Fred Maynard and the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA): One God, One Aim, One Destiny

Abstract

O ppositio n to the invasion of this country is not som e new-found strength that A borig­ inal people have su d d en ly discovered. It did not spring from the M abo decision or the N ative Title Act 1993, nor w as its birth a result of the vibrant period of the 1960s, w hich culm inated in the A boriginal tent em bassy in C anberra. The groundsw ell of Aboriginal resistance to dom ination has been ongoing since Cook and the Endeavour first appeared over the horizon. It did not cease w hen the last gunshot w as heard on the frontier. Resistance has taken m any forms since 1770, from sm all encounters, to guerilla w arfare, open w arfare and the w ar of w ords. The form ation of the first politically organised and united A boriginal activist group, the A ustralian A boriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) began in 1924 under the leadership of Charles Fredrick M aynard.1 This group proved a revelation and inspiration to A boriginal people of their period and into the future. The AAPA saw, for the first time, A borigines voicing their disapproval by hold­ ing street rallies, conducting m eetings and conferences, utilising the pow er of the m edia through n ew sp ap er coverage, w riting letters and petitions to G overnm ent and King G eorge V abo u t the injustice and inequality forced upon Aboriginal people. This form of resistance has now been ongoing for over seventy years, gaining in m om entum and strength w ith each passing year. Until recently, little w as know n of the AAPA or its leader Fred M aynard. To appreciate the legacy of, and the m om entum created by the AAPA, it is vitally im portant to exam ine not only the form ation of the AAPA, the plat­ form it took and the people involved, b u t w h y the AAPA w as stopped. The story of Fred M aynard and the A ustralian Aboriginal Progressive Association is one that holds special significance for m e, as he w as m y grandfather. H e sadly died eight years before m y birth so I u nfortunately never gained the opportunity of com ing into contact w ith this rem arkable A boriginal patriot. In late 1993 I w ent to the Wollo-tuka A boriginal Education C enter at the U niversity of Newcastle. My intention at that point w as to ask advice on how best to go ab o u t gaining further inform ation regarding m y g ra n d fa th e r's activities durin g the 1920s. I received som e good advice and also fin­ ished u p enrolled in the D iplom a of A boriginal Studies, w hich I com pleted in 1995. l. Broome 1982, p. 166.