Aboriginal meetings across Australia to build national unity government

Goodooga, northwest NSW, 17 February 2012 – 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.”

Anderson says as other meetings are being organized all over the country the National Unity Government is raising funds for the operation.

“I will be able to have governance meetings with Aboriginal people wherever and whenever they seek to join and become part of this National Unity Government,” he writes.

Anderson, a trained lawyer, says he will also seek talks with non-Aboriginal people “to explain what this new National Unity Government is all about”.

“I hope that the non-Aboriginal people will join in with us to establish this National Unity Government. The national Unity Government will work towards making Australia an independent republic, totally separate from England, as we are now mature enough to stand alone amongst the nations of the world.”

The discussions would include finalisation of a constitution to set up an independent republican state.

“Many of our people are now asking, ‘how do we change our circumstances’ and the simple answer to this is England never claimed sovereignty or dominion over us, our lands and/or our natural resources. We will take all action necessary to have our sovereign claims recognized domestically and internationally. This will not be easy but we will take all action necessary to make our objectives a reality.”

The release says Aboriginal nations who become part of the National Unity Government will be encouraged to seek declarations from Australian courts that they have no jurisdiction over Aborigines involved in legal proceedings.

Anderson’s release in full:

After having had talks with international and constitutional lawyers, I will now travel and talk with Aboriginal people all over the country. Our objective is to form a National Unity Government to be known as the ‘Sovereign Union’.

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. 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.

Other meetings are now being organized all over the country. Given that the National Unity Government is now raising funds, I will be able to have governance meetings with Aboriginal people wherever and whenever they seek to join and become part of this National Unity Government.

I will also be looking at having talks with non-Aboriginal people so as to explain what this new National Unity Government is all about. I hope that the non-Aboriginal people will join in with us to establish this National Unity Government. The national Unity Government will work towards making Australia an independent republic, totally separate from England, as we are now mature enough to stand alone amongst the nations of the world.

Included in these discussions will be the finalization of an independent constitution that will set up the independent republican state.

My people do not have a standing army, police or courts but these and many other administrative decisions will be discussed. How our people choose to proceed will be a matter for each of them based on a national consensus.

Change will happen because it is our time as a People. This is what was talked about and felt at the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Embassy.

We have been lied to, cheated, deceived and imprisoned just because we were Aboriginal people, all in the name of ‘protection’. We have been kept in a welfare state and refused economic development enabling us to become financially independent.

Many of our people are now asking, ‘how do we change our circumstances’ and the simple answer to this is England never claimed sovereignty or dominion over us, our lands and/or our natural resources. We will take all action necessary to have our sovereign claims recognized domestically and internationally. This will not be easy but we will take all action necessary to make our objectives a reality.

We will be looking at legal ways forward to stop future mining on or within our lands and if our wishes are not taken into consideration we will take whatever action is most effective to have the multi-nationals stopped. Moreover, we intend to challenge any future considerations by the current Australian governments, be they State, Territory and/or Federal on matters that affect our people.

Aboriginal Nations who become part of the National Unity Government will be encouraged to challenge, within the domestic courts of the invader society to seek a declaration by them confirming that our sovereignty cannot be dealt with within their jurisdiction. This will in turn show to the non-Aboriginal Australians that the Australian governments have for all these years deceived them. England is complicit in this deception and will be held liable by my People for their failure to uphold their own laws that were established in the 1875 amendment to the 1872 Pacific Islanders Protection Act.

One of the National Unity Government’s priorities is to enter into a non-aggression ‘pact’ with all the State and Territory Governments in Australia to prevent use of force against our people by their police authorities, who are terrorizing our youth and communities throughout Australia.

The interim National Unity Government will seek to hold talks with all Australian governments and the English parliament to locate an amicable solution to what is now a stalemate.

At present we have many sovereign societies occupying a single land mass and if solutions are not located then it can only lead to confrontation which will not be good for anyone.

If we are prepared to negotiate in good faith then solutions will be found, but if the governments fail to see merit in this, we will find ourselves in conflict, in which case the National Unity Government will make submissions to the United Nations for assistance.

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Contact: Michael Anderson 0427 292 492 02 68296355 ghillar29@gmail.com

Comments

The only way an updated version of the NACC and Aboriginal Provisional Government will ever gain any genuine grass roots legitimacy is to do what the First Nations Congress did and mandate equal numbers of women and men, and that's just the first step in representing the autonomy embedded in tradition. Otherwise it'll just be a replica of the whitefella's parliaments where women attend with male consent, inclusive of leadership and learning circles, which is the problem in the first place.

philip

The national unity government 'Sovereign Union' calls on people to offer designs for national symbol/insignia. These should be completed/finalised by at least April, 2012 (pro bono). The design will be used in media releases, an official website and other published material to symbolise the strength and reality of the movement.