William McKinnon

William "Bill" McKinnon (16 June 1902 – 15 May 1997) was an Australian police officer who worked for much of his career in the Northern Territory. McKinnon was involved in a number of reported incidents, including the death of Yokununna in 1934 where he was investigated for shooting an unarmed man, The family had emigrated to Australia in 1837 from the Isle of Skye in Scotland. His parents were sugar cane farmers and later also dairy farmers and they moved to Queensland where he completed his schooling first at Nambour (1911–1916) and then at Cleveland.

Early career In September 1922, McKinnon left his parents' home in Ballina, where he had been working as a grocery boy, with the intention of becoming a seagoing radio officer and he began studying at a radio school in Sydney. However, McKinnon did not complete the course. After breaking a rule, he was embarrassed by the school's response and decided not to return. Still wishing to go to sea, McKinnon signed up as a 'fireman's peggy' with the Union Steamship Company and completed one round trip on the RMS Niagara to Vancouver with them. It appears that McKinnon did not enjoy life at sea and, in July 1923, he joined the New South Wales Police Force as a mounted recruit and worked with them in several country towns throughout New South Wales. He left this police force after he accidentally discharged his rifle into his own head and was invalided out in May 1925. Despite this, he joined the Queensland Police Service in July 1925 but was discharged within six months for causing problems. On these patrols, he would travel with one or two Aboriginal trackers and six to eight camels for trips of three or four months at a time travelling over on an average trip. One tracker he travelled with regularly was known as Dingo Mick and it was he who taught McKinnon how to cook damper and, more generally cook while on patrol.

During these trips, McKinnon would frequently take photographs of people and places that he saw, including self portraits, which he sent to Brisbane newspapers for publication. The Queenslander published some of these as a full-page spread.

On 21 February 1932, on one of these trips, McKinnon was recorded as being the first man (likely, the first European man) to climb to the highest point of Kata Tjuta when he was travelling alongside Hedley Herbert Finlayson.

Death of Yokununna In 13 October 1934, McKinnon fatally shot a Pitjantjatjara man named Yokununna at Uluru on one of his camel patrols. Yokununna had earlier been arrested by McKinnon on suspicion about his involvement in another Aboriginal man's death and, after escaping from McKinnon and his trackers, he had taken shelter in a cave and this is where McKinnon shot him. In the official record of events, McKinnon states that he shot at some distance and was not aiming to shoot him. However, his personal journals, found in 2019, contradict this. Yokununna's death, as well as an early incident where McKinnon was accused of 'thrashing' Aboriginal boys at Hermannsburg (Ntaria), led to a government inquiry. The Commonwealth Board of Enquiry into the alleged ill-treatment of Aborigines near Ayers Rock was led by Charles Mountford to investigate McKinnon's actions.

During the enquiry, the board took evidence from a number of locations, including Uluru, Hermannsburg and Alice Springs (Mparntwe). McKinnon was allowed to accompany the party and conduct his own defence. McKinnon was, however, found guilty of violence towards the men at Hermannsburg and this finding angered many, including Mountford.

As a result of the investigation, McKinnon was denied a salary increase for one year.

1954–1962 In 1954, McKinnon led the police contingent at the Darwin Airport where he was to aid Evdokia Petrova, the wife of a defecting diplomat, during the Petrov Affair. He was under strict orders that there would be no violence but he was later accused of almost starting an international incident while there when he aimed his loaded gun at the Russian guards. He retired from the police force in June 1962.

Collections McKinnon was an avid collector and donated many of his personal archives to Library & Archives NT; these include:

NTRS 321, Correspondence and memoirs relating to Northern Territory Police Force, including photographs of Central Australia (c1932–1981). NTRS 1336, Photographs of Darwin and police work in the Northern Territory (1931–1945).

Library & Archives NT also hold an oral history interview with McKinnon which was recorded in 1981.