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“He yelled the N-word”: Stan Grant speaks out on racist attack

<p dir="ltr"><em>Q+A</em> host Stan Grant has opened up about the time he faced unprovoked racist abuse from a stranger outside of the ABC’s headquarters, just days after <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/tv/there-is-no-excuse-for-what-i-saw-stan-grant-calls-on-the-abc-to-do-better">calling for the broadcaster to “do better”</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Grant, a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi man, was attending the national summit on Aboriginal child safety in Adelaide when conversation turned to the incident involving a passerby and “the N-word”. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I was standing outside the ABC filming … and a young man and his girlfriend walked past me and, as they got close to me, he yelled the N-word loudly at me, right at me,” Grant explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So what if I’m on television, so what if I stayed in the White House with [former US President] Barack Obama …. so what if I can phone the Prime Minister [Anthony Albanese] and he’ll pick up the phone, so what? In that moment, that’s what I was to that person.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We don’t know when someone’s going to say that. No matter how successful you are, someone can always cut you down. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Racism can touch us anywhere.”</p> <p dir="ltr">When breaking the story, Grant was addressing an audience of approximately 250 individuals from across Australia - primarily First Nations experts and frontline workers - at the summit hosted by KWY.</p> <p dir="ltr">The group is a South Australia-based Aboriginal organisation who, according to their official website, “cover domestic and family violence, child protection, youth work, kinship care, disability, mentoring, Aboriginal education outcomes, perpetrator intervention, and cultural training and consultancy” across Adelaide and other regional centres. </p> <p dir="ltr">During the summit, Aboriginal Children’s Commissioner April Lawrie called on the South Australian government to take action against the rising rates of Aboriginal children who were being taken into state care, declaring that, “we’re removing [children] but we’re not supporting [families].” </p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a telling story when [I] go into a school community to engage with young fullas … to find that I couldn’t take a photo because most of the Aboriginal children in that school community were a child in care [and can’t be identified].</p> <p dir="ltr">“That speaks more than what you see in data. That is the compelling story about what is going on in our Aboriginal communities, what is the relationship of the state with our Aboriginal families.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Reportedly, South Australia has a budget in excess of $500m, and only spends roughly $69m per year on early help services for families. </p> <p dir="ltr">As South Australia’s Child Protection Minister Katrine Hildyard said, the Malinauskas government intends to commit $3.2m to creating a new committee, while increasing the overall budget for family services by $13.4m. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We know that the current system is not working for Aboriginal families and children,” she stated.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Listening to the wisdom and experience of Aboriginal people is utterly fundamental to building a better approach.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This includes our government acknowledging how that legacy of colonisation and experiences of intergenerational trauma and racism influence the issues Aboriginal people face.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Q+A / Youtube</em></p>

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National Aboriginal Art Gallery under fire over proposed building site

<p dir="ltr">Indigenous Australian elders in the Northern Territory have called the development of the National Aboriginal Art Gallery (NAAG) a “complete joke” due to its insensitive proposed building site. </p> <p dir="ltr">The $130 million project is set to celebrate 65,000 years of First Nations history and culture, while also ramping up future tourism prospects in the NT. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, the government wants to build it on the town's football oval precinct, which, critically, overlaps a sacred women's site.</p> <p dir="ltr">Doris Stuart Kngwarreye, a proud Arrernte woman,  described the five-year consultation process for the project as a "complete joke" and said she would continue to fight to protect her cultural heritage.  </p> <p dir="ltr">"If you're there and they're consulting with you and you say 'no, end of story' consultation goes on without you there," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The boxes have been ticked." </p> <p dir="ltr">The main issue for Ms Stuart is that the gallery will layer other First Nations' songlines and stories, expressed through the artworks proposed for the gallery, over an Mparntwe sacred women's area. </p> <p dir="ltr">"If you put a building up there with stories that don't belong there, how do you think the ancestors will feel towards that?" she said. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Where's the respect? We have our boundaries here."</p> <p dir="ltr">Western Arrarnta elder and artist Mervyn Rubuntja has been painting his homeland in vibrant watercolour since he was a teenager, and said he felt uneasy about displaying his artwork on the potential site.</p> <p dir="ltr">"It's a woman's site," he said. "You need to talk to the ladies first if they say yes or no, because it's important for every non-Indigenous person to listen."</p> <p dir="ltr">The fight over the location first began in 2017, when a government-funded steering committee, led by Indigenous art experts, <a href="https://desart.com.au/publication/2786/">said in a report</a> the gallery should be built out of town and should have major input from the local Indigenous custodians. </p> <p dir="ltr">The NT government is still consulting with the community over the designs of the building and that consultation process is expected to be wrapped by late 2023, but there is no clear timeline for when the building will commence.</p> <p dir="ltr">For Ms Stuart, she said she is disappointed that the government is pushing ahead with the project but said she’d continue to speak up for her country no matter the outcome. </p> <p dir="ltr">"All I want is respect for all this land," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Queen Elizabeth II mural painted over

<p dir="ltr">A mural of Queen Elizabeth II has been painted over with the Aboriginal Flag a few days after the monarch was laid to rest.</p> <p dir="ltr">Queen Elizabeth died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland and was buried on September 19 at King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George's Chapel.</p> <p dir="ltr">The day of her death saw local Sydney artist Stuart Sale paint the mural in the inner-west suburb of Marrickville.</p> <p dir="ltr">Bobby, another local member of the community, told OverSixty that Mr Sale had painted the mural at night, and had then come back the next morning to touch it up.</p> <p dir="ltr">“There was quite a crowd around him as he finalised the mural,” he said.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiZohGyPHkA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiZohGyPHkA/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Stuart Sale (@stuartsale)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The mural was left untouched for almost two weeks until Australia’s National Day of Mourning when it was painted over with the Aboriginal Flag.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a very sensitive issue,” Bobby told OverSixty.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Sale shared an update to his Instagram of the altered mural with the caption, “Art can be so powerful”, along with three hearts in the Aboriginal Flag colours.</p> <p dir="ltr">He explained that the mural belonged to the people and that he did not have any plans on fixing it.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It belongs to the people in a way and that’s why I’m torn. I’ve painted this and given it to the street. I might let it stay for now.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Sahar Mourad</em></p>

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Artist reworks the classics to include Aboriginal women

<p dir="ltr">An Indigenous artist is reclaiming her heritage by reworking famous artworks to include Aboriginal women. </p> <p dir="ltr">Brandi Salmon, a Wiradjuri artist from Hobart, was first inspired to attempt these reimaginings after viewing numerous artworks about Aboriginal people that were created by non-Indigenous artists and that portrayed Aboriginal people in a negative light – in particular a 19th-century painting that depicts an Aboriginal person as a servant waiting in the presence of Captain James Cook. </p> <p dir="ltr">These negative depictions then led to the creation of a series of works celebrating Aboriginal people titled The Aunty Collection, which includes five famous paintings that feature Aboriginal women, often in regal positions and as the focal point of the artwork.</p> <p dir="ltr">After discovering her love of art as a child, Aboriginal presence in art became a focus when Ms Salmon attended university, where she studied creative arts.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSJTBTkh32W/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSJTBTkh32W/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Brandi Salmon (@brandisalmon.artist)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“A lot of the paintings I came across were paintings of Aboriginal people as servants," she told the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-13/artist-appropriates-famous-paintings-to-include-aboriginal-women/101394128">ABC</a>. </p> <p dir="ltr">“What you see in a lot of paintings from those periods is a style of art which depicts Aboriginal people in such a way that justifies the colonial project," said Tiriki Onus, head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne.</p> <p dir="ltr">"You will see Aboriginal people depicted in this almost animal-like, grotesque fashion that is indicative of a certain time period and romanticises invasion.”</p> <p dir="ltr">When Brandi first started The Aunty Collection for a university assignment, it evolved further than she ever imagined it would. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I wasn't taught how to do the traditional painting and I felt like I couldn't do it. I felt a need to create my own style," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Aunty Collection now features paintings such as Botticelli's <em>The Birth of Venus</em> and Leonardo da Vinci's <em>Mona Lisa</em> re-imagined as strong and proud Aboriginal women.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CN42p4fhxAH/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CN42p4fhxAH/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Brandi Salmon (@brandisalmon.artist)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUH0MSIh2vC/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUH0MSIh2vC/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Brandi Salmon (@brandisalmon.artist)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Brandi said, "If you think about the classical works, they often depict people and their everyday world to some extent."</p> <p dir="ltr">"A couple of hundred years ago we were being depicted as servants, and now we have the freedom to do The Aunty Collection."</p> <p dir="ltr">"I don't think I realised how much of an impact that would have."</p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><em>Image credits: Instagram</em><span id="docs-internal-guid-92d6872c-7fff-0194-caca-a9d72f7ea119"></span></p>

Art

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Sacred Aboriginal sites are yet again at risk in the Pilbara

