Neville Bonner's stamp

Jagera man Neville Thomas Bonner was the first Indigenous person to sit in Australian federal parliament when he was appointed a Liberal senator for Queensland in 1971. Bonner spent 12 years in office, initially to fill a casual Senate vacancy for the Liberal Party in 1971, and subsequently elected in his own right four times. He was a highly principled politician who voted with his conscience, often against party lines. 

As a Senator, Bonner 'rubber-stamped' a report as chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Aboriginal Land Rights in the Northern Territory in 1977, the Aboriginal Development Commission Bill, and its replacement in 1979 and 1980, amendments to the Freedom of Information Bill in 1981, as well as several private members' bills he introduced but were unsuccessful. No doubt there were also countless more documents which crossed his desk in his 12 years in office. 

Bonner’s attitude to race and related issues was complex, as he felt an 'all-consuming burning desire to help [his] own people' and was very conscious of the privilege of being the first Aboriginal person to sit in parliament. However, he also experienced loneliness in Canberra, where he was treated as equal inside the chamber but said he was largely left alone in his office and unit, and not included in social events. 

After being pushed down the Liberal ticket in the 1983 election, Bonner contested as an independent but was not successful. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia the following year.