There is a lot to be said about the impact Aboriginal activist William Cooper left on the world, and Alf Turner is someone who can’t say enough.
William Cooper, a champion for human rights, will soon be immortalised in the form of a bronze statue in Shepparton’s Queen’s Gardens, and there is no-one prouder than his grandson Alf Turner.
Mr Cooper, who was of Yorta Yorta descent, was responsible for the establishment of NAIDOC Week, the Aboriginal Advancement League and a petition to the German Consulate about the persecution of Jews several weeks after the Kristallnacht incident in Germany in 1938 in which Nazis torched synagogues, vandalised Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews, then later arrested some 30000 Jewish men and sent them to Nazi concentration camps.
A life-sized statue will be erected in Mr Cooper’s honour and is set to be installed in November. The project was approved by Greater Shepparton City Council.
The statue will aim to support the community’s ongoing education about Mr Cooper, showcasing his contributions to the rights of Aboriginal people and equality.
Although he spent a decade in his care, Mr Turner didn’t grasp the magnitude of his grandfather’s influence on society until later in life.
Read the full article by Rhiannon Tuffield at Shepparton News.