Aboriginal Reserve Ground

Corner of Milligan Street and Hands Avenue

The corner of Milligan Street and Hands Avenue was once the Bunbury Council’s reserve for Aboriginal people (reference). The campground is now a large open public recreation space near Donaldson Park Trotting Complex (reference). 

The Aborigines Act of 1905 created a position called the Chief Protector of Aborigines, which gave this person the power to be the legal guardian of every Aboriginal child under 16 years old (reference). The Bunbury authorities interpreted this legislation to mean that they had the right to move the Aboriginal people’s camp near Wilkes’ Crossing to a designated Aboriginal reserve (reference). In 1906, these people were forced to move their camp to a large 40-acre area behind the trotting course - a place where Bunbury could hide away their Aboriginal population (reference).

Once the Council had the police move these people to the outskirts of Bunbury, their presence was almost forgotten. Very little information is available in the newspapers, showing that the Reserve was successful in its aim to keep Bunbury’s Aboriginal people ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ 

In 1911 a white man named Patrick Daly assaulted Ann Abraham Fete, an Aboriginal lady (reference). Instead of seeking justice for Ann, the court turned against her. Despite several witnesses to the assault, Patrick was set free. Instead, a police order was made to forcibly remove Ann from her residence to the Aboriginal reserve along with a witness to the crime, an Aboriginal man named Abraham (reference; reference).

In 1925 thirty-nine ratepayers of South Bunbury wished to reduce the size of the Aboriginal Reserve Ground, so they did not have to travel as far to town and surrounding houses (reference). However, the Council said they could not grant them access as the land was part of the reserve they had no power over (reference). 

In 1942 another call was made to move Aboriginal people onto the reserve, this time by the South Bunbury Progress Association (reference). The association members had taken offence to a camp existing outside the reserve (reference). A letter to the editor of the South Western Times clarified that the camp was occupied by Charles Brockman, a war veteran who had fallen on hard times, along with his family (reference). While the camp may not have been occupied by Aboriginal people, it demonstrates that Bunbury’s residents still wanted to keep the Aboriginal people living in the area hidden away.