#SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA –
Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities
In the early hours of Black Friday, 13 March 2015
,
growing frustrations in the Aboriginal community had reached a pressure
point. After the repeated failure of successive Government’s to honor
Australia’s First Nations at the most basic of levels, the perfect storm
was brewing. Compounding this, the global lurch to the right under the
guise of ‘austerity’, had seemingly become a code-switch of Government
to normalize racism, bigotry, oppression and genocide.
Since
the appointment of Tony Abbott as Australia’s 28th Prime Minister in
2013, a cauldron of dissent has manifested across Australia generally.
Labeled as “One Term Tony”, the incumbent Prime Minister is world renown
for an ever growing list of contentious and inappropriate comments; in
diplomacy "Look, I'm going to shirtfront Mr Putin ... you bet I am.";
war mongering “We are ready to do what we must as a government and as a
nation to keep our country safe.”; on Asylum Seekers "If stopping the
boats means being criticised because I'm not giving information that
would be of use to people smugglers, so be it"; global-warming “I am, as
you know, hugely unconvinced by the so-called settled science on
climate change” amongst others. Abbott’s homage to the British Monarchy
returned the archaic practice of knighthood and resulted in a glorified
visit to Australia by the heir apparent. His unashamed concessions for
mining alongside corporate interests are rampant all the while
concealing and sidestepping the clarification of his citizenship, a
question remaining unanswered, which would determine whether he is
indeed legal to hold office in the first place.
So it was of
no real surprise that the self-appointed Minister for Women’s Interests
and the self-declared Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs would
blunder his way into infamy with a denigrating remark toward Aboriginal
people living on their traditional lands, which Abbott defined as a
“lifestyle choice”. His remark was made on a surprise visit to a mining
stronghold in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, on the traditional lands of
the Maduwangka people, now forever scarred by the “Super-pit” a
viciously gorged open-cut gold mine approximately 3.6 kilometres (2.2
mi) long, 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) wide and 512 metres (1,680 ft) deep,
symbolic of colonial prosperity and greed. The ongoing disdain toward
Aboriginal people and the flippant nature of disregard toward Aboriginal
culture was the kinder needed, it was the trigger needed to polarize a
nation.
Abbott’s comment was in support of a position declared
by the Western Australian State Premier Colin Barnett, who on 12
November 2014 announced that he would close up to 150 remote Aboriginal
communities, saying the state could no longer afford to pay for
essential services like power and electricity. The Premier’s comments
were in response to the Federal Government’s decision to stop
subsidizing these services in the middle of 2015, putting the financial
responsibility on individual state governments, a statement Tony Abbott
had made at the Garma Festival in 2013, well before he was voted into
power.
In direct response to this, the website www.sosblakaustralia.com
was set up by Sam Cook on 27 November 2014 as it was felt that this was
an indicator for a bigger political strategy at play and backing
Barnett’s proclamation of forced closures. It made a soft entry online
and was launched via social media, calling for Aboriginal communities to
register their needs and individuals to offer skills that could aid the
community. This was with the view to be responsive and prepared for
what was believed to be an assumption of Government that this was a fait
accompli and that Aboriginal people would not fight back.
On
the late evening of Thursday 12th March, this was about to change. A
conversation thread began on Facebook by Darangah Nagarra Torres with
Janine Dureau, Annette Kogolo and Nelson Kurni Bieundurry with the view
to having a conversation around a rally or gathering event for Thursday
19th March to coincide with Australia’s Closing the Gap Day, a
Government initiative that claimed to deliver sound service and results
for Aboriginal participation into the broader Australian social fabric.
Over the course of the evening this gained momentum as Ngigjingah
Maryanne Skeen, Janella Isaac, Kelly Kitching, Jodie Bell, Kankawa
Nagarra Knight, Lyn Shaw, Layangali Bieundurry, Lillian Chestnut, Jamie
Davidson Darren Mitchelson, Tjapanangka Paylrntarri, Nawoola Miriwoong,
Ebony Hill, Venessa Poelina, Anne Poelina, Johannah Kitching, Danny
Teece Johnson and Sam Cook were added. By 2am on Friday 13 March Sam
Cook had activated a social media effort as the public Facebook page
‘Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities’ and closed
organizers group was created. It was hoped that by the morning there may
be close to 1,000 likes.
Seven hours later over 2,000 people
had liked the page. It spoke loudly to those involved, that people did
care and that Australians from all over the country were fed up with our
Government. The exponential growth continued, bringing hope
communities in the direct line of forced closure while binding the
humanity of Australia and the world.
Five days later this
action had mobilised every state and territory with 30 known community
rallies of up to 30,000 people marching in the Streets. From the most
remote Aboriginal Communities, small regional towns, major cities and
the capital cities of Australia. Online a virtual protest raged, with
international celebrity endorsement coming from Bianca Jagger, Hugh
Jackman, Russell Crowe, Talib Kweli, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ruby
Rose, The Veronicas, Zimbabwe Kid amongst others. Our Aboriginal
Australian and Australian artists and sportspeople stood solid in their
support with major statements made at their various events and public
platforms. The artistic response started to take shape with artwork,
songs, poems, writings and street art campaigns underpinning a cultural
revolution.
Importantly, there has been a reconnection with the
Aboriginal Rights movement and key activists in the United States, with
Angela Davis, Dr Cornel West and the American Indian Movement, Turtle
Island (Canada) and Aotearoa, New Zealand, with a powerful outpouring of
support from all levels of Maori Iwi (people), who are strong in their
public stance. This is of historical significance as there is over 70
years of deep links forged between our civil rights and black rights
movements. In the 21st Century this is now being redefined, re-awakened
and garnering further strength.
In 30 days, ‘SOS BLAK
AUSTRALIA, Stop the Forced Closures of Aboriginal Communities’ created a
social media platform larger in population than that of the 26th
largest city in Australia with a reach almost the size of 4th Capital
City in Australia, which ironically, is the City of Perth, Western
Australia, the capital of the State most under threat. These figures
grow in the hundreds daily. Our reach extends beyond 12 million. These
figures are already outdated in the time it has taken to write this.
At the back end, the plan goes far beyond calls to action and
successive Governments or Prime Ministers, inclusive of the 29th Prime
Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, who has remained silent and not
undone any of the activity of Abbott in relation to Aboriginal
Communities. What has been sitting at the heart of SOSBLAKAUSTRALIA is a
humanitarian effort we are aiming to drive alongside the communities.
It is our plan to get rid of the rhetoric around viability by replacing
the flailing infrastructure and making all our communities sustainable
through alternative power, water, waste solutions as well as repair
years of neglected infrastructure. This is in line with our Sovereignty
and we have individuals in the community already looking to the
potential to take out a class action on behalf of our Aboriginal Nations
against the State and Federal Government.
Our communities have
issued a vote of no confidence in both State and Federal Governments
and we are all aware that this is an epoch of upheaval as the ongoing
attack by the incumbent Government has de-funded significant
organisations who are the lifeblood for our people. It quite literally
is genocide unfolding.
Yet we remain firm in our resolve and
strong in our commitment to continue for as long as it takes to shift
this supremacy regime off the backs of our people. We will stand against
the great land grab for our mineral rich country that sit behind the
influence of Government in their attempts to remove Aboriginal people
from their traditional homelands. We shall overcome.Website
http://www.sosblakaustralia.com
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