Bonner, Neville (1922-1999) was the first Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament. He was a Liberal Party senator for Queensland from 1971 to 1983.
Neville Thomas Bonner was born on March 28, 1922, in Tweed Heads in New South Wales. He was the grandson of Junjung, also known as Roger Bell, a fully initiated member of the Brisbane River Jagara Aboriginal tribe. Bonner knew hunger and experienced discrimination of the worst kind. At the age of 13, on the death of his mother, he moved to Beaudesert. There, he received his only formal schooling for one year. Later, he worked as head stockman, as labor overseer on Palm Island, and as a manufacturer of boomerangs in Ipswich. In 1967, he became president of the One People of Australia League (OPAL), an organization that promoted the advancement of Australia’s Aboriginal peoples. Bonner was named Australian of the Year in 1979. In 1983, he became a director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He died on Feb. 5, 1999.
