Palm Island & equal pay
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PALM ISLAND AWARD WAGES WIN SPEECH
by
Les Malezer
Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (FAIRA)
5 April 1997
This
Speech is dedicated to the 'Magnificent Seven' of Palm Island
Kitchener Bligh, Buller Coutts (deceased), Mavis Foster, Fred Lenoy, Jack
Sibley, Maurice Palmer (and Jean Sibley)
On behalf of the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action I congratulate the 'Magnificent 7' of Palm Island for their perseverance and success in taking on the Queensland Government for their just entitlement.
These people and their struggle for justice have struck a blow against the historical oppression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this State, a blow that could and should give hope and encouragement to all the thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland desperately waiting for, and deserving of, overdue restitution and compensation.
History of the Case
In the early 1980's, at a time when FAIRA and others were directly engaged in fighting for the payment of award wages to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the 'Magnificent 7' came forward and stood up for their rights to receive the same wage levels as their counterpart non-Indigenous employees of the Queensland Government.
The Queensland Government was at that time indifferent towards these people and their case for equality. To the Queensland Government they were not equal citizens, for no reason other than they are Aboriginal people. They were regarded, to FAIRA's reckoning, as the unworthy and hapless 'wards' of the State, dregs from Queensland colonial domination of the Indigenous lawful owners of the land.
For ten years their legal case has been on the shelf. Two years ago FAIRA offered to provide the legal experts to continue their case, which they accepted.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission held a full hearing of the case and the evidence of the people. The legal representatives of the Queensland Government tried to suppress, during these hearings, historical evidence held by government and they have intimidated expert witnesses with threats of legal action. Such petty tactics belied the government's official position that it will respond positively to factual claims for restitution.
The HREOC was absolute in its finding of wrongdoing by the Queensland Government and declared for all the world to see that the Queensland Government had knowingly discriminated against Aboriginal people on the grounds of their race.
The out-of-court settlement by the Queensland Government is, FAIRA believes, no less than an admission by Government of its own guilt and responsibility. If there be any doubt of that admission, then the evidence is to be seen in the public apology by the Queensland Government, printed in the Courier Mail of today (5 April 1997). This notice should be examined against the context of the findings of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
The 'Magnificent 7' are heroes and must be remembered (in our own Indigenous lore) as heroes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. They have shown the utmost courage from the outset to stand up and challenge the authority of the State Government. We all know that that is no easy thing to do for any Indigenous People in Queensland. It is even harder if they are within the reach of official sanctions by government. They have not wavered in their commitment to fight their case and they have not conceded any grounds in making settlement.
The only uncertainty has come from 'time' itself. As these people have aged, and they have all retired, they have risked reaching a final outcome. Like Kwoiki Mabo, like John Koowarta, they have faced the real risk of finishing their life without justice being delivered. I am sure that this must have been a big issue for them during the hearings of the past two years. I hope that it was not a tactic of the government to prolong the proceedings for this very reason.
I would now like to formally acknowledge the legal representatives provided by FAIRA for this case. FAIRA solicitor at the commencement of the case and throughout the HREOC hearings was Bob Haebich. Simply put, this case could not have commenced without the empathetic and committed style of Bob. Cathy O'Malley, who succeeded Bob as the FAIRA solicitor, has continued, to the conclusion of the case, the quality of legal services to the people that Bob commenced.
The barrister, Dan O'Gorman, has obviously established through this case his credentials in these matters. Words of flattery might be mistaken for unfair advertising for Dan but FAIRA knows that the services of Dan O'Gorman were given without reservation, and that his legal standing in presenting and arguing this case could not be surpassed.
FAIRA's hopes that the fine work and personal efforts of these legal experts do not go unnoticed or are not taken for granted. They have shared the frustration, anger and tensions of the Magnificent 7, and I believe they can savour the outcomes.
History of Palm Island
The Magnificent 7 share the honour roll with other prominent fighters of this Palm Island community. I can personally think of people, heroic leaders, such as Don Brady, Mick Thaiday, Steve and Pam Mam, Fred Clay, Eric Kyle, Erica Kyle, Eva Geia and so on. I apologise for the many people I have not named, including those heroes whom I have not had the honour of ever knowing. These people are known to you in your minds and your hearts.
Palm Island, we know, has been transformed in its purpose from being the beautiful and spiritual lands of the traditional owners to being a government 'mission' or 'settlement'. Since the beginning of this century Palm Island has been brutally used by the Queensland Government to imprison people. Palm Island ultimately became for our people the 'end of the road', being used by government for the most final punitive actions against the Indigenous People. Fantome Island was a leprosarium.
