have an inscription of the community event or organisation on it as a permanent record of their contribution to making the statue and its associated feature possible.

Charlie, throughout his working life, displayed honour of the highest order and in turn should be honoured for outstanding service to the Australian community, especially his beloved Indigenous population.