Australian Aborigines March to Demand Justice

[Frodo]

This might bring Hughento out of hiding..... 

Aborigines take to the streets to demand justice

By Ed Johnson
Sydney, Australia

COMMONWEALTH Games officials in Melbourne are bracing themselves for protests today as Aboriginal campaigners take to the streets demanding justice for Australia’s indigenous population.

Activists have dubbed the sporting event the Stolenwealth Games to draw attention to the land, language, culture and even children forcibly taken from Aborigines since Britain settled the continent in 1788.

Under the banner Walk for Justice, more than 1,000 campaigners are expected to march past Government House, where Queen Elizabeth II is staying during the games, calling on her to recognise the sovereignty of Aborigines who have populated Australia for at least 40,000 years.

“We need to rectify the untenable situation for the indigenous people of this country,” said Robbie Thorpe of the pressure group Black GST - which stands for Genocide, Sovereignty, Treaty.

“We are subject to the whims of the white man and his welfare payments and we need to take this to the sovereign,” said Thorpe, speaking by telephone from a protest camp in the heart of Melbourne, where a sacred flame representing some 380 Aboriginal tribes across the country has burned for days.

Black GST, like other pressure groups, is calling for a legal treaty to be drawn up to ensure Aboriginal rights are enshrined in the constitution. The group also wants recognition that indigenous people have sovereign rights over the land.

“Only 160 years ago we owned 100% of the land in Victoria,” said Thorpe, a member of the Gunnai Kurnai tribe.

“Now it is only 0.01%. It is our identity, our culture, everything.”

“They are welcome to express their feelings and beliefs,” said Brent Hooley, a spokesman for Commonwealth Games Minister Justin Madden. “Security measures have been put in place by the authorities to make sure it will go smoothly.”

source

[Platypus]

I have genuine sympathy for the indigenous people of Australia, but stunts like this don't really help anything.

The queen can't do anything and it's just serving as a very minor detraction from the games.

Aboriginal healthcare is appaling, as are education opportunities and rates of alcoholism and drug abuse.

It's no secret the British weren't nice to those they colonised, and the Aborigines were no exception (although compared to other colonial powers, the British are positively fantastic).

Basically, the aboriginal leadership have aligned themselves with the utopian left and it's harming their effectiveness in getting their message across, as well as public support. I genuinely want aborigines to have similar incarceration rates, similar healthcare rates, similar high school graduation rates, etc as the non-indigenous population, but stunts like this irritate me. They are focussing one the wrong things. It might be nice to have a treaty, but that isn't what is needed. What is needed is for these leaders to get into their communities and fight alcoholism. Their lives will improve a lot more by lessening that problem then by signing a piece of paper that won't really change anything.

[WMS]

Basically, the aboriginal leadership have aligned themselves with the utopian left and it's harming their effectiveness in getting their message across, as well as public support. I genuinely want aborigines to have similar incarceration rates, similar healthcare rates, similar high school graduation rates, etc as the non-indigenous population, but stunts like this irritate me. They are focussing one the wrong things. It might be nice to have a treaty, but that isn't what is needed. What is needed is for these leaders to get into their communities and fight alcoholism. Their lives will improve a lot more by lessening that problem then by signing a piece of paper that won't really change anything.

It is truly amazing just how many places you could say this about. Every word.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

And these people aren't imprisoned because?

[Platypus]

And these people aren't imprisoned because?

It's a non-violent protest.

[patrick1]

It's no secret the British weren't nice to those they colonised, and the Aborigines were no exception (although compared to other colonial powers, the British are positively fantastic).

Hugh, at what stage did British brutality or ^not niceness.. turn into Australian brutality?  You can't pin the ill treatment wholly on the poms.

[Platypus]

It's no secret the British weren't nice to those they colonised, and the Aborigines were no exception (although compared to other colonial powers, the British are positively fantastic).

Hugh, at what stage did British brutality or ^not niceness.. turn into Australian brutality?  You can't pin the ill treatment wholly on the poms.

Well, all the massacres were certainly British-the stolen generation was australian, but whilst that might be a more prominent complaint, the most and the worst atrocities were undertaken in the colonial days, almost always directed by a british-born and bred CO.

So, Australia as an entity seperate from Britain has some blame. Australia alongside Britain has some blame. And Britain itself has some blame-and probably the largest share.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

[quote author=hughento link=topic=37676.msg847707#msg847707
Well, all the massacres were certainly British-[/quote]

That depends entirely on how "British" is defined o/c. Most early atrocities were not really recorded and were often committed by new or new-ish settlers. And the ones that this doesn't really apply to, were'nt exactly condemmend by Australian society.
Mind you... the ancestors of most Australians weren't in Australia at the time, and as such it's unfair to pin the blame on them; I think the best thing to do is blame it on White racist morons and leave it at that.