4.

6 The Freedom Ride

Indigenous Australians won the Source 1 international media attention, and
As a young man, Charles Perkins
right to vote in 1962; even then they regularly took the bus from Sydney University forcing Australians to confront the
to his home in Bondi. This iconic image was racial tensions and inequity that were
were not counted in the census captured by photojournalist Robert McFarlane
in 1961, when Perkins was just beginning to still rife in many parts of the country.
and their affairs were still managed Perkins would later write, ‘What
gain attention for his activism.
by the state governments. But we gave Aboriginal people in the
growing awareness of human rights towns we visited was hope. We stirred
issues, specifically relating to racial their imagination, their desire for
human rights.’
discrimination, was beginning to
turn the tide for Indigenous people Source 2
The Freedom Riders prepare to set
in Australia. All the issue needed, it out in 1965, unsure of what awaits them.
seemed, was a voice.

Charles Perkins — activist

Charles Perkins was born in 1936 in
the Alice Springs Telegraph Station
Aboriginal Reserve. When he was
10, his mother arranged for him
to be taken to an Anglican Boys’
Hostel in Adelaide to have, in his
words, ‘the colour washed out of
him’. His sporting talent as a soccer
player opened doors of opportunity
for him: in 1965 he became the first
people and witnessed the racial
Indigenous Australian to graduate
discrimination directed against them.
from university. By then he was
In the town of Moree Indigenous
already a strong campaigner for
children were banned from using the
Indigenous rights.
public swimming pool. In Bowraville
Inspired by a similar civil rights
the cinema was partitioned. And in
action in America, Perkins organised
Walgett Indigenous veterans were Source 3
Route map of the 1965
the Freedom Ride of 1965, in which a
allowed into the Returned Soldiers’ Freedom Ride of New South Wales
group of 30 white university students
League only on Anzac Day. QUEENSLAND
from Student Action for Aborigines Warwick

(SAFA) would take a bus tour of Boggabilla

outback New South Wales. The A hostile reception Lismore

journey was intended to be a ‘study As they drove 2300 kilometres Moree

tour’ of race relations in Australia. around New South Wales, the Grafton
Glen Innes
As the bus readied to leave on Freedom Riders were subjected to a Walgett
12 February 1965, the Reverend number of attacks. In Moree white
Ted Noffs said a prayer: ‘Almighty women jeered and spat at the female
God . . . we ask now that Thy blessing NEW SOUTH WALES
students, while Jim Spiegelman was Kempsey
will rest upon these Australians as hit by a local. Perkins was threatened, Gulargambone
they journey out [and] endeavour punched in the back of the head and
Taree
to bring reconciliation and healing had an egg thrown down the back of Dubbo
among people who have been his shirt. On a lonely country road, TA S M A N

divided because of the colour of SEA

late at night, the students’ bus was Newcastle
their skin.’ Over the following two rammed by a farmer. Despite the Orange
weeks, the group saw the desperate physical toll taken on many Freedom
0 60 120
poverty and often unsanitary living Riders, the trip was an enormous Sydney
kilometres
conditions experienced by Indigenous success, attracting national and

130 History Alive 10 for the Australian Curriculum

 Source 4
Diary entry from the Freedom Ride, Wellington would later become Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme
Court. For his contribution to bringing about a fairer
Went to settlement outside reserve. Police warned us not and more equitable society he would be appointed a
to go into reserve. Interviewed about ten tin shacks of Companion of the Order of Australia. Former medical
people. Most of us found the questionnaires unsuitable. student Andrew Refshauge would become the Minister
Houses of tin, mud floors, very overcrowded, kids had for Aboriginal Affairs. The Freedom Ride itself was an
eye diseases, had to cart water (very unhealthy) from important event in the fight for Indigenous rights and
river. People fairly easy to talk to, kids quite friendly. freedoms and inspired a number of further ‘freedom rides’.
General picture of extreme poverty but not a great deal
of social discrimination. Got seven interviews on the
settlement just outside the reserve, and two in the town. Student workbook
General picture of scarcity of jobs. Mainly garden work, 4.3
which is very seasonal. Average of three months for year
out of work. Some working on a dam nearby. Some did EXPLANATION AND COMMUNICATION
shearing jobs. Did not encounter or hear of any women
1 What inspired Perkins to organise the bus ride in 1965?
with jobs at all. Did not seem to know much about social 2 In what ways was the Freedom Ride about ‘freedom’?
services etc. 3 What else was the trip about? How can you tell?
Lunch 1-30. Apparently Jim S and a few others came 4 What forms of resistance did the Freedom Riders
across some discrimination in a pub. An aboriginal was encounter, and how did they combat them?
allowed in only because he was with us. The publican
said he only prevented aborigines from coming in ‘if they ANALYSIS AND USE OF SOURCES
were disorderly’. Charlie went in and there was some 5 What aspects of Source 1 might have led to its
discussion between the barmaid and the publican before becoming an iconic image of Charles Perkins? What
they served him. Some aborigines told us they had been other iconic images of Indigenous people have you
seen? In what ways are they similar to, and different
kicked out of this pub, the ‘Courthouse’. Left Wellington
from, this image? Discuss in a small group to
and arrived in Dubbo about 6.30 pm. Had tea, went for a
formulate your response.
swim, then to the Dubbo hotel. We noticed a sign above
6 Based on the body language and clothing worn by the
the doorway of the halfway hotel — ‘Aborigines not
students in Source 2 , what words would you use to
allowed in the Lounge without the Licensee’s permission’. describe them? Do you think they were prepared for
We didn’t do anything. Slept in the Methodist Church . . . what they would find on their Freedom Ride? Explain
your answer.
7 Using the same diary format as Source 4 , write a short
entry from the perspective of a Freedom Rider after
The legacy of the Freedom Ride visiting the town of Moree. Your diary entry should
Charles Perkins’ commitment to the Australian include events, thoughts and feelings.
community was recognised at various points in his life. HISTORICAL QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH
He became the Jaycees Young Man of the Year in 1966 8 Using your local library or the internet, find out as
and Aborigine of the Year in 1993; he was awarded much as you can about one of the towns visited by
the Order of Australia in 1987. He was elected to the the Freedom Riders, including information about the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Indigenous population at the time of their visit. Why
(ATSIC), serving as its deputy chairman in 1994 and do you think the group might have chosen to visit this
town, based on what you have learned? What do you
1995, and remained committed to Indigenous activism think their impressions of the town would have been?
until his death in October 2000. How might the locals have responded to them? Justify
Perkins was not the only Freedom Rider whose life your claims using evidence such as facts, figures and
would be dedicated to social justice. Jim Spiegelman photographs.
PERSPECTIVES AND INTERPRETATIONS
Source 5
In 2005, on the fortieth anniversary of Perkins’ Freedom 9 Do you think controversy and civil disturbance are
Ride, the bus set out again, filled with around 30 students and good ways to attract media publicity to a cause? Why
supported by the group reconciliACTION, who hoped to investigate how or why not?
far country Australia had come in improving race relations since 1965. 10 Can you think of any other ways in which the plight
of Indigenous people could have been publicised
in 1965? Think creatively and take risks in offering
possible solutions.
11 Would you like to participate in a Freedom Ride today?
Why or why not?

iconic important or enduring

Chapter 4: Rights and freedoms (1945–present) 131