Charles Perkins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Perkins on graduation day at theUniversity of Sydney in 1966 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1936-06-16)16 June 1936 Alice Springs,Northern Territory, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 19 October 2000(2000-10-19) (aged 64) Sydney,New South Wales, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Charlie Perkins, Kumantjayi Perkins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Bachelor of Arts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Sydney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Activism, public service,soccer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Eileen Munchenberg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Hetti,Rachel and Adam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Madeleine Madden (granddaughter) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Charles Nelson Perkins (16 June 1936 – 19 October 2000), popularly known asCharlie Perkins, was anAboriginal Australian activist,soccerplayer, and public administrator. He is often recognized as the first knownIndigenous Australian man to graduate from atertiary institution. Perkins was a prominent figure in the 1965Freedom Ride, which highlighted racial discrimination in rural Australia, and played a significant role in campaigning for a "yes" vote in the1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights. He later held various positions within the Australian public service.
Perkins was born on 16 June 1936 in the oldAlice Springs Telegraph Station[1][2] toHetty Perkins, originally from nearbyArltunga, and Martin Connelly, originally fromMount Isa,Queensland. His mother was born to a white father and anArrernte mother, while his father had an Irish father and aKalkadoon mother. Perkins had one full sibling and nine other half-siblings by his mother, and was also a cousin of artist andsoccer playerJohn Moriarty.[citation needed] He was the great-uncle ofPat Turner, and inspired her work to improve the lives of and right to self-determination for Indigenous people.[3]
Between 1952 and 1957, Perkins worked as an apprenticefitter and turner for the British Tube Mills company inAdelaide.[4]
He married Eileen Munchenberg, a descendant of a German Lutheran family, on 23 September 1961 and had two daughters (Hetti andRachel), and a son (Adam).[4] His granddaughter through Hetti is actressMadeleine Madden.[5]
Perkins obtained his early schooling at St Mary's Church School in Alice Springs, before moving down toSt Francis House for Aboriginal Boys[6] inSemaphore South, a beachside suburb ofAdelaide nearPort Adelaide,South Australia.[7] There he was treated with kindness, sent to the local school, and met other future Aboriginal leaders and activists, includingGordon Briscoe,John Kundereri Moriarty,Richie Bray,Vince Copley,Malcolm Cooper, and others.[8][9]
He subsequently attended the Metropolitan Business College inSydney, followed by theUniversity of Sydney, from where he graduated in 1966 with aBachelor of Arts. He was the first Indigenous man in Australia to graduate from university. While at university he worked part-time for theCity of South Sydney cleaning toilets.[6][10]
In 1965 he was one of the key members of theFreedom Ride – a bus tour through New South Wales by activists protesting discrimination against Aboriginal people in small towns in NSW, Australia. This action was inspired by theUSCivil RightsFreedom Ride campaign in 1961. The Australian Freedom Ride aimed to expose discrepancies in living, education and health conditions among the Aboriginal population. The tour targeted rural towns such asWalgett,Moree, andKempsey. They acted to publicise acts of blatant discrimination. This was demonstrated through one of the Freedom Ride activities in Walgett. A localRSL club refused entry to Aboriginal people, including those who were ex-servicemen who participated in the twoWorld Wars. At one stage during the Rides, the protesters' bus was run off the road.[citation needed]
On 20 February 1965, Perkins and his party tried to enter the swimming pool atMoree, where thelocal council had barred Aboriginal people from swimming since its opening 40 years earlier. They stood at the gate refusing to let anyone else in if they were not let in. In response to this action, the riders faced physical opposition from several hundred local white Australians, including community leaders, and were pelted with eggs and tomatoes. These events were broadcast across Australia, and under pressure from public opinion, the council eventually reversed the ban on Aboriginal swimmers. The Freedom Ride then moved on, but on the way out they were followed by a line of cars, one of which collided with the rear of their bus, forcing them to return to Moree where they found that the council had reneged on their previous decision. The Freedom Riders protested once again, forcing the council to remove the ban once more.[11]
