Neville Bonner at Old Parliament House

This Thursday 11 July the museum will celebrate NAIDOC week with a look at the life of the first Indigenous Member of Parliament, Neville Bonner. Senior Historian Libby Stewart will talk about the early life and parliamentary career of this extraordinary man in a talk illustrated with images and objects owned by Neville Bonner, now held in the museum’s collections.

Neville Thomas Bonner was born in northern New South Wales in 1922 and after a hard childhood learned his political skills in the charged atmosphere of Palm Island. He joined the Liberal Party in the 1960s and found himself an elected member of the Senate for Queensland in 1971 after the retirement of Annabelle Rankin. For twelve years he sat in the Senate, fighting hard for the rights and better treatment of his people, a proud and dignified man.

See and hear more about Neville Bonner in the House of Representatives Chamber at the Museum of Australian Democracy, this Thursday at 11am. Entry will be on a first come, first serve basis.