Aborigines will set up camp prior to Olympic protests Source: AAP|Published: Saturday July 8, 5:16 PM Aboriginal activists will set up a tent city in Sydney this Friday as a base from which to spread the word about Australia's human rights record during the Olympics. Aboriginal Tent Embassy spokeswoman Isobelle Coe said next Friday, national Aboriginal Day, a tent embassy would be set up in Victoria Park in readiness for the September Olympic Games. "The tent embassy in Sydney will be our base - all people can come and hear our stories," Ms Coe said at a rally today leading up to the annual Aboriginal day. "It was ironic that China missed out on hosting the 2000 Olympic Games because of their human rights, but they didn't know our history, this'll be our opportunity to tell ... we've got an oral history. "We're going to march right from Victoria Park to Homebush. These will be the Games of Shame - how can you have a Games of Peace while the war is still continuing against Aboriginal people?" For more than 28 years, Ms Coe and others have maintained the tent embassy in Canberra in aid of Aboriginal sovereignty. "We've been keeping the fight going down for there for Aboriginal sovereignty since 1972 - that means we own from one end of Australia to the other," she said. "We have never conceded sovereignty, there's never been any treaties signed and we're still there maintaining the site. "We're saying don't be a part of this reconciliation, we've already been down this path, there's already been a reconciliation process and people were slaughtered here and in Tasmania. "For all those waving the flag of reconciliation or walking across the bridge, they'd better learn about the history of this country." For the "true blacks" sovereignty doesn't mean we're going to take people's front yards or back yards ... everything is negotiable, Ms Coe said. "It's doesn't mean we want ships out there in the harbour telling all non-Aboriginal people to go home, no." Shirley Lomas, from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, said Prime Minister John Howard and the Council for Reconciliation had "sold black people out". Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) state secretary Andrew Ferguson also pledged the union's support behind the Aboriginal cause. Speaking at the rally, Mr Ferguson said the CFMEU would be at the forefront of ongoing Aboriginal protests, particularly at Sydney's Olympics. "We'll be there to highlight the injustices in this country of our racist past, and our racist future," he said. -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ 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." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
