Albert Namatjira (1902–59)
NOT IN THE TEST This part is worth reading, but the citizenship test never asks about it.
Albert Namatjira was a great Australian artist who pioneered a whole new way of painting Australian landscapes. As a young Arrernte man, Albert showed a natural gift for painting. He had very limited formal training, but his watercolour paintings of the Australian country were very popular and sold very quickly.
He and his wife were the first Aboriginal people in Australia allowed to become citizens. This meant they could vote, enter a hotel and build a house wherever they liked. Albert’s Australian citizenship highlighted the fact that other Indigenous Australians did not have these rights.
His life showed non-Indigenous Australians the injustice of racist laws and contributed to changes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
From Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, the official booklet