Damien,
Well, the debate on forced removal re-ignited itself when Ron
Brunton, a public
servant and a member of a conservative think-tank here in Australia (the Institute of
Public Affairs)
produced a report for the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs,
John Herron, saying
that the numbers of people who were the victims of this government policy were
"exaggerated", and claiming
that forced removal could be in the interests of the children who were seperated from
their mothers. In
other words, racial assimilation is a justifiable policy. The report questioned
whether assimilationist
forced removal policies could be linked to "the Holocaust". I think I am right in
saying that the term
"Stolen Generations" was also attacked, because of some quibble about whether
generations had been stolen
(they had of course, since the late nineteeth century in some parts of Australia, even
longer).
Howard defended his Minister, and Brunton, which to many is as good as saying
that he agreed
assimilationism in Australia was being exaggerated and not part of the Holocaust. Of
course,
assimilationism was part and parcel of the Holocaust, and there is an abundance of
literature available to
substantiate that claim, and forced removal of children is what happens to people
categorised as
second-class citizens who need to be assimilated into the wider society. Howard also
quibbled over the term
"Generations".
But as I heard I think it was Geoff Clark, the head of ATSIC, saying on SBS, to
really understand the
debate on the Stolen Generations, you have to understand that the Howard government
was really copping a lot
of flak for refusing to override the Northern Territory's laws of "mandatory
sentencing" - really the
mandatory imprisonment of juvenile offenders on their third offence, particularly
aboriginal youth, for
trivial offences, many of them linked to drugs, alcohol, and of course, poverty.
Western Australia is the
only other state to believe in mandatory imprisonment.
This debate was the result of a United Nations report last month, from the
Committee to Eliminate
Racial Discrimination, which was pretty routine really - Koffi Annan the UN
Secretary-General was invited by
Human Rights Activists in Australia to intervene in the debate on Mandatory
Imprisonment during a visit to
Australia in Feburary and decided not to "interfere" in domestic politics. The CERD
report was years in the
waiting, *routine*, and although it was very accurate, it was rather too soft for my
liking. But not, it
seems, to Australian conservatives, who, like the conservatives elsewhere, like to
make mountains out of
molehills about these things eroding "national soveriegnty" etc; example, British
Conservatives talking
about the "dangers of the Common Market", American isolationism towards the weak
League of Nations during
the 1920's and 30's. I thought I'd mention this political stuff because that's what
my article to a
socialist newspaper had to say about Annan's ideological surrender to Nationalism in
this country.
So Clark's point is that the debate on the "Stolen Generations" report was
unfortunate, and perhaps a
tactic of the government, to divert attention away from the debate about mandatory
imprisonment.
The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Denis Burke, made a series of
inflammatory remarks about
"state's rights", and how he could be a chauvinist on crime, and it shouldn't matter
anyone else living
beyond a certain geographical border - a bit like Governor Wallace in Alabama in the
1960's. That's the
context behind Charlie Perkins, the Aboriginal Rights Activists', comments about
"burning cars and burning
buildings" in the Sydney Olympics. People said Perkins was being violent, but I'd say
it was the government
that was beating an assimilationist drum at the time.
Denis Burke has a throughly racist agenda for Aboriginal people. His government
has proposed laws on
Native Title which take the Land Rights Movement back to the days before the landmark
Gove Penisula Ruling
in the early 1970's, by annulling rights of access still further, and especially by a
proposal I have read
to remove the powers, and wind up the Aboriginal Land Councils, a basic mechanism of
self-determination for
aboriginal people in this country and one of the few gains that Aboriginal people have
had in that part of
the world for legal equality with the mainstream Australian white population.
This is hidden from the debate - this agenda of Burke's, and that's just a great
shame and a damn pity,
because that's exactly where the ruling-class ideology is - to remove the legal and
political powers of
indigenous peoples. That's why in this country if you support affirmative action and
laws to end racial
discrimination, they tag you with being "politically correct" - in other words, for
daring to believe, not
just in sweeping things under the carpet, but in promoting extra rights for aboriginal
people. And it's not
only racial, this ideology, it's political, because it's applied to feminists and gay
and lesbian rights
activists as well - to any social rights activist.
