Tension high as Australia is divided over holiday aimed at unity

[webfact]

Tension high as Australia is divided over holiday aimed at unity

By Colin Packham

REUTERS

 

FILE PHOTO - An Aboriginal protester holds a placard as she stands outside the Australian Prime Minister's office in Sydney, Australia, July 6, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File photo

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian city's bid to highlight the plight of indigenous people by boycotting Australia Day celebrations on Thursday has ignited a rancorous dispute, raised fears of violence and could backfire on reforms aimed at engendering reconciliation.

 

Leaders in the western city of Fremantle have cancelled the usual fireworks and other celebrations to mark Australia Day, the anniversary of the arrival in 1788 of the first British fleet, moving the party instead to Saturday.

 

For many indigenous Aborigines, who trace their lineage on the island continent back 50,000 years, Jan. 26 is "Invasion Day", the anniversary of the beginning of British colonisation of their lands and their brutal subjugation.

 

"We have to acknowledge that Australia has a dark past," the mayor of Fremantle, Brad Pettitt, told Reuters.

 

"The 26th is not just a day for celebration, it is a day that is difficult and conflicted for many people."

 

Fremantle's gesture has whipped up a storm of debate at a time that right-wing nationalist politics has been making a comeback, reflecting similar trends in the United States and Europe.

 

Reclaim Australia, the country's most prominent "alt-right" group, has planned a protest march in Fremantle on Jan. 26.

 

Group members have been involved in violent protests and Fremantle has engaged a security team to access the situation.

 

Pauline Hanson, whose One Nation party first gained international notoriety in the late 1990s with its appeal to white nationalism and outright racism, criticised the Fremantle decision.

 

"I'm totally against moving the celebrations. Australia Day is as it is," Hanson told Reuters.

 

"If we have problems and issues out there, let's debate those issues now. Changing the date is not going to change it," said Hanson, whose party has made a comeback over the past year, fuelled by fear of Islamist militancy and worry about immigration.

 

'REACTIONARY LURCH'

 

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, increasingly hostage to the right wing of his coalition government, which holds a tiny majority in parliament, has been drawn into the row.

 

The federal government has threatened to revoke Fremantle's right to hold citizenship ceremonies unless it goes ahead with celebrations on Thursday.

 

Pettitt said the issue of rights for Aboriginal people should not be drawn into the fray of party politics.

 

"There has been a reactionary lurch to the right and some important issues including the advancement of indigenous Australian rights are being lost in the left versus right of Australian politics," he said.

 

Outwardly easy-going Australia has a troubling race relations record.

 

A White Australia Policy, which was only dismantled in the late 1960s, favoured European migrants over non-whites. Aborigines were until then administered under flora and fauna laws.

 

The country's 700,000 or so indigenous people track near the bottom of its 23 million citizens in almost every economic and social indicator.

 

A referendum to recognise Aborigines in the constitution has been on hold for years but a change to recognise them as the first Australians is planned this year.

 

But some activists worry bitterness over the Fremantle row could sap support for the constitutional change, which would have to be approved in a compulsory national vote.

 

"People aren’t sufficiently aware of the issues and ideological divide may see some people oppose a constitutional change, but we need it, we need better housing and better services," said Rodney Dillon, indigenous campaigner at Amnesty International.

 

"Change is going to happen, it may not happen overnight but it will happen."

 

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-01-25

[lungbing]

50,000 years and they invent a pointed stick.

[Credo]

Perhaps all they needed was a pointed stick.   Necessity is the mother of invention.   

[halloween]

Informative article. I learned that the PM has/had an office in Sydney.

[tezzainthailand]

11 hours ago, lungbing said:

50,000 years and they invent a pointed stick.

....and a bent stick that when thrown returned to its owner.  That's pretty nifty.  Actually the indigenous peoples managed the land for tens of thousands of years. The Europeans on the other hand, not so good at land management in Australia.  Did you know that?

[halloween]

56 minutes ago, tezzainthailand said:

....and a bent stick that when thrown returned to its owner.  That's pretty nifty.  Actually the indigenous peoples managed the land for tens of thousands of years. The Europeans on the other hand, not so good at land management in Australia.  Did you know that?

No I didn't. OTOH is starting a scrub fire actually classed as land management because they didn't have much else in the way of it.

