49-412: (Redirected from Aboriginal All-Stars ) Indigenous All-Stars may refer to: Indigenous All-Stars (Australian football) , a representative Australian rules football team made up of indigenous Australian players Indigenous All-Stars (rugby league) , a representative rugby league football team made up of indigenous Australian players Topics referred to by
98-527: A social worker in the Fitzroy Aboriginal community. He cared for those trapped in alcohol abuse , gambling, and other social problems, and those who were in trouble with the police. Indigenous people gathered to him and eventually the group was so large that he became the pastor of the first Aboriginal Church of Christ in Australia. In recognition of the ministry he was already expressing, he
147-638: A living during the rest of the year, he boxed with Jimmy Sharman 's Boxing Troupe, a travelling sideshow in which Sharman offered his fighters for challenge against all comers. During World War II, Nicholls was an adept boomerang thrower, teaching that skill to some members of the United States military. There is a photograph depicting this in the Australian War Memorial archives. He also organised and captained Aboriginal teams in football matches used for patriotic fundraisers during
196-562: A pioneering campaigner for reconciliation . Nicholls was the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted when he was appointed Knight Bachelor in 1972 (he was subsequently appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1977). He was also the first—and as of 2024 the only —Indigenous Australian to be appointed to vice-regal office, serving as Governor of South Australia from 1 December 1976 until his resignation on 30 April 1977 due to poor health. Nicholls
245-671: A renewed interest in Christianity and was baptised at Northcote Church of Christ (now Northern Community Church of Christ) in 1935. He officiated at church and hymn services as a lay preacher at the Gore Street Mission Centre in Fitzroy . In 1941 Nicholls received his call-up notice and he joined the 29th Battalion but, in 1942, at the request of the Fitzroy police, he was released from his unit to work as
294-535: A result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Gladys already had three children. Douglas Nicholls and Gladys were married for 39 years and raised their combined six children: two sons, Bevan and Ralph, and four daughters, Beryl, Nora, Lilian and Pamela. Lady Nicholls died in 1981. Nicholls' great-grandson Nathan Lovett-Murray also played Australian rules football in the AFL , playing 145 games for Essendon . Nicholls died on 4 June 1988 at Mooroopna. A state funeral
343-621: A second knighthood, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO). Nicholls' retirement due to ill health was announced on 22 April, with effect from 30 April. He held office for only 150 days, making him the shortest-serving governor in South Australian history and the only governor to serve for less than a year. In December 1942 Nicholls married Gladys Nicholls , the widow of his brother Howard Nicholls (1905–1942); Howard (who had married Gladys in 1927) had died in April 1942 as
392-553: A variety of diverse cultures. This idea did not proceed. The Indigenous All-Stars team will return and compete in a pre-season fixture against Fremantle at Optus Stadium in 2025. Until 2005, the All-Stars were sponsored by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission , who had naming rights over the team. After the abolition of ATSIC, the team was renamed from Aboriginal All-Stars to Indigenous All-Stars. Since 2006,
441-565: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Indigenous All-Stars (Australian football) The Indigenous All-Stars (known as for sponsorship reasons Qantas Kickstart Indigenous All-Stars and formerly known as the Aboriginal All-Stars ) is an Australian rules football team composed of players that identify as Indigenous Australian or with an indigenous culture. The team has also represented Australia (in 2013 ) in
490-412: Is our chance to have things altered. We must fight our very hardest in this cause. After 150 years our people are still bossed and influenced by white people. I know that we could proudly hold our own with others if given the chance. Do not let us forget, also, those of our own people who are still in a primitive state. It is for them that we should try to do something. We should all work in co-operation for
539-683: The International Rules Series . The junior (U18 and U16) side is known as the Flying Boomerangs . Originally based in Canberra , they have played primarily in Darwin, Northern Territory since 1993. The AFL promotes the concept as recognition of the indigenous Australians' contribution to the national competition, with approximately one in ten AFL players identifying as an Indigenous Australian. Between 2003 and 2015,
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#1732773107128588-566: The Northcote Football Club became an annual event becoming a regular fixture in 1945 and 1946. The match led to a number of similar contests springing up around the country. It played a charity match against VFA club Oakleigh Football Club attracting 2,000 spectators. One of the first major representative matches was a side's defeat the Australian Capital Territory, one of the strongest sides in
