by Jay Fletcher, Wollongong
The bus pulled into Flinders University at around 9.30pm on Saturday night July 3, we were greeted by cheers from people in the car park and the organisers boarded the bus to promise us a hot meal and showers. A film crew that was working on a documentary about Richard Downs and the walk-off filmed up disembarking and promised to catch up with us again in Alice Springs.
The following day, about 80 people attended the “Aboriginal Resistance Today: the Alyawarr walk-off” to hear Richard Downs discuss the frontier of the anti-intervention campaign. Richard spoke about the gross injustice of forcing Aboriginal communities onto 40-year leases by starving them of essential and basic services if they refuse.
“It’s blackmail is what it is,” he said. “My people tried to engage with the bureaucrats and their government, but we’ve been denied and denied and we decided we wouldn’t tolerate this.”
Several Aboriginal people in the audience reiterated Richard’s call for unity among Aboriginal rights campaigners, and that solidarity and organised opposition to the government’s laws and policy was necessary. The change of prime minister meant nothing to him, he said.
“I’ve got no respect for Julia”, he said. “They won’t change unless we force them to.”
Richard reported that people from right across the Northern Territory and the rest of the country would be arriving in Alice next week, and many people in the room said they were attending (including people not on the bus).
That night more than 50 people, both bus participants and people from the conference, packed the solidarity bus to get along to the “Rap Intervention”, a benefit gig for the walk-off. Local and interstate performances were phenomenal (including Adelaide-based Local Revolution and Doc Fruit – AKA the Indigenous Solidarity Rides’ very own Zane Alcorn). Richard Downs also addressed the gig, and got massive cheers when he declared that the racist Labor government had to go and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people needed to work together to create justice.
There were many other inspiring Aboriginal speakers at the conference, including Arabunna elders discussing the fight against the uranium mine at Roxby Downs. Zane, the bus organiser, told the workshop that our return trip will be via Roxby on July 16, and expressed the possibility of meeting with the campaign groups and media on our way through.
Tonight is our final night. The bus is almost packed, anticipating the very early 6am start to get to Coober Pedy. We’ll camp there overnight and shoot through to Alice Springs in time for an evening film and forum.
So to cover the trip so far: Newcastle/Sydney => Cowra and a meeting with Uncle Chappy Willams on the campaign to save Lake Cowal => Wilcannia => Mutawinji, a beautiful national park, and a meeting with Steve (from Arhnem Land, who we met by chance but who spoke about his experience teaching English and was strongly opposed to abolishing bilingual education and forcing kids to learn English) => Adelaide and two days of radical action and info at SOS!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Bus participants: Inspired and taking action
Over the last six days, the Indigenous Solidarity Rides have travelled from Newcastle and Sydney, through NSW to Adelaide. Along the way, we have met with and heard stories from Aboriginal people waging huge struggles for their rights, land and culture. Below are some responses from bus trip participants and what they have learned and gained from the trip so far.
"I've been having a great time. I didn't know how full on it would be. I travelled with the Just Transition Tour last year, but I'm only just starting."
Rob Martin, Central Coast
"This is a memory that will live on, one of the best memories. We all have different reasons to be here, but we have one mission: we have all recognised that Aboriginal people have the right to live their life, as was done before white settlement, or as ever they want. We need to respect that."
Adrian, Newcastle
"This trip has been awesome. Everyone is concerned, and even the people here who didn't know a lot about what was going on with the NT intervention, they've now been inspired to do more about it. I didn't know what to expect, but the people on the bus are a good crew. We're going to Alice but along the way we're having debates about how to change society for the better."
Aaron Roden, Sydney
"The bus rides have been a huge opportunity to raise awareness about what the NT intervention is doing to the lives of Aboriginal people. It really brings the issue back into the foreground, and we've found that the response to the bus trip has been overwhelmingly positive. People are re-addressing the government's policy and realising the need for radical change."
Jay Fletcher, Wollongong
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Day 1-4: Aboriginal communities in NSW
by Stephen Brangrove
This is the first official report from the Aboriginal solidarity bus. The bus left Newcastle Civic Station on June 30, and headed south to pick up the rest of the New South Wales contingency from Hornsby. Twenty-five people from Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen packed the little red school bus, along with three weeks worth of food and camping gear. It was joined by two more vehicles to make up the Indigenous Solidarity Rides 2010.
