Details

Bill Fergusen was born near Darlington Point in NSW and was a well-known public speaker and a founding member of the Aborigines Progressive Association in 1937. He was involved with William Cooper, Jack Patten and Doug Nicholls in the organisation of the 1938 “Day of Mourning” protest

Ferguson had a trade union background with the Australian Workers' Union, and was part of an unsuccessful deputation to Canberra in 1949 that submitted proposals for reforms in Aboriginal administration to the Chifley Labor Government.

A member of the Labor Party at the time, Ferguson quit and later contested the national elections as an independent in the Lawson (Dubbo) electorate. He received 388 votes. Ferguson died within a few weeks of the election

[Gary Foley]