Ted Egan

Edward Joseph Egan AO (born 6 July 1932) is an Australian folk musician and a former public servant who served as Administrator of the Northern Territory from 2003 to 2007.

The Honourable Ted Egan AO
At the Woodford Folk Festival 2010–11
18th Administrator of the Northern Territory
In office 31 October 2003 – 30 October 2007
Governor-General	Michael Jeffery
Preceded by	John Anictomatis
Succeeded by	Tom Pauling
Personal details
Born	Edward Joseph Egan (1932-07-06) 6 July 1932 Coburg, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Domestic partner	Nerys Evans
Occupation	Musician
Website	tedegan.com.au

Early life

Egan was born in Coburg, Victoria, moving to the Northern Territory in 1949 at the age of 16 in search of work and adventure. In his early career with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs he was mainly in the bush and engaged in jobs such as stockwork and crocodile hunting while employed as a patrol officer and reserve superintendent. Later he was a teacher at bush schools. He was a member of the first National Reconciliation Council.

Egan was the sole teacher at the Newcastle Waters Station in 1965 and was stranded at the property for six weeks when the creek flooded. During this time no supplies were able to be delivered so Egan had to hunt for animals, such as bush turkey for food. He later returned to the station in 2012 for the book launch of Middle of Everywhere about life in the area.[1]

Music career

Egan began recording in 1969 with "Drinkers of the Northern Territory" and has released 28 albums, mostly themed around outback life, history and Aboriginal people.[2]

Egan wrote the "Gurindji Blues" in the 1969 with Vincent Lingiari, during the Wave Hill walk-off. Egan says he was moved to write "Gurindji Blues" after he heard Peter Nixon, then Minister for the Interior, say in parliament that if the Gurindji wanted land, they should save up and buy it, like any other Australian. Nixon also gets a mention in the song:[3]

Poor bugger me, Gurindji
Peter Nixon talk long we:
'Buy you own land, Gurindji
Buyim back from the Lord Vestey'

In 1971 the song was recorded by in Sydney, with Egan singing along with Galarrwuy Yunupingu, a Yolngu man actively involved in land rights for his own people through the Yirrkala bark petitions and Gove land rights case (who also sings on the B-side). Lingiari speaks the introduction, first in Gurindji and then in English.[3][4]

His choice of instrument is an empty beer carton (aka Fosterphone or Victorphone) played by tapping with his hands and fingers. He has been a prolific writer and performer of contemporary folk songs. He introduced Rolf Harris to the song "Two Little Boys".[2]

Discography

Albums

• 1973 Bangtail Muster
• 1975 Outback Australia
• 1976 The Shearers (Faces of Australia Series)
• 1976 The Bush Races
• 1982 The Overlanders (Faces of Australia Series)
• 1985 The Anzacs (Faces of Australia Series)
• 1989 The Convicts (Faces of Australia Series)
• 1990 Bangtail Muster
• 1990 The Kimberley
• 1990 A Town Like Alice
• 1980 Rodeo Australia
• 1988 Ted's Shout
• 1997 The Aboriginals (Faces of Australia Series)
• 2000 The Very Best of Ted Egan My Australia
• 2000 The Urupunga Frog (Australian Songs for Children)
• 2002 The Drover's Boy (A Celebration of Australian Women)
• 2003 Land Down Under
• 2003 Such is Life
• 2008 I.O.U.
• 2010 Saving The Best
• Our Coach Captain
• The Vision Splendid
• Beyond the black stump
• Once a Jolly Swagman[5]
• Welcome to the Bush[6]

Singles

• "Granny"
• "A Schluck and a Schnitte"
• "Sayonara Nakamura" also includes song parchment
• "The Drover's Boy"
• "2008 Ted Egan Sings"