<p>An application from Traditional Owners to block the construction of a fertiliser plant near ancient rock art in the Pilbara <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/perdaman-fertiliser-traditional-owners-sacred-sites-rock-art/101363542" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was denied</a> by the federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. This decision is deeply concerning, and points to a much larger problem with Indigenous heritage management.</p> <p>Plibersek says she went with the views of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation in making her decision, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-23/plibersek-will-not-block-perdaman-fertiliser-plant-/101360350" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling it</a> the “most representative organisation on cultural knowledge” in the region. Yet, she <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/environment-minister-won-t-intervene-on-burrup-plant/101359854" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also acknowledged</a> that these views don’t represent all Traditional Owner perspectives in the area.</p> <p>Save Our Songlines, a separate organisation of Murujuga Traditional Owners, oppose the fertiliser plant, which they say poses a threat to sacred rock art sites. <a href="https://www.saveoursonglines.org/post/tanya-plibersek-fails-to-protect-murujuga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">They say</a> the minister’s decision is “based on faulty reasoning and false conclusions”.</p> <p>In 2020, the world reacted in horror when Rio Tinto <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawfully</a> destroyed Juukan Gorge – sacred Aboriginal rock shelters in the Pilbara some 46,000 years old. Broader community understanding of the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges for looking after Country can help us avoid repeating this tragedy. Tourism and community education is an important way to do that.</p> <blockquote> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The community, the country and the whole world will be outraged if this leads to another Juukan Gorge because the federal government would not stand up to industry and protect sacred Aboriginal sites from further destruction.”</p> <p>— Save Our Songlines (@SaveBurrup) <a href="https://twitter.com/SaveBurrup/status/1561902261571203078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <h2>‘Enough is enough’</h2> <p>The A$4.5 billion Perdaman fertiliser plant will be constructed in the World Heritage nominated <a href="https://exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/park/murujuga-national-park" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Murujuga National Park</a> in Western Australia. It is home to the world’s largest rock art gallery, with more than 1 million images scattered across the entire Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago.</p> <p>As many as <a href="https://www.saveoursonglines.org/post/tanya-plibersek-fails-to-protect-murujuga" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 sacred sites</a> may be impacted by the plant, according to Save Our Songlines.</p> <p>In <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/environment-minister-won-t-intervene-on-burrup-plant/101359854" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview</a> with ABC Radio National, Plibersek said the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation have agreed that some of these rock carvings can be moved safely, and others can be protected on site even if the plant goes ahead.</p> <p>However, the situation isn’t so clear cut. For example, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-26/aboriginal-custodians-concerns-in-letter-to-government/101370394?utm_source=sfmc&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=abc_news_newsmail_am_sfmc&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_id=1930785&amp;sfmc_id=281363065" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the ABC revealed</a> on Thursday that the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation refused permission to move the rock art sites multiple times, preferring they remain undisturbed. Elders finally agreed after receiving advice that this wasn’t possible.</p> <p>This isn’t the first time we’ve seen issues regarding consultation processes with Traditional Owners, such as during the notorious <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/battle-for-the-kimberley-20120523-1z5fb.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">battle for the Kimberley</a> against a major gas plant in 2012.</p> <p>Traditional Owner and co-author Clinton Walker has been sharing his intimate knowledge of the Pilbara with visitors through his tourism venture <a href="https://www.ngurrangga.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ngurrangga Tours</a> for the past 11 years. He has the cultural authority and capacity to speak for his Country.</p> <p>Clinton was a signatory on the <a href="https://www.saveoursonglines.org/post/open-letter-from-murujuga-custodians" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open letter from Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga</a> concerning threats to cultural heritage in the area. He describes the potential impact of the fertiliser plant:</p> <blockquote> <p>This hill is a very very sacred site to my people. If they build their plant here we’re not gonna have the same access we do now to go visit our rock art and teach our kids and family their culture.</p> <p>This impact is going to damage our culture and it will damage us as the Traditional Owners because we’re connected to these sites in a spiritual way. I want people to know how important these sites are. We need to protect them. Enough is enough.</p> <h2>The need for consent</h2> <p>The <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024757/toc_pdf/AWayForward.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal inquiry into the Juukan Gorge</a> disaster <a href="https://theconversation.com/juukan-gorge-inquiry-puts-rio-tinto-on-notice-but-without-drastic-reforms-it-could-happen-again-151377" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted</a> the need for free, prior and informed consent from any affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group.</p> <p>The inquiry also <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-12/juukan-gorge-blast-inquiry-told-of-rio-tinto-gag-clauses-warning/12754100" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called for</a> the removal of so-called “gag clauses” from land-use agreements, which prevent Aboriginal people from speaking out against developers.</p> <p>Save Our Songlines Traditional Owners say principles from the inquiry aren’t being upheld, and are concerned <a href="https://www.nit.com.au/the-six-clauses-traditional-owners-say-gag-them-from-raising-murujuga-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gag clauses</a> are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/24/indigenous-elders-in-wa-say-gag-clause-denies-them-a-say-in-industrial-developments-on-their-land" target="_blank" rel="noopener">silencing members of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation</a>.</p> <p>We find it deeply problematic that Plibersek did not acknowledge these concerns around gag clauses in announcing her approval of the fertiliser plant. It is the role of the government to keep industry accountable for their obligations to abide by <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indigenous heritage laws</a> and to ensure proper consultation processes are undertaken.</p> <p>This decision is also not in line with the federal government’s vocal commitment to the environment and to <a href="https://alp-assets.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/documents/ALP_FIRST_NATIONS_PEOPLES_2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs</a> prior to winning the election.</p> <p>In a <a href="http://www.majala.com.au/news/lawful-but-awful" target="_blank" rel="noopener">submission to the United Nations</a> about how to “decolonise our legal system”, Nyikina Warrwa Indigenous leader and respected researcher <a href="https://www.notredame.edu.au/research/nulungu/staff/Anne-Poelina" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Professor Anne Poelina</a> said:</p> <blockquote> <p>If the Lawful Laws which are awful, are enabled as lawful, what chance do Indigenous people and our lands, water, lifeways, and livelihoods stand against destruction?</p> <h2>Understanding Indigenous connection to Country</h2> <p>Non-Indigenous people need to better understand the <a href="https://theconversation.com/although-we-didnt-produce-these-problems-we-suffer-them-3-ways-you-can-help-in-naidocs-call-to-heal-country-163362" target="_blank" rel="noopener">importance of Country</a> for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Classrooms are a good place to start.</p> <p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1177180120929688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deficits in the Australian education system</a> have led to poor knowledge and frequent and pervasive misunderstandings of Aboriginal people, places and cultures. A <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/white-australias-hangover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">psychological hangover</a> from White Australia’s assimilation policies persists.</p> <p>When school education doesn’t provide accurate and truthful accounts of Australian histories, <a href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/State-of-Reconciliation-2021-Full-Report_web.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">harmful stereotypes are left unchallenged</a>.</p> <p>Clinton Walker describes a common response from visitors on his tours showcasing the culture, Country and history of the Pilbara:</p> <blockquote> <p>People say ‘how the hell don’t we know that? Why have we never learnt this stuff?’</p> </blockquote> <p>Improvements in education have been slow. For example, the Australian Institute for Teacher and School Leadership only released their report “<a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/intercultural-development/building-a-culturally-responsive-australian-teaching-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building a culturally responsive Australian teaching workforce</a>” in June this year.</p> <p>Resources to support teachers are said to be scheduled for release in the coming months.</p> <h2>Learn about Country through tourism</h2> <p><a href="https://www.welcometocountry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tourism is one context</a> where the visibility and recognition of Indigenous people as knowledge-holders can be promoted and celebrated.</p> <p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tourism operators are delivering truthful accounts of Australian history and telling their stories of their connection to Country and culture. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1468797620987688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This work is an emotional labour</a> as they challenge entrenched colonial narratives.</p> <p>Indigenous tourism operators are <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-a-word-practising-reconciliation-through-indigenous-knowledge-sharing-in-tourism-158563" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agents of reconciliation</a>. Operators speak about wanting to educate visitors to build awareness of social and environmental issues facing their communities. The potential destruction of cultural sites at Murujuga is one such issue.</p> <p>Ongoing research from lead-author Nicole Curtin involves conversations with Aboriginal tourism operators and their visitors. It finds that deep listening is required for visitors to interrogate their own biases and privileges during their tourism experience. Visitors must be willing to “go and sit and learn” about Indigenous sovereignty and knowledges in their own lives.</p> <p>Indeed, an enhanced sense of connection to our local communities may help to drive people to speak out about the destruction of sites of environmental and cultural significance.</p> <p>Raising community awareness to fuel social momentum is one way of exerting pressure on decision makers to protect Australia’s rich cultural heritage and environment.</p> <div> <p><em>We acknowledge the Bininj, Larrakia, Noongar, Ngarluma, Yindjibarndi and Yawuru peoples as the Traditional Owners of Country where this article, and our research, was conducted and written. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.</em></p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/sacred-aboriginal-sites-are-yet-again-at-risk-in-the-pilbara-but-tourism-can-help-protect-australias-rich-cultural-heritage-188524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p> </div> </blockquote> </blockquote>

Travel Trouble

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Flag debate erupts as Carrie Bickmore returns

<p dir="ltr">Carrie Bickmore’s return to <em>The Project</em> has come amid heated debate over the flying of the Aboriginal flag over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with co-host Steve Price declaring “there’s only one Australian flag”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on Sunday that the plan to install a third flagpole - with a controversial $25 million price tag - would be scrapped, with the Aboriginal flag permanently replacing the state flag and the funds going towards “closing the gap” initiatives instead.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our Indigenous history should be celebrated and acknowledged so young Australians understand the rich and enduring culture that we have here with our past,” Mr Perrottet said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Installing the Aboriginal flag permanently on the Sydney Harbour Bridge will do just that and is a continuation of the healing process as part of the broader move towards reconciliation.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Activist Cheree Toka, who has been campaigning for the Indigenous flag to be flown permanently since 2017, said the state flag was “null and void these days”.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c907db0a-7fff-b990-6c33-6437c21d2cb6"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“Having the Aboriginal flag fly permanently next to the Australian flag is the statement that we need to set as a nation moving forward to unite,” she told reporters.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced the Aboriginal flag will permanently fly on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and has scrapped plans to spend $25 million on a new flagpole.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheProjectTV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheProjectTV</a> <a href="https://t.co/I5b35mGVp2">pic.twitter.com/I5b35mGVp2</a></p> <p>— The Project (@theprojecttv) <a href="https://twitter.com/theprojecttv/status/1546415687836499969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">But when the news came up for discussion on Monday’s episode of <em>The Project</em>, the intense debate seemed to even overshadow Bickmore’s return from <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/entertainment/tv/the-truth-behind-carrie-bickmore-s-shock-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her UK family trip</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Co-host Hamish MacDonald asked the panel, “If that’s the argument about state flags, do you think we might be moving to a point where the nation as a whole embraces the Indigenous flag as the national flag?”</p> <p dir="ltr">Price responded in the negative, and when asked for his reasoning, said: “I just think Australians support the flag they’ve got.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We don’t need to change the flag. Who wants to change the flag?”</p> <p dir="ltr">Panellist Peter Helliar began, “I think over time –”</p> <p dir="ltr">Price quickly interrupted, saying, “We only have one flag – that’s the Australian flag. If you want to have a referendum on the flag, good luck buddy.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think as generations go on that will change,” Bickmore said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“No it won’t,” Price said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Helliar then joked that Price might be dead by the time it came up for discussion.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It may not be an issue for you, Pricey,” he said. “I mean who knows when it could happen? It could happen (in) 10 years, 20 years, 30 years.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Annoyed, Price shot back, “You’d like to get rid of the Australian flag, would you?”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m happy to have a conversation about it, absolutely,” Helliar replied.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Well it would need a referendum, and it won’t get up,” Price said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Does it need … that?” MacDonald asked.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Yes. Of course it does!” Price responded. “You don’t just chuck the flag out because a few people want it to be.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The news that flying the Indigenous flag would come with such a hefty price tag sparked controversy last month, with even Mr Perrottet saying he “didn’t know” why it cost so much but that it was a “small price to pay”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e9fb3be3-7fff-ffad-8f3a-1a7b7d11344d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The installation of the six-storey flagpole, and the relocation of other equipment, was also expected to take two years to complete.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The Harbour Bridge WILL be home to the Aboriginal Flag in 2022 <a href="https://t.co/0MiVwlqEIk">https://t.co/0MiVwlqEIk</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/ChangeAus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChangeAus</a> </p> <p>Also, check out the number views. If only all who viewed signed too! <a href="https://t.co/qSbtHBttbR">pic.twitter.com/qSbtHBttbR</a></p> <p>— Cheree Toka (@Chereetoka) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chereetoka/status/1544500115213516800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Under the new plan, the NSW flag will be included in the redevelopment of Macquarie Street in Sydney’s CBD, where several key state government buildings are located.</p> <p dir="ltr">“What we’ve learnt is a lot of people across the state don’t appreciate the NSW flag or the state’s history and that is because they see themselves as Australians first and not as their state,” Mr Perrottet said on Sunday.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s a great opportunity to put the flag in the historic precinct as an important part of modern Australia. The parliament is there, the Mint is there, the Barracks are there.“</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Toka said she was “ecstatic and over the moon” at the announcement and already has her next goal: ensuring that Indigenous languages are taught in NSW schools.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I haven’t done enough research yet but I’d love to pursue it,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think it’s really important to teach native tongues in the school curriculum, to keep this continuous culture living. At the minimum, we should be able to introduce ourselves, say hello, it doesn’t have to be anything fluent, but we should look at New Zealand and how it operates right now with a strong acceptance and recognition of the language of their people.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d07500f1-7fff-2362-d622-ce8c709c9b55"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Legal

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Sydney icon to be returned to Aboriginal owners

