Robert Bropho
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Robert Charles Bropho (9 February 1930 – 24 October 2011) was a
Ballardong Ballardong are an indigenous Noongar people of the south western area of Western Australia. Country The Ballardong's land encompasses an estimated . Northwards they occupy the Avon River. From the east of York they extend to Tammin, Kununopp ...
Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...
Australian Aboriginal, rights activist and convicted serial child sex offender from
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Western Australia. Bropho was leader of the
Swan Valley Nyungah Community The Swan Valley Nyungah (Noongar) Community was an Aboriginal community of Noongar people at Lord Street, in the outer Perth suburbs of Lockridge and Eden Hill in Western Australia. The Government of Western Australia closed the settlement i ...
settlement for over 40 years until its closure in 2003. He organised the protest against redevelopment of the
Swan Brewery The Swan Brewery is a brewing company, whose high profile brewery was once located beside the Swan River, Western Australia, Swan River, in Perth, Western Australia. History The brewery was established in 1857 by Frederick Sherwood at the f ...
, and was involved in the repatriation of
Yagan Yagan (;  – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation aft ...
's head in 1997. He was convicted for child sex charges in 2008.Gibson, Roy (29 May 2009
"Robert Bropho's sentence doubled on child sex charges"
''
The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...
''. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
He died in October 2011 while serving a six-year jail term.


Childhood

Bropho was born in a bush camp at the back of the Coorinjie wine saloon at Toodyay,
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, on 9 February 1930. His mother was Isobel Layland (1900–1993), who was the daughter of Clara Layland, a Nyungah woman who lived in the swamps on the fringes of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
. His father was Tommy Nyinda Bropho (1899–1972), who was born at
Argyle Downs Argyle Downs is a pastoral lease and cattle station located about south east of Kununurra in the Kimberley region near the border of Western Australia and Northern Territory. It is operated by the Consolidated Pastoral Company. Descript ...
Station on the Durack pastoral lease and was taken from his mother under the 1905 Aborigines Act and sent to an orphanage on the Swan River at the age of 7. It is believed he was named after a policeman called Brophy, who escorted him from Argyle Downs to
Wyndham Wyndham may refer to: *Wyndham (name), a surname and given name Places Australia *City of Wyndham, an LGA (local government area) in Victoria * Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley, a LGA in Western Australia * Wyndham Important Bird Area, Western Aust ...
. Tommy's sister
Jessie Argyle Jessie Argyle (born Gypsy Argyle; 1900 – 1 September 1955) was an Australian Aboriginal woman from the East Kimberley region of Western Australia who has been cited by many writers in reference to the appropriation of Aboriginal earnings by ...
was the subject of the book ''Shadow Lines'' by Steve Kinnane. The oral history of his mother Isobel i
available in the Battye Library
She spent her childhood in the Dulhi Gunyah orphanage in East Victoria Park. During the 1930s Bropho, his parents and eleven siblings camped in a swamp at
Swanbourne Swanbourne is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Winslow and three miles (4.8 km) west of Stewkley. History The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and may mean "swan stream". It was recorded ...
in the western suburbs of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
. After being forced to vacate their camp, Bropho's family relocated to Eden Hill in the late 1930s. His family spent the next decade living in humpies on the edge of
John Forrest National Park John Forrest National Park is a national park in the Darling Scarp, east of Perth, Western Australia. Proclaimed as a national park in November 1900, it was the first national park in Western Australia. Name As early as 1898, the land was res ...
and around the rubbish dumps and swamps and waterways of South Guildford, Caversham and Success Hill. They survived by working in the brick kilns, carting rubbish and sewerage and picking grapes. Success Hill, on the edge of Bennett Brook, was a traditional campsite and was where the Irish journalist and amateur anthropologist Daisy Bates had gathered information for her books and articles on Nyungah culture.


