About this record
This record is a letter from Fred Hollows, former Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of New South Wales, and a reply from Lionel Murphy, then Attorney-General of Australia. Hollows’ letter refers to an incident that occurred on 9 November 1973 in Enngonia, New South Wales. Murphy’s reply was sent five weeks later, on 20 December 1973.
Educational value
- In his letter, Hollows expressed concern that he had witnessed discrimination against Indigenous Australians while working as an ophthalmologist in Enngonia. Hollows’ medical team were staying at the Oasis Hotel in Enngonia, a small town in western New South Wales approximately 900 kilometres from both Sydney and Brisbane.
- The hotel’s licensee, Mr Short, told Hollows that if the Aboriginal members of his party wanted refreshments (meaning alcohol), they would have to go outside and to the back of the bar, where they would be served through a small hatchway. Hollows argued that Mr Short should be ‘prevailed upon to act more reasonably’. Murphy’s response to Hollows provides information about a Bill he intends to introduce to parliament that would outlaw discrimination based on race.
- In Enngonia, Hollows was carrying out screenings to detect trachoma—a condition that, if not treated, resulted in blindness. Hollows’ work saw Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia screened for the disease and reduced the rate of curable blindness among them by half.
- Hollows expanded his mission to treat some of the world’s poorest communities. In 1990 Hollows became Australian of the Year in recognition of his work in treating avoidable blindness in Australia and overseas. In 1992, a year before he died of cancer, Hollows established the Fred Hollows Foundation to continue his work, both nationally and internationally.
- Hollows made several trips to Enngonia. The Oasis Hotel was the only hotel in the town, and Hollows had stayed there in the past (under the previous licensee) without problem. Despite government attempts to promote multiculturalism, many people in the Australian community held negative attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and new migrants.
- About three million migrants came to Australia between 1945 and 1975. These migrants were expected to assimilate to the Australian way of life, which meant giving up their language and culture. During the 1960s the Australian Government began to relax the White Australia policy and accept migrants from non-European countries. Despite changes to government policy, long-held beliefs and attitudes of Australians towards non-European migrants did not change overnight.
- The Racial Discrimination Bill was introduced into parliament in 1973 and was enacted as the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975. Under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969), Australia had an obligation to prohibit racial discrimination. The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, descent or ethnic origin, and makes racial hatred illegal.
