Aboriginal people have walked and toiled the lands of this vast continent for over 65,000 years. They have done so, having inherited the custodianship from their forefathers.
With colonial zeal, England invaded their lands, raped their women and shot their husbands as if a sport. We wanted to remove their culture and force the expulsion of their children. We tried to breed them out. Over time, we took their lands. Then, we treated them like foreigners.
When the white settlers moved into the bush, random shootings of Aboriginals and massacres of groups of men, women and children were common.
The most infamous massacre occurred at Myall Creek station, NSW in 1838.
“The massacre at Myall Creek was the culmination of a series of conflicts between settlers and Aboriginal people in the Liverpool Plains region. The twelve men responsible for the massacre included freed men and assigned convicts that had spent a day unsuccessfully pursuing Aboriginal people. When they came to Myall Creek station they discovered a group of Wirrayaraay who they rounded up and tied together. A few minutes later they were led off and massacred. Two days later the men returned to the scene of the crime to burn their victims’ remains.”
Then, with our inhumane cruelty, we tried to rectify the wrongs with the white man’s ways.
We denied them their citizenship rights; instead, we enslaved them. Hardship has been the lot of our First Nations people since we first oppressed them. We denied them equality and opportunity, believing they were unworthy of it.
Years later, we locked them up and while in custody, they died. It didn’t work, so the indigenous people asked, “Can we have a go?”
“Know your place,” the reply comes back from those with hatred and racism on their tongues. Of conservative bent they were. A cohort of spoilers. Bastards with little tenderness.
They should be honoured for their patience and tolerance while we debate simple requests. A referendum. A few words that acknowledge our existence in the book of rules. The one we call The Constitution and a proposal that we might listen to them amid their despair.
“Why so?”, the white side asks, and you have to wonder at their blindness. Or their hatred. Listen to Peter Dutton (another referendum should he become PM), John Howard (“maintain the rage“), and Tony Abbott (should be “abandoned“). What vile, hate-filled, inaccurate, misleading and undignified messages they project. Scare and more scare. Conflict with hate debate is continuous. Such ignorance in our own backyard.
A choice to accept what is or move forward as a nation and address the gaps for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. To those who reason, it is not unreasonable. To do this, they simply ask for a say in matters that affect them. A small request.
The Voice will create practical and lasting change.
To refuse these simple requests would dishonour our First Nations people and declare our racism.
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My thought for the day:
The legacy of centuries of racism lingers on. What will the consequences be?
An afterthought:
A party whose behaviour was so deplorable in government should be more considered in opposition. (Referring to the last session of parliament.)
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