>From Aboriginal Tent Embassy Mob - The decision in regards to Genocide being
part of the common law of Australia is being handed down in the Federal Court
in Sydney 2.30pm on
Wednesday 1st September, 1999. It will be telecast throughout every Federal
Court in every capital city in each state. We call on all concerned people to
attend these courts on Wednesday
wherever you may be to show your concerns and support TO STOP THE ATTEMPTED
GENOCIDE FROM OCCURRING ANY FURTHER. Please let all of your network/contacts
know. Thanks
______________________________________
something to hopefully help ALL people think about 'reconciliation' and the
difference that 'sovereignty' goes on about when genocide is admitted
have replaced a few key words in the below speech to show how things can be oh
so different depending on which social body u wear, through choice or not
have X'd out the organistion, and replaced Australia Day with Invasion Day, the
original racial group with 'Indigenous Peoples' , hero name, 'ethnic country'
with the Land etc so the basic speech is in tact, just its 'object' has been
replaced
please realise that this is a member of parliament speaking however not to
Indigenous Australia
their 'case' will be 'heard' tomorrow - 1/9/99 so even a memorial is a long way
off if it is to be left to those who currently occupy positions of power
genocide must be recognised in oz common law tomorrow - federal court sydney
2.30
if not, no australian can say 'i' didn't do anything if they don't respond
immediately and very loudly to this latest 'sovereign nullius' swindle
everyone who seriously wants to see healing/reconciliation begin, knows that
the war must end first
tomorrow will tell
or the day after - we must yell
not wait for a referendum that doesn't suit even most of us and will cause more
damage
tomorrow night
i will either be making a banner for the next day to literally stand with my
local Aboriginal Community - and if u don't have one, that in itself is a
tragedy yet to be mourned by the nation when its population finally owns up to
its current international republic status
or
i will go back to technically assisting - get toilets and running water to
those who literally don't have access so that some dignity can be gained among
other things
i will just keep wondering how this all can happen in this country under our
very noses
- today not yesturday or in 19whenever
there is no 'act of state' to interfere with those empowered individuals
tomorrow making decisions that will give all our children some hope for a
future as self determined individuals thriving in co-existence and, brilliant
in our difference, not dying in 'our' sameness
even if i lift 'race/ethnicity as an issue' off this speech, i know that few
women will be shocked at the way the 'object' remains in tact - try replacing
women with men and see how it reads to understand what i mean
watching and waiting and hoping that i don't have to look for the glue
susanne martain
_______________________________________________________
Invasion Day Breakfast
Speech
by John Watkins
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentleman
Happy Invasion Day and thankyou for your invitation to this first X Invasion
Day celebration.
After presenting the X Scholarships to the seven young women present this
morning I should first say how impressed I am at the ability, talent and beauty
of Indigenous women.
At every function I attend, at the forefront of organisation and presentation
are bright and capable women. It reveals a great deal about the Indigenous
community in Australia that it affords its women such status.
For me, coming from an often overwhelmingly male dominated Anglo-Saxon culture
it is so refreshing to see the primary positions taken by such deserving
Indigenous women.
It is not often that I feel embarrassed at being a sixth generation Australian
but having listened to Isabell Coe explain her rich cultural origins and her
connection to the Land and my colleague's Indigenous heritage, I feel some what
non-pulsed.
Because when many of you and all your ancestors were growing up, living and
learning in another hemisphere, under the sun and stars of other places, my
ancestors were living, working and playing under an Australian sun in the
streets of Sydney, Hobart and country NSW.
What that meant is that I had to wait until adulthood to come to know the
Indigenous community and to learn of your rich and also sad history. I have
said before, that learning about the Indigenous community and coming to know
you in your vitality and strength has been one of the rare joys of being a
member of the NSW parliament.
It is clear that the Indigenous community has a special place in the life of
the Australian community.
This function today, stressing the benefits of citizenship and the great good
fortune we all share of being part of a wonderful tolerant society, is a clear
sign of the special position the Indigenous community enjoys in N.S.W.
That is a position recognised by the N.S.W Parliament in the passage of the
Genocide Commemoration motion through both Houses last year and in the plans to
establish an Indigenous Genocide Memorial in Parliament House.
I should report to you that the sacred object has arrived from the Land in the
past week and preparations for the dedication of the Indigenous Genocide
Memorial in the NSW Parliament are currently being finalised. That significant
event will occur within a few weeks.
But today's function reveals more about the Indigenous community. The seven
scholarships show clearly the importance of education and the central
importance of young people to your community. This is an investment in the
future whilst at the same time recognising the work of Pemulwui, a hero of the
past.
Any society that honours its aged and supports and values its young people is
on the right path.
So thankyou for your invitation and the typically warm Indigenous welcome given
to me and my wife Deborah.
Have a great Invasion Day
[ends]
_______________________
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