Robert Bropho
Encyclopedia
Robert Charles Bropho was an Australian Aboriginal rights activist and convicted serial child sex offender from Perth
, Western Australia
. He was convicted of multiple cases of child sexual abuse. A judge described his crimes as the "lowest form of abuse imaginable".
Bropho was leader of the Swan Valley Nyungah Community
settlement for over 40 years until its closure in 2003. He organised the protest against redevelopment of the Swan Brewery
, and was involved in the repatriation of Yagan
's head in 1997. He died in October 2011 while serving a six-year jail term.
, Western Australia
, on 9 February 1930. His mother was Isobel Layland (1900–1993), who was the daughter of Clara Layland, a Nyungah woman who lived in the swamps on the fringes
of Perth
. His father was Tommy Nyinda Bropho (1899–1972), who was born at Argyle Downs
Station on the Durack
pastoral lease and was taken from his mother under the 1905 Aborigines Act and sent to an orphanage on the Swan River
at the age of 7. It is believed he was named after a policeman called Brophy, who escorted him from Argyle Downs to Wyndham
. Tommy's sister Jessie Argyle was the subject of the book Shadow Lines by Steve Kinnane.
During the 1930s Bropho, his parents and eleven siblings camped in a swamp at Swanbourne
in the western suburbs of Perth
. After being forced to vacate their camp, Bropho's family relocated to Eden Hill in the late 1930s. His family spent the next decade living in humpies on the edge of John Forrest National Park
and around the rubbish dumps and swamps and waterways of South Guildford, Caversham and Success Hill. They survived by working in the brick kilns, carting rubbish and sewerage and picking grapes. Success Hill, on the edge of Bennett Brook, was a traditional campsite and was where the Irish journalist and amateur anthropologist Daisy Bates had gathered information for her books and articles on Nyungah culture.
for better housing conditions. On their return the Bropho family set up a public protest camp in the grounds of St Matthews Anglican Church in Guildford
, a registered Aboriginal site.
On 11 December 1978 Bropho and members of the Lockridge Camp set up a protest on Heirisson Island
as the City of Perth
prepared for its 150th anniversary. The protest was supported by the Kimberley Land Council
, the Aboriginal Medical Service and Black Action.
In 1980 Bropho published Fringedweller, an account of the third world living conditions of homeless Aboriginal people.
During the 1980s Bropho was involved in protests against mining and urban development, including Noonkanbah and Bennett Brook. In 1986 he won a Supreme Court injunction against plans by the State Energy Commission to excavate a sacred site at Bennett Brook.
to develop on a sacred Aboriginal site at the Old Swan Brewery
on Mounts Bay Road. This protest received widespread media attention and gained support from the Construction, Mining and Energy Union (CMEU). In October 1989, despite winning a Supreme Court injunction, the protesters were arrested and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Carmen Lawrence
approved the proposal.
In 1990 Bropho won the NAIDOC
(National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee), Aboriginal of Year Award.
from 1963–2003. The community was the subject of a coronial inquest and the Gordon Inquiry in 2001. The community was closed in 2003 by an Act of Parliament after widespread allegations of rape, sexual abuse, family violence and substance abuse.
In 2005, four years after the girls came forward at Taylor's inquest, he was found guilty of three counts of indecently dealing with a young girl at the camp, and was jailed for 12 months.
In 2008, he was found guilty of five counts of carnal knowledge of a girl under 13, to whom he began giving money for sex when she was 11 years old at the height of the Swan Brewery legal battle in 1990. Bropho was sentenced to three years' jail. The sentence was later doubled after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentence. Judge Peter Nisbett described his crimes as the "lowest form of abuse imaginable". Bropho told the court "I am the shadow of Martin Luther King and Gandhi."
, while still serving a jail term. His death will be subject to a coronial inquiry as it occurred in custody.
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. He was convicted of multiple cases of child sexual abuse. A judge described his crimes as the "lowest form of abuse imaginable".
Bropho was leader of the Swan Valley Nyungah Community
Swan Valley Nyungah Community
The Swan Valley Nyungah Community was an Indigenous Australian community of Noongar people at Lockridge, Western Australia. In controversial circumstances, the Government of Western Australia closed the settlement in 2003 by act of Parliament following allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape...
settlement for over 40 years until its closure in 2003. He organised the protest against redevelopment of the Swan Brewery
Swan Brewery
The Swan Brewery is a brewery located in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded in central Perth in 1837. From 1879, it occupied riverside premises below Mount Eliza, displacing an official "Aboriginal institution" which recognised traditional use of the land by indigenous people.The brewery...
