Associated Press Monday, February 15, 1999 Aborigines Protest in Australia By ALAN THORNHILL / Associated Press Writer CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Aborigines and police clashed outside Australia's Parliament today after a government official canceled talks aimed at addressing the Aborigines' grievances. Two men were arrested during the melee, which erupted after Reconciliation Minister Philip Ruddock canceled the meeting out of fear it would become a "publicity event," not a serious negotiation. Ruddock was to meet Aboriginal representatives for talks on the future of their unofficial "tent embassy." Aborigines first set up the embassy outside Australia's old parliament house in 1972. Since then, the original tent has been replaced and a collection of sheds, tents and other temporary structures has sprung up in its place. Last week, protesters lit a fire and planted spears in the Parliament lawn after Prime Minister John Howard's government passed regulations allowing the embassy -- which it views as an eyesore -- to be closed. Police and firefighters raided the protest and doused the fire. The protesters returned and lit another fire but agreed to end the protest after Ruddock promised to come and meet them. But a spokesman for Ruddock said today the meeting had been canceled because news crews had been notified and he thought the meeting was becoming "nothing more than a publicity event." "The media's involvement would make it more difficult for a positive outcome to be achieved," the spokesman said. Protesters returned to the Parliament House, lighting the ceremonial fire and replanting spears. Ruddock later invited representatives of the protesters to meet him in his office. They refused. "They have got to come to us," elder Isobell Coe told The Associated Press. "This is our country." Relations between the Australian government and the Aborigines, a tiny minority of some 353,000 in the country's mostly white population of about 18.7 million, have soured over land rights and other issues. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
