Thanks Mathew, that is great. Thanks for taking the time, I feel fully up to
speed now!
Cheers,
Damien
Damien Short (Sociology Dept)
Human Rights Centre
Essex University
England
-----Original Message-----
From: tassy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Militant Listbot
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 18 April 2000 19:24
Subject: Re: [recoznet2] Re: Stolen Generations
> 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 relation
s - 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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>
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