Indigenous Australia

Fred Nadpur (Natpa), (also known as Fred Waters) (c.1900-1958), Aboriginal leader

Birth: about 1900 at Palmerston (Darwin), Northern Territory. Marriage: to Maggie Shepherd. Death: 7 October 1958. 

• Member of Larrakia tribe, most likely from Danggalaba (Crocodile clan) whose country is located in the area now called Darwin.
• Little is known of his childhood and early life. He met Maggie Shepherd c. 1939 and during WWII both were sent to the Mataranka Army Camp, later to Adelaide River and Berrimah Compound at the edge of Darwin.
• Best known for his role in Darwin strikes of 1951 when he was often known as Fred Waters. In February 1951 he was a prominent organiser of an Aboriginal strike for better working conditions, equal rights and full citizenship. Backed by North Australian Workers Union, under Communist Party of Australia leadership.
• Banished to Haast’s Bluff, 1200 miles away, by the Director of Native Affairs. The ‘Shanghaiing’ of Waters became a cause celebre and, following advice from H. V. Evatt, the decision was contested through the legal judicial process (lost).
• Union movement took up the issue, supported by Alan Marshall and Pastor Doug Nicholls, giving stimulus to the formation of the Victorian Council for Aboriginal Rights and Council for Aboriginal Rights in SA.
• NT administration was persuaded to return Waters to Darwin with as ‘little fuss and embarrassment’ as possible. When the media asked whether he planned to be ‘good boy’, he replied: ‘I’m a man and I’ll cause trouble until I die while my people want me’.

Sources
Northern Standard, NAA, NT CRS F1 51/704 Aboriginal Strikes; MSS by Murray Norris, miscellaneous Workers Union, Darwin. Information from Joe McGinness, Alyandabu, Charles Perkins, Peter Read; Kenbi Land Claim; Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography: https://dcarment.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ntdictionaryofbiography.pdf