WGAR News: "The tent embassy: fact v fiction, black v white" by Chris Graham

Newsletter date: 20 February 2012

Contents:
* "Aboriginal meetings across Australia to build national unity government" by Michael Anderson
* "The tent embassy: fact v fiction, black v white" by Chris Graham
* More on the Tent Embassy protest on Invasion Day

* "ABORIGINAL MEETINGS ACROSS AUSTRALIA TO BUILD NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT" BY MICHAEL ANDERSON:

- Media Release

Aboriginal meetings across Australia to build national unity government
http://www.indymedia.org.au/2012/02/17/aboriginal-meetings-across-austra...
17 Feb 12: "A prominent Aboriginal activist has announced a plan to visit Aboriginal people all over the country with the aim of forming a national unity government to be known as the 'Sovereign Union'.
Michael Anderson, the last survivor of the four young men who set up the Aboriginal Embassy in Canberra in 1972, says it’s one of the outcomes of its 40th anniversary corroboree from 26 to 28 January.
"We will commence formal talks when I meet with delegates of 45 Aboriginal nations from across the Murray Darling Basin at the end of this month in Canberra," he writes in a media release.
"I will then travel to Western Australia to meet with representatives of the Nyoongar Nation and others who are in the process of organizing their delegates in Perth.""

* "THE TENT EMBASSY: FACT V FICTION, BLACK V WHITE" BY CHRIS GRAHAM:

- Analysis / Opinion

Tog's Place.Com:
The tent embassy: fact v fiction, black v white by Chris Graham
[scroll down page] http://togsplace.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/tent-embassy-fact-v-fiction-bla...
15 Feb 12: "There is perhaps no event in the last few decades that better sums up the divide between black and white Australia than the debacle that engulfed the Embassy celebrations. It had everything: media misreporting; white political mischief; black political disunity; police violence; frustrated activists. And it had the odd rat-bag, black and white. If nothing else, the debacle that engulfed the Tent Embassy celebration has once again exposed to the rest of the world the racist underbelly of a very ignorant nation." Chris Graham, Managing Editor of Tracker Magazine

agendaTracker: Inside the Tent: The 'behind the scenes' story of the Tent Embassy debacle
http://tracker.org.au/2012/02/inside-the-tent/
13 Feb 12: "Some believe the debacle that engulfed the Tent Embassy 40th anniversary celebrations in Canberra last month set back the Aboriginal cause a decade or two. CHRIS GRAHAM, who served as the Embassy’s media adviser for the event, thinks its opened up an opportunity for a conversation about the future of Aboriginal protest." Chris Graham

See:

WGAR News: Eyewitness accounts of the Tent Embassy protest on Invasion Day / Sovereignty Day (2 Feb 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/02/02/wgar-news-eyewitness-accounts-of-the-...

WGAR News: More on the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest on Invasion Day (8 Feb 12)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/02/08/wgar-news-four-actions-to-help-stop-t...

WGAR News: Tent Embassy protest interviews with Michael Anderson, Jeff McMullen, Chris Graham, etc (9 Feb 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/02/09/wgar-news-tent-embassy-protest-interv...

* MORE ON THE TENT EMBASSY PROTEST ON INVASION DAY:

- Audio Interviews

Radio Show: Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond
http://www.indigenouspolitics.com/?p=29
[download interview] http://www.4shared.com/mp3/-lOVov7c/Anderson_and_AbunimahPodCast.html
7 Feb 12: "Join your host, J Kehaulani Kauanui, for a two-part show. The first segment will feature Indigenous Australian leader Michael Anderson (Nyoongar Ghurradjong Murri Ghillar) as a guest for an interview about the recent debacle during Australia Day (also known as Invasion Day) on January 26, 2012, when demonstrators confronted Prime Minister Julia Giillard and opposition party leader Tony Abbott in relation to the Aboriginal "Tent Embassy", which he co-established in 1972 that sits on the lawn directly facing Parliament. He will discuss the unresolved sovereignty claim of indigenous Australians."

Radio Adelaide Breakfast with Tim Brunero: Future of the Tent Embassy Challenged
http://radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/future-of-the-ten...
10 Feb 12: "Some people in our community are fuelling racial tensions by calling for the removal of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy at a time of intense and angry national debate. Nunga Wangga’s Andrea Fraser spoke with outspoken Aboriginal Activist, Barbara Shaw who is one of the most vocal members of an Australian group campaigning to put an end to the Northern Territory Emergency Response in Aboriginal communities which was introduced by the Rudd Government in 2007."

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
Tent Embassy Founder Speaks on Australia Day Events
http://caama.com.au/tent-embassy-founder-speaks-on-australia-day-events
9 Feb 12: "An original member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy says the group of protestors who burned the Australian Flag did so as a symbol of rejection for the way Government has treated Aboriginal people…not an attack on all Australians. During a protest held on Australia Day a group of protesters were captured on video burning the Australian flag a piece of footage which became a focus of mainstream media coverage and offended many Australians."

