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February
1999 |
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Invasion Day 1999 Compiled by Christine Howes & Alfred Nagaiya
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Lionel Fogarty "I went to Latin America last year in support of indigenous people over there in their country and trying to unite Aboriginal people together. "And indigenous people there have more or less the same dream as our people in the belief of Gondwanaland, as in one god. "And the message from these people is that we must struggle harder in our country to be recognised by our constitution because in Latin America they have 500 years of popular resistance against imperialists and against oppression, especially from the white man of the United States. "Now the people in Latin America up in the Bogota area have been recognised even under the fascist government there. "People today have to broaden their political understanding to the reasons of simplicity for what Aboriginal people want - sovereignty for example. "What has been the blockage in reconciliation and reconciliation people is that they haven't been strong enough because what they've been doing is patronising on the so-called non-racism that's been developing in Australia within people. "So they've been patronising their own non-racism because if you look at reconciliation mob, when black people get up and ask 'we want a one-day holiday in Qld' for Oodgeroo Noonuckal or some other Aboriginal legends', you people out there and you so called other nationalities should by now understand the political.... "I think that you people here must realise that whenever
Aboriginal people have a protest it's not a protest in terms
of aggression, it's a protest in terms of trying to widen
your mind into doing the proper thing within society, within
your own community. |
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Merv Riley "Right around Australia our hearts and our thoughts and our minds are with the people at the Tent Embassy. "[On Jan 26] they see us on the street and ask that stupid question, 'why are they marching'. "It's a day of shame for us, the day Captain Cook set his foot on this land was the day that Aboriginal people didn't have a say in their future. "You've got a role to play, everyone of you, and I plead
to your conscience - go home to your dinner table and talk
to them, talk to the racist uncles and aunties, the racist
neighbour and let them know that we are still here, we're
not going to go away and we will always be here." |
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Bob Anderson "It's a matter now of do we press on or do we give up on the struggle. "The struggle is not over by any means there's enough spirit in us all to carry on. "It's true we do get despondent at times but by being together on this occasion our survival, not so much the arrival, we get strength from each other to carry on the struggles that lie ahead of us. "We will not go away and we will not remain silent. "We've been the subjects of discrimination by all wings of the establishment and that includes the police service which in most areas were also the 'protectors' of Aborigines. "And I sometimes asked myself 'what has changed' "Governments will always respond only to the amount of pressure that's put on them so we've got to put a lot of pressure on them to steer them in the right direction. "Aboriginal people have always been forthright in their opinion, we have not walked away from our identity. "Blackfellas are not going to let it go because this is
our right, it is our country, we've got the right to conduct
our affairs." |
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Les Malezer "This is Invasion Day 1999, it means a lot to me and I'm sure it means a lot to you. "How much longer can we keep coming along on the 26th of January and talk about our mistreatment. "When is it all going to change? "Are we in the unfortunate situation that this has become a part of the institution of Australia, that everybody goes and celebrates and has a party, gives the gong to our sports people and then goes home to see the news and Aboriginal people marching down the street saying that they are the dispossessed. "Is this the way of the future? "We are not welfare recipients, we are not social
outcasts, we are the rightful owners of this land, we are
peoples with self determination." |
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Sam Watson "Right through the history of our struggle Aboriginal people have relied on our white supporters." |
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Adrian McEvoy "No matter we can go around and try and act like we main actors and try to big note in this kind of society but you know here when you wake up, when you sleep, you know that spirit there and that's the spirit of your people, the spirit of your ancestors, the spirit of this land. "And when you walk, that's where your ancestors are, that's where your people are and we belong here." |
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Norman 'Tolly' Fisher "We have different notions in our society that reflect in our actions and it's great to see different participants have brought their social justice issues to bear. "What I'd like to express with my notion is that we identify the similarities rather than the differences. "And if we talk about the human rights, in particular to encompass the rights of the children, the rights of the children in every country throughout this world. "Because our internal politics are not driven internally but in a global context. "We are driven by the conservative ideals throughout this world. "And here's a little bit of philosophy from what I came to in my life. "Give me the courage to change the things I can and the
wisdom to know when I can't." |
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Cec Fisher "About eight years ago the Australian Government, including Johnny Howard's party, set up reconciliation. "The other day the Johnny Howard also set up a confrontation. "He's threatening to pull down the Tent Embassy. "I see that as harassment, confrontation and all those sort of words. "When they had the NAC and the Expo coming, they closed down the NAC so Aboriginal people wouldn't have a platform at the Expo. "Coming to the Expo, close the NAC, coming to the Olympic Games, pull down the Embassy, they haven't got a platform. "So this is not reconciliation, it's confrontation,
harassment, all those other big words you can think of." |
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Jade Johnson "We are proud to see that through the people here we see our culture that's been passed down. "With the new generation of Murri kids in Queensland, I think that with the help of the older generation we should come together as one, be as one, fight together as one and fight for our rights and our land. "Wadda Mooli." |
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Selwyn Johnson "When this millennium started the only people living on this land were Murri people. "We were proud people, strong people and peaceful people, and we still are. "That's how we survived, in this millennium, for 700 years, until a white man called Captain Cook showed up in a boat. "That became Invasion Day. "We celebrate it our way - true sadness, true loss, but we got a lot of courage and we carry all that strength with us." |
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Aunty Beryl Wharton "I didn't want to be here today because my heart is not here today. "It's down in Canberra at that tent city where we fought down there, that was where we battled and where we were picked up. "Take note that by the year 2000 we're losing everything now. "We're losing it, by the year 2000 we'll be all in the mainstream without anything. "No matter where we are we're all one as Murris, we are one wherever we come from, we stand together and we fight together." |
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