''These two children have been in our Home in Townsville for more than two years, and in view of their very dark colouring, have not been assimilated into the white race. Every effort has been made to place them in a foster home without success because of their colour.' Queensland State Children's Department correspondence, 21 June 1960.
'The removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families remains a dark chapter in Australia's history. Pattie Lees was just ten-years-old when she and her four siblings were separated from their mother on the grounds of neglect and placed into State care. Believing she was being shipped and exiled to Africa, Pattie was ultimately fated to spend the rest of her childhood on the island once dubbed 'Australia's Alcatraz' -Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement, off the coast of Queensland.
'A Question of Colour: My Journey to Belonging provides a first-hand account of Pattie's experiences as a 'fair-skinned Aboriginal' during Australia's assimilationist policy era and recounts her survival following a decade of sexual, physical and emotional abuse as a Ward of the State. A Question of Colour is a deeply moving and powerful testimony to the resilience of a young girl, her identity and her journey to belong.' (Publication summary)
Dedication : 'In loving memory of my brother Michael (Jumbo)
'For Mum and my siblings John, Terry, Johanne and Elin
'For my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and future generations
'For Anna Shnukal; thank you for sharing your time and knowledge.'
'A Question of Colour and Debesa are both intimate and personal accounts of the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families and their resilience and survival in the face of this removal. A Question of Colour is the story of a family in north Queensland – especially Cairns, Townsville and Palm Island – and the family story told in Debesa is set in the Kimberley in the northwest of Western Australia. The two books document different aspects of intergenerational impacts of removal under the harsh ‘assimilationist’ policies in the respective states.' (Introduction)
'A Question of Colour and Debesa are both intimate and personal accounts of the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families and their resilience and survival in the face of this removal. A Question of Colour is the story of a family in north Queensland – especially Cairns, Townsville and Palm Island – and the family story told in Debesa is set in the Kimberley in the northwest of Western Australia. The two books document different aspects of intergenerational impacts of removal under the harsh ‘assimilationist’ policies in the respective states.' (Introduction)
