One People of Australia League

The One People of Australia League (often abbreviated OPAL) was an Australian Aboriginal political grouping in the 1960s and the 1970s. In contrast to the more radical and left-wing bodies advocating for indigenous sovereignty at the time, OPAL was for most of its existence overtly assimilationist, advocating for the integration of Aboriginal Australians into mainstream white culture.[1] Its main focus was on welfare and housing and as it received monies from the Queensland government for its programs, the work of OPAL had both equal parts support and criticism for not being independent and operated by non-Indigenous organisers[2][3][4].

One People of Australia League
AbbreviationOPAL
Formation1961

History

OPAL was founded by white Australians[5] including Joyce Wilding and Muriel Langford in 1961 in order to facilitate the integration of Aboriginal people in Queensland into a single "multicultural" society.[6] Conservative in outlook from the start, it declined to affiliate itself with the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), with which it had significant ideological differences.[6] It also had a long standing rivalry with the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI), which it saw as subversive and communist.[1] Senate Neville Bonner, the first Indigenous Australian elected to parliament, was president of OPAL from 1968 to 1974.[7][4]

Housing Program

In 1962, OPAL purchased a hostel in Melbourne Street, South Brisbane to provide short term accommodation for homeless Indigenous families, who had moved to Brisbane[8]. It was also a meeting place for Indigenous people[9]. This hostel closed in 1985. In 1970, OPAL purchased a motel in Upper Mount Gravatt, to provide hostel accommodation and offer education and training. This is now known as the OPAL Joyce Wilding hostel[10][11].

References
  1. "One People of Australia League". National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  2. Tomlinson, John. "Black and White Poverty in Brisbane in the 1970s" (PDF). Vintage reds: Australian stories of rank and file organising.
  3. Day, Cathy (2020). "Finding something decent to do: Memoirs of a Brisbane activist for Aboriginal rights 1956-1971". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Rowse, Tim (2009-05-18). "'Out of hand' ‐ the battles of Neville Bonner". Journal of Australian Studies. doi:10.1080/14443059709387342.
  5. Zierott, Nadja (2005). Aboriginal Women's Narratives: Reclaiming Identities. p. 86. ISBN 9783825882372.
  6. Jupp, James (2001). The Australian People. Cambridge University Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780521807890.
  7. Tim Rowse. "BONNER, NEVILLE THOMAS (1922–1999)". Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate.
  8. "OPAL House - Summary | Find & Connect". www.findandconnect.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  9. Harms, John (1998-01-01). "Jackie Huggins". Journal of Australian Studies. 22 (59): 53–65. doi:10.1080/14443059809387424. ISSN 1444-3058.
  10. Find & Connect Web Resource Project. "OPAL Joyce Wilding Home - Organisation - Find & Connect - Queensland". www.findandconnect.gov.au. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  11. "Joyce Wilding Hostel » ATSICHS Brisbane". atsichsbrisbane.org.au. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
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