On 6 August 1965, Perkins staged a fake "kidnapping" of 5-year-oldNancy Prasad from under the nose of immigration officials at the Sydney airport for the purpose of highlighting the injustice of her deportation under Australia's "White Australia" immigration policy.[12][13][14] His antic had effect. The newspapers headlined the "kidnapping". Even so, Prasad was taken to the airport again, and deported toFiji on 7 August 1965.[13]
In 1967 areferendum was held on constitutional amendments to allow the inclusion of Aboriginal people in censuses and giving theParliament of Australia the right to introduce legislation specifically for Aboriginal people. In the lead-up to the referendum Perkins was manager of theFoundation for Aboriginal Affairs,[15][16] an organisation that took a key role in advocating a Yes vote.[17] The constitutional amendment passed with a 90.77% majority.[citation needed]
In 1969 Perkins began his career inCommonwealth government public service in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs inCanberra, which became theDepartment of Aboriginal Affairs (DAA) in 1972. In that year he underwent akidney transplant.[18]
Soon after getting his first job in Canberra, he founded the company Aboriginal Hostels Limited, with the aim of setting up a national network of hostels providing temporary accommodation for Aboriginal people. In 1973, he became the inaugural chair of its board.Joe McGinness andVince Copley later held management positions in the company, covering different regions.[19]
In 1974 he was suspended on full pay byBarrie Dexter for improper conduct after he called theLiberal–Country Coalition government inWestern Australia "biggest racist political parties in this country has ever seen", which came after an earlier altercation with his minister,Labor SenatorJim Cavanagh. During his suspension, he was hailed a hero for disarming a gun-toting man who was threatening two senior officers in the department. However his decision to take a week's leave to sit with theAboriginal Tent Embassy was the final straw, and he was given leave for a year in 1975.[20]
During his year off, funded by a Literature Board grant, he wrote his autobiography,A Bastard Like Me, and was appointed general secretary of the National Aborigines Consultative Committee,[20] returning to the DAA in 1976.[18] In 1978 he was appointed as a first assistant secretary of the department, and then in 1979 deputy Secretary before resigning in 1980 in order to take up chairmanship of the newAboriginal Development Commission.[20]
When a Labor government underBob Hawke was elected in 1983, withClyde Holding appointed as minister, Perkins was appointed Secretary of the DAA in 1984,[20] holding the position until 1988.[18] Perkins was the first Indigenous person appointed to head an Australian Government department.[21][22]
Throughout his career he was a strident critic ofAustralian Government policies on Indigenous affairs and was renowned for his fiery comments. Hawke once said of Perkins that he "sometimes found it difficult to observe the constraints usually imposed on permanent heads of departments because he had a burning passion for advancing the interests of his people".[22][23]
He served as chair of the Arrernte Council of Central Australia from 1991 until 2000.[18]
In 1993 Perkins joined theAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), and was elected deputy chair in 1994, serving until he resigned in 1995 to become a consultant to theAustralian Sports Commission.[20][18]
On 7 April 2000, Perkins suggested that 'Sydney will burn during the [Sydney 2000] Olympics.' The comment sparked outrage from many different quarters.[24] In May 2000 Perkins declared that theAustralian Football League and theAustralian Rugby League were racist, suggesting that the AFL "acts in a racist manner at the highest level".[25]
Perkins was secretary of the committee of theAboriginal Publications Foundation, which published the magazineIdentity, in the 1970s.[26]
Perkins began playing in 1950 with Adelaide teamPort Thistle. In 1951 he was selected for aSouth Australia under 18 representative team. He went on to play for a number of teams in Adelaide including International United (1954–55), Budapest (1956–57) and Fiorentina (1957).
