Ted Egan, a folk musician who both served as the Crown’s representative in the Northern Territory and reinvented the beer box as a musical instrument, has died aged 93.
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains names of Indigenous people who have died, used with the permission of their families.
Egan will be remembered as a celebrated musician, author, footballer, TV star, academic and historian.
The gregarious character, who was remembered by his family for his “big and very generous life” following his passing, was known among his wide list of accomplishments and accolades as a world-class raconteur and historian.
He is survived by his wife Nerys Evans, who he met under the dart board in a Perth pub during a folk festival.
Ted Egan and then-prince Charles arriving in Alice Springs in 2005. (ABC Alice Springs: Emma Haskin)
Born Edward Joseph Egan in Melbourne in 1932, he grew up during the Great Depression years as the youngest of four in a family he described as “always warm and surrounded by love and laughter”.
“I chose my parents very, very wisely,” he said in 2021.
“When I left home in Victoria to come to the territory, my mother sat me down and said: ‘Teddy, I’m going to give you some good advice: wherever you go in life, keep sweet with the cook and be a good listener.’
“I know now that my principal strength in life is that — as a consequence of being a good listener as advised by my mother — I am a good observer.”
Ted Egan and Nerys Evans at the Alice Springs racetrack. (Supplied)
Egan moved to Darwin as a 16-year-old in search of adventure and went on to establish and captain the St Mary’s Football Club.
The club began as a way to give Indigenous people from the Tiwi Islands a chance to play.
“It was probably one of the most important things in my entire life,” he said in 2012.
To better communicate with Tiwi Islands players, Egan learnt the native language.
His linguistic skills led to being offered a job as a patrol officer, where his remote travel allowed him to try his hand at stock work and crocodile hunting.
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Campaigner for Indigenous rights
One of Egan’s first postings was at Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land, where a controversial bauxite mine had just opened.
It would turn out to be a transformative experience.
“I had previously taken the same stance as my superiors on the question of Aboriginal land,” he said.
“The government’s attitude was that Aboriginals stay out of it, we control the land.”
Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hands of Vincent Lingiari, symbolically handing the Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory back to the Gurindji people in 1975. (AGNSW: Mervyn Bishop)
Egan went on to work in Canberra for the Australian Council of Aboriginal Affairs, where he wrote what would become an unofficial anthem as the push for Indigenous land rights progressed.
Wave Hill homestead through the eyes of the blokes who walked off
He wrote Gurindji Blues, also known as Poor Bugger Me, after hearing offensive statements from a government minister about the Gurindji strike.
The song was recorded by Indigenous activist Yunupingu, with the proceeds used to fund the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.
Egan said he realised how little control Indigenous people had over their own lives when he was appointed as the superintendent of Yuendumu, a community 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
When he arrived in 1958, there were only a few houses, all of which were reserved for white workers in the community while Indigenous people had to camp in the bush.
Ted Egan was a strong critic of government policies toward Aboriginal Australians. (Supplied)
Egan again learnt the local language, which he said was crucial to bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.
“We don’t know Aboriginal languages. We’ve never tried from 1788,” he said.
“And it’s the biggest shortcoming in Australia.
“Only where local language has been understood has there ever been any success.
“I’m constantly reminding my Aboriginal friends to ‘keep your languages alive’, because only they can turn the tide that’s now so strongly flowing against them.”
Ted Egan at Newcastle Waters in 2012. (ABC Rural: Steven Schubert)
Egan was an outspoken critic of government Indigenous policies until the very end of his life.
He served as the administrator of the Northern Territory — the NT’s equivalent of a state governor — from November 2003 to October 2007.
“It was a great honour to be chosen and a great thrill to look back on those wonderful four years,” he said.
Prolific writer of songs, books and TV shows
Egan was a prolific folk musician, using only an empty cardboard beer carton as a percussion instrument alongside his own voice.
Ted Egan released nearly 30 albums across his career. (Supplied)
He said he started tapping beer cartons, or what he called the “Fosterphone”, because he couldn’t play any other instruments.
“There was always a beer carton around when I was young,” he said.
“So we used to drink the beer and I’d use the beer carton as sort of a percussion drum, and if you mic it cleverly it’s a very, very good instrument.”
Ted Egan playing his “Fosterphone” at the Woodford Folk Festival. (Flickr: Jan Smith)
He released 30 albums after his debut in 1969 with what he termed “the drinkers of the Northern Territory”.
“I write songs to extol the virtues of those people or those groups of people, and it’s a joy,” he said.
“I can’t take good pictures or paint portraits or create statues, but I have written a lot of songs that I’m very proud I wrote.”
Ted Egan was honoured with the 2014 Country Music Association of Australia Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the industry. (ABC News: Kim Honan)
He also authored 17 books, including Due Inheritance in 2008, which made several recommendations on how to improve the lives of Indigenous people, while criticising “misguided policies imposed by well-intentioned but inept government agencies”.
He lashed out at the Northern Territory Intervention, saying it exacerbated problems because it was race-based.
Memories of King Charles’s Red Centre visit
Egan also hosted a television program, This Land Australia, which showcased varied and remote parts of the country.
During his career Egan lived all across the NT, from Maningrida in Arnhem Land to Alice Springs, where he made his home in the latter years of his life.
Until recently, he lived in a house he called “Sing a Tinny Downs”, which had a pool in the shape of Australia, with a spa in the shape of Tasmania.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1993 for his services to the Aboriginal community, upgraded to an Officer in 2004 for his contribution to the community as the administrator.
The first party at Ted Egan’s Australia-shaped pool, 1989. (Supplied: Ted Egan)