<p dir="ltr">A historic decision has been made to return one of Sydney harbour's iconic landmarks to its Indigenous custodians.</p> <p dir="ltr">The NSW government has begun the official transfer process for Me-Mel Island - also known as Goat Island - which will be accompanied by a nearly $43 million ($NZ 47m) revitalisation of the island.</p> <p dir="ltr">NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet described the achievement as a “personal priority”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Returning Me-Mel to the Aboriginal community is the right thing to do, and it helps deliver on my commitment of improving outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal people across all parts of Government,” he said.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-884d2a08-7fff-393c-0609-2d285d9a3db1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“A big part of my commitment is ensuring the island is remediated before it’s transferred to the Aboriginal community.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Me-mel (Eora): Bennelong's island; little green space in the sea. <a href="https://t.co/HZFslBCkyH">pic.twitter.com/HZFslBCkyH</a></p> <p>— Carolyn R Galbraith (@CarolynRGalb) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarolynRGalb/status/1530773156536852481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">This remediation, included in the $42.9 million package spread over the next four years, will cover various works such as repairing seawalls and buildings, improving water and sewer services, adn removing contaminants like asbestos, according to <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/43m-move-to-return-memel-island-to-aboriginal-hands/news-story/b28de6cc4bc21003aec0e5a801c362b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Me-Mel Island is the biggest in Sydney Harbour and lies north-west of the CBD.</p> <p dir="ltr">The State Heritage-listed island is known for its rich Aboriginal heritage, as well as being home to more than 30 buildings and structures from the 1830s to 1960s.</p> <p dir="ltr">Once inhabited by Wangal man Bennelong and Cammeraigal woman Barangaroo, Bennelong said he inherited it from his father who was born on Me-Mel according to colonial documents.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9e769c3e-7fff-5f05-09d0-f67c7b488a4d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The transfer was first promised during the 2015 election by the NSW Labor Party - who lost to the Liberal Party that year - before officially commencing under the Liberals seven years later.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">I welcome the announcement today by <a href="https://twitter.com/Dom_Perrottet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dom_Perrottet</a> of $43m for restoration work on ME-MEL <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/goatisland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#goatisland</a> prior to this historic land being returned to the Aboriginal community in 2026 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/alwayswasalwayswillbeaboriginalland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#alwayswasalwayswillbeaboriginalland</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xe3ySXOINf">pic.twitter.com/Xe3ySXOINf</a></p> <p>— Councillor Yvonne Weldon (@ypweldon) <a href="https://twitter.com/ypweldon/status/1530860098515783682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Though it has been a long time coming, the decision has been welcomed by Yvonne Weldon, the Deputy Chair of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, who said the transfer will help heal and progress Indigenous issues.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Me-Mel is a place where we can go to be within our culture, pass culture on to our younger generations and share with other people,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Until the transfer, the island will continue to be managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), which is calling for <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/sydney-harbour-national-park/me-mel-goat-island" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressions of interest</a> for the Me-Mel Transfer Committee.</p> <p dir="ltr">Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Franklin said this committee, with advice from legal, heritage, planning and governance experts, will develop a business case and plan for future ownership and management of the island.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Me-Mel Transfer Committee includes Aboriginal people and NSW government representatives, and importantly, its establishment is supported by the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council,” Mr Franklin said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Nominations for this committee are open until close of business on June 27.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4bd3246b-7fff-8211-0ee4-0e09959bc419"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Office of Environment and Heritage (Flickr)</em></p>

Real Estate

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Australians’ favourites show Aboriginal art can transcend social divisions and art boundaries

<p>New analysis shows landscape art is the most popular visual art genre among Australians, with Aboriginal art coming in second place, followed by portraits and modern art. </p> <p>But Aboriginal art is more likely to bridge social divides and can dissolve personal prejudices between different kinds of art. </p> <p>Many Australians are sharply divided as to whether they prefer more traditional genres like landscapes or more contemporary and abstract visual forms. And these divisions relate to differences in age, class and education. But Aboriginal art bucks this trend because it is seen as “telling a story”. </p> <p>The research is discussed in a new book called <em><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Fields-Capitals-Habitus-Australian-Culture-Inequalities-and-Social/Bennett-Carter-Gayo-Kelly-Noble/p/book/9781138392304">Fields, Capitals, Habitus: Australian Culture, Social Divisions and Inequalities</a>.</em></p> <h2>We know what (and who) we like</h2> <p>Researchers conducted a <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/story_archive/2018/research_shows_social_class_has_a_strong_influence_on_cultural_tastes">national survey of Australians’ cultural tastes</a>, administering surveys to 1,202 Australians. Extra samples to ensure representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Italian, Lebanese, Chinese, and Indian Australians, brought the overall survey total to 1,461. </p> <p>Researchers subsequently <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-13/what-your-habits-reveal-about-your-social-class/9610658?nw=0">partnered with the ABC</a> to conduct online surveys on cultural tastes that were compared with research findings.</p> <p>Aboriginal art was the second most popular genre, liked by 26% of the main sample, behind landscapes (52%) but ahead of portraits (24%) and modern art (17%). </p> <p>Impressionism and Renaissance art came in at around 15% each, while abstract art, colonial art, Pop art and still lifes ranged, in order, from 13% down to 7%.</p> <p>Survey respondents were <a href="https://theconversation.com/tom-roberts-anyone-a-national-survey-finds-the-line-in-art-appreciation-51301">given a selection of artists</a>and asked to say whether they had heard of and liked them. Indigenous landscape painter <a href="https://manyhandsart.com.au/about/albert-namatjira/">Albert Namatjira</a>was the third most familiar but, at 63%, he was only narrowly pipped by painter <a href="http://www.sidneynolantrust.org/about/sidney-nolan">Sidney Nolan</a> (67%) and the colourful <a href="https://kendone.com.au/">Ken Done</a> (68%). Indigenous multi-media artist Tracey Moffatt was less well known (14%). But Namatjira was the most popular of all, liked by 49% ahead of both Nolan (42%) and Done (40%).</p> <p>Unsurprisingly, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were much more enthusiastic about Aboriginal art (67%) and Namatjira (liked by 70%) than the main sample, but not notably so for Moffatt. Indian and Lebanese Australians also showed a marked liking for Aboriginal art at 38% and 36% respectively.</p> <p>Aboriginal art had a broader cross-class appeal than most genres. It did, however, appeal more strongly to those in intermediate (such self-employed and clerical workers) and professional and managerial occupational classes than to those in skilled or unskilled working-class occupations. </p> <p>Namatjira was most popular with the older members of Australia’s intermediate classes. Moffatt, by contrast, appealed most to the younger, tertiary educated Australians in professional and managerial occupations.</p> <p>There were clear correlations between these preferences for particular Indigenous artists and genre tastes. Those who liked Namatjira preferred traditional and largely figurative genres – landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. Those who liked Moffatt favoured genres tending towards abstraction or critical engagements with figurative conventions – modern art, Pop art and abstract art.</p> <h2>The great divide … and a bridge</h2> <p>A key finding of the research was how much those who liked traditional and figurative genres disliked contemporary and abstract genres. The reverse was even more true: those who liked contemporary and abstract art often had a strong aversion to traditional and figurative art. </p> <p>Yet the category of Aboriginal art often crossed the boundaries between these two groups of genres. </p> <p>This is not entirely surprising. Aboriginal art has expanded beyond its traditional forms to include acrylic dot art, contemporary urban Aboriginal art practices, rock art, or the kitsch forms of “Aboriginalia” like that collected by Tony Albert.</p> <p>But what is surprising is how frequently, when discussing their art tastes in follow-up interviews, our survey respondents treated Aboriginal art as an exceptional art form. </p> <p>While most viewed it as a form of abstraction, it was seen as a purposeful abstraction with a story to tell, crossing the boundaries between the abstract and the figurative.</p> <p>It was on these grounds that Aboriginal art was let off the hook by those who usually disliked non-figurative art. This was pithily summarised by one respondent who, dismissing modern and abstract art as “equivalent to what my daughters would do in kindergarten”, praised the “uniqueness of Aboriginal art and the dots” because “there’s stories behind it – there is the story they are trying to tell”.</p> <p>This was a recurring theme in appreciations of Namatjira. In a follow up interview, one survey respondent – a professional in a high-level executive role – liked Namatjira’s work for not being “too abstract” in its depiction of “the beauty of the bush and the country”. </p> <p>For another, a part-time accountant and labourer, Namatjira served as a counter to his dislike of modern and abstract art because his paintings are “real … they just feel like he’s telling a story in his pictures and they’re real”.</p> <p>And a third, a woman in her 30s from a Sri Lankan background, expressed her appreciation of Namatjira and Moffatt in similar terms. She loved “Tracey’s storytelling” with its “strong style and voice”, emphasising its appeal to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, while singling out the “cultural connections” that Namatjira’s work makes.</p> <p>While, then, different kinds of Aboriginal art appeal to different publics, the category of Aboriginal art is one that recruits a broader interest. We got a strong sense that it is something that non-Indigenous Australians felt they ought to like and know more about because of what it has to say about Indigenous culture, its relations to Country, and its significance for Australian culture and identity. </p> <p>This registers a significant shift from the terms in which Namatjira was initially appreciated, in the 1950s, as <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/ces/386">an imitative adaptation</a> of pastoral modernism.</p> <p>It is a shift that registers the work of Indigenous artists, curators and critics in stressing the role that Aboriginal art can play in transforming the relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-favourites-show-aboriginal-art-can-transcend-social-divisions-and-art-boundaries-143827" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

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Australian government appeals ruling protecting Aboriginals from deportation

