The ‘Wave Hill Walk Off’ proved an establishment to the liberation of Aboriginal people from the struggles for rights and freedom. The effectiveness of this movement is judged upon the influence on rights and freedom, function of the actions taken, and the outcomes of events within this movement. Through their actions, the Gurindji showed the vitality of Aboriginal desire to achieve a practice that respected their identity, traditions and rights to their traditional lands.
On 23 August 1966, Gurindji tribal elder Vincent Lingiari led 200 Aboriginal workers off their jobs at the Wave Hill cattle station, belonging to the British pastoral company Vestey. They established a settlement in Wattie Creek, where they sought the return of Gurindji
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Aboriginal children under 12 were working illegally, with inadequate accommodation and rations, sexual abuse of Aboriginal women, no sanitation or rubbish removal facilities, and limitation to safe drinking water. -(1)- . It was not just the land right issues that triggered this campaign, but also the lack of personal rights and freedom of the Aboriginals that influenced this action.
With the movement at Wave Hill, various methods in achieving rights and freedom became effective nearly 10 years from the establishment of the campaign. On 16th August 1975, Prime Minister Whitlam presented the deeds to Vincent Lingiari, and poured sand into his hands to symbolise the return of the land. -(2)- .
In order to achieve the Aboriginals rights and freedom, several practices were conducted to achieve them.The establishment at Wattie Creek (Daguragu) continued their strike for 9 years. During this time, Vincent Lingiari toured Australia with the assistance of several workers’ unions to raise awareness of the issues faced by his people, and to lobby politicians for recognition of Indigenous rights. The Gurindji escalated their campaign dramatically in 1967, when they rejected attempts to buy them off with small wage increases and began raising campaign funds from the work union which reached to $17000. This strategy became effective as the assistance of several other groups inclined the
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The Gurindji case was unique from previous campaigns, as it was the first to receive strong support from the trade unions, organisations around the country, and media attention. Illegal occupation of the land they originally owned and media exposures also contributed to the achievement in Wave Hill.
The struggle endured to achieve rights and freedoms changed peoples opinions. Inspired by the story, songwriter Paul Kelly wrote the song From Little Things, Big Things Grow, which tells the story of the walk-off, Vincent's trips to the southern states to gain support for the protest, and the subsequent handover of the land. The long term impact of the Aboriginals struggles is acknowledged in 2008, when PM Kevin Rudd delivers the sorry speech to the people affected by the “Stolen Generation” and ravages of the whites.
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
... community and live along side white Australians, while other aboriginals happily moved in to the community and came to live a more civilised life.
Hatch, P. (2013, April 5). Eddie Mabo's epic fight for land rights changed Australian law and history. Retrieved from Herald Sun: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/fight-for-land-rights-changed-history/story-fnat7jnn-1226613120932
out against the injustice and urged the Indians, “to unite in claiming a common and equal right in
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
Key events in Aboriginal Australian history stem from the time Australia was first discovered in 1788. For instance, when Federation came into existence in 1901, there was a prevailing belief held by non Aboriginal Australians that the Aborigines were a dying race (Nichol, 2005:259) which resulted in the Indigenous people being excluded from the constitution except for two mentions – Section 127 excluded Aborigines from the census and Section 51, part 26, which gave power over Aborigines to the States rather than to the Federal Government. Aboriginal people were officially excluded from the vote, public service, the Armed Forces and pensions. The White Australia mentality/policy Australia as “White” and unfortunately this policy was not abolished until 1972. REFERENCE
Of the 8 successful, the 1967 referendum which proposed the removal of the words in section 51 (xxvi) ‘… other than the aboriginal people in any State’ (National Archives of Australia ND), and the deletion of section 127, both, which were discriminative in their nature toward the Aboriginal race, recorded a 90.77% nationwide vote in favour of change (National Archives of Australia, 2014). As a result, the Constitution was altered; highlighting what was believed to be significant positive political change within Indigenous affairs at the time (National Archives of Australia, 2014). Approaching 50 years on, discussion has resurfa...
Choo, C and Hollbach, S. 2003. History and Native Title. Western Australia: Studies in Western Australian History.
...rial covered in the unit Aboriginal People that I have been studying at the University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Aboriginal people have had a long history of being subjected to dispossession and discriminatory acts that has been keep quite for too long. By standing together we are far more likely to achieve long lasting positive outcomes and a better future for all Australians.
The rights and freedoms achieved in Australia in the 20th and 21st century can be described as discriminating, dehumanising and unfair against the Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians have achieved rights and freedoms in their country since the invasion of the English Monarch in 1788 through the exploration and development of laws, referendums and processes. Firstly, this essay will discuss the effects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the Indigenous Australians through dehumanising and discriminating against them. Secondly, this essay will discuss how Indigenous Australians gained citizenship and voting
Land rights now referred to the continual legal exertion to reclaim ownership of the land and waters that was called home prior to British colonisation (Creative Spirits, 2011). Australian Museum (2015) and Creative Spirits (2011) acknowledge the struggle to gain legal recognition and ownership of Indigenous land is difficult and expensive. Furthermore, the history behind the struggle in earlier years often resulted in violence as Indigenous Australians were dispossessed of their land (Australian Museum, 2015). Subsequently, the struggle for land rights continued through the legal and political systems; as demonstrated in 1982 when Eddie (Koiki) Mabo and four other Meriam people decided to pursue declaration of their customary land rights in the High Court of Australia (Hill, 1995). Based on the findings of Creative Spirits (2011) Indigenous Australian land rights appeared promising in 1983 when the Hawke Government promised legislation to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s land rights are protected throughout Australia. The legislation was said to permit Indigenous Australians to exercise the right of control over mining on Indigenous Australian land to ensure sacred sites are protected (Creative Spirits, 2011). However, in 1984 the mining companies fought back to repossess control over land. Mining and pastoral industries were considered too powerful and
Within Australia, beginning from approximately the time of European settlement to late 1969, the Aboriginal population of Australia experienced the detrimental effects of the stolen generation. A majority of the abducted children were ’half-castes’, in which they had one white parent and the other of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Following the government policies, the European police and government continued the assimilation of Aboriginal children into ‘white’ society. Oblivious to the destruction and devastation they were causing, the British had believed that they were doing this for “their [Aborigines] own good”, that they were “protecting” them as their families and culture were deemed unfit to raise them. These beliefs caused ...
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...
Many events during Charles Perkins life contributed to his values and beliefs encouraging him to embark on the fight for Aboriginal rights and thus helping to shape Australian society. Growing up he suffered racial vilification and was treated as a second-class citizen. Charles show...
Mandela used this forgiveness to assist him in his attempts to “win over skeptic whites” and negotiate “the country’s first all-race elections” (Myre).