Publisher's Synopsis
Faith Bandler is one of Australia's best-loved and most widely respected citizens. This is the story of her extraordinary life, her journey from a childhood nurtured in a South Sea Islander community in northern New South Wales, to national recognition as one of Australia's leading human rights activists.;Drawing on Faith's own vivid recollections, as well as extensive research in the archives, Marilyn Lake provides a lively biographical account which both captures the warmth of the woman - her sharp intelligence, her generosity, her calm, her stamina, her eloquence, her ability to have "a bloody good time" - and the challenge of her political commitment. As a leader of campaigns for Aboriginal rights and against racial discrimination, Faith Bandler emerged as an unlikely but compelling public figure - a politically effective woman in a public culture dominated by men, a politician outside parliament and a black leader in a nation dedicated for most of her life to the ideal of "White Australia".;The success of the 1967 referendum to afford full citizenship rights to Aboriginal Australians was a tribute to her leadership and influence - to this day, of more than 40 attempts to change the Constitution by referendum, only eight have succeeded. Eloquent and elegant, Faith Bandler became that rare phenomenon in Australia: a charismatic public person. Her exemplary courage in fighting for an end to racism and her capacity for moral leadership have perhaps never been more relevant.