637-511: The All-Stars from selecting its top Indigenous senior players, or for placing restrictions on their game time. Additionally, the competing club side often treats the match as a preseason practice match, such that winning the match is less important than developing young players or building match fitness prior to the regular season. Despite this, the match remains popular with spectators in the Northern Territory. The 2003 match retains
686-674: The Australian Hall, Sydney, on the 26th day of January, 1938, this being the 150th Anniversary of the Whiteman's seizure of our country, HEREBY MAKE PROTEST against the callous treatment of our people by the whitemen during the past 150 years, AND WE APPEAL to the Australian nation of today to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, we ask for a new policy which will raise our people TO FULL CITIZEN STATUS and EQUALITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. Doug Nicholls rose to support
735-672: The Commonwealth minister for the interior on this issue. It gained national attention when Nicholls, leveraging his profile as a nationally famous athlete, participated in the Day of Mourning protest for Aborigines held in Sydney on 26 January 1938, where Indigenous leaders from across the country made the demand to change the Constitution. The proposed resolution was: WE, representing THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA, assembled in conference at
784-541: The Indigenous All-Stars team competed under the Australia banner against Ireland in the International Rules Series , a hybrid sport which consists elements of Gaelic football and Australian rules football . For the 2013 Series a 33-man squad was chosen, which was reduced to 21-man touring party. The Indigenous team lost the series 2–0 and by an aggregate score of 173–72, a record-high margin for
833-533: The International Rules series. The Polly Farmer Medal is awarded each game to the best Indigenous All-Stars player. Doug Nicholls Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls KCVO OBE (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people . He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter , ceremonial officer and
882-574: The Northcote team by 1929. He made his name as an energetic and speedy wingman, capable of spectacular feats, and came to be regarded as the best wingman in the VFA at the time. At 5'2", he was one of the shortest players in the game. He was a member of Northcote's 1929 premiership team, and finished third in the Recorder Cup voting in 1931, his final season with Northcote. In 1932, Nicholls joined
931-512: The VFA, Doug Nicholls was instrumental in the concept of an All-Aboriginal representative side. He organised (assembling players mainly from Taree in New South Wales), captained and coached an All-Aboriginal side against the VFA's Northcote Football Club in 1944. Among the aboriginal players was James Murray, Australian Kangaroos rugby league representative. The match drew more than 10,000 spectators. Nicholls team's matches against
980-578: The VFL's Fitzroy Football Club and in 1935, he was the first Aboriginal player to be selected to play for the Victorian interstate team , ultimately playing four interstate games. He played a total of six seasons for Fitzroy, before returning to Northcote in 1938. Knee injuries forced him to retire in 1939. He returned to Northcote as non-playing coach in 1947. Nicholls won Fitzroy's Reserves best and fairest award in 1937. During his career, particularly in
1029-609: The areas of Fitzroy and Mooroopna . In 1957 Nicholls became a field officer for the Aborigines Advancement League . He edited their magazine, Smoke Signals , and helped draw Aboriginal issues to the attention of Government officials and the general public. He pleaded for dignity for Aboriginal people as human beings. Support for the AAL grew rapidly. Nicholls helped set up hostels for Aboriginal children, holiday homes for Aboriginal people at Queenscliff and
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#17327731071281078-532: The country, at Manuka Oval in Canberra in 1970. In 1973, a team was assembled from the best indigenous Australians across all states and territories to tour Papua New Guinea and play against the Papua New Guinea team . It was originally also scheduled to play against Nauru's national team . Sir Douglas Nicholls accompanied the side. The Australian side lost narrowly and a return match in Australia
1127-497: The country. By 1962, they had achieved 100,000 signatures with the stated goal of 250,000 signatures. The movement supporting a change to the constitution, which removed the block on the federal government making laws regarding Aboriginal people, soon became known as the "yes" campaign. FCAATSI would later become the central lobby group who were able to interface with the Federal Government. During this time Nicholls
1176-423: The early years, Nicholls was subjected to onfield taunts or ostracised by his team-mates due to his colour. Nevertheless, he became a popular player among spectators; and, upon joining Fitzroy, when he was initially sitting by himself in the change rooms (due to this ostracism), he was befriended by Haydn Bunton, Sr. who ensured he was made welcome within the team. Like his close relative Lynch Cooper , Nicholls
1225-459: The footage without his permission, and subsequently apologised for doing so. Nicholls' predecessor as governor, nuclear physicist Mark Oliphant , confidentially wrote to the state government expressing concerns about the appointment. He said there were "grave dangers" involved, as "there is something inherent in the personality of the Aborigine which makes it difficult for him to adapt fully to
