Local author launches book on Uncle Bill Smith Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - August 1, 2024 A NOTA front page from 1997, marking the Corrie Island visit by Japanese television, co-ordinated by Bill Smith. A GREAT advocate for reconciliation has been immortalised in a new book by a local author, launched at Club Macquarie on Sunday 21 July. ‘The Fettler’ is a tolerated biography of ‘Uncle’ Bill Smith, an Aboriginal elder and leader in the region, who gained national and international significance through many initiatives of cultural understanding and inclusion. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “Bill Smith was originally from Woolbrook, but his family came down after the floods, and worked as railway fettlers in Telarah, then Lake Macquarie,” explained the author, Greg Blyton, a retired lecturer of Indigenous history. “He and his brother later set up the first Aboriginal company in Australia, working on railways, but he did so much more. “Bill advised the Federal Government on Aboriginal affairs as the NSW Chair of the National Aboriginal Conference between 1981-85, and was also Aboriginal of the Year in 1993. “He also started the Awabakal co-operative in Newcastle, and even dined with the Queen twice.” Closer to home, Uncle Bill co-ordinated a visit in 1997 by Nippon Television Corporation to visit the Myall River and Corrie Island, where they had once-in-a-lifetime encounters with the pure natural beauty of the area and its creatures and culture. Uncle Bill also organised the large corroboree at Jimmys Beach in 1998, which drew in around 500 people. When Uncle Bill died at age 83 in 2021, his funeral and farewell service still managed to book out Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium with 600 people, amid the pandemic, and was also streamed online. ‘The Fettler’ helps to immortalise Bill Smith, as though his many life achievements were not enough. “I am just the note-taker, and the launch was a wonderful example of reconciliation,” Greg said. “Where a fettler repairs tracks, this man repaired conflicts in society. “He believed in a philosophy that Aboriginal people would be accepted as equal, [and that] people can learn to respect and understand the Aboriginal component of our country’s history.” The book launch was attended by Newcastle Federal MP Sharon Claydon, House Speaker Greg Piper, former mayor of Newcastle John McNaughton, and Emeritus Professors John Lester and John Ramsland, along with about 40 Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens residents, 150 people in all. By Thomas O’KEEFE Historian Greg Blyton’ new book is a celebration of a respected leader in reconciliation. The book launch at Club Macquarie (L-R): Malcolm Smith, Cheryl Smith, author Greg Blyton, Gloria Smith (widow of Bill), Carol Smith and Edward Smith (Bill’s children). Photo: Paul Szumilas.
