One People of Australia League
The One People of Australia League (OPAL) is an Aboriginal organization founded in Queensland in 1961 and dominated by members of Christian churches.
The OPAL opened a Social Welfare Center in Brisbane in 1971 and published a quarterly journal from 1966 to 1975.
The political goal of the OPAL was the assimilation of the Aborigines into the white Australian society. Members of the OPAL rejected the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders , which pursued a different policy and was viewed as a "pro-communist organization".
The OPAL never joined the nationwide organization of the Aboriginal Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), rejected any form of political protest and cooperated with the Queensland government, from which it received substantial financial support.
Neville Bonner was president of the OPAL from 1968 to 1975, the first Aboriginal member of parliament who was also a senator in Australia.
In 1975 the OPAL changed its policy of assimilation and advocated cooperation between Aboriginal and white societies.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b womanaustralis.info : One People of Australia League (1961 -) , in English, accessed on October 19, 2011
- ↑ a b indigenousrights.net.au : One People of Australia League , in English, accessed October 19, 2011