A. O. Neville

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Auber Octavius Neville (October 20, 1875–April 18, 1954) was a bureaucrat in Western Australia.

Born in Northumberland, England, Neville immigrated to Australia as a child. In 1897 he went from Victoria to Western Australia and joined the civil service there, where he quickly rose through the ranks.

In 1915 Neville was appointed the second Chief Protector of Aborigines. During the next quarter-century, he presided over the now notorious 'Stolen Generation' policy of removing mixed-race Aboriginal children from their parents. In 1936 Neville became the Commissioner for Native Affairs, a post he held until his retirement in 1940.

Neville believed that biological absorption was the key to 'uplifting the Native race.' Speaking before the Royal Commission, which investigated the administration of aboriginals in 1934, he defended the policies of forced settlement, removing children from parents, surveillance, discipline and punishment, arguing that "they have to be protected against themselves whether they like it or not. They cannot remain as they are. The sore spot requires the application of the surgeon's knife for the good of the patient, and probably against the patients will."

In his twilight years Neville continued to actively promote his policy. Towards the end of his career, Neville published Australia's Coloured Minority, a text outlining his plan for the biological absorption of aboriginal people into white Australia. It is a classic example of the eugenics policies popular at the time in the Western world.

He was a notable resident of Darlington and was a regular user of the passenger railway service which closed a few months before his death. He died in Perth, and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.

He was portrayed as the public face of the policy in the 2002 film Rabbit Proof Fence, (played by Kenneth Branagh) and Jack Davis' 1985 play No Sugar.

[edit] Further reading

Jacobs, Pat (1990). Mister Neville, A Biography. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 0-949206-72-5.
Kinnane, Stephen (2003). Shadow Lines. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 1-86368-237-6.