Kahlin Compound
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{use Australian English|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = other
| name = Kahlin Compound
| city = Darwin
| state = nt
| image = File:Kahlin Compound.jpg
| caption = Children at the Kahlin Compound in 1921
| lga = City of Darwin
| postcode =
| est =
|coordinates = {{coord|-12.452728|130.828682|format=dms|type:landmark_region:AU-NT|display=inline,title}}
| pop =
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| area =
| stategov =
| fedgov =
| near-nw =
| near-n =
| near-ne =
| near-w = Mindil Beach
| near-e =
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| dist1 =
| location1= Darwin
}}
Kahlin Compound was an institution for part-Aboriginal people in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia between 1913 and 1939. After 1924, "half-caste" children were separated from their parents and other adults and moved to an institution at Myilly Point.
History
In 1913 the Northern Territory Protector of Aborigines, anthropologist Walter Baldwin Spencer decided to solve what he called the "half-caste problem" by rounding up hundreds of mixed race Aboriginal families and removing them from their homes. The Kahlin Compound and Half Caste Home was established on Lambell Terrace at Myilly Point, overlooking Mindil Beach in Darwin.{{cite news|title='The soul of Darwin': the story of the Kahlin Compound|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/kahlin-compound/6538842|accessdate=27 September 2016|agency=Earshot, Radio National|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=7 July 2015}} Spencer envisaged that the compound would be self-sufficient, providing housing, schooling and domestic training for each Aboriginal family. The whole compound was to be fenced with access for Aboriginal people and Departmental officials only.{{cite web|title=Kahlin Compound: Background Historical Information| url=http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/heritageregister/heritageregister.get_file?file_id=307&file_type=sheet|website=NT Heritage Register|publisher=Northern Territory Government|accessdate=1 October 2016}}
A 1923 Commonwealth parliamentary inquiry headed by the South Australian Senator John Newland included an investigation of conditions at the Compound. Newland recommended that it be moved to a site further from the town, but this did not happen (perhaps because the residents were a source of cheap labour).
A subsequent inquiry appointed by the NT Administrator also recommended the establishment of a new compound be established and also that "half-caste" children should be separated from adults, in a separate institution where they could be disciplined and integrated into the [white] community. The new "Half-Caste Home" was opened at Myilly Point in 1924, and most of the Kahlin children were moved there.
The compound was damaged in the 1937 cyclone.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17352211 |title=Cyclone at Darwin leaves trail of unroofed and ruined houses and lays waste surrounding country. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=30,951 |date=16 March 1937 |access-date=1 October 2016 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}}
In 1938, all residents were moved to the new Bagot Aboriginal Reserve. The Kahlin Compound closed in 1939 and was revoked as an Aboriginal Reserve on 3 July 1940.{{cite web|title=Kahlin Compound (1913 - 1939)|url=https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/nt/YE00032|website=Find and Connect|publisher=Australian Government|access-date=2 October 2016}}
Re-use of site
File:Kahlin Compound-Old Darwin Hospital site located in the Darwin suburb Larrakeyah (4).jpg
The site was used as an emergency hospital during a meningitis outbreak in 1940,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231152827 |title=Epidemic dread in Darwin |newspaper=The Sun |issue=9658 |location=Sydney|date=17 December 1940 |access-date=1 October 2016 |page=3 (Late Final Extra) |via=National Library of Australia}} with patients housed in tents.{{cite web|url=https://hdl.handle.net/10137/7430|title=A brief history of Royal Darwin Hospital|author=Ellen Kettle|website=Northern Territory Government Health Services Library ePublications|publisher=Royal Darwin Hospital|date=1986|access-date=16 January 2022}} It then became part of the permanent Darwin Hospital grounds from 1942 until the hospital was demolished in the 1990s.{{cite web|url=https://planningcommission.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/408849/Fact-Sheet-WEB2.pdf|title=Kahlin Compound and Old Darwin Hospital site and Flagstaff Park|publisher=Northern Territory Planning Commission|date=May 2014|access-date=16 January 2022}}
An attempt made in 2003 to have the site listed on the Northern Territory Heritage Register as recognition of its cultural history was unsuccessful.{{cite web|title=Kahlin Compound|url=http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/heritageregister/f?p=103:302:1622300245652860::NO::P302_SITE_ID:909|website=NT Heritage Register|publisher=Northern Territory Government|access-date=1 October 2016}}
