Dialog start
The red port
Linda McBride-YukeLambert 'Lambie' McBride and his wife May were active members of QCAATSI, the main Queensland organisation connected to the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. They campaigned to get rid of Queensland state protection acts, considered the most repressive in Australia. Their daughter Linda gathered up all their campaign memorabilia and donated it to the State Library of Queensland in a red port.
![May and Lambert McBride outside a suburban home.](/https/www.abc.net.au/rightwrongs/assets/media/2017/03/the-red-suitcase-image-1-781x1024.jpg)
My parents, Lambert and May McBride (nee Ross) were Bungalung and Butchulla respectively.
During the 1960s they would drive all over south-east Queensland and especially before the 1967 referendum, encouraging and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to not only register with the Electoral Commission but also, to exercise their right to vote.
A population census was held in 1966, and as they were held every five years, the next one wasn’t until 1971.
On Sunday, April 25, 1971 the entire McBride family was, for the first time, counted as citizens. I was 14.
What a sad — or some would say ‘shameful’ and rightfully so — state of affairs.
Australia, which was diligently recording statistics of how many sheep and cattle were being farmed and how much iron ore and wheat was exported, was not remotely interested in how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived in the country.
Indigenous people were invisible until 1971. If I’m asked where I’m from or who I am, I answer, ‘I’m an Aboriginal Australian’ in that order.
My parents also fought for Aboriginal rights with a wonderful group of people with a passion and determination for a range of social justice issues, black and white united. They practised reconciliation long before it became a buzz word or a formal policy.
The membership base was diverse. There were suburban battlers, solicitors, members of Federal Parliament, artists and writers, and notably, the respected poet and storyteller Aunty Kath Walker, now known as Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
Dad was president of the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI). The council was the state chapter of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI).
![Red suitcase](/https/www.abc.net.au/rightwrongs/assets/media/2017/03/the-red-suitcase-image-2-1024x683.jpg)
My parents kept everything! I mean everything that I still have at the house today.
They kept our Housing Commission rent book receipts recorded in pounds, shillings and pence and later dollars and cents. [They kept] Walton’s receipts, letters and cards from my grandmothers, aunties, friends of the family, and hundreds of QCAATSI and FCAATSI documents and papers.
At last, I collected all their QCAATSI and FCAATSI papers that had been kept in an old, dark red port* at home.
![Red suitcase with documents](/https/www.abc.net.au/rightwrongs/assets/media/2017/03/the-red-suitcase-image-3-1024x683.jpg)
I presented all those years of papers, minutes of meetings, correspondence between QCAATSI and various unions, ministers of the Queensland and Federal Governments to the Queensland state librarian.
It was astounding from an archivist’s and historian’s perspective. The papers were in very good condition, considering they had been lying all those years in that old red port.
Years later when dad retired, the general manager of Aboriginal Hostels said at a function: “Lambert is a person who shows respect but also gets it back. He is as honest as the day is long”.
Mum was an awesome, dedicated and committed wife and mother.
Her support for dad, both inside the home and outside the home, was strong and unwavering.
This was evident in her role in QCAATSI. She was the publicity officer and [had] other general duties. I am aware of the substance of clichés but there is always some element of truth to be found in them.
So when I state: “Behind each man is a great woman” I’d go further and say “a greater woman”.
![](/https/www.abc.net.au/rightwrongs/assets/media/2017/03/the-red-suitcase-image-4-927x1024.jpg)
Mum and dad married in 1942 and celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2002.
As was the social custom of the day, in that era dad courted mum and that included a third wheel — a chaperone — mum’s Aunty Mary.
Dad served in the Army during the 1940s and was involved in World War II.
He was treated well and had no issues or complaints with his fellow comrades. I’m sure if he did, he would have sorted it out quick smart.
At 6 feet 1 inches yes, [he was] that cliché — ‘tall, dark and handsome’.
I could envision my father commanding respect because he would have given respect to all people.
When he received his WWII medals at Queensland’s Government House from [then] governor Peter Arniston, who also served in the war, it was a memorable day for us all.
![Alinta wearing her grandad's medals on ANZAC Day with another man wearing medals.](/https/www.abc.net.au/rightwrongs/assets/media/2017/03/the-red-suitcase-image-5-768x1024.jpg)
PHOTO: Alinta with national president of the RSL, Rear-Admiral Ken Doolan RAN (Rtd)
Every Anzac Day, dad would march with the local Geebung-Zillmere RSL.
After he passed away, I did the Anzac Day march and since I’ve become physically unable to march, my daughter Alinta — Lambert’s granddaughter — now marches in the parade proudly displaying her grandfather’s medals (see photo above).
*A port is another name for a suitcase commonly used in Qld and NSW.
The Lambert McBride Collection 1963-1997 is held at the State Library of Queensland
Read Linda McBride-Yuke’s full story Journey of a Lifetime: From Sticks to the State Library – An Aboriginal Editor’s story
Dialog end