<p dir="ltr">The Australian government has made an appeal against a High Court decision that Aboriginal Australians can’t be aliens, claiming the decision threatens to confer “political sovereignty on Aboriginal societies”.</p><p dir="ltr">Lawyers for the government made the claim in an appeal against the Love and Thoms decision, which bars the deportation of Indigenous non-citizens. They claim that the ruling threatened the position that Aboriginal sovereignty did not survive the colonisation of Australia.</p><p dir="ltr"><em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/feb/01/aboriginal-spiritual-connection-to-land-no-bar-to-deportation-morrison-government-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a></em> reports that the submissions, lodged on Friday, also contain arguments that the spiritual connection Aboriginal Australians have with the land doesn’t create a “special relationship” to the commonwealth.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>What is the Love and Thoms decision?</strong></p><p dir="ltr">In February 2020, four out of the seven judges ruled that Aboriginal Australians were not aliens under the Australian constitution and couldn’t be deported, prompting the release of New Zealand-born man Brendan Thoms from detention.</p><p dir="ltr">Thoms and Papua New Guinea-born Daniel Love, who both have one Indigenous parent, had their visas cancelled and faced deportation from Australia after serving time in prison.</p><p dir="ltr">Lawyers for the two men, with support from the state of Victoria, argued that the government can’t deport Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders even if they don’t hold Australian citizenship.</p><p dir="ltr">In separate judgements, justices Virginia Bell, Geoffrey Nettle, Michelle Gordon and James Edelman made the ruling based on the three-part test established by the Mabo native title cases that assess a person’s claim to be Aboriginal based on their biological descent, self-identification, and recognition by a traditional group.</p><p dir="ltr">By April 2021, nine people were released from immigration detention as a result of the ruling, with <em>Guardian Australia</em> revealing the government was seeking to overturn the decision in October of the same year.</p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Why is the government appealing the decision?</strong></p><p dir="ltr">In November 2021, the federal court ordered for the release of Shayne Montgomery, a New Zealand citizen whose visa was revoked by former home affairs minister Peter Dutton after he was convicted of a non-violent aggravated burglary in 2018. </p><p dir="ltr">The court ruled that Mr Dutton “failed to give any degree of consideration” to Mr Montgomery’s claims of Aboriginality. Though he wasn’t biologically descended from an Aboriginal person, the court said it was “not reasonable” to conclude Mr Montgomery was not Aboriginal since he was culturally adopted by the Mununjali people in Queensland.</p><p dir="ltr">In an appeal against that ruling, the federal government is now asking that the federal court overrule Love and Thoms.</p><p dir="ltr">With the retirement of two of the four judges who originally made the decision, assistant attorney general Amanda Stoker has noted in a 2020 research paper that a challenge to the decision could see it get reconsidered by the new bench.</p><p dir="ltr">In October, immigration minister Alex Hawke <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/19/judge-orders-new-zealand-man-who-had-visa-revoked-by-peter-dutton-to-be-freed-from-detention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the government had “no intent to deport an Aboriginal from Australia”, despite making an appeal alongside home affairs minister Karen Andrews to restore their power to do so.</p><p dir="ltr">He said the case was about “a complex question of law, it’s not about an opinion of the government, and it has to be tested and resolved”.</p><p dir="ltr">“That’s what the government is doing. Of course, there is no intent to deport an Aboriginal from Australia, ever.”</p><p dir="ltr">Kristina Kenneally, the shadow home affairs minister, has said Labor “respects the decision of the high court” in Love and Thoms, and that the government should “abide by the ruling”.</p><p dir="ltr">The matter is yet to be listed for a hearing.</p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e42c34bd-7fff-c704-0076-0897e4ad5a67"></span></p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Aboriginal flag freely available for public use

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a historic decision, the Aboriginal flag has been made freely available for public use by all. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following long negotiations, the artist behind the flag agreed to transfer copyright of the design to the Commonwealth. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Created by Luritja artist Harold Thomas in 1970, the flag represents Aboriginal people and their connection to the land, and has been an official national flag since the end of the late 1990s. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The copyright had remained with Mr Thomas since the flag’s genesis, meaning anyone who wanted to use the flag legally had to ask permission or pay a fee. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt was pleased to announce that the flag now belongs to all Australians following the negotiations. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Over the last 50 years we made Harold Thomas’ artwork our own — we marched under the Aboriginal Flag, stood behind it, and flew it high as a point of pride," Mr Wyatt said in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no-one can take it away."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harold Thomas said he hopes all Australians will use the flag with the utmost pride and respect to the Indigenous Australian population. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the Flag, unaltered, proudly and without restriction," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I am grateful that my art is appreciated by so many, and that it has come to represent something so powerful to so many."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In return for the copyright, the government has agreed to establish an annual scholarship in Mr Thomas’s honour worth $100,000, which will see Indigenous students be given the chance to develop skills in leadership, and to create an online history and education portal for the flag.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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The Aboriginal flag is now ‘freely available for public use’. What does this mean from a legal standpoint?

<p>This week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/free-use-aboriginal-flag-secured-all-australians">announced</a> the federal government had “freed the Aboriginal flag for Australians”.</p> <p>After an extensive social media campaign to <a href="https://twitter.com/clothingthegaps/status/1485762546359762944">#Freetheflag</a>, the federal government has purchased the copyright from Harold Thomas, the Luritja artist who created it more than 50 years ago. The deal reportedly cost $20 million.</p> <p>The Aboriginal flag has long been a symbol of resistance and unity for Indigenous people in Australia. Although the copyright settlement is a practical solution to a controversial problem, not everybody is pleased the federal government now owns the exclusive rights to reproduce the Aboriginal flag.</p> <p>Has it really been freed?</p> <h2>A fight to #FreetheFlag</h2> <p>Controversy over the flag <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-our-copyright-laws-and-the-australian-aboriginal-flag-118687">erupted in June 2019</a>. Clothing the Gaps, an Aboriginal-owned-and-led business, received cease and desist letters from a non-Indigenous company, WAM Clothing, demanding it stop using the Aboriginal flag on its clothing.</p> <p>As the then-copyright owner, Thomas had granted WAM Clothing exclusive rights for use of the flag on its clothing. This meant anyone else wanting to put the flag on clothing – even non-commercially – had to get permission from the company.</p> <p>Clothing the Gaps started a petition to <a href="https://www.change.org/p/let-s-celebrate-a-freed-aboriginal-flag-in-its-50th-commemorative-year-flagrightsnow">#Freetheflag</a>, which gathered more than 165,000 signatures and high-profile supporters from across Australia.</p> <p>Community anger grew when the AFL, NRL and Indigenous community groups were also asked to pay for using the flag, and in some cases, threatened with legal action.</p> <p>In September 2020, a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Aboriginal_Flag">Senate inquiry</a> began examining the flag’s copyright and licensing arrangements. In the meantime, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt was quietly negotiating with Thomas to purchase the flag’s copyright.</p> <p>Then in the lead-up to Australia Day this week, Morrison announced the flag was now “freely available for public use”.</p> <h2>What’s in the agreement?</h2> <p>The exact details of the agreement are confidential but, according to the <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/free-use-aboriginal-flag-secured-all-australians">government</a>, the agreement transfers the Aboriginal flag’s copyright to the Commonwealth. The agreement also includes:</p> <ul> <li> <p>all future royalties the Commonwealth receives from sale of the flag will be put towards the ongoing work of NAIDOC (the details of this have yet to be seen)</p> </li> <li> <p>an annual $100,000 scholarship in Thomas’ honour for Indigenous students to develop Indigenous governance and leadership</p> </li> <li> <p>an online history and education portal for the flag.</p> </li> </ul> <p>To ensure Aboriginal flags continue to be manufactured in Australia, the current manufacturers, Carroll and Richardson Flagworld, will remain the exclusive licensed manufacturers and providers of Aboriginal flags and bunting.</p> <p>But this only covers commercial productions – individuals are free to make their own flags for personal use.</p> <h2>Thomas still has rights</h2> <p>Under the terms of the copyright assignment, Thomas retains moral rights over the flag.</p> <p>This means he still has the right to be identified and named as the creator of the work, can stop someone else being wrongly identified as the creator of the work, and can stop the work from being subjected to derogatory treatment, which means any act which is harmful to the creator’s reputation.</p> <p>Thomas will also use $2 million to establish a not-for-profit body to support the flag’s legacy.</p> <h2>Just like the national flag</h2> <p>The flag will now be managed in the same way as the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/australian-national-flag">Australian national flag</a>.</p> <p>This means it will be free for anyone to use it in any medium and for any purpose (except for making and selling flags commercially). You can place copies on clothing, sportsgrounds and articles, and you can use the flag in any medium, such as on websites or in artworks, including having it tattooed on your body.</p> <p>However, it is recommended to follow the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/australian-national-flag/australian-national-flag-protocols">usual protocols</a> for respectful use of the flag.</p> <h2>How free is the flag?</h2> <p>Despite the new provisions, some Indigenous people are <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-say-the-aboriginal-flag-was-freed-it-belongs-to-us-not-the-commonwealth-175623">unhappy</a> control of the flag is now in the hands of the federal government rather than an Indigenous-led body.</p> <p>Others have pointed out that if the flag is “free” for anyone to use, this is likely to benefit large corporations and off-shore manufacturers using cheap labour to make clothing and products featuring the flag, rather than Indigenous-owned enterprises.</p> <p> </p> <p>It is possible the flag is now even more free than the government suggests. As academic <a href="https://medium.com/@David.J.Brennan/some-questions-about-the-australian-aboriginal-flag-copyright-deal-f2f5f33a753c">David Brennan points out</a>, under the <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1968133/s180.html">Copyright Act 1968</a>, if the Commonwealth owns copyright in an artistic work, then it expires 50 years after the calendar year in which the work was made. This contrasts with the usual term of protection for artistic works, which is the life of the author and 70 years thereafter.</p> <p>If this is correct, it would mean that copyright in the flag (which Thomas created in 1971) actually expired on January 1, 2022, and the flag is now in the public domain. This would throw into question the validity of the exclusive licence to Flagworld and the government’s ability to dispose of royalties.</p> <p>It would also mean Thomas’ moral rights are extinguished, as they last only as long as the copyright does.</p> <p>Without seeing the terms of the agreement, which are commercial-in-confidence, we cannot be certain. Clarification from the government would be welcome.</p> <h2>A final twist</h2> <p>Before he transferred copyright, Thomas says he <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-created-the-aboriginal-flag-as-a-symbol-of-unity-and-pride-20220124-p59qus.html">created</a> a digital representation of the flag, and minted it as a non-fungible token (NFT).</p> <p>NFTs are <a href="https://theconversation.com/nfts-explained-what-they-are-why-rock-stars-are-using-them-and-why-theyre-selling-for-millions-of-dollars-156389">digital certificates</a> secured with blockchain technology, which authenticate a claim of ownership to a digital asset. They have taken off in the art world, and are bought and sold for millions of dollars.</p> <p>But all they can do is provide evidence of authenticity for a specific digital file. They do not afford any other rights, such as copyright, and many find the high prices they command to be baffling. Others are <a href="https://theconversation.com/nfts-why-digital-art-has-such-a-massive-carbon-footprint-158077">concerned</a> by their enormous carbon footprints. Thomas states he will hold the NFT “on an ongoing basis, on behalf of Indigenous communities”.</p> <p>Thomas professes himself happy with the outcome, stating “the flag will remain, not as a symbol of struggle, but as a symbol of pride and unity”.</p> <p>However, the thing about flags is their meaning is made by those who wave them, rather than simply by those who create them.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175626/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/isabella-alexander-294160">Isabella Alexander</a>, Professor of Law, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-aboriginal-flag-is-now-freely-available-for-public-use-what-does-this-mean-from-a-legal-standpoint-175626">original article</a>.</p>

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A short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty

