Some Things Never Change

A comparison between the 1905 Royal Commission in Western Australia 'On the Condition of Natives', and the '1984 Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody'.

Tom Mayne Reports:

Almost one hundred years ago, in 1905 to be precise, a 'Royal Commission on the Condition of the Natives' was established in Perth, Western Australia. One of the reasons for the setting up of the inquiry, apart from the stirrings of conscience amongst academics, mission representatives and politicians, was that the government was getting a bit nervous about reports in the foreign press regarding Australia's treatment of its Aborigines. The Inquiry would be headed by one Walter Edmond Roth Esquire, former Chief Protector of Aborigines Queensland.

During the course of the inquiry, the Commissioner turned his attention to the behaviour of the police. He wanted to know why, when Aborigines were suspected of spearing cattle and brought in for questioning, they were always chained together by their necks. More importantly, why were always about fifteen aborigines brought in together with some women who were chained together by their ankles. It turned out that the women were the witnesses!

It evidently never dawned on the police that such treatment would not be meted out to white witnesses or that white women would not be asked to testify against their husbands.

But why were there always fifteen men brought in?

Here one case, of a certain Bertram Henry Fletcher, Constable of Police in La Grange Bay: (in what follows, some less relevant questions have been omitted for brevity) The Commissioner, who persisted with his questioning of this man obtained the following replies from him;

Do you know beforehand how many blacks you are going to arrest?

No.

Are you armed?

Yes.

How many neck?chains do you take?

I usually take sufficient for about 15 natives.

You just said now that you did not know how many natives you were going to arrest. Is the precaution of taking 15 neck?chains always sufficient?

It is very seldom that we arrest more than that number. Very often they do not exceed that number.

Do you supply your aboriginal prisoners with tea, sugar, and jams?

Tea and sugar. We don't give them jam.

What is the longest time you have been away on one of your trips?

I have always been away nearly three months.

How much do you receive per day for escorting each aboriginal prisoner or witness?

two shillings and five pence ( 2s. 5d.) per day per prisoner, for food.

Do you get the same amount for returning the witnesses to their native homes after the trial is over?

Yes.

Is there a name given by your department to this special allowance for aboriginal prisoners and witnesses?

Yes. It is called 'prisoners rations'.

Do you actually spend 2s. 5d. per day an each prisoner or witness?

No; but each native has sufficient food.

I want to know how you spend 2s. 5d. per head on each one?

(The Constable doesn't answer)

About how much do you make a year on this account?

I could not say. I keep no account of it.

Do you mean to tell me that you are not in a position to state whether you make a profit on this 2s. 5d. which you are allowed for daily rations for these blacks?

I make a profit. I do not lose anything by it.

Do you in any way share your profit with any other police officer?

ln an indirect way. The monies are all paid into the mess fund at the station. If there is any surplus it is divided between the men if they are working together. Any profit is very small.

How many cases or instances can you give me where there has been no surplus?

I could not say.

The testimony of John lngliss Constable of Police at Hall's Creek, was even more blatant, but at least it was more honest,. When asked whether he considered the police made a profit out of the 'Aboriginal rations' he replied "I do of course".

Why do you say "of course"?

It has always been a well?known thing. Everybody knows that they have made a good profit out of it for a long time past.

Further persistent questioning by the Commissioner revealed that apart from appearing as witnesses, the women were always assaulted sexually by the police arresting parties. Prior to the 1905 Royal Commission this practice was just taken for granted.

It is also evident from reading this report that the police made little effort to disguise the fact that the number of prisoners brought in, and the very extended time spent in travelling, was arranged to maximise the 'food allowance for rations' so that the police could pocket a good profit.

Just eighty nine years later in 1994, another inquiry was underway. This time it was an inquiry into the implementation of the 339 recommendations contained in the 1991 final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). The inquiry was set up under the bipartisan House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.

The committee travelled to many Aboriginal communities and interviewed a wide range of organisations and personnel in the criminal justice system. Many of the RCIADIC recommendations deal with police practices and ways they might be improved. Arrest for public drunkenness, for example, should be decriminalised and replaced with non?custodial sentencing (where a prisoner is taken home or detained in a sobering up shelter instead of in a police lock?up). The Commissioners took this view after finding that 44 out of the 99 deaths investigated were alcohol?related even though alcohol was not a direct cause of death in any but 5 cases!

Other recommendations coming out of the Royal Commission called for policy changes ensuring that police pecuniary (money) interests should in no way be related to arrest rates.

The Wiluna Club Hotel: One of the places the Committee visited was Wiluna in Western Australia. Wiluna is a remote and unattractive town about 700 Km NNE of Perth with few facilities except for the pub. It exists primarily to service the surrounding mining infrastructure. The Committee's report on Wiluna which is contained in the report 'Justice Under Scrutiny' makes chilling reading. The first point to be noted is that some years ago the Mardu Aborigines, acknowledging that drunkenness was a major problem, negotiated with the proprietor of the Wiluna Club Hotel to stop the sale of liquor in glass bottles as well as the supply of spirits and wine, to Aborigines. It was also agreed that the front bar of the Club Hotel be closed at 7 pm nightly instead of 10 pm. The Committee found that the police officer in Charge had complained about the earlier closing time and had managed to have the agreement overturned.

The next thing the Committee found was even more alarming. So zealous was the policeman in locking up Aborigines, that over an eight month period during 1994, it was estimated that the number of Aborigines charged and detained, exceeded the town's entire population!

Evidently this practice had been going on for some time because in a Regional Report resulting from RCIADIC, Commissioner O'Dea made the following comment: The Commissioner has heard evidence that at the Wiluna Lockup it has been the practice of allowing the officers in charge to supply prisoners with kangaroo meat shot by the police staff, instead of using money to purchase rations. But reimbursement would still be claimed, by the officer in charge, for the 'cost' of meals provided. Prisoners at Wiluna also participated in the cooking of their own meals. As noted in the Committee's report, the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA estimated that over a twelve month period more than $80,000 would have been paid to the officer in charge.

