On a winter’s evening in 1968, Prime Minister John Gorton made history by dancing with a young Aboriginal girl at the first national Aboriginal debutante ball. The ball was held at the Sydney Town Hall to celebrate the symbolic ‘coming of age’ of Aboriginal Australians in the referendum a year earlier. Twenty-five young debutantes were presented to the Prime Minister, with Mr Gorton choosing to dance with 16-year old Pearl Anderson.

Dr Anna Cole, one of this year’s recipients of an Australian Prime Ministers Centre Fellowship, has produced a 30-minute documentary film about these events entitled ‘Dancing with the Prime Minister’. The film will be aired on ABC1 on Sunday 22 August at 1.30pm as part of the ‘Message Stick’ series, and repeated on Saturday 28 August at 11.30am. Dr Cole uses archival footage as well as recent oral history interviews to tell the story of the young debutantes. One of the highlights of the film is previously unseen archival footage of a rehearsal for the ball in which a young Charlie Perkins stands in for the prime minister.

Each year, the Australian Prime Ministers Centre supports up to eight Fellows to undertake research projects relating to Australia’s prime ministers. Most Fellows produce journal articles or publications, although creative projects such as ‘Dancing with the Prime Minister’ are also supported. The Centre also hosts up to three summer scholars during the end of year academic break. For more information on the research program, see moadoph.gov.au/research/research-program/.

A vodcast of the film will also be available for download from the “Message Stick” website following the network screening.