Hagan spent his first seven years living on a camp on the outskirts of the town, before moving into a new house nearby; an experience that helped shape his perceptions of the socio-economic inequalities between the aboriginal population and white Australians.
[3] [better source needed] Upon returning to Australia he worked in both the public and private sectors, the latter including venturing into cultural tourism.
[12] In 2008, the stand was demolished and the issue was resolved, and Toowoomba Sports Ground Inc agreed not to use the term in the future:[13] indeed they had given a similar undertaking in 1999.
As the dispute went through the courts Hagan was brought close to bankruptcy and received threats, according to his wife,[14] including letters claiming to be from the Ku Klux Klan.
[19] When announced in 2020 by the brand owners, Saputo Inc., that the name would be changed in the wake of Australian participation in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, Hagan declared that it was "a total vindication of 20 years of campaigning.
The island was named after a white local coalminer, Herbert Heany, who gained that nickname because of his blackened face when coming home from the mine.
The controversy began when Toowoomba man, author George Helon[22] spotted the dolls placed beneath the sign[24] and circulated a picture of it on Facebook[25] and Twitter.
[26] In June 2020, it was reported that Hagan would sue Coles Express for racial discrimination following an incident at a service station in Townsville where he was asked to pre-pay for fuel.
The club, supported by several of its Indigenous players, said any racial connotations had been removed from the song 80 years ago and that the objectionable history of its melody was unlikely to have been known to the writers of the lyrics in 1929.