BUMP VOTING POLLS

This Komilaroi warrior was born on the 6th of September 1951, the second eldest of a family of twelve, six boys and six girls to parents, Lyall Snr and Carmine May Munro.

He was raised in one of the roughest and remote country towns in NSW, with a mean reputation when comes to representing home turf, especially on the Football field with Moree Boomerangs.

This man also comes from the generation who were heavily segregated from the wider communities, Towns and cities, on the basis of racial discrimination even to the point where Hospitals had separate areas for Aboriginal people.

The McMaster Ward was the name of the segregated area within Moree District Hospital, where he and his brothers and sisters were born, as were the majority of Aboriginal children of the time.

Lyall being the eldest son, held many responsibilities, he grew up in the house number 34, on the ‘New’ Moree Mission on Mehi Crescent, surrounded by cousins, aunties, Uncles and extended family and came from a very strong tight- knit Aboriginal community.

His mother often looked after many children from the mission and due to this was held in a very high esteem, with a lot of people seeing her as a mother figure, which also meant that he had many extended brothers and sisters as well his 11 siblings. This is the way most children are reared in Aboriginal communities.

In 1956, Lyall started school at the age of 5, at Moree Aboriginal School on the Mission, although it was a segregated school for Aboriginal children from the Mission and Top Camp, the young white teachers often advocated for the same educational opportunities that were afforded to the children from the schools in town.

The standard of teaching that was present at the mission school was quite exceptional, in light of the attitudes of the time because the teachers individually defied the Education Department.

They had seen that there were a lot of misconceptions about education that existed and they pushed for inclusive schooling and a universal standard to be implemented that was on par with mainstream education, this was supported by the local Aboriginal community which was quite controversial.

He says “the best years of my life were at the mission school” and he often talks about the freedoms they had as well as the limitations, like asking the Mission Manager permission for when extended family come onto the Mission.

After ‘Mission School’ he attended Moree High School until 1964, when he was awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious De La Salle College, in Armidale as a boarder at the age of 14.

During his year of High School in Moree, he won many sporting accolades, which singled him out from his fellow pupils in athletics and this made him an obvious candidate for a sporting scholarship, who was supported by the local Catholic Church.

He was an Altar boy from a young age, his family was known and he was personally supported by the local Church.

He was the first young man from his community to have the chance of a better education, within the private school system and he was encouraged by his old people to continue to pursue this opportunity, even though it meant for him to be isolated away from home and family, for most of the year in order for him to excel in such a prestigious school.

Here, at De La Salle College, Lyall was exposed to a new form of education that taught him about the social issues of the world due to having many friends from different backgrounds and social statuses, staying within the dormitories.

He came from the first generation of Aboriginal people, in Australian history, who had equal education, they were the first, who were allowed into the public and private schools and this exposed them to a more expansive array of ‘westernized knowledge’.

During his time at De La Salle he earned a reputation as a champion athlete and natural sportsman, winning many ribbons and trophies in such categories as athletics, swimming, diving, tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, basketball, rugby union, league and cricket.

He was awarded the NSW instructors certificate in 1965 for gymnastics, swimming and lifesaving at the age of 14.

In 1965, as young impressionable man home from holidays. he experienced first hand the racism that existed in Northern NSW and the exposure that Charles Perkins and his student supporters from the Universities in Sydney, identified during the ‘Freedom Rides’, which also visited such towns as Kempsey, Gulargambone, Walgett and Bowraville.

He was one of the six, young Komilaroi who were on the bus accompanied by the Freedom Riders, to the infamous confrontation at the Moree Baths which was reported about by mainstream media.

The people from the town refused the young Aboriginal people admittance into the pools on a hot summer day, with temperatures that were said to have peaked 100 degrees, because they were Aboriginal and came from the mission.

Lyall finished his year ten certificate at De La Salle College and returned home to Moree, where he started a traineeship as an electrician the following year, this job took him to Umina, Bondi Junction, Newcastle and Wagga Wagga and he completed this course in 1972.

After he became a qualified ‘Sparky’, he returned home again to Moree, this time he was working as a Cotton Chipper, which is still a popular source of employment, although seasonal, for young Aboriginal people from rural NSW.

In 1972, at the age of 22, he led the Workers Strike at Wee Waa, organized by the Aboriginal Cotton Chippers Caucus, 1500 workers protested against impossible working conditions and $1 per hour wages by walking off the job. It was here in Wee Waa, where he had met Paul Coe and Sol Bellear, and his long association with the Aboriginal Legal Service began.

After bringing attention to the working conditions that existed in NSW, at the time, Lyall Munro was invited, along with Michael Anderson to address the Trade and Labour Council in Sydney, they persuaded the council to feed the workers during the remainder of the strike and this was granted.

After the Cotton Chippers Caucus, Lyall stayed in Sydney and became further involved in the movement and establishment of the first Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.

In 1973 he was nominated and elected as the Vice President of the first fully controlled Aboriginal Legal Service. He dedicated many years to the functioning and further development of this organization and worked here in positions ranging from Field Officer, Public Relations Officer, Office Manager of the Redfern office, State Administrator until 1993 and being elected to the position of Chairman in 1983 and ’84.

In that same year, also Lyall attended the first National Land Rights Conference in Darwin at Baggot Mission, he and Billy Craigie and other delegates led a protest of hundreds by blocking off Baggot Rd, which is the main road, in and out of Darwin, during peak hour, initially marching to defend uncle Bobby secretary and his stance in the area with the local councils.

He played with the Redfern All Blacks, in this year as well, this was the start of a long association with the local, All Aboriginal Football Club, and they were the champions of the 1973 Annual NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout and again in 1978 and 1979.