[malt25]

Me thinks English visitors were a blessing. Imagine the outcome if Spanish, Portuguese or Chinese had colonized.  

[jak2002003]

30 minutes ago, halloween said:

No I didn't. OTOH is starting a scrub fire actually classed as land management because they didn't have much else in the way of it.

And they had fantastic art, culture, traditions, survival skills, land management, conservation. They had no land borders and free movement.

 

They did not strip away natural resources, pollute rivers and lakes, kill of animal species, round up and butcher / torture other human races, steal their children to 'civilize' them.

 

Put your average European in the middle of the outback and see how long they last. 

 

Now these people have had their Country, land, culture, way of life, land taken from them.... how can you blame them for being annoyed about that?

 

 

[dexterm]

Seems somewhat insensitive to celebrate Australia Day as a day to unite all Australians on the  day that European colonizers arrived to lord it over the indigenous population. Sort of rubbing salt in the wound.

 

Wouldn't it be wiser to move the date to an event that did unite the country, maybe the referendum of 27 May 1967 granting citizenship to Aboriginal Australians after a mere 50,000 years.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_referendum,_1967_(Aboriginals)

[Cynical Sailor]

We should continue to celebrate Australia Day on 26 January while acknowledging the wrongs of our forebears. Records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808 and in 1935 all Australian states and territories had adopted the use of the term "Australia Day".

We can't erase or change our history, nor should we.

[Ace of Pop]

I recon they should have a Rotary Clothes Line and Barbecue Day run by Rodney Rude.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[simple1]

39 minutes ago, Cynical Sailor said:

We should continue to celebrate Australia Day on 26 January while acknowledging the wrongs of our forebears. Records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808 and in 1935 all Australian states and territories had adopted the use of the term "Australia Day".

We can't erase or change our history, nor should we.

 

Personally I am of the opinion 'Australia Day' should be moved to January 1. For those who don't know, the Commonwealth of Australia was created on 01/01/1901. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by simple1

[malt25]

20 minutes ago, simple1 said:

 

Personally I am of the opinion 'Australia Day' should be moved to January 1. For those who don't know, the Commonwealth of Australia was created on 01/01/1901. 

IF & that's a Big IF, we change the date, January 1st would be appropriate choice.

[tezzainthailand]

2 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

And they had fantastic art, culture, traditions, survival skills, land management, conservation. They had no land borders and free movement.

 

They did not strip away natural resources, pollute rivers and lakes, kill of animal species, round up and butcher / torture other human races, steal their children to 'civilize' them.

 

Put your average European in the middle of the outback and see how long they last. 

 

Now these people have had their Country, land, culture, way of life, land taken from them.... how can you blame them for being annoyed about that?

 

 

The 'old angry Anglo farts' have no interest in facts Jak.  Exactly, the white man (with a few exceptions) ravaged the land, had no understanding of the land and thought they knew best.  Australia could have advanced a lot quicker as a nation if they had respected the indigenous peoples and learned the indigenous methods of maintaining the land, but instead shunted the first Australians aside and relegated them to second class citizens (not even citizens until 1967).

[lensta]

With regard to the photo in the OP, no you don't own Australia, it is owned by all Australians, not just aboriginals.

[elgordo38]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

"We have to acknowledge that Australia has a dark past," the mayor of Fremantle, Brad Pettitt, told Reuters.

All so called civilized countries have a dark past in seizing and slaughtering native inhabitants. Why would their claims be any different than the claims made by China against Taiwan?

[halloween]

4 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

And they had fantastic art, culture, traditions, survival skills, land management, conservation. They had no land borders and free movement.

 

They did not strip away natural resources, pollute rivers and lakes, kill of animal species, round up and butcher / torture other human races, steal their children to 'civilize' them.

 

Put your average European in the middle of the outback and see how long they last. 

 

Now these people have had their Country, land, culture, way of life, land taken from them.... how can you blame them for being annoyed about that?

 

 

 

BS glorification of what was a Stone Age culture. No land borders? You think they all just got along swimmingly without tribal warfare?

[tezzainthailand]

11 minutes ago, halloween said:

 

BS glorification of what was a Stone Age culture. No land borders? You think they all just got along swimmingly without tribal warfare?

Hmm, about the time the Europeans came to Australia, slavery was in full swing.  Not quite the 'stone age' but It was an  age of barbarism back then.  Aborigines may have had their share of tribal war, but I've never  heard  of them adopting slavery among their people.

