Indigenous Politicians. (Neville Bonner Timeline.)

By matt.kinnia

  • Birth

    Neville Thomas Bonner was born at Ukerebagh Island, a small settlement on the Tweed River in northern New South Wales.
  • Period: to

    Neville Thomas Bonner

    Neville Thomas Bonner AO (28 March 1922 – 5 February 1999) was an Australian politician, and the first Indigenous Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was initially appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of Queensland in the Senate, and later became the first indigenous Australian to be elected to the parliament by popular vote. Bonner was an elder of the Jagera people.

  • Moved to Ipswich.

    In 1960 he moved to Ipswich, where he joined the board of directors of the One People of Australia League (OPAL),

  • Neville Bonner became the first Indigenous Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia.

  • Australian of the Year.

    In 1979 Bonner was jointly named Australian of the Year along with naturalist Harry Butler. In 1984 Bonner was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.[

  • Election.

    Neville lost the election, but the Hawke government then appointed him to the board of directors of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  • Period: to

    Griffith University

    From 1992 to 1996 he was member of the Griffith University Council.

  • Honorary Doctorate

    The university awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1993.

  • Constitutional Convention

    1998 he was elected to the Constitutional Convention as a candidate of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy.

  • Passed away.

    He died at Ipswich in 1999, aged 76.

  • Neville Bonner Memorial Scholarship

    The Neville Bonner Memorial Scholarship was established by the federal government in 2000 and is now considered Australia's most prestigious scholarship for Indigenous Australians to study Honours in Political Science or related subjects at any recognised Australian university.

  • Bonner

    The Queensland federal electorate of Bonner was created in 2004 and was named in his honour. Also, a recently re-developed rugby league oval in Ipswich was named the Neville Bonner Sporting Complex in his honour. This oval was formerly home to an exclusively indigenous side, but is now the official home of the Queensland Cup side, the Ipswich Jets, and the IRL/IJRL finals and junior representative. The suburb of Bonner in Canberra, Australia's national capital, also bears his name.