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Ngambri elder
Matilda House-Williams addressed the crowd after greeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and presented him a message stick. She said her reception was far different from that accorded Jimmy Clements - an elderly Aboriginal man - barefoot, dressed in an old suit and accompanied by his dogs,
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Jimmy
Clements was a Wiradjuri Aboriginal elder. At the age of 80 he walked barefoot with his dog all the way from Tumut to be present at the opening of Parliament House in 1927. He was not allowed into Parliament House because he was not dressed properly. The Police tried to turn him away but the
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Both Mr Rudd and Ms House-Williams referred to an elderly
Aborigine who attended the 1927 event with his dogs. On that day, the barefooted, shabbily dressed Jimmy Clements was asked to move on by a policeman. Reports of the day say he stood his ground and was supported by members of the crowd. Mr
139:. The two men were the only Indigenous people to attend the first opening of parliament. Clements was initially told to move on by police at the ceremony due to his attire but due to popular support from other members of the crowd he was among prominent citizens who were presented to the
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who attended the opening of
Parliament House in 1927. "On seeing Mr Clements, a policeman asked him to leave because he wasn't dressed appropriately for the occasion," she said. Mr Clements responded that this was the land of his ancestors.
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Photograph of Nangar or Yangar of the
Wiradjuri Tribe, an Aboriginal known as Jimmy Clements or "King Billy", at the opening of Federal Parliament, 1927 - copy held by State Library of New South Wales
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on 9 May 1927. He explained that he was there to demonstrate his "sovereign rights to the
Federal Territory", making this the first recorded instance of Aboriginal protest at the Parliament.
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crowd supported his presence at the historic opening. Could this have been
Australia's first land rights demonstration? If so what message might it have communicated to Aboriginal people?
158:. The newspaper report noted that he was buried in Queanbeyan cemetery "outside consecrated ground". (Indigenous Australians were not buried in consecrated ground at the time.)
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Rudd referred to a
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Jimmy
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206:"Power of occasion best expressed by the names of those who were not there"
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177:"Watershed moments in Indigenous Australia's struggle to be heard"
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Photograph of Jimmy
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He was also known as "King Billy" and also as Nangar or Yangar.
353:"Teachers notes: Establishing the seat of Federal Government"
311:. Sydney Morning Herald. 12 February 2008. Archived from
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Aboriginal elder from the Wiradjuri tribe in Australia
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175:Anna Kelsey-Sugg, Annabelle Quince (4 July 2018).
150:Clements died on 28 August 1927, aged 80, in
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333:"Historic welcome 'shows proper respect'"
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249:. Old Parliament House. Archived from
276:. Manning Clark House. Archived from
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274:"The Need for a Reconciled Republic"
127:Clements and another Wiradjuri man,
243:"Old Parliament House: The Opening"
85:Activist for indigenous land rights
335:. The Australian. 12 February 2008
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204:Wright, Tony (13 February 2008).
359:. National Library of Australia
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396:Australian Aboriginal elders
115:Provisional Parliament House
152:Queanbeyan, New South Wales
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137:Gundagai, New South Wales
101:– 28 August 1927) was an
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272:McKenna, Mark (2004).
253:on 25 September 2004
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363:13 February
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212:. Melbourne
186:25 February
99: 1847
68:, Australia
380:Categories
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103:Aboriginal
62:Queanbeyan
111:Australia
109:tribe in
107:Wiradjuri
49:Australia
181:ABC News
156:Canberra
119:Canberra
210:The Age
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