Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir

by Barbara Miller

Barbara Russell, a young woman from a white working-class family. A ruthless Premier Bjelke-Petersen enforcing legal discrimination. How could Barbara stand by and watch the feud of the people with governments and miners strip Australian Aboriginal communities of all they held dear? But what could she do to make a difference?Would her passion make a way for her? Was she strong enough to face the full weight of the police state, resist the temptation of love, and stand up to her family too?

In this story of ideological conflict and racial discrimination laws, Barbara teams up with Mick, an Aboriginal schoolteacher. They organize remote Australian Aboriginal people to fight Bjelke and the mining companies that encroach on their land. But Bjelke has a few tricks up his sleeve and uses all in his powers in this police state to stop them. The strength of the Aboriginal people shines through the story but, if the Aboriginal people fail, more of them will die in poverty and desperation.

What price will the church pay for standing with Aboriginals against the government? Can they win this epic battle? Can the Aboriginals internationalize their struggle for human rights?

With the current debate in Australia of Voice Treaty Truth and the worldwide issue of Black Lives Matter, this book gives many key Aboriginal people a voice and reveals the shocking truth of the hidden history of 1975 to 2021 in a near-novel manner. Every important historical event is covered. This is one of the social justice books that you will want on your shelf. The political activism examples are not those of keyboard warriors but those of people who took to the trenches.

What secrets lie hidden? What lies are being told?

Historical memoir, Secrets and Lies is another sizzling story in the First Nations True Stories series. Because if you like fast-paced action, real-life heroes, and the window opened on another culture, this book is for you. If you like books with political intrigue that bring to life an interesting historical period, you'll love Secrets and Lies.

★★ Buy Secrets and Lies for a must-read fascinating story today!★★

426 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 3, 2021

About the author

Barbara is an intriguing combination of pastor, social justice campaigner and researcher and her memoir is fascinating because of it. Passionate about people being free from the chains of oppression, her sociological training means she has a focus on changing structures in society that hold people groups back. As a pastor and psychologist, she has helped many people break free of mindsets that have prevented them reaching their full potential.

From her background in a poor working class white family in urban Australia, Barbara, with Aboriginal husband Norman, who is also a pastor, travel the world. They have a calling to heal groups from the wounds of history through the Centre for International Reconciliation and Peace they co-founded in 1998. This work has taken them to Israel, Jordan, Turkey, England, Zimbabwe, Canada, USA, PNG, Vanuatu and many other places.

Barbara has worked at the coalface of Aboriginal affairs in Australia from her involvement in the Aboriginal Tent Embassy demonstrations in Canberra in 1972 to helping the Mapoon people move back to their land in 1974, to co-founding the North Queensland Land Council with former husband Mick Miller in 1977 to being CEO of the Aboriginal Co-ordinating Council (ACC) in the 1990’s and much more. The ACC was the only statutory advisory body to the Queensland government on Aboriginal affairs at the time and represented local government Aboriginal councils who had a land base.

From someone who grew up avoiding conflict in her family of origin because of different beliefs, she seems to have put herself in the way of it confronting government policies which harmed Aboriginal people. Also she has become a professional mediator who helps others face and resolve their conflicts at work and at home. She has found her voice with the publication of her fourth solo book.

Reviews

[Monica Rubombora]

IT HAS GIVEN THE ABORIGINAL PEOPLE A VOICE

Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir by Barbara Miller is a heartfelt historical and personal account about the Aboriginal people of Australia, and their fight to preserve their ancestral land against big mining companies and the very rough treatment from the Government.

This is the third book about the Australian Aboriginal people that by Barbara Miller that I have read. It is a long read, and one needs to read it slowly and internalise it. But it reads like a novel - it is as if one is sitting around a fireplace night after night, and being taken back in time. What makes it special is the deeply researched material, and the detailed references from newspapers, conferences, meetings, and quotes.

The reader also gets an insider’s view of the cultural clashes around the values of innovation, disruption and change versus security, conformity and stability. Whilst the western concept of change and disruption is desirable, knowing how each person fits into society and their roles and responsibilities in the wider community, is highly valued in other communities. These are some of the key take-aways in the book. There are some very shocking stories in the book such as the Government policies of withholding wages of the indigenous employees or those that did not allow the Aboriginals to receive a formal education beyond a few years. The author also describes how the Aboriginals, as a powerless group, have turned the anger and frustration, in on themselves

What makes this book one even more fascinating, are the deeply personal stories that Barbara has interwoven throughout the book. The reader is introduced to her immediate family, and the extended family and the strong bond that she has with them. The reader gets to understand her Christian foundation, pastoral works, and prayerful nature. There are several touching stories interspersed throughout the book, of how the deaths of close family members deeply touched her. These stories make the reader understand how these departed souls shaped the author’s life and her views on this deeply personal topic of race, discrimination. The stories about the people and events are described in a vivid and relatable. way. In the book, we get to meet the author’s immediate and extended family and the way they have influenced her and how they shaped what is in this book. The “Her-Story” had to be told!

