“Winner of caucus spill must talk about Aboriginal sovereignty”

MEDIA RELEASE

By Michael Anderson, spokesperson for the National Unity Aboriginal government

Goodooga, northwest NSW, 26 February 2012 - - An Aboriginal activist says “given the absolute dysfunction of the Labor party” the federal government has a cheek to call Aboriginal communities dysfunctional.

Michael Anderson, spokesperson for the National Unity Aboriginal government, writes in a media release that whoever emerges as Prime Minister from Monday’s Labor caucus spill must talk with Aborigines about the British law that recognised Aboriginal sovereignty and dominion over Australia  separate from the colonial administration.

“The incidents that occurred during our 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy [26 to 28 January in Canberra] certainly show how low and unethical Australian politicians can be to gain political ‘brownie points’ by exploiting this emotionally charged gathering, where grassroots Aboriginal people had gone to speak of their continuing grievances and were seeking to locate solutions that could be put to the colonising government,” Anderson, the last survivor of the four founders of the Embassy, writes.

“The Federal government has a cheek to call Aboriginal communities dysfunctional. I think it time they apologise for these denigrating inferences, given the absolute dysfunction of the Labor party as shown in recent times. Even more disappointing is the fact that they try to tell Aboriginal people and the rest of the world that he democratic way is the only way.“The leadership battles, personal abuses, exposure of Cabinet secrets, muck-raking and intrusion into family and personal lives as is popularly used in the United States and New South Wales in respect to the personal moralities of politicians, while searching for pure white puritan politician, is a process that is undiplomatic and unbecoming,” Anderson, leader of the Euahlayi nation says.

Anderson, sent for diplomatic training in the US State Department and at the United Nations by former Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, writes: “It is interesting that Mr Kevin Rudd has seen an opportunity to highlight the Gillard government’s inadequacy to deal with Aboriginal issues and to exercise a diplomatic process to deal with that situation that arose which led to PM Gillard’s entrapment in the Lobby Restaurant and then her inability to extract herself in a diplomatic and dignified way, losing her blue suede shoe in the process. .... Clearly diplomacy is one of her weak points.”

There is far more to this country than exploiting mineral and petroleum wealth, Anderson, a trained lawyer writes, adding: “If any political party is worried about the environment then they need to re-evaluate the massive resource boom, because the methane from the open cut coal mining far exceeds that of cattle, sheep, camels and kangaroos. Another environmental threat that is not discussed is the fine dust clouds floating across this continent and impacting on the respiratory systems of the constituency Australia wide.”

Contact: Michael Anderson, 02 68296355 landline, 04272 92 492 mobile, 02 68296375 fax, ngurampaa@bigpond.com.au, ghillar29@gmail.co

 Anderson’s statement in full:

 The Federal government has a cheek to call Aboriginal communities dysfunctional. I think it time they apologise for these denigrating inferences, given the absolute dysfunction of the Labor party as shown in recent times. Even more disappointing is the fact that they try to tell Aboriginal people and the rest of the world that he democratic way is the only way. The leadership battles, personal abuses, exposure of Cabinet secrets, muck-raking and intrusion into family and personal lives as is popularly used in the United States and New South Wales in respect to the personal moralities of politicians, while searching for pure white puritan politician, is a process that is undiplomatic and unbecoming.

The incidents that occurred during our 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy [26 to 28 January in Canberra] certainly show how low and unethical Australian politicians can be to gain political ‘brownie points’ by exploiting this emotionally charged gathering, where grassroots Aboriginal people had gone to speak of their continuing grievances and were seeking to locate solutions that could be put to the colonising government.

It is interesting that Mr Kevin Rudd has seen an opportunity to highlight the Gillard government’s inadequacy to deal with Aboriginal issues and to exercise a diplomatic process to deal with that situation that arose which led to PM Gillard’s entrapment in the Lobby Restaurant and then her inability to extract herself in a diplomatic and dignified way, losing her blue suede shoe in the process.

Had Julia Gillard had any experience in diplomacy she could have prevented the unsightly images of herself being dragged out by security. Clearly diplomacy is one of her weak points.

‘The Aboriginal problem’ will never go away we see political leadership in this country representing the non-Aboriginal community, show true diplomatic and political leadership without internal dysfunction. The government continues to push ‘governance training down our people’s throats in our communities, but it seems to me this is a course they should undertake for the benefit of Australia as a whole.

The governments that followed Whitlam and Fraser have been politically retroactive, focusing too much on being seen to be ‘nice and pure’ in the eyes of the international community, thereby paying too little regard to the job at hand with the internal problems of their nation. If they can put away their international ambition to have a seat on the UN Security Council, they may be able to win support from their Australian constituency, focusing more attention on the socio-economic needs of Australians. There is far more to this country than exploiting mineral and petroleum wealth.

If any political party is worried about the environment then they need to re-evaluate the massive resource boom, because the methane from the open cut coal mining far exceeds that of cattle, sheep, camels and kangaroos. Another environmental threat that is not discussed is the fine dust clouds floating across this continent and impacting on the respiratory systems of the constituency Australia wide.

The emerging Aboriginal National Unity Government is prepared to talk to functional governments and or oppositions who have an open mind and a political will capable of dealing with the real issues of Aboriginal people and not continuing the ‘band aid’ solutions that have cost plenty in the previous decades yet still fail to hit the mark.

Whoever wins the Labor leadership spill, we call upon the next Prime Minister to meet with us to talk about the British law that recognised Aboriginal sovereignty and dominion over our land separate from the colonial administration. It is time the federal government realised that under English law the parliaments and legal system that they created comes from their colonial head of power, Britain, and the whole parliamentary system has been set up for their purposes, whilst at the same time Britain brought into law the separate political and legal status of Aboriginal people in an 1875 law in an unequivocal and unambiguous way, that Britain did not claim sovereignty over Aboriginal people, their leaders and chiefs, nor did they claim sovereignty and dominion over our places. It is time now that we commence formal discussions in this regard, but the government knows full well that they cannot do this without a truly representative Aboriginal government or they are required by domestic and international law to speak with every different linguistic Aboriginal nation within Australia, because one nation cannot speak for another nation. This is Aboriginal Law/Lore.

Previous releases by Anderson here and here.

Contact: Michael Anderson, 02 68296355 landline, 04272 92 492 mobile, 02 68296375 fax, ngurampaa@bigpond.com.au, ghillar29@gmail.com