Support growing for national unity government

Goodooga, northwest NSW, 1 March 2012 - - There have been many offers of financial and in kind support from individuals and groups very interested in engaging with the Aboriginal movement to form a national unity government, says Euahlayi activist, Michael Anderson. The movement was launched at the recent 40th anniversary corroboree of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, of which Anderson is the last survivor of the four men who set it up in 1972.

Anderson will be visiting Aboriginal nations and communities across Australia for talks on forming a ‘Sovereign Union’ and national unity government. He will also warn that the proposed inclusion of Aborigines in the Constitution is “fraudulent and treasonous”.

He writes in a media release that various sections of the non-Aboriginal community acknowledge Aboriginal claims to Australia.  

“The solidarity coming from the non-Aboriginal sector is reassuring to Aboriginal people that we can push our claims forward,” his release says.

One backer is Mrs. Jessie Kuar Singh, a senior figure in the Sikh community and inter-faith movement. “Mrs. Singh said that the bodies with which she is associated support our push to establish the national unity government. We will have further discussions with Mrs. Singh and the multi-faith groups with whom she is associated in the near future.”

Other recent developments include discussions with Reverend Lindsay McDowell, Chairman of the Southern Cross Missions of Australia, which have worked with many Aboriginal communities. “Their intention is to give unconditional recognition to Aboriginal people that the English did invade this country and Australia really needs more than reconciliation,” Anderson writes.

“The national unity government seeks to negotiate with visionaries, not people whose ambitions are personal aggrandizement with no vision at all other than to have a policy of same old same old.”

Anderson suggests that in coming months the federal government will attempt to roll out aid to Aboriginal communities to buy their loyalty and to try “to win the hearts and minds of not only our people but the general community as a whole”.

“Then the government propaganda machine can start expressing to our people how much they love us and admire us and our culture and the need to increase their efforts with their ‘Bridging the Gap’ campaign. This is so predictable.”

Anderson writes that Australia is in a political and legal conundrum because two recognized sovereign states now exist on the one land mass. “One rules by the sheer weight of numbers, the other has been subjugated by force.”

He warns that if Warren Mundine were to replace Senator Mark Arbib, he could speak only for his Bundjarlung nation of the far north coast of NSW. “He does not have a mandate to speak for other Aboriginal people. Should he seek to do so, he will be breaking Aboriginal customary law.”

“Since Mundine and Jenny Macklin have a working relationship with the opposition leader Tony Abbott, the far right of the Labor Party is seeking to govern in concert with Abbott. Wow what a thought.”

“It is time for the Labor Party to unload its political factional baggage and go for youth and freshness. In fact the national unity government would prefer to deal with a leader such as Ms. Penny Wong or Bill Shorten. I believe that either of these two as a Labor Party leader would serve this country well.”

Anderson’s statement in full:

Australia is now in a real political and legal conundrum, not because of the Julia Gillard win nor because we have an unpopular leader of the opposition in Tony Abbott as the possible alternative, but because Australia is also confronted with the fact that two recognized sovereign states now exist on the one land mass. One rules by the sheer weight of numbers, the other has been subjugated by force.

I’ve been having talks with non-Aboriginal people since the 26th January incident at our Tent Embassy in Canberra and can now state that various sections of the non-Aboriginal community acknowledge Aboriginal claims to this country.

Aboriginal claims are validated by the English law that came into existence when Queen Victoria issued an Order in Council to the effect that England did not claim sovereignty over Aboriginal people nor dominion over Aboriginal places.

The solidarity coming from the non-Aboriginal sector is reassuring to Aboriginal people that we can push our claims forward.

Mrs. Jessie Kuar Singh is a most senior lady within the multicultural community and Executive Director of Multi-Faith Affairs of the United Sikhs, President of the Inter-Faith, Inter—Cultural Network Foundation along with other inter-faith bodies around the world. Mrs. Singh said that the bodies with which she is associated support our push to establish the National Unity Government. We will have further discussions with Mrs. Sigh and the multi-faith groups with whom she is associated in the near future.

Other recent developments include discussions with Reverend Lindsay McDowell, Chairman of the Southern Cross Missions of Australia. Their intention is to give unconditional recognition to Aboriginal people that the English did invade this country and Australia really needs more than reconciliation. The Southern Cross Missions have been working with many Aboriginal communities across Australia, supported by very respected people such as Mr Ossie Cruse of the south Coast of NSW and Mr. Tom Hallas of Canberra. It is a breath of fresh air to have both non-Aborigines and Aboriginal people working together to get it right, as we need Australia to see us for who we are, not for who they want us to be. At this point we have established a great working relationship in this regard on our stated objective to establish the National Unity Government.

There have been many other offers from individuals and groups who are very interested in engaging with National Unity Government and have offered help financially as well as in kind.

There is no doubt that in the coming months the Australian government will attempt to roll out government aid to Aboriginal communities to buy their loyalty and have them commit to the much needed help that our communities so desperately need. It is this desperation that the government will use in an attempt to win the hearts and minds of not only our people but the general community as a whole. Then the government propaganda machine can start expressing to our people how much they love us and admire us and our culture and the need to increase their efforts with their ‘Bridging the Gap’ campaign. This is so predictable.

Just look at the talk now going around. Warren Mundine to replace Arbib. I would have thought that they would have wanted to increase the Labor party’s intelligentsia, not decrease it, if they want to win the next election. But then again since Mundine and Jenny Macklin have a working relationship with the opposition leader Tony Abbott, the far right of the Labor Party is seeking to govern in concert with Abbott. Wow what a thought. Warren Mundine if he is successful good luck to him but he needs to say that he is of the Bundjarlung nation on the far north coast of NSW and he and the government must understand that while he is from the Bundjarlung nation he does not have a mandate to speak for other Aboriginal people. Should he seek to do so, he will be breaking Aboriginal customary law.

It is time for the Labor Party to unload its political factional baggage and go for youth and freshness. In fact the National Unity Government would prefer to deal with a leader such as Ms. Penny Wong or Bill Shorten. I believe that either of these two as a Labor Party leader would serve this country well.

What we need now is for us to have political leadership that can see a future for this country. The National Unity Government seeks to negotiate with visionaries, not people whose ambitions are personal aggrandizement with no vision at all other than to have a policy of ‘same old same old ‘.

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