It all happened this week. Sad in many ways and yet it at least brings Aboriginal issues to the fore in the lead up to the referendum on the constitutional recognition of Australia's First Peoples.
Much as I am a passionate supporter of the resolution of Aboriginal issues in our great land I cannot condone any action that puts others in a situation of physical fear, namely our PM. Tony Abbot's comments were ill timed and ill considered.
I was intrigued by the tent embassy representative arguments on sovereignty for the First Australians dating back to legislation from Queen Victoria's reign. These reps were asked whether they wanted self rule in their native lands. They seemed confused about this and I am also very confused. It may be opportune to revisit the recent Sander's report from WA in which self determination, and if I recall correctly, some self government models for Aboriginal persons were recommended.
Coming out of the protest was the view by some protesters that the whites should "...take their roses and go back to England". Very tricky and it will be intriguing to see how this view plays out in the coming months. It needs to be recognised that the Australian population is made up of many different cultures from all over the world. Many of these new arrivals will have no understanding of the events from 1788 onwards in respect of Aboriginal peoples.
At the risk of being accused of the cracked record syndrome I again urge the powers that be, namely a bipartisan set of Federal and State pollies and key leaders of the various Aboriginal communities to support a massive TV campaign to open up the issues and the successes with the aim of educating the Australian population about Australia's First Peoples. This must be done before any referendum if there is to be an informed vote that if successful in recognising the Aborigines as the First Peoples, will be part of a massive change for the better for these First Peoples. Such a campaign needs to be designed by advertising professionals in conjunction with recognised leaders of various Aboriginal communities. A hollow meaningless yes vote would be very disappointing.
Let's keep moving forward.