<p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people.</em></p> <p>Often people think about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as something historic, dating back to the 1970s. But it should also be thought of as a site of the longest protest for Indigenous land rights, sovereignty and self-determination <a href="https://www.echo.net.au/2021/10/50-years-of-aboriginal-tent-embassy/">in the world</a>.</p> <p>In fact, this year, the Tent Embassy is set to celebrate its <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/blackfishing-alt-right-pushes-to-co-opt-aboriginal-tent-embassy-to-cause-20220105-p59lzj.html">50th continuous year of occupation</a>. Demonstrating its significance to Australian history, it was included on the <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6068943/the-aboriginal-tent-embassy-has-been-left-off-the-act-heritage-list/">Commonwealth Heritage List</a> in 2015 as part of the Old Parliament House precinct.</p> <p>In this momentous year, it’s worth remembering how the Tent Embassy came to be and what it has continued to stand for since its erection in 1972 – and the significance it still has today.</p> <h2>Aliens in our own land</h2> <p>The Tent Embassy began its public life on January 26 1972. On that day, Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorey left Redfern and drove to Ngunnawal Country (Canberra), where they planted a beach umbrella opposite Parliament House (now known as Old Parliament House).</p> <p>They erected a sign that said “Aboriginal Embassy”. With them on that day was their driver, Tribune photographer Noel Hazard, who captured the event in a series of photos.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440344/original/file-20220111-15-1n5yt6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption">The establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Australia Day in 1972.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Museum Australia</span></span></p> <p>The term “embassy” was used to bring attention to the fact Aboriginal people had never ceded sovereignty nor engaged in any treaty process with the Crown. As a collective, Aboriginal people were the only cultural group not represented with an embassy.</p> <p>According to Aboriginal activist and scholar Gary Foley, the absence of an Aboriginal embassy in Canberra was a blatant indication <a href="https://www.naa.gov.au/learn/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/first-australians/politics-and-advocacy/activists-aboriginal-tent-embassy-lawns-old-parliament-house">Aboriginal people were treated like aliens in their own land</a>.</p> <p>Initially, the protesters were making a stand about land rights following the then prime minister William McMahon’s speech that <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/welcome/mls-indigenous/home/mls-classroom-photo-mural-initiative/classroom-photos/tent-embassy">dismissed any hope for Aboriginal land rights</a> and reasserted the government’s position on the policy of <a href="https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/a-white-australia/">assimilation</a>. The Tent Embassy was therefore a public display of our disapproval of and objection to the policies and practices of the government.</p> <p>In later years, it has become an acclaimed site of our continued resistance to the continuity of colonial rule.</p> <h2>Demands of protesters</h2> <p>Police who were patrolling the area at the time of the Tent Embassy’s erection asked the protesters what they were doing outside Parliament House. They said they were protesting and would do so until the government granted land rights to Aboriginal people. The police were said to have responded, “<a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72441/pdf/article0712.pdf">That could be forever</a>”.</p> <p>As it turned out, it was not illegal to camp on the lawns of Parliament House, so the police could not remove them.</p> <p>Later, on February 6 1972, the members of the Tent Embassy issued their list of demands to the government. The demands were clearly about our rights as Aboriginal people to our homelands, regardless of the fact cities were now built on the land or mining companies were interested in the bounties within.</p> <p>Compensation was called for in the instances where the lands was not able to be returned. There were also demands for the protection of our sacred sites.</p> <p>While the McMahon government cared little about negotiating with the protesters, the leader of the Opposition, Gough Whitlam, visited the Tent Embassy and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/21/gough-whitlam-remembered-a-true-leader-for-indigenous-australians">publicly proclaimed a promise of Aboriginal land rights</a> under a future Labor government.</p> <p>There was widespread support for the Tent Embassy from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allies across the continent, and indeed the world.</p> <p>Media attention also grew as it became obvious the Tent Embassy and protesters were not going to move on. Other Aboriginal activists joined the embassy, including Foley, Isabel Coe, John Newfong, Chicka Dixon, Gordon Briscoe and many others.</p> <h2>Forced removal and revival</h2> <p>The government was not too keen on being reminded Aboriginal people were demanding rights, so it <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/about/welcome/mls-indigenous/home/mls-classroom-photo-mural-initiative/classroom-photos/tent-embassy">amended</a> the Trespass on Commonwealth Lands Ordinance to make it illegal to camp on the lawn of Parliament House. This gave the police the authority to remove the protesters.</p> <p>The ordinance was but a few hours old when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7j3Rq2Tryo">police attempted to forcibly remove the embassy</a>. They did so to the roar of the crowd chanting “land rights now”. A <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOIvHE0tJAk">violent confrontation with police</a> ensued.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOIvHE0tJAk?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>On September 12 1972, the ACT Supreme Court ruled against the use of the trespass laws, and the Tent Embassy was temporarily re-erected before being removed again the following morning.</p> <p>Then, at the end of 1972, the Coalition government led by McMahon lost the federal election to Labor. Whitlam was able to keep his promise in part – he did give the land title deeds to the Gurindji people. This was captured in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-01/mervyn-bishop-australias-first-aboriginal-press-photographer/8655130">historical photo</a> by Merv Bishop of Whitlam pouring a fistful of dirt into Vincent Lingiari’s hand.</p> <p> </p> <p>While this iconic image has become a demonstration of what might be possible, the work of the embassy is not yet done. Land rights across the continent have yet to be fully achieved.</p> <p>The Tent Embassy was re-established the following year and remained until activist <a href="https://commonslibrary.org/the-aboriginal-tent-embassy/">Charles Perkins negotiated its removal</a> pending the enactment of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976.</p> <p>In the ensuing years, it occupied several other sites around Canberra, including the site of the current Parliament House. In 1992, it returned to its original site on the lawn of Old Parliament House to mark the 20th anniversary of the original protest.</p> <p>Eleven years later, much of the Tent Embassy was destroyed by fire in a <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/end-aboriginal-tent-embassy">suspected case of arson</a>. The police once again attempted to remove protesters from the site under <a href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/tent-embassy-under-further-attack">orders from federal government’s National Capital Authority</a>.</p> <p> </p> <h2>An enduring symbol of protest</h2> <p>Today, the Tent Embassy remains on the lawns of Old Parliament House as a reminder of the successive failures of subsequent governments to address the demands for justice represented by the embassy and its people.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Aboriginal-Tent-Embassy-Sovereignty-Black-Power-Land-Rights-and-the/Foley-Schaap/p/book/9780415839518?gclid=CjwKCAiAz--OBhBIEiwAG1rIOuFlzGCUJvLxLafzUlJZ_D1uyMj0Tz9J_YFIEwcLS0kMzAffvRc_7hoCxwUQAvD_BwE">Foley reflects</a> in his history of the embassy:</p> <blockquote> <p>That it has endured for [five] decades as a potent symbol rejecting the hypocrisy, deceit and duplicity by successive Australian governments is a testament to the refusal of large numbers of Aboriginal people to concede defeat in a 200-year struggle for justice.</p> </blockquote> <p>Nowhere else in the world have we seen such longevity around a site of protest. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is an impressive achievement that demonstrates the tenacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and our continued fight for the reclamation of our lands and sovereign rights as First Nations peoples.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174693/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bronwyn-carlson-136214">Bronwyn Carlson</a>, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lynda-june-coe-1305919">Lynda-June Coe</a>, PhD Candidate, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-short-history-of-the-aboriginal-tent-embassy-an-indelible-reminder-of-unceded-sovereignty-174693">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Wikimedia Commons</em></p>

Real Estate

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The mother and daughter duo healing each other with art

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gumbaynggirr woman Melissa Greenwood and her mum, Lauren Jarrett, know a thing or two about going through difficult times. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They both hail from the Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Bundjalung tribes of the east coast of New South Wales, where Lauren is a survivor of the Stolen Generations. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 1966, she was stolen from her family at Bowraville on the NSW mid-north coast and placed in the Cowper Orphanage, near Grafton. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lauren was just nine years old at the time. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It was like the end of the world. You have no idea what's going on, you're not really told anything. It's devastating," she told the </span><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-06/melissa-greenwood-and-mum-heals-stolen-generation-hurt-with-art/100718998"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ABC</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"You're just taken away from your loved ones, put in a car with strangers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"In those days they had nuns with those long habits and big crosses, and headpieces; and I had no idea where I was or who they were. I had never seen a nun before.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It was overwhelming … anything to do with your culture was banned."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When she was 18, Lauren was released from the orphanage and went looking for her family, who were thrilled with her long-awaited return. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now 63, Lauren went on to have two daughters and a son and raised them all as a single mother. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lauren’s daughter Melissa said, "We grew up below the poverty line and struggling with her trauma, and then inter-generational trauma that was passed down. It was really difficult."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Together, their struggles as Indigenous women pushed them to strive for more. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2020, the pair started an art business which they called </span><a href="https://miimiandjiinda.com/collections/prints"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Miimi &amp; Jiinda</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, meaning mother and sister. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After just a few short months, their business is thriving and has completely turned their lives around.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It's really a beautiful thing," Melissa says.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It's just stemmed from me really wanting to see my mum happy and to give her a bit of confidence and get her out in the world and see her beauty.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We just started to paint and weave together and create together and then it just really took off."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For both women, creating art together has helped them heal from past inter-generational trauma, and provided an outlet for them to share their connection to their culture. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Melissa says she “paints from the heart” and uses her creations to help tell their stories as strong Aboriginal women. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Mum raised us to be very culturally strong and culturally proud," she says.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"A lot of the artworks I do are inspired by my connection to my ancestors, to my culture and to my people.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It's just that loving heart energy, that Gumbaynggirr energy."</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Instagram @barefootwandering.photography</span></em></p>

Art

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Australia has a heritage conservation problem. Can farming and Aboriginal heritage protection co-exist?

