Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people faced many struggles for their rights throughout the early years, up until now in Australia. This text talks about the 1946 to 1949 Pilbara Strike that occurred on May 1st (‘May Day’) in the northern part of Western Australia. The Pilbara strike lasted for three years making it the lengthiest strike in Australian history (Stephen, 2006). This strike was about the aboriginal pastorals who worked on the Pilbara sheep and cattle stations wanting better wages and working conditions (Scrimgeour, 2014). The Aboriginal workers wanted to be paid a minimum wage instead of handouts, the right to nominate their own governments and freedom of movement, it was a movement for the Aboriginal people to gain more …show more content…
It was in the 1920s when Indigenous people started to receive a minimal working wage (Korff, 2012) and in 1936 the Native Affairs Act legally forced Aboriginal farmers to provide shelter and give medical needs to their workers but it was never implemented by the government (Korff, 2012). The Pilbara Strike significantly improve Aborigines working conditions, ideally the Strike was first discussed in secret by 200 senior aboriginal people at a six week long gathering led by elders Dooley Bin Bin, Don McLeod and Clancy McKenna in 1942, who represented 23 different language groups, it was then decided to postpone the discussion till after the second world war (Bloodworth, 2014). Three years after the postponed discussion in 1942, Daisy Bindi in 1945 a year before the strike occurred, was the first to arrange a meeting to prompt the callout for a strike, she was so forward in the callout that police threated to remove her from her region (Bloodworth, 2014). Ms Bindi is believed to have started the talk of the strike in with Don McLeod, she had also been one of the first to ever demand and receive money from her ‘white employer’ which helped her to save for a vehicle which allowed her to collect workers for the Pilbara region when the strike took place on ‘May Day’ (May 1st, 1946) …show more content…
Secondly, the right to elect their own representatives for government and thirdly the right for freedom movement in Australia (Howard, 2010), even though these were the goals it was worth so much more to the Aborigines then anyone knew. The Aborigines just wanted to be treated like the ‘whites’ Daisy Bindi quotes “We did not live in a house or anything, we had to go down to the creek like kangaroos. We just wanted to be treated like human beings, not like cattle.” ("Pilbara strike | Right Wrongs", 2018). Aboriginal farmers wanted the weekly wage to be 30 shillings a week (three dollars) instead of rations of food and clothing, the Aborigines also want better working and living conditions and that is why the fought for their rights, dignity and proper entitlements to own their own land (Howard, 2010). Fighting for these goals was hard, the Indigenous people were determined that their put up a three year long strike still not knowing if they would win. Much suffering and hardship was endured during the strike. The Aborigines faced separation from families and were forced to live without shelter or food (Gallop, 2002). Although Aboriginal people endured so much struggle during the strike they had small hope that they could win some of the goals. Aboriginal people knew deep down that whatever the outcome maybe be, they at least tried together and that is what
Eddie Mabo was a recognised Indigenous Australian who fought for his land, Murray Island. Mabo spent a decade seeking official recognition of his people’s ownership of Murray Island (Kwirk, 2012). He became more of an activist, he campaigned for better access for indigenous peoples to legal and medical services, to house, to social services and to education. The Mabo case was a milestone court case which paved the way for fair land rights for indigenous people. The Merriam people wanted to ensure its protection. Eddie Mabo significantly contributed to the civil and land rights of Indigenous people in Australia due to his argument to protect his land rights. In a speech in 1976, at a conference on the redrawing of the Torres Strait border, Mabo articulated a vision for islander self-determination and for an independent Torres Strait Island (Stephson, 2009).
Throughout Australian history, there have been men and women who fought for the entitlements of the indigenous people. The most respected and recognised of these is Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander. Mabo stood up for the rights of his people from a very young age all the way to his death, in order to generate changes in the policies and laws of the government. Mabo battled for his right to own the land which he had inherited from his adoptive father, a fight which was resolved only after his demise. Despite this, Eddie Mabo became one of the key influential figures in the Aboriginal rights movement, as his strong will, determination, and intelligence allowed him to bring about change.
The National Apology of 2008 is the latest addition to the key aspects of Australia’s reconciliation towards the Indigenous owners of our land. A part of this movement towards reconciliation is the recognition of Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders rights to their land. Upon arrival in Australia, Australia was deemed by the British as terra nullius, land belonging to no one. This subsequently meant that Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were never recognised as the traditional owners. Eddie Mabo has made a highly significant contribution to the rights and freedoms of Indigenous Australians as he was the forefather of a long-lasting court case in 1982 fighting for the land rights of the Torres Strait Islanders. Eddie Mabo’s introduction of the Native Title Act has provided Indigenous Australians with the opportunity to state claim to their land, legally recognising the Indigenous and the Torres Strait Islanders as the traditional owners.
