Lyall Munro Snr
Lyall Munro Snr | |
---|---|
Born | Aboriginal Australian community leader | 30 September 1931
Known for | Indigenous land rights activism |
Lyall Munro Snr (30 September 1931– 21 May 2020), also known as Uncle Lyall Munro Senior, was an
Early life
Lyall Munro was born on 30 September 1931
He had little formal education,[5] and grew up in a world where racial segregation was practised.[3]
Activism
Munro was an avid advocate for Indigenous land rights throughout his life, interacting with prime ministers and other leaders, and addressed forums on the international stage. He tried to change systems that incorporated systemic racism in Australia,[3] fighting for equality in education and employment.[6] He led a land rights march in Sydney in the 1980s.[7]
He was a strong advocate of
Career
Moree
Munro and his father were given Australian citizenship in 1947. In 1950 he moved to
Munro was in Moree when the
He served the community in Moree in many ways. He was on the hospital board for 10 years, and held positions in the Moree Aboriginal Sobriety House, Moree
NSW
Munro was member of the NSW
In 1969 Munro was elected to the
He was a founding member of the
National
He was a member of the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC, founded 1973), which later became the National Aboriginal Conference (NAC). As an executive member of the NAC, Munro undertook treaty negotiations with the Fraser government (1975–1983).[7][2]
He contributed to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1987–1991).[2]
International
In 1981, Munro played a key role in Australia's hosting of the Third General Assembly of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) in Canberra, and in the 1980s became an executive member of the WCIP.[7][2]
On 10 December 1993, on
Munro was involved in discussions with
NSW
He was an inaugural member of the
In 2000, Munro worked hard to achieve the erection of a memorial to the victims of the
Death and legacy
Munro died on 21 May 2020. He was given a state funeral on Saturday 12 July 2020 at Moree.[1][3] Around 650 people attended, and the crowd was addressed by his son Lyall Jnr and local member for the Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall, who represented the Premier of New South Wales.[10]
His contribution to his local community, as well as causes relating to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, was wide-ranging and extraordinary. The 2020 chair of
Personal life
Munro and his wife of 63 years,
Lyall Munro Snr was survived by 9 children, 45 grandchildren, 122 great-grandchildren and 28 great-great grandchildren.[4][3] One estimate put his direct descendants as numbering more than 220.[7]
Recognition
In 2002, Munro was a joint recipient of the National NAIDOC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Male Elders of the Year Award.[2]
In 2013 he was given the
A couple of months after his death, in August 2020, seven federal senators moved that the Australian Senate should honour the life of Munro in parliament.[4]
A photograph of the Munros, entitled "Mr and Mrs Lyall Munro" was included in a photographic exhibition by Indigenous photographer and filmmaker Michael Riley, A common place: Portraits of Moree Murries, created in 1990. Smaller prints are held by the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.[17] and National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.[17]
Confusion with Lyall Jnr
Note that several sources with a summary biography say that Lyall Snr was a founding member of the
Some sources say that he was involved in the
Footnotes
- Pemulwuy Project said that Lyall Munro Jnr was "the sole surviving member of the [original 1972] group of eight".[21]
References
- ^ NSW Government. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Vale Uncle Lyall Munro Senior". Aboriginal Affairs. 17 July 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "21 July 2020 // Lyall Munro Snr (and, Legends of Land Rights: Lyall Munro Snr, video)". Blak History Month. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ Australian Parliament. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2022. PDF, see pp2067–2968
- ^ a b c d e Kendall, Jake (24 September 2020). "A force to be reckoned with". Inner Sydney Voice Magazine. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
Posted In: #136 Spring 2020, Aboriginal Issues.
- ^ ABC Radio National. Speaking Out. Video introduction by Larissa Behrendt. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ NITV. 28 May 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council. Video by NSW Aboriginal Land Council. Retrieved 23 November 2022 – via Blak History Month.
- ^ a b c Milliken, Robert (11 June 2021). "Finding the Moree way". Inside Story. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ a b Davies, Jessie (11 July 2020). "State funeral held for freedom rider Uncle Lyall Munro Senior". ABC News. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- JSTOR 27516191. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ Aboriginal Housing Act 1998
- ^ Wilder, Gabriel (31 March 2011). "Aboriginal matriarch a bedrock of community". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ "Munro, Lyall Thomas, (Jnr) (1951-)", Trove, 2011, retrieved 17 November 2022
- ^ The Daily Telegraph. "Munro, Carmine May". Weekly News. My Tributes.
- ^ "Aboriginal Justice Award nominees by year". Law and Justice Foundation. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Michael Riley - Mr and Mrs Lyall Munro, 1990". The Commercial. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ^ Trenoweth, Samantha (12 July 2014). "The AHC and the battle for Redfern's Block". The Saturday Paper – via The Koori History Website.
- ^ Trenoweth, Samantha (12 July 2014). "The AHC and the battle for Redfern's Block". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ Bellear, Kaye. "How the Aboriginal Housing Project was born". Gooriweb History Website (Interview). Interviewed by Roche, Maggie. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ Smith, Kerry (15 March 2017). "Aboriginal Housing Company criticised for abandoning Aboriginal housing plan". Green Left. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
...the sole surviving member of the group of eight who in 1972 were given a grant of $530,000 from the Gough Whitlam government that allowed the AHC to buy its first houses in Redfern...
- Victoria University, Melbourne Research Repository. PDF