<p>Rio Tinto’s destruction of the 46,000 year old Juukan Gorge rock shelters has led to recommendations by the Parliamentary Inquiry on <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024757/toc_pdf/AWayForward.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">how Australia can better conserve Aboriginal heritage sites</a>.</p> <p>Around the time the recommendations were made, Queensland’s Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act faced an important test when a pastoralist who cleared 500 hectares of bushland at Kingvale Station in Cape York <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/qld-country-hour/scott-harris-cleared-of-breaching-cultural-heritage-act/13592850">was charged</a> with failing to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage.</p> <p>The charges were eventually <a href="https://www.northqueenslandregister.com.au/story/7474626/cultural-heritage-charges-against-scott-harris-dismissed/">dismissed</a> but the prosecution, the first of its kind in Queensland, highlights weaknesses in the law.</p> <p>Like related legislation in other Australian states and territories, Queensland’s law requires landholders to conserve Aboriginal heritage sites or risk prosecution.</p> <p>But the law has been criticised by many Aboriginal people and heritage specialists for allowing destructive development by removing any ability for government to independently assess how proposed clearing would affect Aboriginal heritage.</p> <p>Under the “duty of care” provisions in the Act, Aboriginal heritage must be protected even if it is not known to landholders. However, as the Kingvale clearing case heard, if Aboriginal heritage is not known, how can it be shown to have been lost?</p> <h2>What we learned from the Kingvale clearing case</h2> <p>In 2013, the former Newman government in Queensland removed protection for the environment by introducing the Vegetation Management Act which enabled clearing of what they deemed as “high value agricultural projects” in Cape York.</p> <p>The World Wildlife Foundation argued this would see large areas of forest and bushland destroyed. Advocates for the new Act <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2013-05-22/veg-law-pass/4705890">argued</a> primary producers are “acutely aware of their responsibility to care for the environment”.</p> <p>In opening up new areas of Cape York to clearing, this legislation posed new threats to heritage sites. In this context the landholder of Kingvale decided he did not need to assess cultural heritage when clearing 500 hectares.</p> <p>At the conclusion of the hearing into this case, Judge Julie Dick of the Cairns District Court instructed the jury to return <a href="https://www.cairnspost.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=CPWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&amp;dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cairnspost.com.au%2Fnews%2Fcairns%2Fcape-york-grazier-cleared-of-criminal-land-clearing-charges%2Fnews-story%2F1d124158e58936a302f1ee5d159ad841&amp;memtype=anonymous&amp;mode=premium">a not-guilty verdict</a>, exonerating the landholder, as the offence could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.</p> <p>The landholder’s legal team noted in the media if their defendant had been found guilty, every landholder (including freeholders) who had cleared land, built a fence or firebreak, ploughed a paddock, or built a road or airstrip since 2003 would potentially be guilty of a criminal offence.</p> <p>The defendant argued the ramifications of the legal case were significant</p> <blockquote> <p>for the rest of Queensland […] anyone who mowed a lawn or cut down a tree since 2003 would be automatically liable.</p> </blockquote> <p>In our view, this is hyperbole. <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/inforce/2016-09-27/act-2003-079">Section 21 of the Act</a> makes explicit a person’s right to enjoy the normal and allowed use of their land to the extent they don’t harm Aboriginal heritage.</p> <p>Further, a person doesn’t commit an offence if they take into account the nature of the activity and the likelihood of it causing harm. Mowing the lawn is quite different to clearing 500 hectares of native vegetation.</p> <p>The setting of this activity is also important. Kingvale Station is located 100 kilometres west of the national heritage listed Quinkan Country. Heritage studies in similar landscapes across Cape York have identified scarred trees, artefact scatters, stone arrangements and cultural burial places.</p> <p>Based on our heritage experience across Queensland, it would be surprising not to find Aboriginal heritage sites at Kingvale.</p> <p>To reduce heritage risks, we assess the potential impacts of an activity, and talk with relevant Aboriginal groups about their sites and heritage values. Archaeologists and anthropologists also develop models to predict where unknown sites are likely to be found.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431020/original/file-20211109-23-aylfq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption">Recorded archaeological sites across Cape York. The distribution pattern reflects several key heritage surveys. It is expected that cultural sites would be found across the cape, including within the 500 hectares cleared at Kingvale. Image by Kelsey M. Lowe.</span></p> <h2>Can farming and the conservation of Aboriginal heritage co-exist?</h2> <p>The best way to conserve heritage is for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians to work together to identify, document, and protect places. An important example is the discovery of human remains from a mortuary tree west of St George, southern Queensland.</p> <p>The site was discovered during fence clearing by the landholder, who contacted the police. We worked with the landholder who has supported the Kooma nations people to conserve the mortuary tree and enable it to remain on country.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qKJs23hwLXA?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p><span class="caption">Courtesy of Tony Miscamble, NGH Consulting.</span></p> <p>A further example from Mithaka Country saw a spectacular stone arrangement discovered by a pastoral station manager, who notified the native title holders.</p> <p>All are now engaging with researchers to <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&amp;dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnation%2Fstones-point-way-to-indigenous-silk-road%2Fnews-story%2F8318b531d82263beab4afd089fd8d559&amp;memtype=anonymous&amp;mode=premium">investigate the site’s history</a>.</p> <p>Dozens of other examples around the state illustrate collaborative approaches to heritage conservation. But more effective legislation is urgently needed in response to Kingvale’s failed prosecution.</p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430631/original/file-20211107-10010-f752su.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption">A spectacular stone arrangement from Mithaka country. Image courtesy of Lyndon Mechielsen</span></p> <h2>How can we improve cultural heritage protection?</h2> <p>The Juukan Gorge case highlighted how Australia has a problem protecting its Aboriginal cultural heritage. The final report of the parliamentary inquiry into the disaster made several <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024757/toc_pdf/AWayForward.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">recommendations</a> that could help pave a way forward.</p> <p>Instances like Kingvale emphasise more work needs to be done. The Queensland government needs to act now to address the glaring problem with its heritage legislation.</p> <p>Heritage management investment will also help. Victoria provides an example of how to improve Aboriginal heritage management. A standout action is the roll-out of a Certificate IV in Aboriginal cultural heritage management, with over 500 Aboriginal graduates to date.</p> <p>This program is decentralising heritage management and empowering Aboriginal people across Victoria, building a level of professionalism rarely seen in other states.</p> <p>Establishing treaties and agreements similar to those in Canada and New Zealand could go a long way to enable First Nations people in Australia to authoritatively protect their respective cultural heritage sites.</p> <p>Heritage conservation will remain challenging, particularly in resource-rich states like Queensland. But we can do better.</p> <p>Judge Dick’s ruling, while frustrating for the effort to conserve heritage, is crucial as it highlights weaknesses in the law.</p> <p>This trial, along with the Juukan Gorge incident, may represent a critical tipping point in the struggle to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage in Queensland and across Australia.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170956/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-westaway-118240">Michael Westaway</a>, Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joshua-gorringe-1237694">Joshua Gorringe</a>, General Manager Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/indigenous-knowledge-4846">Indigenous Knowledge</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kelsey-m-lowe-1287335">Kelsey M. Lowe</a>, Senior Research Fellow, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-martin-595866">Richard Martin</a>, Senior lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ross-mitchell-1288513">Ross Mitchell</a>, Common Law holder and director of Kooma Aboriginal Corporation Native Title PBC, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/indigenous-knowledge-4846">Indigenous Knowledge</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-heritage-conservation-problem-can-farming-and-aboriginal-heritage-protection-co-exist-170956">original article</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Dave Hunt/AAP Image</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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A new artistic call for us to recognise the connections of Country is a testament to the power of Aboriginal knowledge

<p>Wilam Biik (Home Country) is a multi-layered conversation between Country, people and ancestors that surges with the power of Aboriginal connectivity.</p> <p>The first major exhibition curated by Wurundjeri and Dja Dja Wurrung woman Stacie Piper in her role as Tarawarra’s <a href="https://artguide.com.au/stacie-piper-appointed-as-yalingwa-first-peoples-curator-at-tarrawarra-museum-of-art/">2019 Yalingwa Curator</a>, it is a generous offer to see Wurundjeri biik (Country) the way Wurundjeri see it — not as a “natural resource” to be exploited, but a life-sustaining force interconnected with all things.</p> <p>It is an important call to those who live on Wurundjeri biik to uphold Wurundjeri people’s principles of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy3020023">relationality</a>: to live in reciprocity with all life, including land, animals, water, sky and people.</p> <p>The exhibition embodies the Wurundjeri concept of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/awaye/features/word-up/mandy-nicholson/12116926">layers of biik</a>: country extends from below the ground to above in the sky, all interconnected through water country.</p> <p>Piper gathered artists by following the “waterlines” and “bushlines” which connect Wurundjeri to the 38 Aboriginal groups throughout south east Australia.</p> <p>These artists offer a different way to look at Country. Not by the roads we travel, but by the relationships embedded in it.</p> <h2>Care for Country</h2> <p>Piper developed her curatorial practice at <a href="https://museumsvictoria.com.au/bunjilaka/">Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre</a>after working for many years with her Elders at Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.</p> <p>The vision for Wilam Biik came from Piper’s sovereign responsibility to care for Country, and her despair at the unsustainable logging of old growth forest in the <a href="https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/logging-breaches-catalyst-new-indigenous-led-alliances">Warburton ranges</a> not far from Tarrawarra on Wurundjeri biik.</p> <p>Climate trauma and relationship to country was the starting point for Stacie’s curatorial vision. Wilam biik embodies the rich knowledge of Country that holds the answers to recovering from this trauma.</p> <p>The exhibition is grounded in land and ancestors. Audiences are welcomed by a wall-sized historical photograph of Wurundjeri biik and baluk (people) at Corranderrk.</p> <p>“Ancestor tools”, such as Barak’s carved parrying shield, a boomerang and basket – on loan from Melbourne Museum – are displayed in the way they would be held: close to the people.</p> <p><em>Eel trap</em> by Wurundjeri Elder Kim Wandin underlines the continuing connection between generations.</p> <p>In conversation with the sepia image of their ancestors, their living descendants — the Djirri Djirri dancers — are projected dancing on Wurundjeri country in the upper reaches of the Birrarung.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-importance-of-william-baraks-ceremony-60846">Ceremony</a> (c1895) by Wurundjeri painter <a href="https://www.wurundjeri.com.au/our-story/ancestors-past/">Ngurungaeta Wiliam Barak</a> has been brought to wilam biik by Wurundjeri people for the first time since they were made. The painting details ceremonial adornment, as referenced by the Djirri Djirris today.</p> <h2>Water, land, sky</h2> <p>Following the water sources that start in Country shared with Gunnai and Taungurung Peoples, Gunnai and Gunditjmara artist Arika Waulu’s matriarchal <em>Digging Sticks</em> are carved wood adorned in gold, set against a wallpaper showing layers of country and the cycle of plant life. In this, Waulu speaks of women’s interconnectivity with Country.</p> <p>Of the Earth, an installation by Taungurung artist Steven Rhall, places a photograph of a boulder on a sound platform, animating the image in a contemplation of the deep time written into Taungurung Country, or in what Alexis Wright has called <a href="https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/essay/the-ancient-library-and-a-self-governing-literature">the ancient library</a>.</p> <p>The water connection flows through Dhunghula (Murray River) to Yorta Yorta, Waddi Waddi, Wemba Wemba, and all the way to Ngarrindjeri Country as well as into Kolety (Edwards River) and the Baaka (Darling River).</p> <p>In Drag Net, a woven net incorporating river mussel shell, Waddi Waddi, Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri artist Glenda Nicholls evokes this connection to the river and “water country”.</p> <p><span>In Wemba Wemba and Gunditjmara artist Paola Balla’s intergenerational work, Murrup Weaving in Rosie Kuka Lar with Rosie Tang, Balla builds a camp house made from cloth imbued with bush dyes in the landscape of her grandmother’s painting of country. Through these bush dyes, Balla brings the smell of “on ground country” directly into the gallery.</span></p> <p>Barkindji artist Kent Morris’ Barkindji Blue Sky – Ancestral Connections is a stunning photographic series, embodying water connections to the Baaka as well as “sky country”.</p> <h2>Many varied relationships</h2> <p>Waterlines like the Birrarung and the Werribee River, marking connections and boundaries with the Boonwurrrung, Wathaurong and Tyereelore, are mapped with kelp baskets by Nannette Shaw and paintings by Deanne Gilson.</p> <p>These artists reference the transition from freshwater to saltwater and the relationships that exist amongst the Kulin, across to Tasmania and all life forms within Country.</p> <p>Wilam Biik speaks of the powerful connections between artists, Peoples and Country. It is also a testament to the power of Aboriginal knowledge in Aboriginal hands, and the centring of south east artists and curators as the experts of their knowledges, practices and Country.</p> <p>Importantly, it is also a call to learn how to live in good relationship with Wurundjeri biik and baluk.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-artistic-call-for-us-to-recognise-the-connections-of-country-is-a-testament-to-the-power-of-aboriginal-knowledge-169102" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Art

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“Powerful and empowering”: Robert shares Making It experience

