Why we will protest the #Genocidal20 Belonging to a nation is about rights & responsibilities. G20 member states suppress the nationhood of Indigenous peoples everywhere. Callum Clayton-Dixon (Nganyaywana) looks at why the question of nationalism is core to the Aboriginal struggle. “Our sovereignty and nationalism will be back on the agenda very firmly with new generations. Our younger generations are not going to let that sort of thing die. I think that’ll come alive again.” Palawa activist Jim Everett, 2004
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he colonization of our lands and lives began with English invasion in 1788, an unprovoked and undeclared war, one nation against another nation. 226 years later, the Australian colony will play host to the annual G20 summit. From Abbott to Obama, leaders of the world’s major economies will meet in Brisbane this November to discuss and determine the global economic agenda. These twenty nation states are responsible for the genocide and dispossession of Indigenous peoples the world over. Thousands of Aboriginal people converged on Brisbane in 1982 to protest the Stolenwealth Games. Demonstrators demanded recognition of Aboriginal land rights and the abolition of Queensland’s apartheid Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Act. Chants of ‘Land Rights Now’ and ‘Smash the Act’ in Brisbane’s city streets echoed across the continent and around the globe. The whole world was watching. 32 years on from this landmark in the Aboriginal struggle, the G20 summit presents another opportunity for us to have our voices heard on the world stage. Aboriginal people from across the continent will converge on Brisbane to protest this meeting of world leaders. Why? This question finds its roots in our fundamental rights and responsibilities as the Indigenous people of the land they now call ‘Australia’. Our nationalism is the assertion of these rights and responsibilities. Bloodline connection to country gives us the inalienable right to our traditional territories, to political independence, and to maintain our cultures against assimilation. We ISSUE 6 #Genocidal20
have the right to land, life and liberty. But rights are nothing without responsibilities. Our responsibilities as Indigenous people are based in protecting and upholding the two most important relationships that exist – our relationship with land and the relationship we have with each other. Our ability to exercise these rights and fulfil these responsibilities is suppressed by another nation, a colonial nation, the Australian nation. Are we Australians? Are we members of a nation built upon the dispossession and bloodshed of our ancestors, the theft of Aboriginal land and the genocide of Aboriginal people? Which rights and responsibilities are core to the Australian identity? The Australian government claims citizenship is “an ongoing commitment to Australia and all that this country stands for”. Australian citizens are obliged to: ‹ obey the law; ‹ defend Australia should the need arise; ‹ serve on a jury if called to do so; and ‹ vote in federal and state or territory elections, and in a referendum
‘privileges’ of Australian citizenship: ‹ voting in federal and state or territory elections, and in a referendum; ‹ applying for work in Australian Public Service or Australian Defense Force; ‹ standing for election to parliament; ‹ applying for an Australian passport and re-entering Australia freely; ‹ receiving help from an Australian official while overseas; and ‹ registering children born overseas as Australian citizens by descent
www.citizenship.gov.au
So what does this mean for Aboriginal people who embrace Australian citizenship? You accept the confines of a legal system that systematically discriminates against your family and community on a daily basis. Under threat of $170 fines and criminal convictions, you participate in elections dominated by two parties whose policies are one and the same in the oppression of Aboriginal people. You pledge your allegiance to fight in defence of a nation with a longstanding military tradition of subjugating Aboriginal people – from the frontier war violence to 2007 when the federal government deployed 600 soldiers in the Northern Territory to enforce apartheid law on Aboriginal communities. As well as purporting to stand up for equality, the Australian state claims to champion freedom of speech, expression, association, religion and secular government – liberal ideals serving only the interests of wealthy Whites with power and privilege. Whether it was the vote (1962) or being counted in the census (1967), chasing White equality in the civil rights agenda has done virtually nothing for Aboriginal people. We linger in a state of fourth worldness – a third world people living under the yoke of a first world nation, a nation that continues to deny us the right to determine our own futures in our own lands. Aboriginal people are incarcerated at five times the rate of Blacks under apartheid in South Africa, Australia leads the world in linguicide, and our life expectancy is still more than 10 years below that of Australians. The mining industry wreaks havoc on our lands and waters under the guise of “economic development” while John Howard’s racially discriminatory intervention into Brisbane Blacks P2
