Bonita Mabo AO (c. 1943–2018), South Sea Islander activist, was the widow of Torres Strait Islander land claimant Eddie Mabo. Born near Ingham, she was a descendant of Ni-Vanuatu workers (formerly known as 'Kanaks') who were taken to Queensland to work in substandard conditions on sugar plantations between about 1860 and 1904. She married Eddie Mabo in Ingham in 1959; they were to become parents of ten. In 1972, disenchanted with the education her children were receiving, she set up Australia's first Aboriginal community school. She supported Eddie through his historic land claim, but said 'I was his wife, but that's as far as it went … I've got nothing to do with the land'. An advocate for reconciliation for all Australians, especially between Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander peoples, she spoke frequently of the need to 'work together as one to fight for our rights'.
Lorrie Graham began her photographic career as the first female photography cadet at the Sydney Morning Herald. She has since become one of Australia's most celebrated photojournalists. This 1994 portrait of Bonita was taken two years after Eddie's death. As Graham noted: 'when I met Bonita Mabo it was her strength, warmth and quiet confidence that impressed me, she is inspirational.'
Purchased 2011
© Lorrie Graham
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Well behaved women seldom make history, as the saying goes, and the National Portrait Gallery, consequently, is full of awesome Australian women who refused to conform to narrow ideas about their place and their worth.
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