In 1957 he was invited to trial withEnglish first division teamLiverpool F.C. Perkins ended up trialling and training with Liverpool's city rivalEverton F.C. While at Everton Perkins had a physical confrontation with the Everton reserve grade manager after being called a "kangaroo bastard". After this incident, Perkins left Everton to move to Wigan where he worked as a coal miner at theMosley Common Colliery alongsideGreat Britainrugby league playerTerry O'Grady. Perkins played two seasons for leading English amateur teamBishop Auckland F.C. between 1957 and 1959.Perkins in mid-1959 decided to return to Australia after trialling withManchester United.[4]
On returning to Australia Perkins was appointed captain and coach ofAdelaide Croatia. At Croatia he played alongside notable Aboriginal figuresGordon Briscoe andJohn Moriarty.[27][28]
In 1961 when Perkins moved to Sydney to study at university he played with Pan-Hellenic (later known asSydney Olympic FC) in the New South Wales State League where he became captain and coach. He later played for Bankstown and retired in 1965.
Following his move to Canberra in 1969, Perkins joined the ANU Soccer Club (later known as theANU Football Club) as player and coach.[29][30][31][32]
He later served as president of formerNational Soccer League teamCanberra City. In 1987 He was appointed vice-president of the Australian Soccer Federation (a forerunner of theFootball Federation Australia) and was the chairman of the Australian Indoor Soccer Federation (later known as the Australian Futsal Federation) for ten years until his death in 2000.[11][27]
Perkins was awardedJaycees Young Man of the Year in 1966, andNAIDOC Aboriginal of the Year in 1993.[33][34]
He was made anOfficer of the Order of Australia in theAustralia Day Honours in 1987, for services to Aboriginal welfare.[35][36]
He was inducted into theFootball Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame for services as a player, coach and administrator in 2000.[37]
In 1998 he was awarded anhonorary doctorate of letters by theUniversity of Western Sydney, and shortly before his death he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law by the University of Sydney.[36]
Perkins was named by theNational Trust of Australia as one ofAustralia's Living National Treasures.[38]
John Farquharson wrote in hisobituary that Perkins "was perhaps not only the most influential Aborigine of modern times, but also must be numbered among the outstanding Australians of the century".[20]
In 1975, Perkins wrote his autobiography, entitledA Bastard Like Me.[2]
Perkins died in Sydney on 19 October 2000 ofrenal failure. During the 1970s, Perkins had akidney transplant and at the time of his death was the longest post-transplant survivor in Australia.[4][39] In the period immediately following his death, he was known asKumantjayi Perkins, Kumantjayi being a name used to refer to a deceased person inArrernte culture.[40] He was given astate funeral.[18] His body was returned to Alice Springs a week after his death.[36]
In 2001, the Dr Charles Perkins AO Memorial Oration and Dr Charles Perkins AO Memorial Prize were established in his honour by the University of Sydney.[41]
In 2009, The Charlie Perkins Trust instituted two scholarships per year to allow Indigenous Australians to study for up to three years at theUniversity of Oxford.[42]
TheCharles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, designed in 2012 and opened in June 2014,[43][44] was named in honour of Perkins.[45]
In 2013,Australia Post issued a series ofpostage stamps featuring five eminent Indigenous rights campaigners, including Perkins,Shirley Smith,Neville Bonner,Oodgeroo Noonuccal andEddie Mabo.[36]
There are several books about Perkins, and artistBill Leak painted a portrait of him.[36]
In 2018Paul Kelly wrote a song about Perkins, called "A Bastard Like Me", with the title of the song taken from Perkins' autobiography and the music video featuring footage from his life. It appears on the albumNature.[36]
I used to clean the toilets, down at South Sydney, and I used to do such a good job they said, 'Why don't you take this on full time?' I used to make them sparkle – all the public toilets around the place, and the one at South Sydney Depot, right down Redfern. And I used to clean them, I had no problem. Any job is a good job. And ah, you know if anybody else can do it I can do it.
AO AD 87. For service to Aboriginal welfare
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| Preceded by | Secretary of theDepartment of Aboriginal Affairs 1984–1988 | Succeeded by |