All in all, Palm Island and Fantome Island represented for all our people in Queensland the end point on our 'trail of tears'. The history of Palm Island embodies the attempts by government to commit physical and cultural genocide against our people.
The bwgolman people today consist of traditional owners descended from the most distant points of Queensland - from the Meriam people of Murray Island,. to the Kalkadoons of the gulf country, to the Yugembeh people of south Queensland.
The merging of our diverse language groups in the bwgolman community has not come easy. The cost has been too high. From the brutal separation of families to the horrible physical afflictions of many past residents of Fantome Island, from the betrayal and punishment of liberation fighters amongst our people to the heavy handed oppression of dignity and culture, from the high rate of imprisonment to the seclusion and isolation of the community, from the shocking health standards to the tragic human carnage on the Island, from the denial of physical and material possessions to the withholding of wages and exploited resources, from the theft of land to the denial of self government, the bwgolman people have had to endure.
We all know that the tolerance of the environmental factors I have listed has taken a heavy toll on every person on this island, and that all existing, surviving members of this community must carry internally the traumas and desperation that the life on this island embraces.
I do not want to portray that the people of Palm Island are mentally sick, I want to openly state that all people here carry the burden of the history of the island, that is, Palm Island represents the epitome of oppression of our people by the Queensland colonial and State governments.
It is this burden that leads me to be sickened by the stupid and ignorant statements like that of our latest federal Minister for Health, Michael Wooldridge, who says that the poor health of Aboriginal and Islander people is attributed to drinking and smoking, and like that of the Prime Minister, John Howard, who claims that there is no basis for Australians to feel guilt over the treatment of Aboriginal people.
FAIRA
Some people on Palm Island will know about the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action - FAIRA - but also many people will not. FAIRA has been proud to provide legal assistance to the Magnificent 7, but our involvement in this case has not been by accident. In fact Palm Island residents (and I especially mention Beryl Castors and Monty Prior), were witnesses to and contributors to the formation of FAIRA in the 1970's.
FAIRA was created out of fusion of interests between the churches, the unions and Aboriginal and Islander people from around Queensland, including Palm Island. When FAIRA was officially incorporated in 1977 it had the mandate and responsibility to fight the Queensland Government oppression, as embodied in the 'Black Acts'.
FAIRA stayed in close liaison with Palm Islanders who decided to directly challenge the government administration on the island. The fine work of the group known as 'Concerned Palm Islanders' was sponsored in part by FAIRA and closely followed by FAIRA. During these early and formative years I was the president of FAIRA and I am proud to say that I worked in close contact with people such as Erica Kyle and Rachel Cummins as they tried to inform the people of Palm Island of these things called 'rights'.
I am sure that for many of you my comments can conjure up in your minds a picture of the times when dissension was treated as treason, and public agitation would lead to loss of employment, eviction, banishment or imprisonment. It was a time when organising people for a meeting was a risk and 'suspicious' movement around the community might be observed, when information from 'outside' was carefully controlled and the release of information from the 'inside' was prohibited in any way possible.
As an outsider I had no access to Palm Island without the approval and control of the administration, but I knew that you too, the residents, had just as much difficulty in moving to or from the island.
FAIRA was in the background when the 'Concerned Palm Islanders' organised, about twenty years ago, an elected Council which was not controlled by the administration. FAIRA has endeavoured to maintain contact with the community council (although sometimes the relationship was not friendly) to assist the development and advancement of the models of self government.
FAIRA now puts to all residents of Palm Island that the success of the Magnificent 7 should provide the incentive for 'taking control'. I do not speak here of overthrowing the council. What I speak of is the turnaround of bwgolman from the role of victims or subjects, to the role of authority and power. This I know is not easy. But the bwgolman community should recognise that it has now the inkling of opportunity.
For the first time the government is making deliberate reparation to Aboriginal people. There will be more and more reparations. FAIRA will be pursuing that task. This reparation, incorporating a public apology, is a shift of power, a change in direction and the first real example of the massive adjustment that needs to be made in the minds of Queensland's political masters.
More to the point, the people of Palm Island, the bwgolman, must now pursue vigorously the goal of self government and self sufficiency. The years of oppression and genocide must now be converted to a future of Indigenous wellbeing, utilising the reparation measures which the Queensland Government must now seriously contemplate. The model for self government is already available in the discussion paper and report presented to government in 1992, titled 'Towards Self Government'.
Lest my sanity be doubted at the preceding statement linking the award wages case to self government, I emphasise that the settlement and apology by the Queensland Government is a humble example of the predicament of the Government as litigation is pursued by more and more people.