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the Northern Territory has been extended for another decade. And we have no genuine representation inside or external to the powerful institutions of the Australian state. The best the Australian government wants is for you to be allowed to sit at their table, to learn to do as they do and abide by their rules. You will identify with a flag drenched in the blood and suffering of your ancestors. You will call the colonial nation’s Constitution your own, a document which excluded your people from the outset. You will commemorate and glorify the sacrifice of Australian soldiers who fought in foreign wars while the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal warriors defending our lands from British invasion goes untold. You will sing an anthem which celebrates 226 years of violent colonization and makes no mention of your people’s rich history since the first sunrise. Like everybody else on this planet, we as Aboriginal people have the right
to determine our political status. We can identify in whatever way we see fit. We have the right to embrace Australian citizenship, to capitulate. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are content to exist as just another ethnic minority group assimilating into the body politic of a colonial state. We have long been conditioned and coerced into accepting our “special but not separate place” in John Howard’s “reconciled and indivisible” Australia. Come the 15th and 16th of November, Prime Minister Tony Abbott will be representing Australia at the G20 summit. But he won’t represent me. Because I’m not Australian, and I’ll never be Australian. I’m Nganyaywana, and I’ll always be Nganyaywana. What happened to the days of freedom and independence? Did we consent to this colonial occupation, to the unyielding assault on our lands, lives and liberties? The question of nationalism is the fundamental question of the
Aboriginal struggle. What will be our message to oppressed peoples around the world when we flood Brisbane’s city streets with red, black and yellow? Fight the ongoing colonization of our lands and lives. Revive that which underpinned our societies prior to colonization. We’ll protest the #Genocidal20 for the same reason Pemulwuy fought the British, the same reason the Aboriginal Embassy was established on the Australian government’s doorstep in 1972, and the same reason we protest Australia’s celebration of invasion on the 26th of January every year. Because we refuse to be treated as aliens in our own lands, and because the only justice we will get is the justice we take. Nations must fight for their self-determination. Resist. Reconstruct. Decolonize. Callum Clayton-Dixon is a Nganyaywana man, an Aboriginal nationalist, and the co-editor of Brisbane Blacks.
Authoritarian G20 Act won’t deter us When the international spotlight hits Australia, “safety and security” is high on the colonial government’s agenda. PEKERI RUSKA (Goenpul) takes a look at repressive precautions being taken by the Australian state in preparing for the G20 summit this November in Brisbane.
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he Queensland capital is getting ready to lock down for a two day meeting of world leaders in midNovember. More than $171 million has been allocated to “city improvement works” in an effort by government “to help Brisbane shine” in time for the G20 summit. Homeless people will be offered hotel rooms, bins will be sealed to prevent bomb concealment, public transport will be affected, and roads will be closed. The G20 ‘red zone’ will encompass the central business district and Spring Hill along with much of Kangaroo Point, Fortitude Valley and South Brisbane. ISSUE 6 #Genocidal20
Musgrave Park has been a significant Aboriginal site both as a traditional meeting place and as a place core to contemporary Aboriginal activism (e.g. 1982 Commonwealth Games protests, Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy). Conveniently, the entire park has been declared part of the red zone under the G20 Safety and Security Act 2013. This is undoubtedly an attempt to restrict and control Aboriginal demonstrations against the G20. Protest has been an integral part of the Aboriginal resistance for decades, a means of forcing both the Australian public and the rest of the world to hear
our otherwise marginalized voices. The Australian government has long sought to pacify and suppress the voices of Aboriginal people. In defiance of these efforts, Aboriginal people have taken to the streets in droves to do express our dissatisfaction with consecutive Australian governments denying our basic human rights. During the 1982 Stolenwealth Games protests, hundreds of Aboriginal people were arrested. The Commonwealth Games Act and Traffic Act of the time outlawed street protests. This legislation also gave police the power to arrest protestors holding Brisbane Blacks P4
placards as well as excessive search and detain powers. After just three days of the Games, 260 Aboriginal people had been arrested including Gunditjmara man Kelvin Onus-King.