From there we had an 8 hour trip out to Cowra, west of Bathurst, where we met with Uncle Chappy (Neville Williams), a staunch community leader leading a fight against one of the largest transnational mining corporations. Uncle Chappy gave a talk to us later in the night where he discussed local environmental issues associated with the Barrack Gold mine at Lake Cowal.
This particular mine has been in operation from 3 years, however it still uses cyanide in the process of extracting gold from harvested ore. This technique has been banned in most western countries in Europe and the US, because of the high probability of cyanide leaching into underground watertable. The main concern in this situation is the possibility that these highly poisonous compounds leaching into the Murray Darling basin. This basin extends throughout most of New South Wales and even water tables of surrounding states.
Not only is this mining practice primitive, Uncle Chappy explained that the fluid waste pit where all this cyanide waste is stored has not been designed to handle possible major flooding events. This is a very serious issue, because in a hypothetical flood event the basin could spill and flow directing into the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers, where removal would be impossible. This would mean high concentrations of cyanide would pollute river systems down stream and enter most if not all estuary environments effecting things like state fisheries and local communities living along the river who depend on it for a source of fresh water for drinking and irrigation.
This mine has also directly affected the local Aboriginal people, the Wiradjuri: the mine, which is under expansion, desecrates sacred Aboriginal land, proven to contin many artefacts, some of which are claimed to be older than the Egyptian pyramids.
The next day we headed to the small NSW town of Wilcannia, where we were hosted by the local Lands Council in their community art centre. There were a few mechanical issues with the bus (the petrol filter needed to be replaced. On top of that I lost the petrol tank cap, however thanks to a pair of my underwear, three rubber bans and half of an empty coke bottle we rigged up a cap and got the old girl back on the road.) In the end we arrived pretty late, but cooked up some dinner and camped in the hall.
The next morning Uncle David Clark, a local Wilcannia community leader and youth worker, gave an informative and passionate speech on the local history of the area and his people. He spoke of the severe racism and segregation that plagued the community for many years, conditions that forced Uncle Dave to move away. His return to the area in 2002 has resulted in a more optimistic agenda for the future of the community. You may remember Clark when he took on once Liberal Premier Nick Grinner when he tried to abolish land rights during the 1980s.
Wilcannia was established in 1957. The early history of the town was extremely racist towards the local Aboriginal people living in – and often on the outskirts of – the town. Such examples of this are the separate shower blocks for Aboriginal people – both men and women, reports of local commerce not trading with these groups and racist police initiations where young boys who turned 18 would have ferulaceous charges place upon them. These were commonly trumped up charges such as being drunk and disorderly and resisting arrest. In Murray Norris’ memoirs, he writes of a very similar scenario when writing about the 1970s Aboriginal leader Fred Waters. “We have found over the years that when an Aboriginal became a spokesman for his people he didn’t last long afterwards. He was either sent back to the bush or framed up on some charge and send over to Delissavile, a so-called convict settlement over the harbour” (Darwin).
Clark, however, was deeply reflective of Australia’s apartheid history spoke with inspiration when reporting on the achievements of his struggle. The agenda of the Wilcannia community have been working both within the system to purchase land in and around the town where they aim to construct a community where relationships are built on Aboriginal ideals of compassion and sharing. An agenda like this is to use the 61 house they purchased to be renovated and then ‘given’ to families in need of real housing. This scheme aims to sell these houses without interest where they can then be eventually paid back in a socially sustainable manner. Sustainable development also extends to the environmental side as well, where David Clark along with the Wilcannia community have been campaigning to have the local weir of the Murray Darling river dredged to re-establish the rivers integrity so they may use it as a fresh water supply instead of using the $3.5 million boar construction proposed by the local council, which is a far more unsustainable practice and does not protect the Darling basin from shrinking further.
These are a few of just some simple but thought out ideas presented by the Wilcannia community. The aim is to work toward the conservation of their history, culture and environment, and sustainable development.
Though we are aiming to get to Alice and hear about life under the NT intervention, the communities we have encountered show the broad an varying range of issues Aboriginal people face.
However, we on the bus have high optimism for their current and continuing struggle and look forward to building stronger links with the people we have met, and also the many we are yet to hear and learn from.
Now we heading to Adelaide, and from there to Alice.
This is the first official report from the Aboriginal solidarity bus. The bus left Newcastle Civic Station on June 30, and headed south to pick up the rest of the New South Wales contingency from Hornsby. Twenty-five people from Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong, Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Bellingen packed the little red school bus, along with three weeks worth of food and camping gear. It was joined by two more vehicles to make up the Indigenous Solidarity Rides 2010.