Burke's racism is saying - we created all this terrible problems for white people
by "giving in" to
demands for self-determination in the form of Land Councils in the 1970's. And that's
an attack on the
social processes behind fixing inequality in this country. So that's what we are
dealing with.
One of the things that really troubles me about Australian race relations - as I am
inclined to call
them, because unfortunately I think that's the level of the society I am a part of -
is that the agenda
belongs to people like Burke, and other chaunvinists. It makes me very sceptical
about the whole process of
reconciliation where this is the case. The agenda should be with Aboriginal people
themselves, as the
process of self-determination implies. It's not that there's not a lot of great
people involved in the
reconcilation movement in this country, because I've been to see Reconcilation Day
meets and the good-will
is there, but whether that makes any difference to people like Burke, who believe in
escalating things for
short-term political mileage and create all sorts of nascent debates in this country
which are no good for a
reconcilation of cultures whatsoever, I cannot say I think it is very feasible. All
you've got to have is
some "red-neck" (the Australian slang - meaning a provinvialist, a believer in the
politics of difference)
come along and give himself another 3 years in Parliament and in the meantime the
cause for Aboriginal
liberation is set back by decades. I'd have to agree with Perkins' pessimism in the
finish.
Another thing is that people voted Burke in, even though there was a lot of racism
in his re-election
campaign, which also occurred about the time of the CERD report two months ago. Maybe
it's because
acceptance of unequal social and legal powers on the grounds of race is more a part of
Northern Territory
politics than elsewhere, or maybe it's because Australia is a racist country, I'll
leave it for you to
decide.
OK then, I hope that's been of some help.
Cheers,
Matthew Davis
Damien Short wrote:
> Hi folks,
> Can somebody please briefly fill me in on the current debate, I have been
> away for a while? Do I understand correctly, has Howard denied that forced
> removal occured? If so, where and how did he do this?
> Thanks a lot
> Damien
>
> Damien Short (Sociology Department)
> Human Rights Centre
> Essex University
> England
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Trudy & Rod Bray <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: RecOzNet2 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: 18 April 2000 10:58
> Subject: [recoznet2] [FWD] Grafton events x 2: dance
>
> >Forwarded from Christine Howes:
> >ABORIGINAL DANCE THEATRE REDFERN
> >you mob wanna dance?
> >free dance classes
> >
> >Grafton Public School children
> >Tuesday & Wednesday 23rd & 24th May
> >
> >South Grafton High School youth
> >Thursday & Friday 25th & 26th May
> >numbers limited - for session times and bookings give Renee a call on
> >(02)
> >9699 2171
> >Renee Brooke, Youth Dance Coordinator
> >Aboriginal Dance Theatre Redfern
> >P.O. Box 1093
> >Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
> >(02) 9699 2171
> >(02) 9310 2643
> >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> >NADCA NSW and the Aboriginal Performing Arts & Cultural College Lanitza
> >invite you to attend a
> >
> >FREE FORUM
> >Aboriginal Cultural & Contemporary Dance Development
> >Regional Northeast NSW
> >
> >When Tues 6th June 8:30-4:30
> > Wed 7th June 8:30-5:00
> > Thur 8th June 8:30-2:00
> >
> >Where Uniting Church Hall
> > Bent Street
> > South Grafton
> >for information contact
> >Sylvia DeAngelis, NADCA
> >P.O. Box 1093, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
> >Ph: (02) 9699 3765, 9699 2171
> >Fax: (02) 9310 2643
> >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >or
> >David Daley, Chairperson
> >Aboriginal Performing Arts & Cultural College Lanitza
> >Ph: (02) 6642 1856
> >--
> >_________________________________
> >Truth is a pathless land. --- Krishnamurti
> >-------------------------------------------------
> >------------------------------------------------------
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> >This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without
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> >copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and
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