One People of Australia League facts for kids

The One People of Australia League (often called OPAL) was a group in Australia that worked for Aboriginal people in the 1960s and 1970s. Unlike some other groups that wanted Aboriginal people to have their own separate rights and lands, OPAL believed in helping Aboriginal Australians join the wider Australian community. They focused on things like housing and welfare. OPAL received money from the Queensland government, which meant some people supported their work, while others criticized them for not being fully independent or for being run by non-Indigenous people.

How OPAL Started

OPAL was started in 1961 by white Australians, including Joyce Wilding and Muriel Langford. Their goal was to help Aboriginal people in Queensland become part of a single "multicultural" society. From the beginning, OPAL had a more traditional view compared to other groups. It chose not to join the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI) because they had different ideas. OPAL also had a long-standing disagreement with the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI), which they saw as causing trouble.

In 1969, a newspaper called The Canberra Times wrote about OPAL. It said that OPAL focused a lot on education for Indigenous children. They held homework classes and night schools to help students. They also offered art classes for children and sewing lessons for women. The group worked to bring different races together. They put on concerts where "European and Aboriginal entertainers perform side by side." They even started a beauty pageant called Miss Queensland OPAL, which was open to people of all backgrounds. OPAL had a strong presence in Rockhampton, Queensland, where they had a community hall. Two Catholic priests were among the leaders in Rockhampton.

In 1972, a politician named Jim Keeffe said that OPAL was like a "government front." He accused Queensland's Department of Aboriginal and Island Affairs of unfairly giving housing to OPAL members. This meant some people thought OPAL was too closely linked to the government.

Important People in OPAL

Neville Bonner was the president of OPAL from 1968 to 1974. In 1971, he became the first Indigenous Australian to serve in Australia's national parliament. This was a very important step for Indigenous representation. His future colleague in parliament, Margaret Reynolds, was the secretary of OPAL's branch in Townsville. She helped create an OPAL-run kindergarten for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. She worked with Bobbi Sykes and Eddie Mabo on this project. However, Reynolds and Sykes were later asked to leave OPAL in 1967 because their ideas were seen as too radical by some.

OPAL's Housing Help

In 1962, OPAL bought a hostel in Russell Street, South Brisbane. This place offered short-term housing for Indigenous families who had moved to Brisbane and needed a place to stay. It also served as a meeting spot for Indigenous people. This hostel closed in 1985. In 1970, OPAL bought a motel in Upper Mount Gravatt. This building was used to provide hostel accommodation and offer education and training programs. Today, this place is known as the OPAL Joyce Wilding hostel.