The authors of The Ethics of Teaching, Kenneth A. Strike and Jonas F. Soltis, present ideas about equal opportunity and the democratic community. Kenneth Strike and Jonas Soltis mention what the NEA Code states about discrimination. The NEA states the educator cannot “exclude any student from participating in any program”. (Strike; Soltis, pg. 55). An educator also cannot exclude any student from receiving benefits. Chapter 4 mentions providing equal educational opportunities for every student. Strike and Soltis provide the Brown v. Board of Education as an example of giving equal opportunity to everyone. According to Strike and Soltis, “…segregation is illegal because it does
Prime Minister Robert Menzies was a believer in the need for ‘great and powerful friends’ and the idea of ‘forward defence’. Before the 1949 federal election, Menzies campaigned on the representation of the Labor Party as out of touch with Australia’s postwar ambitions. He was aided by Chifley’s willpower to cover union wage stresses and control increase. Predominantly injuring for Labor was a Communist-led coal strike in New South Wales, and the government’s practice of troops to
Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji people who walked with him changed the Australian political landscape. Therefore, the ‘Wave Hill Walk Off’ proved an establishment to the liberation of Aboriginal people from the struggles for rights and
The protest began with a “silent protest from the Town Hall to the Australian Hall” (AIATSIS, n.d.), attended by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. However, this march was delayed significantly due to the Australia day celebrations
Indigenous People. In evaluating the Legal System’s response to Indigenous People and it’s achieving of justice, an outline of the history of Indigenous Australians - before and during settlement - as well as their status in Australian society today must be made. The dispossession of their land and culture has deprived Indigenous People of economic revenue that the land would have provided if not colonised, as well as their ... ... middle of paper ... ...
Struggles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people for recognition of their rights and interests have been long and arduous (Choo & Hollobach: 2003:5). The ‘watershed’ decision made by the High Court of Australia in 1992 (Mabo v Queensland) paved the way for Indigenous Australians to obtain what was ‘stolen’ from them in 1788 when the British ‘invaded’ (ATSIC:1988). The focus o...
As European domination began, the way in which the European’s chose to deal with the Aborigines was through the policy of segregation. This policy included the establishment of a reserve system. The government reserves were set up to take aboriginals out of their known habitat and culture, while in turn, encouraging them to adapt the European way of life. The Aboriginal Protection Act of 1909 established strict controls for aborigines living on the reserves . In exchange for food, shelter and a little education, aborigines were subjected to the discipline of police and reserve managers. They had to follow the rules of the reserve and tolerate searchers of their homes and themselves. Their children could be taken away at any time and ‘apprenticed” out as cheap labour for Europeans. “The old ways of the Aborigines were attacked by regimented efforts to make them European” . Their identities were threatened by giving them European names and clothes, and by removing them from their tra...
Reynolds, H. (1976). The Other Side of The Frontier: Aboriginal resistance to the European invasion of Australia. Queensland, Australia: James Cook University
Access to land and resources is important for many aboriginal communities as a basis for the maintenance of aboriginal cultural values, financial security, and economic development. The self-government has also helped provide access to treaty rights and land claims settlements for the Aboriginal population.
Indigenous Australian land rights have sparked controversy between Non Indigenous and Indigenous Australians throughout history. The struggle to determine who the rightful owners of the land are is still largely controversial throughout Australia today. Indigenous Australian land rights however, go deeper than simply owning the land as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have established an innate spiritual connection making them one with the land. The emphasis of this essay is to determine how Indigenous Australian land rights have impacted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, highlighting land rights regarding the Mabo v. the State of Queensland case and the importance behind today’s teachers understanding and including Indigenous
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
The 1964 Australian Freedom Rides were conducted by Sydney University students who were a part of a group called Student Action for Aboriginals (SAFA), led by none other than Charles Perkins— a man who would be the first Australian Aboriginal University graduate and was, at the time, a passionate third year arts student when he was elected leader of the SAFA.— Despite the name, the freedom rides took place on the 12th of February in 1965, the 1964 title refers to when SAFA banded together to organise the rides and insure sufficient media coverage was had. The students’ aim was to draw attention to the poor health, education, and housing that the Aborigines had, to point out and deteriorate the social discrimination barriers that existed between the ‘whites’ and Aborigines, and to support and encourage Aborigines to resi...