Remembering Andrew Jack O’Chin
Jack O’Chin Oval has been home to some of the South Burnett’s most thrilling games of rugby league over the years but who really knows the significance of its name?
South Burnett
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Thousands of spectators flocked to Cherbourg’s Jack O’Chin Oval for the Legends of League Clash on Saturday, but very few knew the history behind the sports field.
Andrew Jack O’Chin was regarded as one of the state’s best rugby league fullbacks throughout the 1930s, a keen cricketer, musician and community man.
He was the first chairman of the Cherbourg Aboriginal Community Council when it started in 1966 to advise the Queensland Government on Aboriginal Affairs.
O’Chin was a skilled craftsmen and scout master who was pivotal in the Eeonomic development of Cherbourg.
He was the first warden appointed under the Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act and was a foundation member of the Relics Advisory Committee. Jack O’Chin was the first Aboriginal person to represent Queensland at a national conference on Aboriginal welfare that was opened by the prime minister, Sir John Gorton, in Melbourne in 1968. In 1969, he was appointed to the Captain Cook Bicentenary Committee. In June 1978, Jack O’Chin was awarded the Imperial Service Medal by the Queen in recognition of his long service to his people, his community and the Australian government.
After his contributions to Cherbourg sport, education, church and social programs, the Cherbourg Hornets Oval was named in his honour.