“It was a rough ride to the cop shop. They’d jam on the breaks with about eight of us in the back. In one cell there was up to 20 people, and it was stinking hot.” Most of those arrested received a traffic fine that had to be paid before they were released. Police frequently harassed and provoked protestors. According to Kelvin, Musgrave Park was surrounded by police on foot and horseback – “a ploy to keep us awake”.
“Every couple of hours they would put their sirens on, get the dogs barking or have a contingency of officers walk through.” The Traffic Act required a permit to be issued by the District Superintendent of Traffic for a march to take place. Only
map of G20 security RED ZONE
two permits were ever issued. “When we marched, police would give orders for us to disperse,” Kelvin recalls.
the $370 million event. Yet again, Aboriginal people will bear the brunt of these extreme ‘security’ provisions.
Despite being confronted with hostility and brutality from police, our people weren’t deterred. They took to the streets and ensured the world was not only watching the games, but hearing their messages as well.
There is an extensive list of prohibited items including banners over 200x100cm, devices capable of emitting loud noises, and clothing items capable of concealing an individual’s identity. Police have again been granted excessive stop and search powers. The legislation outlines the presumption against bail, whereby those arrested will likely be detained for the entire duration off the G20 summit.
Kelvin says the primary purpose of the protests was “to expose the treatment of Aboriginal people by the Australian Government on the international stage”.
“We showed the rest of the world that our situation was appalling.” Brisbane will once again draw the world’s attention, with as many as 4000 delegates and 3000 media representatives expected to attend the G20. And the Australian Government has been quick to introduce laws aimed at restricting and controlling the actions of Aboriginal protestors. The G20 Safety and Security Act 2013 is triple the size of the Commonwealth Games Act 1982. As well as 7000 Australian police and army personnel, an additional 200 officers from New Zealand will be called on to ensure “the safety and security” of those attending
Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”. The G20 Act violates this international covenant to which the Australian government is a signatory. So much for QLD Premier Campbell Newman’s “peace loving, friendly, vibrant democracy”. But we shouldn’t be discouraged by authoritarian ‘precautions’ taken by an oppressive colonial government. Instead, this should ignite the fire that burns in each of us. If we sit idle, letting a piece of legislation instill us with fear and suppress our voices, we allow a form of assimilation to occur. Pekeri Ruska is a Goenpul woman, a criminal lawyer practicing in so-called Victoria, and co-editor of Brisbane Blacks.
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To be a warrior is to believe in what you are fighting for, to believe that your life and your time are not wasted in banding together with like-minded warriors. It’s about defending our families and our communities.
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The whole world will be watching Wayne Wharton (Kooma) says the 1982 Commonwealth Games protests were a turning point in the Aboriginal movement, and believes the G20 summit will mark another major shift.
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he G20 will be an opportunity for us to take our message to the rest of the world without having those token Aboriginal people handpicked and resourced by the Australian government purporting to talk on our behalf and taking the government line. Our message will be one message. Australia must decolonize. All of the issues we face stem from the fact that Australia is a colony, and they still occupy this land by force as a colony. Everything stems from the fact that Australia still acts as a colony and as a nation of thieves, and they still occupy this ISSUE 6 #Genocidal20
continent by force. Australia must come to grips with these facts. This will take a lot of courage on behalf of the dominant society, because they have the most lose. It really gets down to how much material gain they are willing to sacrifice.
But it’s not all about marching the streets and getting arrested. There are a lot of issues to be angry about. And there’s a lot of ways we can also be constructive, and that’s why we will be having forums and workshops.
Against all the obstacles we have had put up against us, the resilience and the strength our people have showed on numerous occasions in turning the tide has been overwhelming. Much like the Brisbane Commonwealth Games in 1982, the G20 will be a milestone, a shift, something to galvanize us for the next major push. The protests in ‘82 galvanized land rights in Queensland, and around the country. The pendulum shifted in ’82. Our struggle is only just beginning again. We’ve found a new voice. It’s time for Black politics to really become as it was before colonization. The whole world will be watching.
“We have to be strategic in maintaining our campaign so that people around the country and around the world see and think about what we’re saying.”
We’re looking for strong people, warriors. The Australian government will use force and whatever military strategies they can to achieve the outcomes of their meeting. And there has always been fear of persecution from police. I can remember back in ‘82 when there were a whole lot of grandmothers and grandfathers that were on the frontline of the marches with their children and their grandchildren.