1274-456: The grounds of Government House . However, Adelaide's main daily newspaper The Advertiser was more positive, welcoming the news "without reservation". News of the appointment was leaked in May 1976, after which he agreed to appear on A Current Affair . Nicholls took exception to a question directed at his wife, calling the interviewer a racist and requiring him to leave his house. GTV-9 aired
1323-508: The nomination of Premier Don Dunstan . He was the first non-white person to serve as the governor of an Australian state, and is the only Aboriginal person to have held viceregal office. Because of his race, his nomination proved controversial and attracted more attention than most viceregal appointments. A poll by ABC's This Day Tonight found that 70 percent of respondents opposed Nicholls becoming governor. The Canberra Times expressed concern that members of his family might set up camp on
1372-555: The petitions for the ‘yes’ vote." Nicholls interacted with the media frequently. Drawing on his abilities as a preacher, he was able to deliver pithy, persuasive messages which were effective in winning over the Australian public. One common line of argument he made was for the "Yes" vote was: “I think it’s a matter of democratic right. And we will form a part of the British commonwealth of nations and there should be no legislation setup to discriminate us. The 1967 Australian referendum
1421-562: The police and taken to the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls where she was trained to become a domestic servant. At 13 Nicholls worked with his uncle as a tar boy and general hand on sheep stations , and he lived with the shearers. He worked hard and had a cheerful disposition. This annoyed one of the shearers so much that he challenged Nicholls to a fight, with the loser to hand over one week's pay (30 shillings – $ 3). After six rounds
1470-718: The prime minister, Ben Chifley , asking him to explore how the Constitution could be amended. In 1957, Jessie Street approached Nicholls about bringing in the Victorian Aboriginal Advancement League to form a federal council to campaign for Aboriginal affairs to become a federal matter – this would become the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders . Its early work involved drafting and collecting petitions, from suburbs and town centres from across
1519-463: The progress of Aborigines throughout the Commonwealth. The movement took 30 years to coalesce and achieve anything like its stated goal, but it soon made its focus the Constitution of Australia which, in its original form, prevented the Commonwealth from making any law that would benefit the Aboriginal people. In 1949, a letter written by Nicholls prompted a Labor MP, Kim Beazley Sr. , to write to
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1568-497: The record for the highest attended match of any football code in the Northern Territory, with 17,500 in attendance. The best on ground for the Indigenous All-Stars is awarded the Polly Farmer Medal which is in honour of Graham Farmer . All-indigenous sides have been documented as early the turn of the 20th Century, and the first representative teams began playing matches after World War II. Following his career in
1617-641: The resolution on behalf of the Victorian Aborigines League that day, saying: On behalf of Victorian Aborigines I want to say that we support this resolution in every way. The public does not realise what our people have suffered for 150 years. Aboriginal girls have been sent to Aboriginal Reserves and have not been given any opportunity to improve themselves. Their treatment has been disgusting. The white people have done nothing for us whatever. Put on Reserves, with no proper education, how can Aborigines take their place as equals with whites? Now
1666-436: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Indigenous All-Stars . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indigenous_All-Stars&oldid=456468289 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1715-524: The shearer who challenged him conceded defeat. Nicholls played Australian rules football . After playing in the Goulburn Valley for Tongala , Nicholls tried out for VFL clubs North Melbourne and Carlton before the 1927 season. He played some seconds matches for Carlton but did not play a senior game. Nicholls subsequently joined the Northcote Football Club in the VFA , and became a regular in
1764-577: The team has been sponsored by Qantas through the AFL Kickstart indigenous program. Roger Rigney (SA); Michael Mansell (Tas); Anthony Miller (WA); Brian Warrior (SA); Dennis Lewfat (NT); Patrick Purantatameri (NT); Reg Mathews (QLD); Bill Ellis (NT); John McHenry (WA); Leon Wanganeen (SA); Alec Smith (Vic); John Pepperill (NT); Phillip Archer (SA); Ian Charles (VIC); Robbie Muir (VIC); Ken Liddle (NT); Wilfred Wilson (SA); Tim Agius (SA); Garry Murray (VIC); Paul Hansen (WA); Lloyd Bray (NT) In 2013,
1813-566: The team played a regular biennial pre-season match against an Australian Football League (AFL) club; the only exception being 2011, when the scheduled match was cancelled due to inclement weather. The matches were usually played in the Northern Territory , either at Marrara Oval in Darwin or Traeger Park in Alice Springs . Support for the concept has waned and the league has been criticised for letting its clubs prevent