- Audio

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
CAAMA Radio News 13-02-2012
http://caama.com.au/caama-radio-news-13-02-2012
13 Feb 12: "A Canberra based academic who witnessed the events which took place at a restaurant during the Aboriginal Tent embassy celebration has called for fundamental reform of the mainstream media following reports of the confrontation which were constantly referred to as being violent."

- Interviews

newsTracker: Tent Embassy protests: Keeping the fight alive
http://tracker.org.au/2012/02/tent-embassy-protests-keeping-the-fight-al...
13 Feb 12: "AMY MCQUIRE* speaks to three veterans of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy to find out the way forward for the next generation of black activists. The young warriors of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy are older now. They’ve seen governments come and go, they’ve seen race relations worsen, and they’ve seen issues like land rights fall off the national agenda. But the tents remain. The battles they fought as teenagers still stain those lawns. Today they hope that legacy will be taken up by the younger generation. Because, they say, very little has changed."

- Analysis / Opinion

Crikey: Elsewhere: actual journalism on the Australia Day tent embassy protest incident
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2012/02/15/elsewhere-actual-journa...
15 Feb 12: "Kudos to our parent site, Crikey, for this fine article in today’s daily email, exploring the truth of what happened on Australia Day at that restaurant in Canberra. (If you haven’t seen these points made or debated prominently in the national media, perhaps ask yourself why you should believe their coverage in the future.) First point (in terms of the day’s chronology) - Abbott’s original claims about the tent embassy commemorating its 40th anniversary, and just how far from the truth they were: ... " Jeremy Sear

agendaTracker: On the scene: The tent embassy protest
http://tracker.org.au/2012/02/on-the-scene-the-tent-embassy-protest/
13 Feb 12: "There were alot of rumours circulating the day after the Survival Day protests erupted on television screens. AMY MCQUIRE* penned this for Crikey.com.au on January 27. The most striking aspect of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protests, which sprung onto the media’s radar on Survival Day, was the stark difference between the reports of the events, and the reality. This week, 2000 people made their way to the tent embassy to camp on the land where four Aboriginal men had helped change the course of Aboriginal political history 40 years prior." Amy McQuire

Green Left: Racism biggest threat to health and safety
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49986
11 Feb 12: "As 2000 Aboriginal people and their supporters gathered at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Tent Embassy in Canberra, Coalition leader Tony Abbott said: "I can understand why the Tent Embassy was established all those years ago. I think a lot has changed for the better since then… I think it probably is time to move on from that." Through all the media hype over the so-called riot his comments supposedly caused, it could be easy to forget the many reasons Aboriginal people have to protest, 40 years on." Emma Murphy & Peter Robson, Darwin

- Video

ABC: Video emerges of union boss at Tent Embassy protest
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-14/video-captures-sattler27s-words-to...
Updated 15 Feb 12: "Video footage has emerged of the words that sparked the violent Australia Day confrontation in Canberra and security scare for Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. In the footage aired on ABC1's 7.30, Unions ACT secretary Kim Sattler can be heard telling representatives of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy that Mr Abbott is at a nearby restaurant. Earlier that day the Opposition Leader said he thought it was probably time to reconsider the relevance of the Tent Embassy."

ABC: Footage gives fresh view of Australia Day protest
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-14/footage-gives-fresh-view-of-austra...
14 Feb 12: "The images of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader fleeing in the face of an angry mob on Australia Day left many people shocked and angry - as shocking was the news that a member of Julia Gillard's own staff had a hand in sparking the confrontation. He resigned, but since 26 January there have been many questions about who was responsible for stirring the anger of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protesters. But the protesters shot their own video of the day, and tonight for the first time, 7.30 can show how events got out of hand."

- News

Australian: Australia Day players silent on new riot footage
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/australia-da...
16 Feb 12: "THE key players of the Australia Day riot went to ground yesterday, refusing to respond to new video footage that showed Unions ACT boss Kim Sattler telling an indigenous protester that Tony Abbott wanted the tent embassy "pulled down". As Julia Gillard continued to face a barrage of questions over the riots from the opposition, Ms Sattler and indigenous activist Barbara Shaw did not comment on the footage."

Brisbane Times: New footage shown of tent embassy protest
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/new-footage-show...
14 Feb 12: "Video has emerged of a Canberra union figure telling Aboriginal tent embassy activists that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott had called for the structure to be pulled down. The vision, screened on ABC TV, shows tent embassy representative Barbara Shaw speaking to a woman who is out of camera range, but whose voice can be heard."

Adelaide Now: Union chief defends tent embassy 'wind-up'
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/union-chief-defends-tent-emb...
13 Feb 12: "A UNION official accused of stirring up protesters at the Aboriginal tent embassy on Australia Day said the rally had originally been told that it was the Government which wanted the 40-year-old camp shifted."

- Related Analysis / Opinion

agendaTracker: Editorial Opinion
http://tracker.org.au/2012/02/editorial-opinion-5/
13 Feb 12: "The one fact that stands out to me when reflecting on the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is just how young many of those now-experienced activists were. The four who first camped on those lawns were aged between 18 and 20. They were soon joined by a wave of Aboriginal youth, strong in their belief that they could affect change through protest." Amy McQuire

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