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Episode five of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Making It Australia</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> saw our crafters breathe new life into used items to create something new.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the Faster Craft challenge, Andrew outshone the competition with his welded deer light, made from scrap metal and vintage glass insulators from his farm.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The main challenge pushed Makers to transform discarded items into furniture, with Rehana securing the win with her monster-themed bed made from a repurposed dresser.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUZyGqwBk9E/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUZyGqwBk9E/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Making It Australia (@makingitau)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the end of the Master Craft challenge a Maker was once again eliminated, and this time it was Robert.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Melbourne artist sat down with <em>OverSixty </em>to reflect on his time as a Maker, and how it has impacted his community.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60: What was the highlight of being a Maker?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">I think the highlight for me was probably after I made my first Master Craft where I’d done the steel… Whenever I walked back into the barn, people were just standing and staring at it.</p> <p dir="ltr">But also, I think just connecting with all the other Makers and getting to know the judges and the hosts. It was just a really fun, fun space to create and just get to know new people as well.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60: What surprised you most about your<span> </span></strong><strong><em>Making It</em></strong><strong><span> </span>experience?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">I am a very relaxed person. And I like to listen to music and go at things at my own pace. But also, I didn't realize how much I smiled as well. Watching the episodes, I was like, man, I smile a lot.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60: On the show, your creations celebrated your heritage, family and your personality, including your Indigenous heritage. Could you tell us how it felt to represent your culture on the show?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">I was a little bit nervous. Because I like to have a yarn, I like to say things very long-winded sometimes, because there's a lot of story and depth to a piece.</p> <p dir="ltr">But to have a platform, and I know the response that I've gotten from people from my own family, but also within community, they've just been so proud and just so excited and thankful that they get to see a cousin or a family member actually creating and sharing culture on national TV… One of my cousin's said, ‘when we were growing up, you had Ernie Dingo, and now I've got my own cousin on TV.’</p> <p dir="ltr">So just telling kids, which is very powerful, because I think the visual representation of indigenous culture is starting to [increase] more and more, but the impact ... personally to people that are Aboriginal, it's just powerful, and also empowering. I actually get to see somebody that has the same stories of me or looks like me.</p> <p dir="ltr">But I think it’s definitely changing up [and] a new era coming in of the celebration of Aboriginal people and their cultures, and the diversity of Aboriginal culture and peoples and their background.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60: What’s next for you after<span> </span></strong><strong><em>Making It</em></strong><strong>?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Because I work as an artist full time … so [I’m] currently working on a couple murals and commissioned artworks and also doing a sculpture for Hume City Council for peoples that have been a part of the Stolen Generations. So a very powerful piece that's going to be going up next year.</p> <p dir="ltr">Then just informing people about that story and what people had to go through, but also a place of empowerment and strength for community that have been through it … and hopefully whatever else comes now.</p> <p dir="ltr">I love sharing art and culture with people.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60: Definitely, especially because creating art is about expressing yourself, but then also creating something for other people.</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Absolutely. The importance that I think I want to give to other artists or other creative people is that your story is, as much of it is of it is yours, it's also the people that are viewing, people that are connecting with the story and how you can impart yourself onto them but also then implying a little bit of themselves on to you.</p> <p dir="ltr">And I think being able to do that in a way in which is an invitation for people to sit down and hear your story is probably the most empowering thing because we haven't had that much time to kind of chat and yarn to people especially during all these wonderful lockdowns but creativity and a show like<span> </span><em>Making It</em><span> </span>break breaks those moments for a little bit of time and you get to dream.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60:<span> </span></strong><strong><em>Making It</em></strong><strong><span> </span>seems to be challenging the idea that eliminations mean you no longer appear on the show, can you give us an insight into what’s been happening behind the scenes with the eliminated Makers?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">I'm not too sure what everyone else is up to. I know everybody's still kind of going about their everyday. But the thing, I think it’s still like a surreal moment. But we all still send texts to each other like, ‘hey, how are you going?’</p> <p dir="ltr">And like we just have all these inside jokes [about] some of the stuff that didn't make it, but it's still funny that we kind of get to share that.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>O60: Last but not least, if you had the chance, would you do it again?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Yeah, I’d do it a little bit differently, I’d probably be a little bit more prepared.</p> <p dir="ltr">I think I'd work out a bit more of a strategic plan for when I'm not feeling very creative or I'm feeling a bit rundown ... and I think I worked that out towards the end. I was like, you just got to dance and listen to good music and make other people dance with you even if they don't want to. Nobody really wants to dance to some cool R&amp;B disco Song at seven o'clock in the morning, but If they pick up your energy, you're gonna go and you're gonna have some fun.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CUZ4zPSBGaV/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CUZ4zPSBGaV/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by RMY (@robertmichaelyoung)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr"><em>Making It Australia</em><span> </span>returns on Thursday night at 7.30pm.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @makingitau / Instagram</em></p>

TV

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New book claims man from Snowy River “had to be Aboriginal”

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The man from Snowy River from Banjo Paterson’s famous poem has always been depicted as a white man, but one author claims the character was based on an Indigenous stockman.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1890 poem regales the story of a runaway horse, with various stockmen pursuing the colt and attempting to separate it from a herd of brumbies. When the wild horses descend an apparently impassable slope, the man from Snowy River is the only one who continues the chase.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Brumby Wars</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, author and Walkley Award-winning journalist Anthony Sharwood claims that the poem indicates the story takes place in the Byadbo region of the Snowy Mountains, where he says all the local stockmen were Indigenous.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Brumbies. A vision of the legendary Man from Snowy Riveror a spectre of ecosystems destroyed by feral pests? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheBrumbyWars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheBrumbyWars</a> by <a href="https://twitter.com/antsharwood?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@antsharwood</a> is the riveting account of a major national issue and the very human passions it inspires.<br /><br />Out now: <a href="https://t.co/WF0FKMsEHu">https://t.co/WF0FKMsEHu</a> <a href="https://t.co/Gh8je2ciRa">pic.twitter.com/Gh8je2ciRa</a></p> — Hachette Australia Books (@HachetteAus) <a href="https://twitter.com/HachetteAus/status/1432938770370727940?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His theory relies on lines from the poem’s final stanza, which mention an area near Mount Kosciuszko “where the pine-clad ridges raise”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sharwood said Byadbo is “the only part of Australia’s alpine region and nearby foothills with cypress pine forests, a native conifer that thrives in dry country”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If the poem were sourced from stories of the Byadbo area, then the stockman had to be Aboriginal because all the best riders in the area had Indigenous blood,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In his newly-released book, Sharwood considers the controversial case for reducing brumby numbers due to their overgrazing of national parks, versus the calls to protect them because of their romanticised image.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Forget that Patterson knew they were pests and advocated for them to be shot to protect the pasture for cattle,” Sharwood said. “The brumbies are characters in the poem and that makes them sacred, eternal, untouchable, as quintessentially Australian as Vegemite and thongs.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Sharwood isn’t the first to suggest the titular character was Indigenous.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 1988, Victoria’s official historian Bernard Barrett proposed the character may have been based on a young Indigenous rider named Toby, with Barrett claiming “a better rider never sat a horse”.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 331.0546875px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843655/gettyimages-542638958.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/cb8bd6984579401690c748346937c534" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Professor Jakelin Troy, director of Aboriginal research at the University of Sydney and an Aboriginal Australian from the Ngarigu community of the Snowy Mountains, said we may never know who the rider was based on.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t think any of us really care who the man, or woman, from Snowy River was, but it is an interesting thing to explore because it definitely plays into the mythology of the area,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“One piece of research says he was my father’s great uncle called Jim Troy. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Banjo stayed with the family and Jim Troy fits the description even down to the horse. They bred them tough like their horses were a mixture of Timor pony which are really tough and thoroughbreds with a bit of Arab to make them a bit finer. The horses were a mixed breed … We will probably never know who the actual person was.”</span></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.hachette.com.au/anthony-sharwood/the-brumby-wars-the-battle-for-the-soul-of-australia" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Brumby Wars</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was released on Wednesday, August 1 by Hachette.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>

Books

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Pauline Hanson slams the Matildas for “token PC gesture”

<p><span>Pauline Hanson has responded in fury at the Matildas for posing with the Aboriginal flag before their victory over New Zealand this week.</span><br /><br /><span>The One Nation leader labelled the act a “token PC gesture” and claimed Australians are “sick and tired of their favourite sports being ruined by politics.”</span><br /><br /><span>The women’s soccer team, which includes Indigenous stars Lydia Williams and Kyah Simon, chose to pose with the Aboriginal flag instead of the Australian one.</span><br /><br /><span>They would go on to win against the Kiwis with 2-1 on Wednesday night.</span><br /><br /><span>The Aussies also stood side-by-side as they sung the national anthem, however Senator Hanson has claimed the photo was a slap in the face to all Australians.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842655/pauline.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/13a03f5e4c3e48da92413721e44cf58c" /></p> <p><em>Image: Channel 7</em><br /><br /><span>“Athletes in the Australian Olympic team are there representing all Australians on the biggest of international stages,” she said in a statement to her official website.</span><br /><br /><span>“Indigenous flags don’t represent all Australians. There’s only one flag which truly represents all of us.</span><br /><br /><span>“Taxpayers don’t shell out millions of dollars to send Olympic teams to represent two nations. We’re one nation, Australia, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike.</span><br /><br /><span>“I think a lot of Australians are sick and tired of athletes and celebrities hijacking platforms to make token PC gestures that only inflame division.</span><br /><br /><span>“Australians are sick and tired of their favourite sports being ruined by politics.</span><br /><br /><span>“Australians supporting their Olympic team deserve an explanation from the Australian Olympic Committee, and I’m sure they want to know what the Prime Minister has to say about it too.”</span><br /><br /><span>Matildas superstar Sam Kerr, said she was “really proud” to represent the Aboriginal flag after scoring a goal in Wednesday’s victory, and told 7News she “wanted to do something that was relevant to our country and show unity within our group”.</span></p>

News

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315 nuclear bombs and ongoing suffering: The shameful history of nuclear testing in Australia and the Pacific

