WWII 1942—Broome, pearling town on the far north coast of Western Australia. The enemy was snaking its way towards the Australian coastline. Broome was being evacuated. The resident Japanese and their families had already been interned. Aboriginal families were being trucked to Beagle Bay Mission, 120 km north, under the care of the German brothers and Irish nuns.
Betty Lockyer’s mother was on the last truck to leave Broome on 17 February, heavy with child. Worst fears were realised when the Japanese attacked Darwin. On 3 March they blew twenty-four Dutch flying boats out of the water in Broome. Men, women and children died. Betty was born two weeks later, safe in the relative peacefulness of the mission.

Last Truck Out is a fascinating account of Lockyer’s early years at Beagle Bay and Broome. With an Aboriginal mother and an Asian father, she tells of a childhood governed by strict assimilation policies, yet infused with a potent mix of cultures and religion. Lockyer witnessed the devastating effects of family being forcibly removed from country and tradition, but defends the Catholic nuns and brothers who worked under this regime, wielding their influence on all levels of Kimberley society. Her own achievements saw her summonsed for an audience before the Most Reverend Bishop Otto Raible. For two years he sponsored her secondary schooling, 2,000 miles away in Perth.
Lockyer’s story is a revelation. As a ‘mixed-race kid’ her influences in the multi-cultural pearling town of Broome were many. She tells her story with candour and humour, and it is one deserved to be read by all Australians.