Time: Tuesday, June 6, 5pm (March at 5:30pm)
Location: Begin at Parliament Gardens, march to Flinders St Station
What: Supporters March with Clinton’s Walk For Justice
On the evening of June 6, Clinton’s Walk For Justice will join the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance in a march through Naarm (Melbourne), beginning at Parliament Gardens.
Clinton Pryor, a Wajuk, Balardung, Kija and Yulparitja man from Western Australia has been on his Walk For Justice since leaving Perth in September last year.
Clinton and the Walk For Justice Team are headed for Canberra, where they will deliver strong messages on behalf of the people and communities the team has met with right across the country.
Clinton says two messages are coming through very clearly from Aboriginal communities right now:
“First – our sovereignty was never ceded and our rights as the first nation peoples of this land should be recognised and respected as sovereign.
And also our elders should be given back control over our communities.”
So far Clinton and the team have travelled through the dryness of the Gibson desert, all the way to Uluru and on through the blistering heat of summer to Coober Pedy, Port Augusta and Adelaide city.
As they move through country, the team take part in traditional welcoming ceremonies and meet with local community members to hear their stories, discuss issues and take on their messages.
Now the team have crossed the border into the cold Victorian winter, and are rapidly approaching Melbourne before heading on to Sydney.
Clinton’s Walk For Justice began out of a need within Clinton to do something about the forced closure of Aboriginal communities, and that strong theme continues.
Clinton’s walk is about working together and building mutual respect between Aboriginal people, and between ALL people living on Aboriginal land here in Australia.
To hear more about Clinton’s experience and what he and the team have learned as they walked right across the country, join Clinton and the Walk For Justice team on June 6.
Quotes attributable to Clinton Pryor:
“I started this journey walking from Perth to find the truth and find a new way for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Australia.”
“I have never been to Melbourne before, so I don’t know what is going to happen yet, but we do know it be something to remember. Melbourne will be big.”
“In Canberra I want to bring Aboriginal leader an elders from a cross this country together, also none Indigenous people, to meet and talk about the issues our way.”
Website: http://www.clintonswalkforjustice.org
Well, I don’t like it. I was proud to vote Yes in the 1967 Referendum. What I want to know is where the accountability lies for the billions of taxpayers’ money poured into aboriginal affairs since. If you (AIM) are pursuing re-naming or joint naming, you have lost my support. This action is very 1060s and 70s. So go well Clinton because hope is all you will have left.
Prior to one of the Referendums of a decade ago, I attended a talk put on by the Bureau of Statistics. I was surprised to learn this:
If you totalled all the money the government spends on Australians each year, and divided that total by the number of people in Australia, the amount would be $x. If you totalled all the money the government spends on Aborigines each year, and divided that total by the number of Aborigines in Australia, the amount would be $x+2.
An extra $2 a year is spent on Aboriginal affairs than other Australians. And the reason they cost that extra $2 a year is because of the extra costs in providing services in many remote areas.
Yet many people – Chris2017 included (it would seem) – carry on like banshees as though it’s trillions of dollars more per Aborigine.
Back to you again, Chris2017, what billions of wasted money are you referring to?
“….indigenous sovereignty was never ceded” – so true, so absolutely true. A simple, unequivocal fact.
Odd that conservative Australia waxes lyrically about its respect for the rule of law, yet shows zero respect for that very foundational principle with regard to the first people.
Contemporary Australia is living in sovereignty denial. The Abbott lie “nothing but bush” might soothe the denialists fevered brows – and a very large percentage of conservatives currently hold to that disgraceful lie.
But the tide is turning – I hear the change in the narratives emerging following the Uluru conference – indeed – sovereignty was never ceded – and we all know it.
In an odd moment of serendipity, Jon Feign had a session this morning. A panel was available to discuss the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’, the ‘Makarrata’, and the repercussions.
The last paragraph of the statement reads like this (as Ms M reported).
“In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.”
Mr Pryor is not the first to walk. Ok, Mr Perkin’s drove. It was, after all, 1965. The Freedom Ride. How far we have come, that in 1965, we tried to drive the point home, and in 2017 we have to try and walk it in. Mr Long tried walking a few years ago. A sporting code picked up on it, not so much our politicians. Our politician’s irrelevancy is now so entrenched, they seriously would not see the train until it hit them. That’s another story.
Of all of the callers to the show, one fronted with the Howard Defence. If we acknowledge we did wrong to them, they will seek recompense. A notion so ridiculous, so ludicrous, it beggars belief.
You have the likes of Mr Pryor, Mr Long, those gathered at Uluru, and a few others advocating a message. A message that should have been driven home in 1965.
“Clinton says two messages are coming through very clearly from Aboriginal communities right now:
“First – our sovereignty was never ceded and our rights as the first nation peoples of this land should be recognised and respected as sovereign.
And also our elders should be given back control over our communities.”
“Clinton’s walk is about working together and building mutual respect between Aboriginal people, and between ALL people living on Aboriginal land here in Australia.
I’ll walk with Mr Pryor. 6th June, 5.00 pm. Got it.
As Phil noted, “the tide is turning – I hear the change in the narratives emerging following the Uluru conference – indeed – sovereignty was never ceded – and we all know it.”
Well I heard it on the radio
And I saw it on the television
Back in 1988, all those talking politicians
Words are easy, words are cheap
Much cheaper than our priceless land
But promises can disappear
Just like writing in the sand
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now
Nhima djatpangarri nhima walangwalang (You dance djatpangarri, that’s better)
Nhe djatpayatpa nhima gaya’ nhe marrtjini yakarray (You’re dancing, you improvise, you keep going, wow)
Nhe djatpa nhe walang gumurrt jararrk gutjuk (You dance djatpangarri, that’s good my dear paternal grandson)
This land was never given up
This land was never bought and sold
The planting of the union jack
Never changed our law at all
Now two river run their course
Seperated for so long
I’m dreaming of a brighter day
When the waters will be one
Treaty yeah, treaty now, treaty yeah, treaty now
Nhima gayakaya nhe gaya’ nhe (You improvise, you improvise)
Nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini walangwalang nhe ya (You improvise, you keep going, you’re better)
Nhima djatpa nhe walang (You dance djatpangarri, that’s good)
Gumurr-djararrk yawirriny’ (My dear young men)
Nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini gaya’ nhe marrtjini (You improvise, you keep improvising, you keep going)
Gayakaya nhe gaya’ nhe marrtjini walangwalang (Improvise, you improvise, you keep going, that’s better)
Nhima djatpa nhe walang (You dance djatpangarri, that’s good)
Gumurr-djararrk nhe yå, e i, e i, e i i i, i i i, i i i, i i (You dear things)
Treaty ma’ (Treaty now)
Promises disappear – priceless land – destiny
Well I heard it on the radio
And I saw it on the television
But promises can be broken
Just like writing in the sand
It will be a privilege to walk with Mr Pryor.
Thank you AIMN for the heads up. Take care