THE STORY SO FAR

Nullah must hide in a water tank because the police are looking for him.

INSPIRED BY THESE HISTORICAL EVENTS

The Stolen Generations

The 'Stolen Generations' is a term used to describe those children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals occurred in the period between approximately 1869 and 1969 although, in some places, children were still being taken well into the 1970s. Under The Aborigines Ordinance 1918, The Chief Protector (later known as the Director of Native Affairs) became the person responsible for the Indigenous population. A Chief Protector was assigned to each state and territory. Aboriginal females were under the total control of the Chief Protector from the moment they were born until they died unless married and living with a husband `who is substantially of European origin'. To marry a non-Indigenous man they had to obtain the permission of the Chief Protector. They could be taken from their families at any age and placed in an institution. They could also be sent out to work at a young age and never receive wages. They had no right of guardianship over their own children who could be similarly taken from them. Males fared little better except that they could be released from guardianship at 18. The Aboriginals Ordinance of 1918 clearly states that the Chief Protector of Aborigines was "the legal protector of every 'half-caste' in the Northern Territory up until the age of eighteen". This ordinance was amended on several occasions up to the 1950's, each time assigning greater powers to the Chief Protector. Baz was also inspired by the use of a water tank as a hiding place in "Capricornia" by Xavier Herbert, one of his favourite novels, which we highly recommend.

DIG DEEPER

There are numerous stories from members of the Stolen Generations and many can be read in the 'Bringing Them Home Report'

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/Social_Justice/bth_report/report/index.html

Broken Circles by Anna Haebich 

Blood, Sweat and Welfare by Mary Anne Jebb From Humpy to Homestead by Peter Sing

  Black Feller White Feller by Roland Robinson

  My Place by Sally Morgan

  The Cultivation of Whiteness: Science, Health and Racial Destiny in Australia by Warwick Anderson