One would have thought that after such damaging revelations both at the RCIADIC and at the later Committee of Inquiry, an immediate change would have been implemented, even if for no other reasons than just to allay perceptions of impropriety. This was not to be so.

Not until 1999 was this practice changed. Now each lockup in WA is provided with a microwave oven and frozen meals. And, surprise! surprise!, according to the WA Aboriginal Justice Advisory Committee, the detention rate for Aboriginal prisoners at Wiluna has plummeted significantly!

His Majesty's Black Subjects During the 1905 Royal Commission, police misbehaviour in abusing aborigines by siphoning away their food rations wasn't the only thing in which the Commissioner took an interest. He was also concerned about other aspects of British Justice as it applied to His Majesty's black subjects. In particular how Aborigines were treated on the pastoral properties and in the courts.

By the time of the 1905 Royal Commission, indiscriminate killing of Aborigines was on the decline although what was probably the last recorded massacre occurred in 1928 at Coniston in the Northern Territory.

Yet as Pamela Watson points out in her book about Queensland frontier practices, the abusive sexual liaisons the settlers forced on young Aboriginal women resulted in the spread of venereal diseases, which killed more Aborigines than the pastoralists' bullets. She records one of the very worst cases on a remote property, where nine women were forcibly imprisoned in an enclosure surrounded by, and covered by, rabbit?proof netting, and treated as sex slaves.

The devastating effect of white sexual abuse of young Aboriginal women is also shown by John Harris to have been a major cause of death and declining birth rates.

One common practice was for pastoralists to 'contract' Aborigines to work on their stations for no wages. If an Aboriginal absconded he or she could be ordered back to work by a magistrate, and the police would ensure that the order was carried out. Flogging of a runaway Aboriginal was not uncommon.

Here is part of the record of the questioning of William Lippin, Sub?inspector of Police at Roebourne, by the Commissioner:

What is your opinion as to wages being paid for aboriginal labour?

For the natives themselves to get the cash it would be worse than useless. If the wages could be used for their benefit in some way it would be a useful thing. If they got the money themselves it would only be wasted, as at present they get all the food, clothing, and tobacco they require.

How do you think the money should be utilised?

The Government should get and retain the money, and it could be used to keep the natives when they were too old to work.

Do you know of any cases of breach of contract by an employer being brought before the court?

No.

Do you know of any cases where the employee under a contract has been brought before the court for breach of contract?

Yes. Some have been charged with absconding.

When native women abscond are warrants issued for their arrest?

Yes; in some cases. It is not a very common thing, but there are cases.

What is the usual punishment inflicted when a aboriginal has absconded from his service?

There is usually no punishment. They are ordered back to work. There are cases where they are sent to gaol for a short period, but in most cases there is no punishment at all.

Are you aware that, according to the Act, the magistrate has no power to bring an absconding aboriginal back to his employment?

I must confess ignorance on that.

It was not until the mid 1960s that Aboriginal stockmen and other station workers were awarded equal wages. It was often supposed that this was the result of a strike known as the 'walk?off' from Wave Hill station. But equal wages was only part of that dispute. Aborigines had had enough of having their way of life denigrated, and their human rights trampled on.

While it is true that some pastoralists treated Aborigines with respect and dignity, others, especially those associated with foreign owned companies, treated them with contempt. On Wave Hill, owned then by Lord Vesty ( of Bovril Empire fame), the gates around the accommodation complex were not only shut but the local store was closed requiring Aborigines to travel for large distances in order to obtain their provisions. Many Aborigines were locked out of pastoral holdings corresponding to their traditional lands.

Forcible Resettlement: And as Noel Pearson points out, the government of the day knew exactly what would happen if Aborigines were forcibly moved away from their own land and onto settlements. However instead of subsidising pastoralists to help them to keep Aborigines employed and on their own land, they chose to relocate them on to 'settlements', and indeed this proved to be a disaster. We are still seeing the devastating effects of this today.

English as a Second Language: There is one further matter, that of the Aboriginal's ability to understand and be understood by the magistrate. While few if any of the police, pastoralists, or government officials had any ability to speak or understand any of the local Aboriginal languages, many Aborigines had a smattering of English ( somewhat similar to Pidgin). Technical language, however, such as that used in a court of law, was another matter, and cannot easily be expressed in Pidgin. For instance, Aboriginal prisoners that were charged with killing a white man's bullock, were at a great disadvantage in this respect, and furthermore the Aboriginal women who were forcibly brought in as witnesses, were forced to testify for the crown, while no witnesses were ever brought in for the defence.

Cross examining Matthew John Langtree, a stockman, the Commissioner asked;

Who prosecutes when aborigines are tried for these offences?

The police.

Who defends?

There is really no defence. The prisoners have to defend themselves. What about in a case of murder? Is there also no defence in a murder case?

No, no defence.

Is the defence in these cases taken direct, or through an interpreter?

There is an interpreter, who is generally the police tracker.

Does this tracker speak good English?

In many cases he does not. He can hardly understand the English Language himself,

at all. In nine cases out of ten he can only speak very few words of "pidgin " English.

Ninety four years after the 1905 Royal Commission, the Northern Territory

Government in 1999, following more than twenty years of protests by Legal Services, Aboriginal lobby groups, Churches and others, and an unflattering report by the Anti- Discrimination Commissioner, finally and reluctantly, and only after getting the necessary Federal funding, agreed to set up an interpreter service for Aboriginal Territorians. Some things never change. Other things change slowly, especially in the Deep north and Deep West.

Top