Willie Thaiday

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NameWillie ThaidayDescriptionWillie Thaiday was born on 18th December 1913 on Erub Island (Darnley Island), Torres Strait. He was educated at the school there up to the fourth grade. In 1930 Willie was one of three young men who got blamed for an incident and was sent to work on a boat out of Thursday Island. This lasted twelve months however on returning to Thursday Island the court ordered for the men to be sent to Palm Island. Under police escort, Willie arrived on Palm Island on 27 December 1932.
Willie married Madge on 14 March 1936. Just after his marriage, Willie was elected to the first council on Palm Island. In 1939 after being refused entry to the Australian Army, Willie went to Atherton. He spent the next four years there after which he moved his family to Tully and then to Halifax. In 1950 Willie was sent back to Palm Island under a removal order.
One evening in 1957, following a strike over wages, Willie and 6 other men were arrested and sent to Townsville with their families where a removal order came for them to be sent to Woorabinda. Willie tried to find work locally, then in Townsville and after a stint with the railway near Ingham he was offered a job as a policeman. In 1959 Willie assisted in the organising of a Torres Strait Islander concert that toured the region and he performed as a dancer. Around the same time, Willie used his carpentry skills to assist with the building of a new Catholic church in Woorabinda. He then moved his family away from Woorabinda and worked on the railways around Winton, Hughenden and Prairie until they returned to Tully in 1964.
Willie Thaiday is the author of "Under the Act", his story of living under government control.

Photograph

Willie Thaiday with a member of the Giru Junior Red Cross at the civic reception for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Sports Reserve, Townsville, March 1954.

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Willie Thaiday