<p><em>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware this article contains the name of a deceased person.</em></p> <p>The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons received its <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/10/1076082">50th ratification on October 24</a>, and will therefore come into force in January 2021. A historic development, this new international law will ban the possession, development, testing, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons.</p> <p>Unfortunately the nuclear powers — the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea — haven’t signed on to the treaty. As such, they are not immediately obliged to <a href="http://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Victim-assistance-short-4-8-18-final.pdf">help victims and remediate contaminated environments</a>, but others party to the treaty do have these obligations. The shifting norms around this will hopefully put ongoing pressure on nuclear testing countries to open records and to cooperate with accountability measures.</p> <p>For the people of the Pacific region, particularly those who bore the brunt of nuclear weapons testing during the 20th century, it will bring a new opportunity for their voices to be heard on the long-term costs of nuclear violence. The treaty is the first to enshrine enduring commitments to addressing their needs.</p> <p>From 1946, around <a href="https://icanw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Pacific-Report-2017.pdf">315 nuclear tests</a> were carried out in the Pacific by the US, Britain and France. These nations’ largest ever nuclear tests took place on colonised lands and oceans, from Australia to the Marshall Islands, Kiribati to French Polynesia.</p> <p>The impacts of these tests are still being felt today.</p> <p><strong>All nuclear tests cause harm</strong></p> <p>Studies of nuclear test workers and exposed nearby communities <a href="https://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/">around the world</a> <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-the-red-cross/article/humanitarian-impact-and-implications-of-nuclear-test-explosions-in-the-pacific-region/1FDB0D26842BEA5621F33A0B53FCD7F9">consistently show</a> adverse health effects, especially increased risks of <a href="https://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/">cancer</a>.</p> <p>The total number of global cancer deaths as a result of atmospheric nuclear test explosions has been estimated at between <a href="https://scope.dge.carnegiescience.edu/SCOPE_59/SCOPE_59.html">2 million</a> and <a href="https://ieer.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/1991/06/RadioactiveHeavenEarth1991.pdf">2.4 million</a>, even though these studies used radiation risk estimates that are now dated and likely underestimated the <a href="http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n3873/pdf/ch08.pdf">risk</a>.</p> <p>The number of additional non-fatal cancer cases caused by test explosions is similar. As confirmed in a <a href="http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1667/RR14608.1">large recent study</a> of nuclear industry workers in France, the UK and US, the numbers of radiation-related deaths due to other diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, is also likely to be similar.</p> <p><strong>‘We all got crook’</strong></p> <p>Britain conducted 12 nuclear test explosions in Australia between 1952 and 1957, and hundreds of minor trials of radioactive and toxic materials for bomb development up to 1963. These caused untold health problems for local Aboriginal people who were at the highest risk of radiation. Many of them were not properly evacuated, and some were not informed at all.</p> <p>We may never know the full impact of these explosions because in many cases, as the Royal Commission report on British Nuclear Tests in Australia <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22publications/tabledpapers/HPP032016010928%22;src1=sm1">found in 1985</a>: “the resources allocated for Aboriginal welfare and safety were ludicrous, amounting to nothing more than a token gesture”. But we can listen to the survivors.</p> <p>The late Yami Lester directly experienced the impacts of nuclear weapons. A Yankunytjatjara elder from South Australia, Yami was a child when the British tested at Emu Field in October 1953. He <a href="https://icanw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/BlackMist-FINAL-Web.pdf">recalled</a> the “Black Mist” after the bomb blast:</p> <p><em>It wasn’t long after that a black smoke came through. A strange black smoke, it was shiny and oily. A few hours later we all got crook, every one of us. We were all vomiting; we had diarrhoea, skin rashes and sore eyes. I had really sore eyes. They were so sore I couldn’t open them for two or three weeks. Some of the older people, they died. They were too weak to survive all the sickness. The closest clinic was 400 miles away.</em></p> <p>His daughter, Karina Lester, is an ambassador for the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons in Australia, and continues to be driven by her family’s experience. She <a href="https://icanw.org.au/choosinghumanity/">writes</a>:</p> <p><em>For decades now my family have campaigned and spoken up against the harms of nuclear weapons because of their firsthand experience of the British nuclear tests […] Many Aboriginal people suffered from the British nuclear tests that took place in the 1950s and 1960s and many are still suffering from the impacts today.</em></p> <p>More than 16,000 Australian workers were also exposed. A key <a href="https://www.dva.gov.au/documents-and-publications/british-nuclear-testing-australia-studies">government-funded study</a> belatedly followed these veterans over an 18-year period from 1982. Despite the difficulties of conducting a study decades later with incomplete data, it <a href="https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.pace.edu/dist/0/195/files/2018/10/Australia-PosObs-Country-Report-7-1zbngsb.pdf">found</a> they had 23% higher rates of cancer and 18% more deaths from cancers than the general population.</p> <p>An additional health impact in Pacific island countries is the toxic disease “ciguatera”, caused by certain microscopic plankton at the base of the marine food chain, which thrive on damaged coral. Their toxins concentrate up the food chain, especially in fish, and cause illness and occasional deaths in people who eat them. In the Marshall Islands, Kiritimati and French Polynesia, outbreaks of the disease among locals have been associated with coral damage caused by <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(89)91212-9/fulltext">nuclear test explosions</a> and the extensive military and shipping infrastructure supporting them.</p> <p>Pacific survivors of nuclear testing haven’t been focused solely on addressing their own considerable needs for justice and care; they’ve been powerful advocates that no one should suffer as they have ever again, and have worked tirelessly for the eradication of nuclear weapons. It’s no surprise independent Pacific island nations are strong supporters of the new treaty, accounting for ten of the first 50 ratifications.</p> <p><strong>Negligence and little accountability</strong></p> <p>Some nations that have undertaken nuclear tests have provided some care and compensation for their nuclear test workers; only the US has made some <a href="https://www.justice.gov/civil/common/reca">provisions</a> for people exposed, though only for mainland US residents downwind of the Nevada Test Site. No testing nation has extended any such arrangement beyond its own shores to the colonised and minority peoples it put in harm’s way. Nor has any testing nation made fully publicly available its records of the history, conduct and effects of its nuclear tests on exposed populations and the environment.</p> <p>These nations have also been negligent by quickly abandoning former test sites. There has been inadequate clean-up and little or none of the long-term environmental monitoring needed to detect radioactive leakage from underground test sites into groundwater, soil and air. One example among many is the Runit concrete dome in the Marshall Islands, which holds nuclear waste from US testing in the 1940s and 50s. It’s increasingly <a href="https://www.latimes.com/projects/marshall-islands-nuclear-testing-sea-level-rise/">inundated by rising sea levels</a>, and is leaking radioactive material.</p> <p>The treaty provides a light in a dark time. It contains the only internationally agreed framework for all nations to verifiably eliminate nuclear weapons.</p> <p>It’s our fervent hope the treaty will mark the increasingly urgent beginning of the end of nuclear weapons. It is our determined expectation that our country will step up. Australia has not yet ratified the treaty, but the bitter legacy of nuclear testing across our country and region should spur us to join this new global effort.</p> <p><em>Written <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tilman-ruff-89">Tilman Ruff</a>, University of Melbourne and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dimity-hawkins-292972">Dimity Hawkins</a>, Swinburne University of Technology. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/315-nuclear-bombs-and-ongoing-suffering-the-shameful-history-of-nuclear-testing-in-australia-and-the-pacific-148909">The Conversation.</a></em></p>

Cruising

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Why most Aboriginal people have little say over clean energy projects planned for their land

<p>Huge clean energy projects, such as the <a href="https://asianrehub.com/">Asian Renewable Energy Hub</a> in the Pilbara, Western Australia, are set to produce gigawatts of electricity over vast expanses of land in the near future.</p> <p>The Asian Renewable Energy Hub is planning to erect wind turbines and solar arrays across 6,500 square kilometres of land. But, like with other renewable energy mega projects, this land is subject to Aboriginal rights and interests — known as the Indigenous Estate.</p> <p>While renewable energy projects are essential for transitioning Australia to a zero-carbon economy, they come with a caveat: most traditional owners in Australia have little legal say over them.</p> <p><strong>Projects on the Indigenous Estate</strong></p> <p>How much say Aboriginal people have over mining and renewable energy projects depends on the legal regime their land is under.</p> <p>In the Northern Territory, the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00111">Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth)</a> (ALRA) allows traditional owners to say no to developments proposed for their land. While the commonwealth can override this veto, they never have as far as we know.</p> <p>In comparison, the dominant Aboriginal land tenure in Western Australia (and nationwide) is <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00054">native title</a>.</p> <p>Native title — as recognised in the 1992 Mabo decision and later codified in the Native Title Act 1993 — recognises that Aboriginal peoples’ rights to land and waters still exist under certain circumstances despite British colonisation.</p> <p>But unlike the ALRA, the Native Title Act does not allow traditional owners to veto developments proposed for their land.</p> <p>Both the Native Title Act and the the ALRA are federal laws, but the ALRA only applies in the NT. The Native Title Act applies nationwide, including in some parts of the NT.</p> <p><strong>Shortcomings in the Native Title Act</strong></p> <p>Native title holders can enter into a voluntary agreement with a company, known as an <a href="http://www.nntt.gov.au/ILUAs/Pages/default.aspx#:%7E:text=An%20ILUA%20is%20a%20voluntary,to%20suit%20their%20particular%20circumstances.">Indigenous Land Use Agreement</a>, when a development is proposed for their land. This <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/explainer/indigenous-land-use-agreements-what-are-they-and-how-can-we-use-them">allows both parties</a> to negotiate how the land and waters would be used, among other things.</p> <p>If this is not negotiated, then native title holders have only certain, limited safeguards.</p> <p>The strongest of these safeguards is known as the “right to negotiate”. This says resource companies must negotiate in good faith for at least six months with native title holders, and aim to reach an agreement.</p> <p>But it is not a veto right. The company can fail to get the agreement of native title holders and still be granted access to the land by government.</p> <p>For example, Fortescue Metals Group controversially built their Solomon iron ore mine in the Pilbara, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-29/fortescue-andrew-forrest-native-title-yac-high-court-decision/12299700">despite not getting the agreement</a> of the Yindjibarndi people who hold native title to the area.</p> <p>In fact, the National Native Title Tribunal — which rules on disputes between native title holders and companies — has sided with native title holders <a href="http://www.nntt.gov.au/searchRegApps/FutureActs/Pages/default.aspx">only three times</a>, and with companies 126 times (of which 55 had conditions attached).</p> <p>There are also lesser safeguards in the act, which stipulate that native title holders should be consulted, or notified, about proposed developments, and may have certain objection rights.</p> <p><strong>Negotiating fair agreements</strong></p> <p>So how does the Native Title Act treat large-scale renewable energy developments?</p> <p>The answer is complicated because a renewable energy development likely contains different aspects (for example: wind turbines, roads and HVDC cables), and the act may treat each differently.</p> <p>Broadly speaking, these huge developments don’t fall under the right to negotiate, but under <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=561460080958803;res=IELIND">lesser safeguards</a>.</p> <p>Does this matter? Yes, it does. We know from experience in the mining industry that while some companies negotiate fair agreements with Aboriginal landowners, some do not.</p> <p>For example, two very similar LNG projects — one in Western Australia and the other in Queensland — resulted in land access and benefit sharing agreements that were <a href="https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/gasploitation-in-queensland">poles apart</a>. The WA project’s agreements with traditional owners were worth A$1.5 billion, while the Queensland project’s agreements were worth just A$10 million.</p> <p>Likewise, Rio Tinto’s agreement for the area including Juukan Gorge reportedly “<a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/juukan-gorge-destruction-shines-light-on-aboriginal-group-gags-20200807-p55jpd.html">gagged</a>” traditional owners from objecting to any activities by the company, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466">then destroyed</a> the 46,000-year-old rock shelters.</p> <p><strong>A matter of leverage</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361140500507252?casa_token=pgA3NwkmP80AAAAA%3AFvPukre8zXiUDsqcNiuEt3Z-hCzq34mqY9aHzvFijtNiQS8pjezW7gHNGAECJQ-Tv4AxD_Kg46H5EUY">We also know</a> the likelihood of a new development having positive impacts for Aboriginal communities depends in part on the leverage they have to negotiate a strong agreement.</p> <p>And the best leverage is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10361140500507252?casa_token=pgA3NwkmP80AAAAA%3AFvPukre8zXiUDsqcNiuEt3Z-hCzq34mqY9aHzvFijtNiQS8pjezW7gHNGAECJQ-Tv4AxD_Kg46H5EUY">political power</a>. This comes from the ability to wage <a href="https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/jacqui-katona-yvonne-margarula/">community campaigns against companies</a> to force politicians to listen, or <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51452217">galvanise nation-wide protests</a> that prevent work on a development continuing.</p> <p>Legal rights are also very effective: the stronger your legal rights are, the better your negotiation position. And the strongest legal position to be in is if you can say no to the development.</p> <p>For land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, this ability to say no means traditional owners are in a good position to negotiate strong environmental, cultural heritage and economic benefits.</p> <p>For land under the Native Title Act, traditional owners are in a weaker legal position. It is not a level playing field.</p> <p><strong>A just transition</strong></p> <p>To remedy this imbalance, the federal government must give native title holders the same rights for renewable energy projects as traditional owners have under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in the NT.</p> <p>Or, at the very least, extend the right to negotiate to cover the types of large-scale renewable energy projects likely to be proposed for native title land in coming decades.</p> <p>We must ensure the transition to a zero-carbon economy is a just transition for First Nations.</p> <p><em>Written by Lily O’Neill, Brad Riley, Ganur Maynard and Janet Hunt. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-most-aboriginal-people-have-little-say-over-clean-energy-projects-planned-for-their-land-139119">The Conversation.</a> </em></p>

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