State government controls payments of Palm Island residents
After observing the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forced to live at Palm Island Reserve, one resident asked the federal government for help, including asking for a review into how reserve managers were using people’s government payments.
... mother's [sic] on Palm Island who are recieving [sic] Child endowment money is taken out of each pay … we all think that the money is being used some other way …
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| les-foster-letter.pdf | 1.82 MB |
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Throughout much of the 20th century, the government ran a reserve on Palm Island to contain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They removed people from around Queensland and forced them to move to the reserve.
In 1961, resident and community leader, Les Foster, wrote to the government about his concerns that reserve managers were mistreating people. He talked about gender segregation, poor wages and tensions between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Foster also wrote about how the reserve managers were using government payments that were meant to be for the residents. He reported that ‘money is taken out of each pay to pay for four case of fruit (and no recets [sic] are given)’. He said, ‘I think and we all think that the money is being used some other way’.
He asked the government to send someone to ‘find out what realy [sic] goes on at Palm Island’.
After some internal back and forth, the government responded curtly to Foster’s letter, offering no help. In response to how the managers used government payments, they said ‘I am sure you would agree that it is a good thing to provide … fresh fruit for the children’. They said the other issues weren’t a federal government responsibility, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were governed under state laws at the time.
Foster’s concerns about managers misusing government payments were well founded. Historian Bill Rosser’s investigations years later would confirm these experiences. Residents of Palm Island continued to be under strict government control for many years (Watson 2010:121, 139).
As well as advocating for the rights of Palm Island residents, Foster also advocated for Aboriginal people's right to vote. Earlier in 1961, Foster gave evidence to the House of Representatives Select Committee on Voting Rights of Aborigines. This is likely why Foster addressed his letter to the House of Representatives and not another department.
The practice of taking income and federal government payments from people in places like Palm Island is considered an example of stolen wages. There have been a number of inquiries and legal cases around this issue.
- In 1985, Palm Island residents lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, claiming that they were underpaid by the Queensland Government.
- In 2006, there was an inquiry ‘Unfinished business: Indigenous stolen wages’ by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. Read the report on the Australian Parliament House website.
- In 2019, the Stolen Wages Settlement Distribution Scheme was set up after a long legal case. The Queensland Government has distributed entitlements to over 10,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Foster’s correspondence was kept on file by the Prime Minister’s Department. The file was transferred to the National Archives of Australia, which holds it as part of the national archival collection.
You can access the file through RecordSearch. Go to pages 3 to 4 for Foster’s letter.
Permissions
Permission to include this letter was granted by Foster family members, through Delena Foster.
Citation
National Archives of Australia: Prime Minister’s Department; A463, Correspondence files, 1961–62; 1961/7655, Les Foster – Treatment of Aborigines on Palm Island.