, and was involved in the repatriation of Yagan
Yagan
Yagan was an Australian Aboriginal warrior from the Noongar tribe who played a key part in early indigenous Australian resistance to British settlement and rule in the area of Perth, Western Australia. After he led a series of burglaries and robberies across the countryside, in which white...
's head in 1997. He died in October 2011 while serving a six-year jail term.
Childhood
Bropho was born in a bush camp at the back of the Coorinjie wine saloon at ToodyayToodyay, Western Australia
Toodyay is a town located in the Wheatbelt region in the Avon Valley, 85 km north-east of Perth, Western Australia. Toodyay is connected to Perth via both rail and road.-History:...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, on 9 February 1930. His mother was Isobel Layland (1900–1993), who was the daughter of Clara Layland, a Nyungah woman who lived in the swamps on the fringes
Perth Wetlands
The Perth Wetlands, also known as the Perth Great Lakes or the Great Lakes District, was a collection of fresh-water wetlands, swamps and lakes located on the Swan Coastal Plain north of the city of Perth in Western Australia...
of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. His father was Tommy Nyinda Bropho (1899–1972), who was born at Argyle Downs
Argyle Downs
Argyle Downs is a pastoral lease and cattle station located about south east of Kununurra in the Kimberley region near the border of Western Australia and Northern Territory. It is operated by the Consolidated Pastoral Company....
Station on the Durack
Michael Durack
Michael Patrick Durack, was a pastoralist, and Western Australian pioneer. He was the son of Patrick Durack and Mary Costello, both Irish-Australians....
pastoral lease and was taken from his mother under the 1905 Aborigines Act and sent to an orphanage on the Swan River
Swan River (Western Australia)
The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....
at the age of 7. It is believed he was named after a policeman called Brophy, who escorted him from Argyle Downs to Wyndham
Wyndham, Western Australia
Wyndham is the oldest and northernmost town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, located on the Great Northern Highway, northeast of Perth. It was established in 1885 as a result of a gold rush at Halls Creek, and it is now a port and service centre for the east Kimberley with a...
. Tommy's sister Jessie Argyle was the subject of the book Shadow Lines by Steve Kinnane.
During the 1930s Bropho, his parents and eleven siblings camped in a swamp at Swanbourne
Swanbourne
Swanbourne is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about two miles east of Winslow, three miles west of Stewkley, on the secondary road B4032.-History:...
in the western suburbs of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. After being forced to vacate their camp, Bropho's family relocated to Eden Hill in the late 1930s. His family spent the next decade living in humpies on the edge of John Forrest National Park
John Forrest National Park
John Forrest National Park is a national park in the Darling Scarp, 24 km east of Perth, Western Australia. It was the first national park in Western Australia and the second in Australia after Royal National Park.- Name :...
and around the rubbish dumps and swamps and waterways of South Guildford, Caversham and Success Hill. They survived by working in the brick kilns, carting rubbish and sewerage and picking grapes. Success Hill, on the edge of Bennett Brook, was a traditional campsite and was where the Irish journalist and amateur anthropologist Daisy Bates had gathered information for her books and articles on Nyungah culture.
Early activism
On 11 September 1977 Bropho, his family and members of the Anderson, Mead and Kickett families drove 3,000 kilometres across the continent of Australia to petition the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian VinerIan Viner
Robert Ian Viner AO is an Australian former politician. He was the Liberal Party of Australia member for the House of Representatives seat of Stirling from 1972 until his defeat by Ron Edwards in the 1983 election...
for better housing conditions. On their return the Bropho family set up a public protest camp in the grounds of St Matthews Anglican Church in Guildford
Guildford, Western Australia
Guildford is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 13 km northeast of the city. Its Local Government Area is the City of Swan.-History:Guildford was established in 1829 on the Swan River, being sited near a permanent fresh water supply...
, a registered Aboriginal site.