Palm Island people, I repeat from my earlier comments, endured the most brutal treatment of all the 'missions'.
Government
I speak now of the actions of the Queensland Government.
This case for equal wages has been, for the individuals involved, a long struggle of twelve years for justice through reparation. These people have finally received the settlement that could have and should have been made in 1984.
It is an outrage that their long campaign for justice had been directly opposed by the government at every turn. The Queensland Government, through all administrations of all political persuasions, has for the life of colonial and State government in this land, acted in a discriminatory manner against the Aboriginal race, and continues to do so to this day .
It continues today as a government which treats the Aboriginal people as persons with lesser human rights than others. Let me cite the three significant examples against the Queensland Government since the Racial Discrimination Act became statutory law in Australia.
Firstly, there is the John Koowarta case where the courts found that the Queensland Government deliberately committed an act of racial discrimination to prevent John Koowarta and others from legitimately purchasing a cattle property in Cape York.
Secondly, there is the 'Mabo One' case where the courts found that the hastily passed 'Queensland Coastal Islands Declaratory Act', intended to prevent Kwoiki Mabo and others from continuing their case for Native Title, was again a deliberate act of racial discrimination.
Now, in this third case commonly known as the Palm Island award wages case, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission once again found the Queensland Government has deliberately and knowingly committed and act of racial discrimination.
FAIRA is outraged at the Queensland Government's malevolent actions in this case. FAIRA refers to Government actions in refusing an offer of settlement in 1984, in adopting a hostile and patronising stance in relation to the obvious just cause for equal treatment of the individuals, in endeavouring to deny truth in the historical accounts of the Government's treatment of Aboriginal people, in refusing to accept the official findings by the federal government's own instrumentality to adjudicate in matters of racial discrimination, and in prolonging any final outcome by 'cheap stunts' in the federal court.
FAIRA calls upon the Queensland Government to provide a financial statement of the cost to the Queensland taxpayer to fight this case against the Palm Islanders. I might venture to estimate that the total cost is in the vicinity of $0.5 million. This is money wasted, considering that settlement was possible in 1984, at a cost of $70,000.
It is appropriate that FAIRA acknowledge the federal Attorney's General Department which allocated funds for reasonable expenses to FAIRA in this case. The support from the Department, particularly by providing timely decisions to our submissions for assistance, is to be noted. Our estimates of outlays by FAIRA, which were covered by the Attorney's General Department and in some way by the settlement, I am happy to announce would not have exceeded $70,000. Of course voluntary human effort by FAIRA staff and voluntary workers is not included in this amount.
Sadly, FAIRA must add that endeavours to obtain any assistance from ATSIC to fight the award wages cases or welfare fund cases have so far failed. FAIRA notes however that ATSIC has given a large amount of funds to another organisation for this purpose. This response from ATSIC is bewildering and frustrating to FAIRA.
FAIRA is disappointed that the Queensland Government has chosen to not only maintain the traditional attitude of racial discrimination against Aboriginal people, but that the Queensland Government, principally the Premier, Robert Borbidge, and the Minister for Natural Resources, Howard Hobbs, has taken to acts of vilification against the Aboriginal people and our lawful rights to own land within the Australian nation.
As Indigenous People in Queensland, we all know and remember what this government has done to us and our parents and grandparents. We all know that this government has grossly mistreated people and denied true justice for our community.
History - Truth and Justice
Ironically, the Year 1997 represents the centenary of the first Queensland 'Protection Act'. I believe the legislation was called the 'Restriction on the Sale of Opium and the Protection of Aborigines Act', and was assented to by the Governor on 15 December 1897.
What evils 'protection' included. Without endeavouring to list the evils, many of which continued into the 1970's, FAIRA has focussed upon award wages and the Aboriginal Welfare Fund. The original legislation allowed the labour of Aboriginal people to be bought and sold by the government-appointed protectors. Not only was this system discriminatory and corrupt, but protectors were corrupt.
While other people in Queensland enjoyed the advent in 1901 of a federated nation-state based upon the British model of parliamentary democracy, we, the Aboriginal people, were placed in the hands of dictatorial 'protectors' whose powers over the most basic functions of Aboriginal lives were absolute.
We were robbed blind. We were prevented from accumulating any material wealth. The sum total of Aboriginal labour and enterprise went into the pastoral properties, the cane farms, the domestic services for squatters/leaseholders, the Welfare fund and even the administration costs of our own domination.
Moreover, the accumulated funds in the Aboriginal 'trust' accounts, like the Aboriginal Welfare Fund, were used by the Government to finance 'whitefella' hospitals such as the public hospital in Townsville, and government administrations.