1862-490: The ten matches it has played. The record attendance for the match was 17,500, in the 2003 match against Carlton at Marrara Oval . There was a ten year gap to the next Indigenous All-Stars match. Postponing the proposed 2017 match, the AFL Players' Association 's Indigenous members, which managed the team, decided that the match should be scheduled for every four years instead of two. No full Indigenous All-Stars match
1911-714: The war, many of which were played against Northcote. William Cooper , an uncle to Nicholls, mentored him in leadership, eventually placing him as the secretary of the Australian Aborigines' League . It was a founding principle of the League that Aboriginal Affairs was made a Federal matter, which would require a change in the Constitution of Australia , which could only be effected by a referendum . As early as February 1935 Cooper, Nicholls and others were lobbying Members of Parliament, such as Thomas Paterson ,
1960-617: The ways of the white man". On 25 January 1977, Nicholls suffered a stroke and was admitted to the cardiac ward at Royal Adelaide Hospital . He had a history of high blood pressure and had suffered a mild heart attack some years earlier. He was not discharged until three weeks later, with Lieutenant-Governor Walter Crocker serving as Administrator of the Government in his place. Nicholls attended only one further official engagement after his stroke, hosting Queen Elizabeth II at Government House on 20 March. She subsequently awarded him
2009-530: Was a founding member and Victorian Secretary of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). In response to protests in the 1950s and 60s for an independent, Aboriginal-run farming cooperative at Lake Tyers Mission he campaigned on their behalf, but when the board moved to close Lake Tyers, Nichols resigned his position in protest. Nicholls was an active Freemason . Nicholls became Governor of South Australia on 1 December 1976, after being announced on 25 May on
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2058-551: Was also a very capable sprinter. He competed in gift races around Victoria during the athletics seasons, and in 1928 he won both the Nyah and Warracknabeal Gifts. Following this, the race organisers paid him an appearance fee, board and expenses to enter races. He was the inaugural chairman of the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation. Playing football provided employment during the winter. To earn
2107-520: Was an emphatic success for Nicholls and the FCAATSI leadership, with an average of 90% of Australians supporting the change they had asked for. Following the successful outcome of the referendum, Pastor Doug argued that much more than a legal change had been made, rather, it was: … evidence that Australians recognise Aborigines are part of the nation. Nicholls was a minister and social worker with Aboriginal people . Following his mother's death he took
2156-592: Was born on 9 December 1906 on the Cummeragunja Reserve in New South Wales. He was the youngest of five children born to Herbert Nicholls and Florence Atkinson. His paternal grandfather was Aaron Atkinson, who was the brother of William Cooper . Schooling at Nicholls's mission was provided to Grade 3 standard and strict religious principles were emphasised. When he was eight, he saw his 16-year-old sister Hilda forcibly taken from his family by
2205-446: Was known to have met and negotiated with prime ministers Robert Menzies and Harold Holt . However, creating the political momentum involved substantial grass roots action. Nicholls' daughter, Pam, recalls her father winning support from white Australians at football games: “With his friend Alick Jackomos, they used to have a card table and go and sit outside the football giving out papers, giving speeches, beckoning people to come sign
2254-655: Was ordained as a minister. In a letter to the editor, in 1953, it was noted that Opposition Leader, H. V. Evatt , had asked the Prime Minister Robert Menzies , on 26 February, in Federal Parliament, 'for an invitation to be extended to Capt. Reg Saunders or some other outstanding representative of the aborigines' to be included in the official Australian contingent to the coronation of Elizabeth II . The author suggested Nicholls, as an ordained minister, and for his community work in
2303-444: Was played in 2019. The 2019 AFLX tournament in the 2019 pre-season featured an all-Indigenous AFLX 8-player team named "Deadly", captained by Eddie Betts . This team won one of its three matches. However, the experimental AFLX format was not popular and has not been repeated since. At a summit in 2022, a 2023 match was proposed between the Indigenous All-Stars and a newly formed Multicultural All-Stars team to draw from players of
2352-570: Was proposed for Canberra in 1984, to be organised by the National Football League , but did not go ahead. In 1993, a bi-annual All-Stars vs Collingwood match was proposed. In 1994, disputes over player releases put the concept into doubt. The St Kilda Football Club refused to release Nicky Winmar , while the West Coast Eagles refused to release Chris Lewis to play. As of 2015, the All-Stars have won six of
2401-643: Was scheduled for an Aboriginal Australian Rules carnival to be hosted by the Australian Capital Territory Papua New Guinea narrowly defeated the Indigenous Australian side at Ainslie Oval. In 1983, the "All-Stars" competed in a once-off post-season exhibition match in Mildura ; two games were played in 1985, while another one-off game was played in 1994. A match between the All-Stars and The Swans
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