On 11 December 1978 Bropho and members of the Lockridge Camp set up a protest on Heirisson Island
Heirisson Island
Heirisson Island is an island in the Swan River in Western Australia at the eastern end of Perth Water . The city of Perth and the Town of Victoria Park are linked by The Causeway which is actually two bridges which span the two foreshores and the island...
as the City of Perth
City of Perth
The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth Metropolitan Area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government body is commonly known as Perth City Council. The city covers the Perth central business district and surrounding suburbs...
prepared for its 150th anniversary. The protest was supported by the Kimberley Land Council
Kimberley Land Council
Kimberley Land Council Aboriginal Corporation ICN 21 is an association of Aboriginal people in the Kimberley region. It was formed at a meeting at Noonkanbah Station in May 1978....
, the Aboriginal Medical Service and Black Action.
In 1980 Bropho published Fringedweller, an account of the third world living conditions of homeless Aboriginal people.
During the 1980s Bropho was involved in protests against mining and urban development, including Noonkanbah and Bennett Brook. In 1986 he won a Supreme Court injunction against plans by the State Energy Commission to excavate a sacred site at Bennett Brook.
Old Swan Brewery protest
In January 1989 Bropho led a protest against the State Government's deal with MultiplexMultiplex (movie theater)
A multiplex is a movie theater complex with multiple screens, typically three or more. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an...
to develop on a sacred Aboriginal site at the Old Swan Brewery
Swan Brewery
The Swan Brewery is a brewery located in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded in central Perth in 1837. From 1879, it occupied riverside premises below Mount Eliza, displacing an official "Aboriginal institution" which recognised traditional use of the land by indigenous people.The brewery...
on Mounts Bay Road. This protest received widespread media attention and gained support from the Construction, Mining and Energy Union (CMEU). In October 1989, despite winning a Supreme Court injunction, the protesters were arrested and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Mary Lawrence is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia....
approved the proposal.
In 1990 Bropho won the NAIDOC
NAIDOC
NAIDOC is an awareness committee and the name of an Australian week of observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday....
(National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee), Aboriginal of Year Award.
Swan Valley Nyungah Community
Bropho led the Swan Valley Nyungah CommunitySwan Valley Nyungah Community
The Swan Valley Nyungah Community was an Indigenous Australian community of Noongar people at Lockridge, Western Australia. In controversial circumstances, the Government of Western Australia closed the settlement in 2003 by act of Parliament following allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape...
from 1963–2003. The community was the subject of a coronial inquest and the Gordon Inquiry in 2001. The community was closed in 2003 by an Act of Parliament after widespread allegations of rape, sexual abuse, family violence and substance abuse.
Convictions
In 2003, Bropho was charged with raping Lena Spratt in 1975. His niece, Susan Taylor, committed suicide in 2001. The court was told during the trial that Bropho had offered Taylor and other girls money for sex before her death.In 2005, four years after the girls came forward at Taylor's inquest, he was found guilty of three counts of indecently dealing with a young girl at the camp, and was jailed for 12 months.
In 2008, he was found guilty of five counts of carnal knowledge of a girl under 13, to whom he began giving money for sex when she was 11 years old at the height of the Swan Brewery legal battle in 1990. Bropho was sentenced to three years' jail. The sentence was later doubled after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentence. Judge Peter Nisbett described his crimes as the "lowest form of abuse imaginable". Bropho told the court "I am the shadow of Martin Luther King and Gandhi."
Death
Bropho died on 24 October 2011 at Royal Perth HospitalRoyal Perth Hospital
Royal Perth Hospital is an 855-bed teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the CBD of Perth, Western Australia . Royal Perth Hospital also has specialised rehabilitation facilities at Shenton Park.-History:...
, while still serving a jail term. His death will be subject to a coronial inquiry as it occurred in custody.
Further reading
- Clark, Tim (2006) Bropho jailed for indecently assaulting 13-year-old, National Indigenous Times, Issue 95, 21 January 2006.
- Granath, Natasha (2005) Bropho guilty of sex abuse at Swan camp, The West AustralianThe West AustralianThe West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
, 23 December 2005.
See also
- Select Committee on Reserves (Reserve 43131) Bill 2003Select Committee on Reserves (Reserve 43131) Bill 2003The Select Committee on Reserves Bill 2003 is an Australian select committee that investigated the eviction of the Swan Valley Nyungah Community from their traditional land through the use of the Reserves Bill 2003...