This Palm Island Award Wages case is, to FAIRA, the first step in making reparation to our people to restore our material wealth, that is, our economic security for current times and the future. This goal should be firmly implanted in everyone's mind as the next major stage in Government-Aboriginal relations.
This centenary brings many thoughts to mind, but FAIRA believes the most important message is the actual short period of time which has elapsed since the Queensland Government dispossessed our people, removed them from their traditional lands and adopted forced settlement administration upon us to 'assimilate' us.
This short period of time is not a sufficient interval to claim our traditional rights, our common law rights, are no longer relevant or are displaced. It is not an adequate period to say that our associations with our land and with our laws had been completely severed. It is not sufficiently ancient for the Federal Government or the Queensland Government to claim that the present generation does not bear the guilt of the past or have a responsibility to restitution. The injustice of the past 100 years has to be addressed. There can be no way forward for the Australian nation without such redress.
FAIRA has already set a benchmark for negotiations by its own claim that the funds of the Aboriginal Welfare Fund must be handed to community control. The current level of funds, somewhere between $6.0 million and $7.0 million, must be supplemented by at least another $1 00 million at the time of its hand over.
FAIRA calls upon the Queensland Government to respond to this approach for a settlement.
Native Title
The opportunity to attend to this injustice is in front of our noses. The land owned by Aboriginal people under Native Title must be acknowledged and the owners must be respected. That is, Aboriginal people must be treated with equal regard for their rights as other land owners are treated.
The Queensland Government has been totally irresponsible, to the point of being comical and pitiful, in its vilification of Aboriginal land ownership. FAIRA hopes that soon the Premier and the Government will choose to settle its concerns through negotiations with Aboriginal people, rather than to induce all parties to deal through endless litigation in the courts.
Let me encapsulate now that in this speech I have referred to three components of a new beginning for Aboriginal people. They are self government, economic independence through reparation payments, and land rights.
Reconciliation
'Reconciliation must be based upon justice'
These were the words used by the USA Government, referring to the Australian policy on Reconciliation, in the public release of its 1997 Human Rights Report. It is of considerable interest that another nation (one that has to deal itself with the contemporary context of the difficult issues of Indigenous rights) can make this objective observation of the Australian situation.
FAIRA strongly believes that this statement by the USA is true, and of appropriate emphasis. The current challenges for reconciliation between the Australian nation and the Aboriginal people is not giving sufficient incentives to the governments of Australia to act for justice before the common law decisions might compel them to act.
Reconciliation is widely regarded as the opportunity for Aboriginal people to obtain and enjoy true equality. But it is more than that. It is the opportunity for the nation of Australia to heal its deepest wound, to develop its own identity, and to correct the most obvious flaws in its constitutional makeup.
The non Aboriginal people of Australia are likely to suffer at the hands of the world unless the most fundamental rift in our coexistence as people is directly addressed.
I have taken the task of bringing public attention to the issues at hand and the terrible consequences for all if we allow the governments to pass the responsibilities of settlement and reconciliation on to future generations, or if we allow the government to adopt the shameful tactics of vilification as displayed by the Queensland Government.
Of course for many Australians, there is a belief that the Aboriginal problem will go away or can be dominated by government administrations the way that it was done in the past. These people are the unwitting products of the governments, in so far that they do not comprehend the concept of non-discriminatory human rights, they do not grasp the fundamental importance of the legal and social issues at stake, and that they have been constantly brain-fed that Aboriginal people want to take away their rights.
In South Africa they also have a Reconciliation Council, but in South Africa it is called the 'TRUTH and Reconciliation Council'. In Australia, as has been highlighted by this case, the truth has not been told. The truth is the burden Aboriginal people carry in their hearts and minds. The absence of truth in the Reconciliation process protects the guilty and the ignorant.
Many Australians remain blissfully ignorant of the brutality of the treatment of Aboriginal people and the recent times during which such treatment occurred. The Queensland Government is still endeavouring to keep the truth from the people, either by campaign of racial vilification against Aboriginal native title or by suppression and denial of past practices. Government records are still under lock and key and people's access to those records are carefully controlled.
The interpretation of those records and the release of government policy decisions were directly opposed by the Queensland Government in this case. In short the Government deliberately tried to prevent the truth from being revealed.
With truth will come our reparation. We must work hard to see that the truth is made known to all.
In conclusion I heartily congratulate the Magnificent 7 for their heroic campaign for justice. I am sure that history will show that you have played a key role in the achievement of reparation for the Aboriginal and Islander people of Queensland.
May your victory be sweet.
If you have any further queries, please email FAIRA
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