Compilations

• Queensland Opera
• Kutju Australia

Books

• 1978 Outback Holiday (also by Mark Egan) ISBN 0-7295-0040-3
• 1984 The Overlanders Songbook ISBN 0-909104-74-3
• 1987 The Aboriginals Songbook -Faces of Australia Series ASIN B000N7AKU0
• 1989 Shearers Songbook ISBN 0-909104-75-1
• 1991 Would I Lie to You? The Goanna Driver and Other Very True Stories ISBN 0-670-90460-0
• 1993 The Paperboys War Ted Egan An Autobiography ISBN 1-875703-08-X
• 1996 Justice All Their Own ISBN 0522846939
• 1997 Sitdown Up North Ted Egan An Autobiography ISBN 1-875703-23-3
• 1997 A Drop of Rough Ted ISBN 0-9595744-0-9
• 1997 The Drover's Boy ISBN 0-85091-840-5
• 2003 The Land Downunder ISBN 0-9545726-0-2
• 2008 Due Inheritance ISBN 0-7295-0040-3
• 2011 Kutju Australia: An Australian Translation of Advance Australia Fair ISBN 9780980861921
• 2014 The ANZACS 100 Years On: in Story and Song ISBN 9780987381156
• 2019 Outback Songman: My Life ISBN 9781760871437

Videos

• This Land Australia series (as presenter, narrator and interviewer)

• Broome and the Pearl Coast
• Cape York Peninsula: The Vanishing Frontier
• Central Australia: The Eighth Wonder
• Discovering a Rainforest
• Gulf Country: The Road from Mt. Surprise
• Hahndorf and the Barossa: Valleys of Hope
• The Islands of Torres Strait
• Mysterious Australia
• Norfolk Island
• Paddleboats of the Murray River
• Railways of Yesteryear
• Snowy Mountains

These are available individually and as boxed sets on DVD from Flashback Entertainment.

Administrator of the Northern Territory

Egan was appointed Administrator of the Northern Territory by Governor-General Michael Jeffery effective 31 October 2003.[7] He was sworn in on 18 November.[8]

On 14 September 2005, he was awarded a one-year extension to his term of office by Jim Lloyd, the Federal Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads.[9] This was further extended for another year to serve until 30 October 2007.[10]

Television

Egan has presented and narrated 6 episodes of the 1989 series This Land Australia, a series devoted to iconic Australian people and places. He also wrote and performed the show's theme song of the same name[11]. He has been a co-host of the lifestyle show The Great Outdoors.[12]

Honours

Egan was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1993 Australia Day Honours List for services to the Aboriginal people, and for "an ongoing contribution to the literary heritage of Australia through song and verse".[13]

In 1995, Egan was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown.[14]

In 2004, Egan was promoted to an Officer of the Order (AO) as acknowledgement of "the significance of [his] continuing contribution to the community culminating in his being sworn-in as the 18th Administrator of the Northern Territory".[15]

Egan is listed among the "Australia's National Living Treasures" by the National Trust of Australia.[16]

Egan was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Tamworth Country Music Festival awards ceremony.

Ted was the recipient of the National Folk Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award on 02/04/2015 at NFF's Opening Ceremony in Canberra. Egan performed four songs at the event, including one about pioneering women in Australia.

References

1. "Six weeks stranded with nothing but bush turkeys for dinner". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
2. "I have been writing and recording songs, filming and writing about the Australian people". Ted Egan. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
3. Singley, Blake (10 August 2016). "Song for the Gurindji". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
4. "'Gurindji Blues'". National Museum of Australia. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
5. AFS Discography (08/06/2000) A-L
6. Release “Welcome to the Bush” by Ted Egan - MusicBrainz
7. Barker, Ann: Ted Egan appointed Administrator of the Northern Territory, PM (Radio National), 1 October 2003.
8. Churchman, Fiona: Singer, author, bush legend and now ... Administrator Ted Egan, ABC Local Radio, 18 November 2003.
9. Reappiontment Of Northern Territory Administrator, 2005
10. Reappointment Of Northern Territory Administrator, 2006
11. "This Land Australia series 1 (1989) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
12. Ted Egan - I have been writing and recording songs, filming and writing about the Australian people
13. EGAN, Edward Joseph, It's an Honour (Australian Government), 26 January 1993.
14. "Roll of Renown". TCMF. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
15. EGAN, Edward Joseph, It's an Honour (Australian Government), 25 February 2004.
16. National Trust Living Treasures, National Trust of Australia.

External links

• Egan's official website
• Television interview with Egan (ABC's Enough Rope, August 2004)
• Official Administrator's site
• VIDEO: Egan on the crisis in Indigenous Australia (2009) on ABC Fora

Government offices
Preceded by John Anictomatis	Administrator of the Northern Territory 2003–2007	Succeeded by Tom Pauling