On January 26, 2019 Australia will celebrate the 231st anniversary of the arrival of the first European settlers in Australia. Australia Day, frequently and increasingly referred to by Aboriginal peoples as invasion day, has become a source of bitter division within Australia.
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Many Aboriginal peoples, and their supporters, think it incongruous and unacceptable that the day on which the dispossession of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia commenced, their sovereignty was overridden and their lands occupied without approval or compensation should be celebrated as Australia’s national day.
I would ask non-Aboriginal Australians to put themselves in the shoes of Aboriginal Australians and reflect on the enduring impact those first and subsequent acts of dispossession have had on our first peoples, whether it be on our culture, the quality of our lives or our place in our own country, in order to understand and respond positively to calls for a reconsideration of the timing and purpose of Australia Day.
At the heart of Aboriginal opposition to the celebration of Australia Day is that there has been no formal acknowledgement or recognition, through say a treaty or some other formal mechanism, of the sovereignty of Aboriginal peoples over Australia or of the long and continuing history of abuse of our human rights and rights as first Australians. Without such recognition there cannot and will not be reconciliation.
Regrettably the tortuous and failed history of attempts by Aboriginal peoples to achieve a treaty and the cavalier rejection by the federal government of the call for an Indigenous voice to parliament-together with the continuing gymnastics of the Opposition on the timing and implementation of its claimed commitment to the proposed voice to parliament, illustrate just how illusory reconciliation remains.
In a year or two there will undoubtedly be a call to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of European settlement on the “Limestone Plains” in what is now the Australian Capital Territory. The “invasion” which commenced at Sydney in January 1788 reached Canberra in 1823.
If indeed there is a proposal for a bicentennial celebration of the first European settlement in this region it should not be expected to be particularly warmly received by local Aboriginal peoples, especially those that identify as the traditional owners and custodians of this place.
The sad fact is that here in the ACT there has been even less attention to or progress in achieving reconciliation than elsewhere in Australia. The ACT Labor/Greens government is for instance the only left-leaning government in Australia that has not engaged in conversation about the desirability of or support for a treaty, let alone committed to a process for the development of one.
It is not, however, just the lack of commitment by the ACT government to big picture issues such as a treaty or native title that militates against the achievement of reconciliation in Canberra. The swath of extremely poor outcomes being achieved by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island members of the local community are testament to a lack of urgency and attention to their wellbeing.
A brief summary or snapshot of some of the data relevant to the Aboriginal community of Canberra/Queanbeyan reveals: Reduced life expectancy of up to 15 years; the highest rate of Indigenous incarceration in Australia; the highest rate of removal of Aboriginal children from their family in Australia; hospital admission rates four times higher for chronic kidney disease and diabetes than the non-Indigenous community; high levels of mental health diagnosis; among the highest rates of illicit drug use in Australia; a gap of up to three years in educational outcomes compared to non-Aboriginal children; high rates of homelessness and sleeping rough.
While acknowledging there has been an incremental improvement in some indicators of health and wellbeing, there are also worrying examples of a deterioration in outcomes, most particularly in relation to incarceration, contact with care and protection services, drug and alcohol abuse and education.
A common feature of areas in the ACT where progress in closing the gap is either slow or non-existent is the absence of meaningful involvement by the Aboriginal community in the design, management and/or delivery of services. There is for example no meaningful Aboriginal community control in issues as fundamentally important as child protection, justice, housing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation or education. The attitude of the government and ministers is that they know best.
There is in reality no genuine commitment by the ACT government to self-determination or self-management by the Aboriginal community despite the overwhelming evidence that services for Aboriginal people that are designed, managed and delivered by Aboriginal community controlled organisations deliver optimal outcomes.
The aversion of the ACT government to supporting Aboriginal control and management of organisations or services has led to the absurd situation of the Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Yarramundi Reach, the Nugunnawal Bush Healing Farm at Tidbinbilla and Boomanulla Oval, a site of particular significance to the Aboriginal community, being managed by ACT public servants.
As the now traditional Australia Day debate about the consequences for Aboriginal peoples of European settlement and the taking of their land reaches a crescendo, the local Aboriginal community is reminded by the decision of the ACT government to keep Boomanulla Oval locked up and under tight government control, that the old mission ethos is alive and well.
However, our message to the ACT government on this Australia Day is that Boomanulla Oval is Aboriginal land. We want it back and we will not rest until it is under Aboriginal community control and management.
Julie Tongs is the chief executive of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal and Community Service.
