One People of Australia League facts for kids
| Abbreviation | OPAL |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1961 |
The One People of Australia League (often called OPAL) was an important group in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s. It focused on helping Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. Unlike some other groups at the time, OPAL believed in helping Aboriginal people join the wider Australian community. This idea is called assimilation.
OPAL mostly worked on welfare and housing projects. The Queensland government gave money to OPAL for its programs. This meant some people supported OPAL's work, but others criticized it. They felt OPAL was not fully independent because it received government funding and had non-Indigenous organizers.
Contents
What Was OPAL?
OPAL was started in 1961 by white Australians like Joyce Wilding and Muriel Langford. Their goal was to help Aboriginal people in Queensland become part of one "multicultural" society. From the beginning, OPAL had a more traditional view. It chose not to join other groups like the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). OPAL had different ideas from FCAATSI.
OPAL also had a long-standing disagreement with the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI). OPAL saw QCAATSI as a group that might cause trouble.
How OPAL Helped Communities
In 1969, a newspaper called The Canberra Times wrote about OPAL. It said OPAL focused a lot on education for Indigenous people. They held homework classes and night schools to help Aboriginal schoolchildren. They also had art classes for children and sewing lessons for women.
OPAL worked to bring different races together. They put on concerts where "European and Aboriginal entertainers perform side by side." They also started a beauty pageant called Miss Queensland OPAL, which included people from different backgrounds. OPAL was very active in Rockhampton, Queensland. They even had a community hall there. Two Catholic priests were among the leaders in Rockhampton.
In 1972, a politician named Jim Keeffe said OPAL was like a "government front." He claimed Queensland's Department of Aboriginal and Island Affairs was unfairly giving housing to OPAL members.
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 the Australian Parliament as a senator. This was a very important moment for Indigenous people in Australia.
Another future senator, Margaret Reynolds, was the secretary of OPAL's Townsville branch. 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. This was because their ideas were seen as too radical or different from OPAL's main views.
Homes and Help for Families
In 1962, OPAL bought a hostel in Melbourne Street, South Brisbane. A hostel is a place that offers cheap accommodation. This hostel provided short-term housing for Indigenous families who had moved to Brisbane and needed a place to stay. It was also a meeting place for Indigenous people. This hostel closed in 1985.
In 1970, OPAL bought a motel in Upper Mount Gravatt. This place also became a hostel. It offered accommodation, education, and training. Today, this hostel is known as the OPAL Joyce Wilding hostel.