[halloween]

9 minutes ago, tezzainthailand said:

Hmm, about the time the Europeans came to Australia, slavery was in full swing.  Not quite the 'stone age' but It was an  age of barbarism back then.  Aborigines may have had their share of tribal war, but I've never  heard  of them adopting slavery among their people.

 

So what? What has the level of civilization of Europeans to do with the rubbish you subscribe to regarding Aboriginals? And FYI woman stealing was a common feature and cause of much of the tribal warfare.

[optad]

The issue won't go away. It is a shame the date is the actual anniversary of arrival; therein is the antagonism. Tokenistic as it  is, can be moved . Seemingly, the celebration cannot be seen beyond or reconciled on this day by some groups. Times have changed and won't happen. 

 

Interestingly, younger people are much more indig educated than baby boomers or even gen X. They'll make the call and suspect will choose another date in the coming decade. 

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, tezzainthailand said:

....and a bent stick that when thrown returned to its owner.  That's pretty nifty.  Actually the indigenous peoples managed the land for tens of thousands of years. The Europeans on the other hand, not so good at land management in Australia.  Did you know that?

I don't want to get into the debate about "rights" etc, but I do have to take issue with them "managing" the land. Far as I know they just existed within the ecosystem, not changing it in any way. Managing implies they had a plan and the means to carry it out, eg they would have had to decide how many of a species they could kill, to avoid overkill- that would have required counting the numbers of said species and understanding the number that could be supported in a particular area .

If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will inform me and why.

[tezzainthailand]

16 minutes ago, halloween said:

 

So what? What has the level of civilization of Europeans to do with the rubbish you subscribe to regarding Aboriginals? And FYI woman stealing was a common feature and cause of much of the tribal warfare.

So what ?

[halloween]

3 minutes ago, tezzainthailand said:

So what ?

 

Again may I point out that highlighting the faults of the european culture of the time does nothing to support your claims of the wonderful aboriginal culture or their alleged land management practises.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I don't want to get into the debate about "rights" etc, but I do have to take issue with them "managing" the land. Far as I know they just existed within the ecosystem, not changing it in any way. Managing implies they had a plan and the means to carry it out, eg they would have had to decide how many of a species they could kill, to avoid overkill- that would have required counting the numbers of said species and understanding the number that could be supported in a particular area .

If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will inform me and why.

 

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/history/The-Biggest-Estate-on-Earth-Bill-Gammage-9781742377483

[Baerboxer]

20 hours ago, lungbing said:

50,000 years and they invent a pointed stick.

 

And what were the ancestors of the invaders and conquerors doing 50,000 years ago? 

 

Civilization, a perception.

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, lensta said:

With regard to the photo in the OP, no you don't own Australia, it is owned by all Australians, not just aboriginals.

 

So those "new" Australians who came along a few hundred years ago and forcibly took the land from the owners who'd held it for 50,000 years, have equal ownership.

 

Yeah, righto.

[lensta]

12 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

So those "new" Australians who came along a few hundred years ago and forcibly took the land from the owners who'd held it for 50,000 years, have equal ownership.

 

Yeah, righto.

They are a conquered race, get over it.

 

[optad]

2 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

So those "new" Australians who came along a few hundred years ago and forcibly took the land from the owners who'd held it for 50,000 years, have equal ownership.

 

Yeah, righto.

I think, much of the problem has been how badly the topic has parsed nationally.  

 

In the sixties it was just largely ignored. Whitlam and Vincent Lingiari in the seventies kicked it back into the public debate then we waited for Mabo and Redfern from Keating and then the sorry statement.

 

The resolution has been so stilted people over fifty just cannot link the dots above. Someone mentioned the 1967 referendum and I will add Gary Foley, but the fear of losing title to indig Australians has shifted to a fear of having to understand stuff white australians  don't want to know.

 

I think this a good, slow growth and we will get there. Also, will add, I am glad older Australians are not still empowered on these matters. 

[lungnorm]

1 minute ago, lensta said:

They are a conquered race, get over it.

 

One thing that is never reported. The original inhabitants get free housing, free food free medical free everybloody thing and its not them that do the complaining. Only the so called do gooders  otherwise known as Leftards.

[zorro1]

50,000 years and they invent a pointed stick.

Seriously LMAO!