Yarrabah pays tribute to change maker Alfred (Alf) Neal
One of the nation’s greatest leaders, who dedicated his life to the struggle against oppression and bettering the lives of Indigenous people has been farewelled at a moving service in Yarrabah.
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One of the nation’s greatest leaders who dedicated his life to the struggle against oppression and bettering the lives of all Indigenous people has been farewelled at a moving service in Yarrabah.
Alfred (Alf) Neal also known as the Bush Lawyer, Popeye, or Djungan died at his adopted community of Yarrabah on May 24, aged 100.
Half the town of Yarrabah turned up at the St Albans Anglican Church on Tuesday, alongside prominent indigenous leaders, Leichhardt MP Bob Katter.
Best known for his tireless fight for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be recognised by the Australian constitution during a referendum held in 1967, Mr Neal from a young age took up the fight for all workers who toiled at the backbreaking work of cutting sugarcane by hand and farm work in the Cairns area.
Mr Neal was born in the Mount Mulligan area in 1922 before being forcibly removed from his family by police under the Aboriginal Protection Act and relocated to a mission in Yarrabah where he grew up.
Requesting an exemption from the Act, a young Mr Neal became an itinerant worker throughout the Atherton Tablelands during which time he forged strong union ties and negotiated for better wages and working conditions.
In 1957 Mr Neal along with 10 other men spearheaded a strike for equal pay and better conditions for Aboriginal people living on government reserves.
In the 1970s Mr Neal managed to secure a parcel of farming land where he grew small crops before being elected to the National Aboriginal Conference and setting up the Yarrabah Cooperative Society whose mission it was to develop sustainable Indigenous business.
And in 2019 one of the last survivors of the civil rights movement that successfully changed the constitution in 1967, Mr Neal was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia for service to his community.
“Alf believed in self-determination, self-taught and being independent and he wanted to prove to others that dreams happen if you just do it,” niece Susan Neal said.
“A bush carpenter, he taught himself to paint and build his first home and he was the first in Yarrabah to buy a Ford Falcon wagon, his first outboard motor and he was the first to buy a black and white TV and fridge.
“He was always concerned about his family and his people and instilled in all of them a desire to make a better future for themselves.”
A strong supporter of the Voice to parliament it was not lost on speakers at Albans church on Tuesday that a landmark Senate decision locked in a referendum to decide new constitutional change not 24-hours earlier.
Lyall Monroe came all the way from Moree in NSW to pay his respects and to celebrate an enduring legacy all Indigenous people can be proud of.
“A generation of campaigning for social justice can be handed on, not just to his children but to his children’s children, thank you my brother,” he said.
Kennedy MP Bob Katter told mourners it was not long ago that Indigenous people were rounded up throughout the north and the Torres Strait and sent to the penal colony at Palm Island in chains.
He said not long ago, at the superintendent of Yarrabah’s discretion Indigenous people could be locked up without reason for nine days.
“But Alfie Neal always stood up and I hope the legacy that he started can continue, because we have a long, long way to travel,” he said.
It was said at Mr Neal’s final farewell, that he believed in hard work, earning your own living and holding your head up high with confidence.
He advocated to be a leader within yourself and said the only person that can make change is you.
According to his wishes, Mr Neal will return to his birthplace, his yumba, (home) at Mount Mulligan on Wednesday to be buried.
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Originally published as Yarrabah pays tribute to change maker Alfred (Alf) Neal
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