1972 Index

1972 was a tumultuous year during which the Aboriginal political movement took a sharp turn to the Left as a younger generation of radical activists took control and soon had Australian politicians on the run. The emergence of the Black Power Movement as a dominant force meant that confrontation rather than more timid actions of the older generation became the favoured tactic. These methods bought instant results as a perplexed Federal government under the bumbling Prime Minister Billy McMahon found they had no effective response as the brilliant and inspired "Aboriginal Embassy" attracted widespread Australian community support as well as significant international attention, which severely embarrassed the McMahon Government.

The Government's decision to violently tear down the Embassy in July created more bad headlines and further radicalised the Aboriginal activists who displayed their determination and willingness to stand and fight the police as the Embassy was torn down a second time amid violent scenes in front of Parliament House.

Then later in the year a further major embarrassment to the Government occurred when the Government of the Peoples Republic of China invited a deputation of Aboriginal activists to visit China at a time when the Australian Government did not even have diplomatic relations with China, nor any other Western nations.