People Australia

Joe McGinness, c.1943

National Archives of Australia, B883:DX977

Joseph Daniel (Joe) McGinness or Pumeri (1914-2003) labourer, trade unionist and Aboriginal activist

Birth: 2 July 1914 at Lucy Claim Tin Mine, near Darwin, Northern Territory, son of Stephen Joseph McGinness (1855-1918), a ganger on the North Australian railway and tin miner, born in United Sates of America of Irish parents, and Alyngindabu (Lucy), (1c.874-1961) a Kungarakan woman. Marriages: (1) 1935 to Jaura Ahmat (d. c.1939). They had one son and one daughter. (2) to Amy Nagas. Two step-sons one daughter. Death: 11 July 2003 at Cairns, Queensland. 

• His early childhood was relatively unrestricted for an Indigenous child at the time, up until his father's death when the family's mine was forfeited.
• Joe became a ward of the state together with his brother, Val, and moved with their mother to Kahlin institution in Darwin where they were separated from their mother for most of the day. No formal schooling or regular meals were provided and they raided nearby vegetable gardens to survive.
• First job was as a rousabout at the age of 13 and he continued in a variety of jobs such as truck driver, labourer and fisherman. Unemployed during Depression of 1930s.
• Member of a NT delegation which successfully appealed to a federal parliamentary committee to allow Aborigines to go to public places without fear of arrest.
• Served as an ambulance bearer in Darwin, Morotai and Borneo in World War II. Moved to Queensland after the war to be with his children.
• Joined Waterside Workers’ Federation (WWF) in 1949. Went to Cairns in 1951 and worked on wharves there in the 1960s. Was a local executive member of the WWF.
• Inspired by Xavier Herbert who encouraged Aboriginal people to become active around their rights.
• Active in protesting discrimination and abuse against Indigenous community together with Cairns Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Advancement League in 1950s.
• National president of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders from 1961 to 1973, deputy president 1975-1979.
• Took a prominent role in campaign for referendum of 1967, which changed constitutional discrimination against Aborigines, travelled around Australia and addressed meetings in workplaces, universities and churches.
• Led Aboriginal delegation to Prime Minister Menzies to advocate for Aborigines to be included in the national census, 1965.
• Wrote autobiography, Son of Alyandabu: my fight for Aboriginal Rights (St Lucia, 1991).

Sources
Weekend Australian, 24-25 May 1997 p 11; Australian, 23 July 2003.