Continuing biog of Crusading Editor, "Big Jim" Bowditch
During the time of the
Whitlam Government there was
a strong backlash in the Northern
Territory to reforms brought in to
improve the lot of Aborigines
. In the town of
Katherine,which received
notoriety when it was revealed
that there was police involvement with the
Ku Klux Klan , a movement
sprang up called Rights For
Whites.
Leading figures
in the group were Bill and June Tapp of
Killarney Station. Mrs Tapp, who was president of the organisation,
maintained that government
handouts were encouraging
Aboriginal people towards crime,
drunkenness and laziness. Bowditch took a personal interest in the issue , sensing that it
could split the Territory
and create racial tension.
He attended a
lively Rights for Whites meeting
in Katherine . One of the few Aborigines there was
the Gurindji Captain Major. When
a white person said that the people of Katherine had experienced tough times during the Depression, Captain Major said
Aborigines had been in a depression ever since the arrival of white people in
Australia.
Bowditch
strongly urged June Tapp to change the
name of the organisation from
Rights For Whites to Rights for
Territorians , which was done . By
retaining the original name, he
said it could and would be
branded racist . Because the
supporters of the organisation
felt they had legitimate grievances
and were experiencing financial and
other problems , they would receive
a more sympathetic ear from
Canberra with an all embracing
title.
He argued that
the Federal Government by
spending money on Aboriginal affairs
was , rightly, trying to redress a terrible situation which
demanded attention . The split in the community was a hot
issue at the time and fanned by
political groups opposed to the Whitlam
government. Some people in high places in the
NT secretly gloated over the racial rift .
The situation
received nationwide media coverage.
ABC reporter Gerald Stone came to
Darwin from Sydney and
chaired a debate on the issue between
June Tapp and Bowditch . At times
the discussion became heated ,
and Bill Tapp watched proceedings angrily from the wings . After the
session , Bowditch said he would not have been surprised if Bill Tapp
had rushed over during the debate
and “clocked ”him for giving his wife a tough time.
In the early l970s Bowditch
had also backed the cause of a Filipino
musician , Meno Ella , who was popular in Darwin . Ella was in the country on a
visa and applied to be allowed to stay in Australia
. The Immigration authorities insisted that he and his wife would have to leave. Because
Brian Manning was married to a Filipino , Ella was
referred to him for help . Manning
, who was the head of the NT Trades
and Labour Council at the time ,
raised the matter with Bob Hawke , who was the ACTU leader ,
and Gough Whitlam. Manning had in mind unionists
refusing to fuel the plane
the Ellas would board to fly back
to the Philippines . A rally in support of Ella was held in Raintree Park and those in attendance included Bowditch , Manning, lawyer Dick Ward , activist Rob-Wesley Smith . At the airport, Ella attempted to walk out to the plane , but protestors blocked his way. Crying, he was taken to the plane by a different route .
Meno did not want to become the centre of a major dispute
and left . However, when the
Whitlam government came into power
and Immigration Minister Al Grassby
was on a visit to Manila he announced
that the Ellas could go back to
Darwin. Furthermore, Grassby said the
White Australia policy was dead and if
journalists gave him a
shovel he would
bury it . NEXT: Bowditch cracks under the strain.
