(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
Seeing children removed from their mothers for no good reason left a searing impression on a man who went on to spend much of his life working to support marginalised people.
It was one of several experiences that acted as spur to Fred Chaney to become involved in Indigenous affairs.
As Greg Dyett reports, five decades on, Fred Chaney's contribution has been recognised with a nomination for Senior Australian of the Year.
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As a teenager growing up in 1950s Australia, Fred Chaney says he came to realise just how badly Aboriginal people were being treated.
"Look I think when you're young and impressionable and you come across areas of what you see as real injustice, it's a great spur to get involved and I don't think that in my case it's all unusual, I simply came across things that I found personally unacceptable, I found really good Aboriginal people being treated very badly and I was very happy to join with them in trying to do something about it."
Fred Chaney's soon became an advocate for Indigenous rights, and he helped establish the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia.
During a long political career, Fred Chaney held the role of Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the Fraser government and for many years he was the Deputy President of the National Native Title Tribunal.
While he says Australia has come a long way since the 1950s, he says Indigenous incarceration rates are still at catastrophic levels and he says it's the number one barrier to reconciliation in his home state of WA.
"If there's a single barrier to reconciliation in Perth which is where I live, I would say it is the issue of crime and the issue of incarceration and I'm most supportive of the people who are working to do that. Interestingly enough in Western Australia we have a police commissioner who has repeatedly made public statements to the effect that this is not a law and order problem, this is a social problem and should be dealt with as such, I think the commissioner is right on the money there and I admire the way he's setting about using his resources as best he can to change that but it's a whole of community effort, he's made that point, I agree with him, the chief justice keeps making the point, the head of the children's court keeps making the point, this is something that must be tackled and I think it's, as I say, the biggest single barrier to reconciliation in my state and I suspect in other parts of Australia as well."
At 72, Fred Chaney is still actively involved in Indigenous affairs.
He says he's particularly pleased by the work being done by the Graham "Polly" Farmer Foundation, an organisation he helped set up.
"We currently have a thousand Aboriginal children in secondary classes in about thirty schools, all state schools around the country, mostly in Western Australia but in other parts of Australia as well, I see those kids going through to year 12, I see something like 30 per cent of them going on to the university, the rest going into trades or good jobs and I know that each of those is a significant individual victory for the people concerned and all I can say is we need to keep multiplying those efforts and the best thing about Australia in 2014 from my perspective is that there are so many Australian organisations through reconciliation action plans and other things who are saying this is part of our responsibility, understanding that you can't do good things to Aboriginal people you can only do good things with Aboriginal people, supporting their aspirations and I think it's the most positive time in my life in that respect."
Graham "Polly" Farmer is a member of the Stolen Generations and is a retired Australian Rules player credited with transforming the game through his ruckwork and handball.
Fred Chaney says Farmer asked for help to set up the foundation that bears his name.
"He was a terrific influence on football, a terrific man and he asked us to set up this foundation to help young Aboriginal people succeed, he put it very simply, he said there's a lot of good jobs in Australia and I don't see many Aboriginal people in those good jobs. I'm really happy with the fact that now there are dozens and dozens and hundreds indeed of young Australian aboriginals who are getting access to good jobs just as Polly wanted. He was a terrific footballer and the marvellous thing is he wanted as his legacy to be something that helped the people coming behind him, particularly young Aboriginal people."
Fred Chaney is one of eight Australians in the running for Senior Australian of the Year for 2014. The other finalists are Peter Ford of New South Wales; Dr Christine Durham of Victoria; Queensland's Doctor Robert McGregor; South Australia's Doctor Barbara Hardy, Tasmania's Doctor Christina Henri, Graham Walker from the Australian Capital Territory and Klaus Helms from the Northern Territory.
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