City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

DAREBIN HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 2Anstey was a shining light in the Labor Party in the northern suburbs, and is one of the reasonswhy the people in many of these suburbs have in this century turned traditionally to that party torepresent them (Forster, 1968:78).A station on the Upfield line, within the neighbouring municipality of Moreland, is named inAnstey’s honour.In 1915, the local branch of the ALP endorsed their first candidate for Northcote Council, theyoung Westgarth greengrocer John Cain, who served as a Councillor until 1927. Cain alsowon the state seat of Jika Jika in 1917. Cain represented the area in parliament for 40 years,serving three terms as Victoria’s Premier -1945-47, 1952-55. His last term was from March toJune 1955, when Labor lost office, remaining in opposition until 1982. In that year Cain’s sonJohn formed a new Labor government and held office as Premier until 1991. John Cain Seniorlived in Northcote throughout his whole political career. His family home was in James Street.The John Cain Memorial Park was named in his honour after his death in 1957. Cain wassucceeded in the seat by another Northcote Councillor, Frank Wilkes, who became Leader ofthe Victorian Labor Party in the Victorian Parliament in 1977, but was replaced as leader byJohn Cain Junior in 1981 (Lemon, 1983:173, 179, 204, 266-70).Aboriginal Self DeterminationAs noted in Chapter 2, Aboriginal people began to migrate to metropolitan Melbourne fromcountry areas in the 1920s. Two of these people, William Cooper and Douglas Nicholls, whowould go on to become leading Aboriginal political figures, moved to Footscray and Northcoterespectively. The organisations founded by Cooper and Nicholls - the Australian AboriginesLeague and the Victorian Aborigines Advancement League - are closely connected, as were themen themselves, and both are intimately connected with the City of Darebin.William Cooper arrived in Melbourne in 1932 and soon after founded the AustralianAborigines League -an entirely Aboriginal organisation whose foundation members alsoincluded Douglas Nicholls. Cooper instigated a petition to the King for Aboriginalrepresentation within the Federal Parliament. As a further step in this cause, Cooper led adeputation in 1935, which again included Doug Nicholls, to the Federal Minister for theInterior with clear demands including direct Aboriginal representation in Federal and StateParliaments, the establishment of a Federal Department of Native Affairs, and theestablishment of an advisory council in each State to assist the protectors of Aborigines. Inmany ways Cooper’s methods - of petition, deputation and correspondence - were followingwell established methods of protest which had been employed by Aboriginal people since theearly and mid nineteenth Century in areas such as Flinders Island and by the residents ofCoranderrk in both the 1860s and the 1880s.All of these demands were ignored but Cooper and AAL continued to collect signatures for thepetition and strove to direct public attention to Aboriginal issues, with initiatives such as thefirst Aboriginal Day of Mourning in 1938, to coincide with the 150 th anniversary of the arrivalof the first fleet.After the death of William Cooper in 1942, the AAL’s activities were slowed by the diversionof the Second World War. However, Doug Nicholls continued mission work with the Churchof Christ Missions in Fitzroy, and political lobbying, alternating direct protest and greatsubtlety, on issues such as the Rocket Range Protest Committee (protesting the governmentsplans to establish a rocket range in Central Australia which would impact on the Great CentralReserve and the Warburton Ranges Mission), formally writing to Prime Ministers seekingAboriginal Parliamentary representation, and personally driving a move to have Aboriginalinvolvement in Celebrations of Victoria’s Centenary of self-government in 1951.The Victorian Aborigines Advancement League formed in 1957 after Doug Nicholls renewedhis involvement with the Warburton Ranges Mission, bringing back to Melbourne films of theappalling conditions of Aborigines on the mission after rocket and atomic testing had begunten years prior. The formation of the League was also prompted by the tabling in Victorian92