He was apart of the generation of young articulate and educated Aboriginal people who were tackling grass roots issues with grass- roots initiatives and he was also a founding member of the following organisations, The NSW Aboriginal Legal Service Ltd, The Aboriginal Medical Service and The Aboriginal Housing Co.

In 1975 he was at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, opposite Old Parliament House on the front line, like most young people of his generation, they gathered there, fighting for Aboriginal rights and Sovereignty and in this specific year the agenda was demanding the return of Charles Perkins as the Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

In 1979, he was in Canberra again, this time on Capitol Hill, during operations deployed by the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, which was to have the National Aboriginal Government conduct business on the site of the purposed New Parliament House.

This site also holds cultural and spiritual significance for Aboriginal people from the area and they halted the construction of New Parliament House for some time to specifically support and promote, Coe Vs The Commonwealth on ‘Terra Nulius’ and sovereignty (eternal/ external).

The decade of ‘Race Riots’ ensued in the town of Moree, culminating in many violent confrontations and the shooting of Ronald William ‘Cheeky’ McIntosh in 1983.

Lyall was banned from his own home town because, he and many from his community would not tolerate racism and they publically showed their disgust. He was barred from coming into Moree for 5 years, he would only return for funerals and other familial obligations and only after being permitted by the Probation and Parole Board, this ban ended in 1985.

Although he was banned from being in the town in 1981, he drew up the application for the Moree Boomerangs entry into the A Grade, group 5- now 19.

Moree Boomerangs still currently experience seclusion in the local competitions and have only recently been allowed back to play, due to violent behaviour but everyone that comes out of that town will say, its because the “Rangs’ don’t have any competition against other towns, too much Black Talent!”

In Sydney, Lyall held the position of Chief Researcher for the NSW State Governments project, ‘The Milne Report’, regarding alternatives to the over institutionalization of Aboriginal children in NSW, from 1983- ’84.

The following year, in 1983, he along with Billy Craigie and John Terry, in conjunction with the University of NSW, created the Aboriginal Legal Services Field Officers Training Program, which is still in existence as the Legal Program provided by Tranby Aboriginal College.

In 1983 and ’84, Lyall Munro was a founding member and Coordinator for the National Aboriginal and Islander Legal Service Secretariat, (NAILSS) and he represented NAILSS as a delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, International Indigenous Human Rights forum in Geneva, Switzerland, where he spoke alongside Paul Coe and ‘Suga’ Ray Robinson.

1983 was a busy year for Lyall, as he also organized the first ever ‘Night of Black Stars’, held at the NSW South Sydney Juniors Club in Kensington, this was the predecessor for the National Aboriginal and Islander Sports Awards. The following year the ‘Night of Black Stars’ was held in Sydney Town Hall.

In 1984 Lyall studied at the International Human Rights University, in Strasburg, France and was awarded his International Human Rights Certificate.

From 1984- 1991, he was a member of the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Association (NARLA), and was apart of the annual organizing committee for the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival, and played an integral role within those consecutive years.

He was Assistant Coach in 1992 and ’93 and coached the Redfern All Blacks in 1995, he has had the pleasure of watching his sons, and grandsons play for the same teams he did.

In 1992 he was recognized for his achievements and was announced as the NSW NAIDOC, Aboriginal person of the year, Lyall has overcome many obstacles and has set a standard for pride within the Redfern/ Waterloo area, he is humble, yet heroic and still, he continues to advocate for his people, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

From 1995/96 Lyall was apart of the NSW Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee which campaigned to bring awareness to the statistics and personal accounts that were recorded within the correctional system in order to facilitate change and address the issues to the appropriate government bodies.

In 1998, Lyall Munro was recognized for his contribution to Land Rights and the betterment of his people and for this, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Aboriginal Affairs by Tranby Aboriginal College.

He was invited in 2002, to be a guest speaker along with South Sydney Greats at the steps of Sydney Town Hall, before 80, 000 people marching and showing support for the reintroduction of the South Sydney Rabbitohs into the NRL.

Just last year, in 2009, he presented Prince William on his visit to Redfern with a copy of the petition started in the 1930’s, by the late, great William Cooper, this petition was forwarded over 80 years ago but never reached the intended recipient, Prince William’s Grand Father.

He has been married to his wife, Jenny Munro for 38 years and is now a proud Father of seven children, four girls and three boys and seventeen grandchildren at the latest count.

He has lived in Sydney for over the last 30 years, he is called ‘Pop’ and ‘Uncle Lyally Moe’ by many, which shows the amount of respect and affection, people in the Redfern/ Waterloo community have for this Urban Legend.

Throughout his life he has worked as a ‘Sparky’, has dedicated large amounts of time to the establishment and further development of the local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, in Redfern, namely the Aboriginal Legal Service from 1972- 1992, in a range of positions. He pulled fences down in both Government Houses in Sydney and Brisbane all to demand that attention be paid to the conditions that existed in Aboriginal communities, advocating for equal rights, self determination and Land Rights!

His name is synonymous with the largest Urban Aboriginal Community in Australia, Redfern and his name and story is known, throughout most parts of the country.

He considers it a privilege to have stood in battle, on the frontline that was the Black Power Movement with his comrades, brothers and sisters, people mentioned, like Billy Craigie, Kevin Anderson, George Atkinson and many others who are no longer with us today.

Lyall considered these men to be the true warriors, heroes and people’s champions, he has survived many of these fellow foot soldiers, he is a living legend and he pays homage to everything this generation stood for and he stresses that it is extremely important that these people, who will never be, and should never be forgotten, take their place in History, ‘BLACK POWER!’

The tactics deployed by him and his compatriots of this generation, who possessed passion, intellect, drive and determination was something that was never seen before, which is why he is considered an Urban Legend, through his achievements and the impressions he made on his own people, make him an immortal Komilaroi Warrior.

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