Activism

On 11 September 1977 Bropho, his family and members of the Anderson, Mead and Kickett families drove across the continent of Australia to petition the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister
Ian Viner Robert Ian Viner (born 21 January 1933) is an Australian barrister and politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1983, representing the Liberal Party, and held senior ministerial office in the Fraser government. V ...
for better housing conditions. On their return the Bropho family set up a public protest camp in the grounds of St Matthews Anglican Church in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
, a registered Aboriginal site.Bropho, R., (1980) ''Fringedweller''. Sydney, Alternative Publishing Co-operative. . pp 60–88. On 11 December 1978 Bropho and members of the Lockridge Camp set up a protest on
Heirisson Island Heirisson Island is an artificially created island in the Swan River in Western Australia at the eastern end of Perth Water, within the suburb of East Perth. It occupies an area of , and is connected to the two foreshores by the Causeway and th ...
as the
City of Perth The City of Perth is a local government areas of Western Australia, local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. T ...
prepared for its 150th anniversary. The protest was supported by the
Kimberley Land Council Kimberley Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, known as Kimberley Land Council (KLC), is an association of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The land council was formed at a meeting at Noonkanbah Station in May 19 ...
, the Aboriginal Medical Service and Black Action. In 1980 Bropho published ''Fringedweller'', an account of the third world living conditions of homeless Aboriginal people. During the 1980s Bropho was involved in protests against mining and urban development, including Noonkanbah and Bennett Brook. In 1986 he won a Supreme Court injunction against plans by the State Energy Commission to excavate a sacred site at Bennett Brook.


Old Swan Brewery protest

In January 1989 Bropho led a protest against the State Government's deal with
Multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...
to develop on a sacred Aboriginal site at the Old
Swan Brewery The Swan Brewery is a brewing company, whose high profile brewery was once located beside the Swan River, Western Australia, Swan River, in Perth, Western Australia. History The brewery was established in 1857 by Frederick Sherwood at the f ...
on Mounts Bay Road. Bropho challenged the development in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which held that the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972-1980 did not apply to the state government. Bropho then successfully appealed to the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
in ''
Bropho v Western Australia ''Bropho v Western Australia'' was a decision of the High Court of Australia, which ruled on 20 June 1990 that Section 17 of the ''Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972'' of Western Australia bound the Crown in right of Western Australia. Backgrou ...
'' (1990).


Swan Valley Nyungah Community

Bropho led the
Swan Valley Nyungah Community The Swan Valley Nyungah (Noongar) Community was an Aboriginal community of Noongar people at Lord Street, in the outer Perth suburbs of Lockridge and Eden Hill in Western Australia. The Government of Western Australia closed the settlement i ...
from 1963 to 2003. The community was the subject of a coronial inquest and the
Gordon Inquiry Sue Gordon is an Aboriginal retired magistrate from Western Australia who has been locally and nationally honoured for her work with Aboriginal people and in community affairs. She is known for being chair of the Gordon Inquiry (the Inquiry i ...
in 2001. The community was closed in 2003 by an Act of Parliament after widespread allegations of rape, sexual abuse, family violence and substance abuse.


Convictions

In 2003, Bropho was charged with raping Lena Spratt in 1975. His niece, Susan Taylor, committed suicide in 2001. The court was told during the trial that Bropho had offered Taylor and other girls money for sex before her death. In 2005, four years after the girls came forward at Taylor's inquest, he was found guilty of three counts of indecently dealing with a young girl at the camp, and was jailed for 12 months. In 2008, he was found guilty of five counts of carnal knowledge of a girl under 13, to whom he began giving money for sex when she was 11 years old at the height of the Swan Brewery legal battle in 1990. Bropho was sentenced to three years' jail. The sentence was later doubled after an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Judge Peter Nisbet described his crimes as the "lowest form of abuse imaginable". Bropho told the court "I am the shadow of
Martin Luther King Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...
and
Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...
."


Death

Bropho had a number of severe health problems when convicted and was listed as a terminally ill prisoner in 2010. He died from a heart attack on 24 October 2011 at
Royal Perth Hospital Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) is a 450-bed adult and teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. History The hospital traces its history back to the first colonial hospital, whi ...
, while still serving his jail term. His death was the subject of a
coronial inquiry A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
as it occurred in custody.


See also

*
Select Committee on Reserves (Reserve 43131) Bill 2003 The Select Committee on Reserves (Reserve 43131) Bill 2003 is an Australian select committee that investigated the eviction of the Swan Valley Nyungah Community (SVNC) from their traditional land through the use of the Reserves (Reserve 43131) ...


References


Further reading

* Clark, Tim (2006) Bropho jailed for indecently assaulting 13-year-old, ''National Indigenous Times'', Issue 95, 21 January 2006. * Granath, Natasha (2005) Bropho guilty of sex abuse at Swan camp, ''
The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...
'', 23 December 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bropho, Robert 1930 births 2011 deaths Criminals from Western Australia Australian indigenous rights activists Australian people convicted of child sexual abuse Australian people convicted of indecent assault People from Toodyay, Western Australia Prisoners who died in Western Australian detention Noongar people