In February 2017, the Northern Territory Government announced that a new $50 million museum would be built on the site, recognising both the hospital and in particular, the significance of the Kahlin Compound as part of Territory's multicultural heritage.{{cite web|url=https://camd.org.au/50-million-museum-at-darwins-myilly-point/|title=$50 million museum at Darwin's Myilly Point|publisher=Council of Australasian Museum Directors|date=28 September 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://haveyoursay.nt.gov.au/museumoftheNT/widgets/180118/faqs|title=Museum of the Northern Territory FAQ|publisher=Northern Territory Government|access-date=17 January 2022}} In October of that year, the site was found to be contaminated with asbestos, requiring additional remediation works.{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-26/asbestos-discovered-at-old-darwin-hospital/9088770|title=Asbestos discovered at old Darwin Hospital site, soon-to-be location of new museum|author=Georgia Hitch|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=26 October 2017}} The expensive museum proposal proved unpopular with the community, and the plans were abandoned in 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-22/myilly-point-museum-plans-scrapped-following-public-outcry-$50m/9684946|title=Myilly Point museum plans scrapped following public outcry about $50m spend|author=Emily Smith|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=22 April 2018}}
Removal of asbestos from the site was completed by 2021, with the area landscaped and opened as a public park including a large children's playground, skate park and basketball court.{{cite web|url=https://dipl.nt.gov.au/projects/myilly-point-landscaping-and-playground|title=Myilly Point landscaping and playground|website=Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics|publisher=Northern Territory Government|date=22 February 2021|access-date=17 January 2022}}
Commentary
{{further |Aboriginal reserves|Stolen Generations}}
The rounding up and deporting of Aboriginal people to such compounds across Australia has been described as a crime against humanity.{{Cite web|date=2011-10-22|title=Australia accused of genocide against aborigines| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australia-accused-of-genocide-against-aborigines-1263163.html|access-date=2021-11-15|website=The Independent|language=en}}
Notable people
- Alngindabu; who was taken there in 1918 alongside two of her younger children: {{Citation |last=Dewar |first=Mickey |title=Alngindabu (1874–1961) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/alngindabu-9345 |access-date=2024-10-16 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}
- Joe McGinness.{{Cite web |title=Biography - Joseph Daniel (Joe) McGinness - Indigenous Australia |url=https://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/mcginness-joseph-daniel-joe-17813 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=ia.anu.edu.au}}
- Val McGinness.{{Citation |last=Austin |first=Tony |title=Valentine Bynoe McGinness (1910–1988) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcginness-valentine-bynoe-14671 |access-date=2024-10-16 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}
- Richard (Dick) Butler; the 'horse-boy' there who was taken there in the 1910s.{{Cite book |last=Rosenzweig |first=Paul |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10070/492231 |title=Northern Territory Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Charles Darwin University Press |year=2008 |isbn=9780980457810 |edition=Rev |location=Darwin |pages=81-82 |chapter=Richard (Dick) Butler (1908-1987) |hdl=10070/492231}}
- Joseph (Joe) Croft; who was taken there in 1927.{{Citation |last=Croft |first=Brenda L. |title=Joseph (Joe) Croft (c. 1925–1996) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/croft-joseph-joe-32006 |access-date=2024-10-16 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}
- Alec Kruger; was taken there in 1928.{{Cite web |title=Biography - Alec Kruger - Indigenous Australia |url=https://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/kruger-alec-17801 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=ia.anu.edu.au}}
- Daisy Ruddick; who was taken there around 1920.{{Cite web |last=Austlit |title=Daisy Ruddick {{!}} AustLit: Discover Australian Stories |url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A114097 |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=www.austlit.edu.au |language=en}}
- Robert Tudawali; who went there with his family in the 1930s.{{Citation |last=Forrest |first=Peter |title=Robert Tudawali (1929–1967) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tudawali-robert-11889 |access-date=2024-10-16 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}