From there we had an 8 hour trip out to Cowra, west of Bathurst, where we met with Uncle Chappy (Neville Williams), a staunch community leader leading a fight against one of the largest transnational mining corporations. Uncle Chappy gave a talk to us later in the night where he discussed local environmental issues associated with the Barrack Gold mine at Lake Cowal.
This particular mine has been in operation from 3 years, however it still uses cyanide in the process of extracting gold from harvested ore. This technique has been banned in most western countries in Europe and the US, because of the high probability of cyanide leaching into underground watertable. The main concern in this situation is the possibility that these highly poisonous compounds leaching into the Murray Darling basin. This basin extends throughout most of New South Wales and even water tables of surrounding states.
Not only is this mining practice primitive, Uncle Chappy explained that the fluid waste pit where all this cyanide waste is stored has not been designed to handle possible major flooding events. This is a very serious issue, because in a hypothetical flood event the basin could spill and flow directing into the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers, where removal would be impossible. This would mean high concentrations of cyanide would pollute river systems down stream and enter most if not all estuary environments effecting things like state fisheries and local communities living along the river who depend on it for a source of fresh water for drinking and irrigation.
This mine has also directly affected the local Aboriginal people, the Wiradjuri: the mine, which is under expansion, desecrates sacred Aboriginal land, proven to contin many artefacts, some of which are claimed to be older than the Egyptian pyramids.
The next day we headed to the small NSW town of Wilcannia, where we were hosted by the local Lands Council in their community art centre. There were a few mechanical issues with the bus (the petrol filter needed to be replaced. On top of that I lost the petrol tank cap, however thanks to a pair of my underwear, three rubber bans and half of an empty coke bottle we rigged up a cap and got the old girl back on the road.) In the end we arrived pretty late, but cooked up some dinner and camped in the hall.
The next morning Uncle David Clark, a local Wilcannia community leader and youth worker, gave an informative and passionate speech on the local history of the area and his people. He spoke of the severe racism and segregation that plagued the community for many years, conditions that forced Uncle Dave to move away. His return to the area in 2002 has resulted in a more optimistic agenda for the future of the community. You may remember Clark when he took on once Liberal Premier Nick Grinner when he tried to abolish land rights during the 1980s.
Wilcannia was established in 1957. The early history of the town was extremely racist towards the local Aboriginal people living in – and often on the outskirts of – the town. Such examples of this are the separate shower blocks for Aboriginal people – both men and women, reports of local commerce not trading with these groups and racist police initiations where young boys who turned 18 would have ferulaceous charges place upon them. These were commonly trumped up charges such as being drunk and disorderly and resisting arrest. In Murray Norris’ memoirs, he writes of a very similar scenario when writing about the 1970s Aboriginal leader Fred Waters. “We have found over the years that when an Aboriginal became a spokesman for his people he didn’t last long afterwards. He was either sent back to the bush or framed up on some charge and send over to Delissavile, a so-called convict settlement over the harbour” (Darwin).
Clark, however, was deeply reflective of Australia’s apartheid history spoke with inspiration when reporting on the achievements of his struggle. The agenda of the Wilcannia community have been working both within the system to purchase land in and around the town where they aim to construct a community where relationships are built on Aboriginal ideals of compassion and sharing. An agenda like this is to use the 61 house they purchased to be renovated and then ‘given’ to families in need of real housing. This scheme aims to sell these houses without interest where they can then be eventually paid back in a socially sustainable manner. Sustainable development also extends to the environmental side as well, where David Clark along with the Wilcannia community have been campaigning to have the local weir of the Murray Darling river dredged to re-establish the rivers integrity so they may use it as a fresh water supply instead of using the $3.5 million boar construction proposed by the local council, which is a far more unsustainable practice and does not protect the Darling basin from shrinking further.
These are a few of just some simple but thought out ideas presented by the Wilcannia community. The aim is to work toward the conservation of their history, culture and environment, and sustainable development.
Though we are aiming to get to Alice and hear about life under the NT intervention, the communities we have encountered show the broad an varying range of issues Aboriginal people face.
However, we on the bus have high optimism for their current and continuing struggle and look forward to building stronger links with the people we have met, and also the many we are yet to hear and learn from.
Now we heading to Adelaide, and from there to Alice.
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