Walgett incident: The aim of this visit was to allow Aboriginal people entrance into the local RSL club. Even those servicemen who fought in the war were denied entry, causing great separation in the community. The Freedom Riders held up posters outside the club and Perkins addressed the crowd to convince the committee members to change their policies. The bus was then followed by a line of cars and trucks leading it out of the town, getting forced off the road by a truck.
The Freedom Ride gained television coverage on channel 7 and
front page newspaper articles all around the country. They managed to generate discussion and debate throughout Australia about the plight of Indigenous communities, and stimulated national and international pressure for form. Charles Perkins became a national figure and role model for the Aboriginal people; he showed that non-violent action can still cause change. |
Moree incident: Moree laws prohibited anyone with Aboriginal blood or colouring to use artesian baths and swimming pools. After a large crowd thered and an hour of protesting the manager and local mayor came up with an answer: The children were allowed in as long as they were ‘clean’. The freedom riders then left Moree thinking they had overturned the ban. However the ban was re-imposed and caused great upheaval in the town. The bus was back and 500 angry locals shouted abuse, threw tomatoes, rotten eggs and spat at them. "Mr Jim Spigelman, a 19-year-old student from Maroubra, was smaked to the groound while the 500-strong crowd roared its approval." This confrontation caused great press coverage and television coverage.
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1965 Freedom Ride
On the 12 February 1965, Charles Perkins set off with 28 others on a 14 day Freedom Ride. The 1965 Freedom ride was aimed to raise awareness of discrimination against Aboriginal people and try to redress it. They targeted towns that had a reputation for being racist such as Moree and Kempsey. Charles Perkins caused great upheaval in the towns he visited however achieved his goal in raising awareness.