Gary Edward Foley (born 11 May 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian activist of the Gumbaynggirr people, academic, writer and actor. He is best known for his role in establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and for establishing an Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern in the 1970s. He also co-wrote and acted in the first Indigenous Australian stage production, Basically Black.
Foley is Professor, Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit, at Victoria University.
Early years
thumb|right|200px|Foley co-founded the [[Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra]]
Gary Edward Foley was born in 1950 in Grafton, New South Wales, of Gumbaynggirr descent, and spent much of his childhood in Nambucca Heads. He was expelled from school at the age of 15 and arrived in Redfern aged 17 in around 1967. He worked as an apprentice draughtsman.
Activism and politics
Foley became involved in the "black power" movement active in Redfern soon after arrival.
Foley played an active role in organising protests against the Springboks in 1971 as a result of the Apartheid policies in South Africa. At one stage, Foley and fellow protester Billy Craigie were arrested for wearing Springbok jerseys outside the team motel in Bondi Junction with the police believing they had been stolen when they had been supplied by former Wallabies player Jim Boyce. As a result of the level of protests against the Springboks, an Australian tour by the South African cricket team later that year was cancelled and the two-decade exile of South African sporting teams commenced.
In 1972, Foley was appointed a public relations officer in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. He was fired from the department after just six weeks, after three warnings, and then secretary Barrie Dexter urged ASIO to spy on Foley.
Foley co-founded the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972
During the 2018 Victorian state election, Foley endorsed the Victorian Socialists. Foley opposed the voice during the 2023 Indigenous Voice Referendum.
He has described himself as an anarchist.
Stage, film and TV
Foley co-wrote and appeared in Basically Black, the first Aboriginal stage production, in 1972. In 1978, he travelled to Europe as part of a group that took Aboriginal films to the Cannes Film Festival and then to other parts of the continent. and the 2002 film The Foundation, which tells of Koori history between 1963 and 1977 in Sydney.
Academic career
Foley completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Melbourne in 2000, with majors in History and Cultural Studies, before completing a first class honours degree in history in 2002.
Foley participated in the Melbourne Free University project.
Other roles
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Foley was the first Indigenous director of the Aboriginal Arts Board of the Australia Council between 1983 and 1986 and held other leadership positions in the Aboriginal community.
In 1994 he created the first Aboriginal-owned and -operated website, The Koori History Website, aka Kooriweb.
Awards
The Australia Council for the Arts is the arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. Since 1993, it has awarded a Red Ochre Award. It is presented to an outstanding Indigenous Australian (Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander) artist for lifetime achievement.
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In 2021 Foley was awarded the Jerusalem (Al Quds) Peace Prize, which "recognises the inspirational and lifelong contributions of an individual advocating for Palestinian freedom, justice and self-determination".
He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2024.
See also
- Anarchism in Australia
Books
- Foley, G.; Schaap, A.; and Howell, E. (eds.) (2014) The Aboriginal Tent Embassy: Sovereignty, Black Power, Land Rights and the State, Routledge: London
- Dexter, Barrie (2015) Pandora's Box: The Council for Aboriginal Affairs 1967–1976. Foley, G. and Howell, E. (eds) Keeaira Press: Southport QLD.
References
- Brisbane Writers Festival biography of Foley
- Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Society and Culture, 1994, Vol. 1,