I’ve been talking to Aboriginal people right around the country, and many are coming. The week of events we have planned will be an opportunity for our people to come together, to learn, to communicate, to have discussions, to create networks, and to really project what we’re going to be doing over the next few years. Wayne Wharton is a Kooma man, a veteran Aboriginal activist and sovereignty campaigner. He was involved in the Aboriginal protest actions against the 1982 Stolenwealth Games in Brisbane.
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Stolenwealth Games protests Brisbane 1982
Musgrave Park NOVEMBER 8-16 Cordelia St
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media hub
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*BSG = Brisbane Sovereign Grannies
advocacy group campaigning against forced removal of Aboriginal children
Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy PROGRAM NOV 8th (Saturday) • set up camp in Musgrave Park NOV 9th (Sunday) • Yarning Circles (NT Intervention, police brutality, youth suicide) from 9am-4pm • Welcome to Country ceremony @ 4pm NOV 10th (Monday) • Stop Stealing our Children rally/march @ 9am & forum @1pm (call Karen Fusi on 0455 728 617 for more info) NOV 11th (Tuesday) • Our Land, Our Water, Our Future: No Waste Dumps, No Uranium Mining, No Fracking! rally/march @ 9am & forum @1pm (call Paul Spearim on 0416 069 788 for more info) NOV 12th (Wednesday) • Young Peoples Forum: Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance from 9.30am-4.30pm (call Callum ClaytonDixon on 0428 152 777 for more info) NOV 13th (Thursday) • Beyond Native Title: Aboriginal Nations Assembly, Sovereignty & Treaties forum from 9.30am-4.30pm (call Wayne Wharton on 0408 064 900 for more info)
NOV 14th (Friday) • Deaths In Custody rally/march @ 10am & forum @1pm (call Sam Watson on 0401 227 443 for more information) • Corroboree (Indigenous song, dance and story from around the continent and around the world) @3pm NOV 15/16th (Saturday & Sunday) • Decolonization Before Profit rally/march @ 9am & Global Indigenous Conference from 1pm (call Wayne Wharton on 0408 064 900 for more information) • Concert from 7-10pm (SATURDAY) *rallies/marches will begin at Roma Street Forum and finish in Musgrave Park (except Deaths in Custody rally/march which begins at Post Office Square in Brisbane City) *breakfast @ 7am, lunch @ 12pm & dinner @ 6pm daily ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND! call Jade Slockee on 0437 084 595 for more information about the overall program
Decolonization - PHASE ONE
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ecolonization is the ending of colonialism and the liberation of the colonized. This requires the dismantling of the colonial government and its entire social system upon which control and exploitation are based. It is therefore a revolutionary struggle aimed at transforming the entire social system and re-establishing the sovereignty of tribal peoples. Decolonization is the ending of colonialism and the liberation of the colonized. This requires the dismantling of the colonial government and its entire social system upon which control and exploitation are based. Decolonization is therefore a revolutionary struggle aimed at transforming the entire social system and re-establishing the sovereignty of tribal peoples. In political terms, this means a radical decentralization of national power (i.e. the dismantling of the nation-state) and the establishment of local autonomy (community and region, traditionally the village and tribal nation). Any discussion of decolonization that does not take into consideration the destruction of the colonial system and the liberation of land and people can only lead to greater assimilation and control. Just as colonialism enters and passes through various phases, beginning first with recon missions and then the application of military force, so too does decolonization. It would be a mistake to conceive of decolonization as a single event. Instead, it is a process that begins with individuals and small groups. The primary focus in the first phase of decolonization is on disengaging from the colonial system and relearning one’s history, culture, etc. This phase places a heavy emphasis on rejecting European society and embracing all that is Indigenous as good and positive. Some common steps in this phase include returning to one’s community, re-establishing family relations,
excerpt from ’Colonization & Decolonization: A manual for Indigenous Liberation in the 21st Century’ by Editor of Warrior Publications Gord Hill (Kwakwak’wakw)
relearning culture (i.e. art, language, songs, ceremonies, hunting, and fishing). This not only counters the destructive effects of colonialism, but also instils in the Indigenous person a greater respect and appreciation for their own culture and way of life. In many ways it is a struggle for identity and purpose. This is a crucial first step in any decolonization process. The culture of the colonized is transformed into the means of resistance, incorporating new forms of expression and interpreting traditional culture in order to make it relevant to the new colonial reality and present generations.
