Thomas Mayo ( Mayor, born ) is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

( Kaurareg Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grou ...

) Australian human rights advocate and author. He is a signatory and advocate of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and a trade union organiser.

Early life

Mayo was born Thomas Mayor in approximately 1978 in

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the small ...

, and brought up in a single-parent family by his father. He completed Year 12 at school. He is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and

man. His grandfather was a Jewish refugee from Poland.

Career

Mayo started working as a " wharfie" aged 17 in Darwin. While working at the docks, he learnt of the struggle for

Indigenous land rights in Australia Indigenous land rights in Australia, also known as Aboriginal land rights in Australia, relate to the rights and interests in land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, and the term may also include the struggle for those ...

, the part played by wharfie

Fred Maynard Charles Frederick Maynard (4 July 18799 September 1946), an Aboriginal Australian activist who advocated for land rights, citizenship and equal rights for Aboriginal Australian people. He is known for being the founder of the Australian Aborigi ...

in leading the first

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

political organisation in 1924, how the Gurindji strikers had been helped by the

Maritime Union of Australia The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's U ...

(MUA), and

Aboriginal deaths in custody Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody, ...

. Aged 20, Mayo became a union delegate in the MUA during a dispute at the wharves in 1998, when the owners were trying to casualise the workforce and make older workers redundant.

Advocacy

In May 2017, Mayo was one of the elected members of the convention at

Uluru Uluru (; pjt, Uluṟu ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone formation in the centre of Australia. It is in the southern part of the Northern Territory, southwest of Alice Springs ...

, the culmination of 13 regional dialogues, which produced the '' Uluru Statement from the Heart''. This was a call to reform the

Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a constitutional document that is supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a federation under a constitutional monarchy and outlines the structure and powers of the ...

to recognise the First Nations people of Australia – that is,

and

people – and to create a means by which they might be better heard by the government of the day, in matters which affect their communities and better

Close the Gap Close the Gap (CTG) is a social justice campaign focused on Indigenous Australians' health, in which peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous health bodies, NGOs and human rights organisations work together to achieve health ...

, as per government policy since 2007. Mayo was a signatory to the ''Uluru Statement from the Heart'', which was printed onto a large canvas and afterwards decorated by Anangu law women. He then travelled the country for 18 months in his car with the rolled-up canvas in a tube, showing it to people and explaining what the Voice was about. His journey is documented in his book ''Finding the Heart of the Nation''. In 2022, Mayo delivered the

Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...

. He drew parallels between the struggle by land rights campaigner Vincent Lingiari's struggle to be heard by governments, to what Indigenous peoples of Australia are experiencing today. In July 2023, a cartoon ad promoting the No campaign in the lead-up to the referendum on the Voice was published by Advance Australia in the ''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New S ...

'', featuring

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s of Mayo, along with, MP and Yes advocate Kate Chaney, and her father businessman Michael Chaney. This led to bipartisan condemnation of the ad as "racist". The ''AFR'' later apologised for the ad.

Current roles

, Mayo is chairperson of the Northern Territory Indigenous Labor Network, and an executive member of the Northern Territory Trades and Labour Council. He is also an adviser to the Diversity Council Australia and the From the Heart campaign. He is Assistant National Secretary and National Indigenous Officer of the

Publications

Mayo is the author of many books (six ) as well as having had many articles and essays published in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', ''

Griffith Review ''Griffith Review'' is a quarterly publication featuring essays, reportage, memoir, fiction, poetry and artwork from established and emerging writers and artists. Each edition focuses on a contemporary theme, enabling pertinent issues to be aired ...

'' and ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''. In 2019, his essay "A dream that cannot be denied: On the road to Freedom Day", later published in the ''Griffith Review'', was highly commended by the Horne Prize judges. It examines the legacy of the Wave Hill Walk-Off (Gurindji Strike), and the need for a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution. His books include: * *With Kerry O'Brien; cartoons by Cathy Wilcox.

Personal life

Mayo changed his surname from Mayor to Mayo in November 2022, reflecting the original spelling of his family name as seen on the tombstones of his ancestors.

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Thomas 1970s births Living people Indigenous rights activists