Constitutions and Interventions

Last night I attended a forum at the ABC in Sydney: “A Constitution for all Australians – where to next for Indigenous recognition?” It was sponsored by the National Archives of Australia, because 9 July is the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s signing of the Australian Constitution.

The speakers were Professor Mick Dodson AM (ANU), Professor Megan Davis (UNSW), Ms. Alison Page, and Professor Father Frank Brennan AO (ACU). It was an interesting discussion as these four people talked about the work of the Expert Panel on the inclusion of Indigenous people in the Australian Constitution, and what Aboriginal people hope for at this time.

It is clear that Constitutional change will have an important impact on the way First Peoples see themselves and their place in Australian society, which will impact on health and well-being. It is change that is supported by a majority of people, particularly when it comes to recognition of Aboriginal people and the ending of discrimination.

The Federal Government has been slow to respond to the recommendations of the Panel, which is disappointing. There is significant support for Constitutional change, and as Ms. Page said, this is a wave that people need to catch and ride.

Please encourage people to find out about the panel’s recommendations, and encourage your local Federal member to seek a response from the Government.

You can hear the Forum on ABC Radio National, Bright Ideas, Monday 9 July.

On the way to Sydney I read the latest edition of National Indigenous Times. There on the front page was Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra promising that the next step in the protest of Aboriginal people against the Northern Territory Intervention would be an appeal to the High Court. In a disgraceful moment in our history the Government passed its legislation this week to continue this racist intervention, against the wishes of the First Peoples. The High Court may be the next place to act.

This morning I attended a NAIDOC celebration, and was reminded of the courage of those who started and supported the tent Embassy in Canberra, and the impact this had on the struggle for land rights and other issues.

We still have a long way to go to achieve justice for First Peoples, and to build an inclusive and reconciled community. There is a lot to be learned and a lot to do.

Listening to Indigenous voices

One of the truly destructive marks of colonialism is the undermining of leadership and authority structures as a way of destroying organised opposition. Colonial powers, including churches, privilege other voices and choose who they will listen to. Usually those voices are the more co-operative ones or the less angry ones or the voices of people trying to find a place in the new order.

The more recent equivalent is the pretence of ‘consultation.’ Government representatives fly into communities, hold brief meetings around pre-set agendas and programs, and fly out again before the last word is said. The cultural divide is so wide, and the power imbalance so massive that consultation is a sham, particularly when there is no intention to make any of the changes suggested. Decisions have already been made, driven by political assessments, and minor tweakings are the only possibility.

One of the things which the Northern Territory Emergency Response shows, though, is that people will not be silenced that easily. Those with leadership responsibilities in their community will find ways to speak. Recently there was a meeting of representatives from the people of the 8 nations in the Western, Central and East Arnhem Land areas of the Northern Territory. They gathered under Yolngu Makarr Dhuni (Yolngu Nations Assembly) to express their rejection of the Strong Futures Bill, affirm their place in the land, and call for genuine partnership and self-determination rather than this sort of top-down intervention in their lives.

For Christians this is about justice, hearing the voices of those who are marginalized, and deciding who we will sit with in our community. It is about creating spaces so that people can speak and be heard.

Another voice which is offering alternative voices to government propaganda on this issue and bilingual schooling is the website of the Northern Synod of the Uniting Church: http://www.ns.uca.org.au/  Check it out. Share information with your local Federal member.

A denial of fullness of life.

In John 10:10 Jesus says that he has come that people may have life, “and have it abundantly.” This has become for me a central beginning point for reflection on the shape of the Christian life. What does it mean to have abundant life or fullness of life? What does human well-being look like?

The Basis of Union of the Uniting Church affirms that “Jesus is head over all things, the beginning of a new creation, of a new humanity. God in Christ has given to all people in the Church the Holy Spirit as a pledge and foretaste of that coming reconciliation and renewal that is the end in view for the whole creation” (paragraph 3).

Reconciliation, renewal and abundant life; these sit at the heart of the desire of God and the nature of the church.

Last night I went to see a documentary in a theatre in Newcastle. It was the only public showing of the film “Our Generation,’ a viewing sponsored by the Wollotuka Centre at Newcastle University. The film explores the impact of Government policy, and particularly the Intervention, on the Aboriginal people of Eastern Arnhem Land.

This is the story of the denial of human well-being. It is a story of thinly veiled racism, and the continuation of assimilation policies hidden under fancy words. It is about the denial of the ability of Aboriginal people to exercise control over their own lives, and to be Aboriginal people rather than black reflections of European society. It is about the denial of the rights of Aboriginal people to be treated as citizens, with the race discrimination Act being suspended to allow the Intervention. It is about an attempt to steal people’s land, and broken promises and blackmail – do what we tell you or there is no money for basic things like housing and education. It is about multiple breaches of the UN statements on Indigenous rights which the Australian government says it believes in. It is about the denial of language and culture, and inappropriate and imposed solutions. It is about the continuation of Government policy that spends money on white advisors and managers and almost nothing on the people.

Buy a copy for yourself for Christmas. Buy a copy for your local Federal member. Take some friends to see your local member and tell her/him to end the Intervention immediately and consult in a genuine way with Aboriginal people.