Western Australia. Part 2

By the 1920s, vested interests were each pushing for something different:

• Pastoralists looking for cheap labour wanted Aboriginals rounded up onto stations;
• Churches wanted Aboriginals segregated from whites partly to protect them and partly because this would help them Christianise Aboriginals;
• The labour movement wanted Aboriginals kept away from white jobs;
• Everybody wanted land so nobody wanted Reserves set aside for Aboriginal only use.

In the heavily settled south west of the state, the government created native camping reserves. Much like what happened under apartheid in South Africa, Aboriginals were far enough away from towns, and close enough to farms which might occasionally need workers, to suit everybody except Aboriginals. There were no amenities to speak of, so it’s no surprise Aboriginal children were not allowed to attend white schools.