As this resistance grows and expands, it not only reapplies traditional culture but revitalizes it, frequently adapting new forms of expression, as part of the decolonization process. However, without the infusion of radical and revolutionary analysis, the focus on cultural identity in and of itself does not necessarily lead to anticolonial consciousness. In fact, this focus on ‘culture’ alone can easily lead to conservative and even precolonial sentiments. Empowered by their renewed cultural identity, one frequently drawn from a mishmash of tradition, Christianity, and New Age spirituality, the ‘decolonized’
individual begins to believe that nothing has really changed, that they are in fact living the way of life of their ancestors, albeit in a very different world. They rationalize their relationship to the colonial world as one of supreme adaptation, while at the same time pitting their ‘personal power’ against the power of the system. In this fantasy world, inspired in no small part by the system itself, the spiritualists believe that through prayer and ceremonies alone everything will work out just fine. These religious ideologies (New Age spirituality and Christianity) arise from the European slave society, teaching obedience and submission to authority, including the principle of non-violence in the face of violent repression (a tactic of the weak elevated to a moral or spiritual principle). When confronted with the overwhelming oppression and destruction perpetuated by the system, the New Age spiritualists retreat into their fantasy world, where all conflict is resolved and there are no distinctions made between oppressor and oppressed. From the very outset, then, there is a possibility for co-optation of the decolonization efforts made by individuals. This co-optation is, in part, engineered by the colonial system in the form of funding and publicity for cultural programs, educational materials, etc. and official recognition of high profile collaborators as ‘spiritual leaders’. While they actively oppose organized resistance, they are silent in regards to colonial oppression and advocate maintaining the status quo. When considering the process of decolonization and the tendency for many Indigenous people to become co-opted even when engaging in traditional cultural practices, a primary element we find lacking is that of the warrior. Gord Hill is a Kwakwakawak’w man, Native anti-colonial activist, author and arist from so-called ‘Canada’.
Why we protested the 1982 Stolenwealth Games We wanted to smash the apartheid Queensland Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Act, to be part of that change. Our Victorian contingent organized a 45 seat bus to go up to Brisbane and give support to the Murries in Queensland. The police told us we couldn’t march. But we weren’t frightened. We showed the world that Black people could stand up. Monica Morgan, yorta Yorta
When we realise there’s going to be an international spotlight on our country, it’s the time to activate and mobilize ourselves. 1982 was about exposing this nation for what it really is, exposing the lie of Australia. I don’t expect the criminals to give us justice. We need to expose them to the rest of the world, like apartheid was exposed to the rest of the world in South Africa. ROBBIE THORPE, Gunnai
Every time the British Empire comes to our country, we have to tell them that they are the ones who have committed the theft and the genocide. We protested the 1982 Stolenwealth Games in Brisbane for the same reason we protested the 2006 Stolenwealth Games in Melbourne. Because the wealth they stole is ours. jenny munro, wiradjuri
Brisbane Blacks is an independent non-profit Aboriginal magazine with the sole purpose of awakening Black CONSCIENCE, raising Black AWARENESS and articulating Black RESISTANCE. Our core philosophy is Aboriginal nationalism. We thank all contributors, printers and distributors for helping to make Brisbane Blacks a reality. Goenpul woman Pekeri Ruska and Nganyaywana man Callum Clayton-Dixon co-edit this publication. if you would like to subscribe, have any questions about Brisbane Blacks or would like to contribute content, call 0435 950 469 or send an email to brisbaneblacksmedia@gmail.com *cover art by Jade Slockee (Gumbaynggirr)
invasionRESISTANCE missions reservations
RECONSTRUCTIONdispossession massacres slavery Apartheid
desecrationNATIONHOOD
deaths in custody BLACK NATIONS RISING genocide stolen generations stolen land CARE4COUNTRy intervention INCARCERATION BLACK POWERassimilation environmental destruction
stolen wagesreclaim
terra nullius scorched earth
DECOLONIZE rightscolonialismresponsibilities