It is a very good book and anyone that is interested in history and social studies should read it.

[Wendy Beckman]

Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir, by Barbara Miller, is an unevenly woven tapestry of tales. One thread is the plight of the Aborigines of Australia, with their history, their fight against systemic racism, and the hideous way they were treated up until the 21st century. Another thread is Barbara Miller's role in that battle. Yet another is the story of her first husband, an Aborigine, who led that battle. Still another is the story of Barbara's parents and their attempts to "come to grips" with their daughter's life choices. The final thread is how Barbara left her first husband, married her second husband, and dedicated her life to Christ.

There are a lot of knots and dropped stitches in those threads. I feel this book would exist better as two books: the history of the Aborigines and Miller's leadership in and support of their struggle and another separate memoir, just about her personal life.

I found the book very interesting, but the writing style difficult to read. She "humble brags" a lot, referring to herself as if she were an outsider, looking at herself. She quotes herself, as published in various interviews, instead of just telling the reader what she said. The book is mostly in the present tense, which I find to be off-putting anyway, but it is not consistently so. It would have benefitted from a neutral editor.

Overall, I recommend reading the first half of the book for its historical value.

[Joy RS]

A memoir with a punch! This is a frank and compelling story of a fight that should never have had to happen. Personal anecdotes are interwoven with a very important message for us all and the photographs bring it very close. This author’s writing about the marginalised people in Australia has always resonated with me. I am South African and witnessed the end of apartheid and the inclusion of every citizen as a human being with equal rights. It has, therefore, long angered me that other countries have legislation and social constructs that are just as draconian as those under apartheid yet parade themselves as democracies. I was so glad to read this book, which not only tells Australia’s story of human rights travesties but also demonstrates that there are solutions. It is at once heartbreaking and uplifting and should be required reading for everyone who thinks apartheid is South African only and that there are human beings who are in any way less than other human beings. I recommend this to you as well!

[Karyn H]

An interesting story about the Aboriginal community

There is a lot about the Aboriginal community that the author Barbara Miller opened my eyes to. The author poured out her heart in this book and goes to the length talking about well-hidden secrets and lies about the Aboriginal people of Australia. She also explains some of the cultural clashes among the aboriginal tribes. Barbara also introduced us to some of her personal stories. The author has also written many books. Secret and Lies is the author’s way of supporting the community. There are many pressing issues like the one Babara Miller is talking about in this book that are swept under the carpet because no one is talking about it. Honestly, I must commend her for this work and the others, it takes a lot of courage to fight for the people. I strongly recommend this book for those who wish to know the truth about the Aboriginal communities, and those who wish to support their lives work towards the course.

[PAR]

As an individual of native heritage in another country, I perhaps read this novel in a more aggressive manner, looking for perhaps bias of the White woman writing “our” history and
Thinking she really knew what way. I did not find that at all. I felt she wrote from the voice of the people. She was able to share their pain, their distress, and their loss. I highly recommend this novel for anyone of any country, as our stories are very similar. The story of the first people, and what happened to us when another people decided that they wanted to take what was ours and makes it theirs. Then telling us we needed to become them. Taking away our heritage, telling us to act like them, but when we did they put us on the lowest rung of their system. I recommend this novel and would read more novels by this author. I received this novel in advance. I choose to write a review for this novel and the opinions here are my own.
.

[Jimmy Jefferson]

The fight for justice and equality

This is the journey of one woman and her fight to save the aboriginal people from the miners and the government. With all of the current world focus on racial discrimination, this is a perfect example of these atrocities that continue to take place across the globe. Filled with emotion, pain, lose, and destruction the story pulls you in to a fast paced journey with real world consequences. I found this to be a riveting story and a great way to learn from history to change the future. Check this one out folks I think you will find something relatable inside the pages of this passionate story.

[Jessica]

Gripping history

This book, please topic is on the Australian aboriginals, their fights with mining companies and church and state, is a historical biography. I searched all the story is rooted in truth, the author has made this book compelling with all the lies, Secrets, cover-ups, and more that have happened and irrevocably changed the lives of millions of people.
Having read previous books by this author, I had Fairly high standards and was not disappointed. The writing is great, the research is sound, and the root causes of what went on in Australia and how it affects people today is arresting.

[Jennifer Teske]

A very detailed and researched account of a new topic for me

I knew very little about Australian Aboriginal history before this book and for that reason it was sometimes a little difficult for me to follow because of the complexity and many layers of conflict. But Barbara breaks it down in a compelling way and makes it more personal with connections to her personal life. I enjoyed it.

[Dawn]

Previously reviewed this book, but it did not appear on my challenge