Gunai Mara elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe explained the reason for lighting the fire and establishing Camp Sovereignty on Boonwurrung Country in Melbourne’s Kings Domain on March 12, 2006 and again on January 26, is the “Blak GST”. The Blak GST is genocide, sovereignty and treaty.
Genocide, a criminal act, is on everyone’s minds as Israel’s atrocities on 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are unprecedented in scale and are being broadcast 24/7.
Thorpe was an organiser of the original Camp Sovereignty and, because of Gaza, he thought it was time to establish the site permanently.
It serves as a cultural exchange for people to learn about the genocide on this land, the true sovereignty and the lack of any treaty.
The Gaza genocide has put the spotlight on genocides that have happened, and which are ongoing here: it has been the same dehumanisation and subjugation.
And just as there is a push back against naming the mass slaughter of innocent civilians in Gaza, there was the Great Australian Silence here as First Peoples were erased from the history books.
This means that the myths of terra nullius, peaceful settlement and other prejudices are still around and the true history of mass killings, dispossession and segregation camps remain blurred.
However, the catastrophe in Gaza is making the crimes that happened here less easy to ignore.
Camp Sovereignty is one manifestation of the need for a greater understanding of this continent’s colonisation.
Thorpe, a revered social justice activist, is a prolific publisher, writer and broadcaster.
Sydney Criminal Lawyers spoke to Thorpe about Israel’s war on Palestine, the colonisation this continent, the reasons for Camp Sovereignty, as well as the reckoning he foresees as coming.
You reestablished Camp Sovereignty on Boonwurrung Country, relighting the fire on January 26. How would you describe its aims?
It’s the same aims as those back in 2006 and those are the issues of the Blak GST: genocide, sovereignty, treaty.
These are fundamental legal issues in this country under norms of international law.
What has also motivated me is what we have been watching on the television, the genocide that is going on in Palestine.
How would you say the genocide in Gaza is impacting on us here?
The people supporting it are the Australian government. They are sending arms over there, as well as militarily and economically supporting Israel.
They are complicit in genocide there. They are also complicit of genocide here — undoubtedly.
That’s why we will continue to protest until we get some resolution around who’s land this is.
This land is our land. We have never ceded our sovereign rights.
And there’s a crime of genocide that Australia is clearly guilty of, according to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948.
Tell me, what they are not guilty of? It is all there on the record.
There is no treaty, no consent and no jurisdiction. But despite that, the stinking jails are filled with Aboriginal men, women and children.
That is one of the reasons why we are doing what we are doing.
You said at the Invasion Day rally that Australia is a ‘big Israel’. Could you elaborate?
If you have a look at the histories of Israel and Australia, they’re very similar.
We’re talking about occupied land and genocidal oppression and propaganda at the highest level.
We’ve had 251 years of what they call a Nakba, a holocaust or a crime scene. As Australia has been out of sight and out of the mind of the rest of the world, they’ve been able to get away with it.
We have had three times as long a Nakba compared to Palestine. But it is very similar. All of Australia is the “West Bank”.
A “West Bank” where they steal all their resources and all their wealth. America is the same. Britain is the worst. They are the colonisers.
And do you think a reckoning is coming?
It is. They’ve been able to get away with what they did, and the reckoning is environmental collapse.
If you want to cause genocide, you’re going to cause ecocide.
That is the hook in the tail for all the colonisers, who think they’re smart, and they can get away with crimes against humanity as they have.
That is the real punishment for their children. They have stolen everything, set it up for themselves, and their kids are going to pay for it.
Following the failed Yes referendum campaign, how would you describe the state of Indigenous affairs?
Disgusting, as it has always been. We don’t need foreigners managing our affairs. Who the hell do these people think we are? They are invaders, trespassers, illegal aliens. We didn’t consent to their occupation. We don’t agree with anything they do.
People don’t realise there has been a holocaust here, and it has been that way for a long time. We are the survivors of that genocide. Why can’t people see that?
At some point, the rest of the world is going to start looking at Australia a lot differently.
I’m glad that South Africa has broken the ice in terms of the international legal business, because the eyes of the world are going to turn on Australia next.
The truth will be told about this country. There is a lot of oil and gas involved.
Whoever is in control of Australia controls the South Pacific, which brings a lot of wealth and stolen resources here to build and trade with.
What has been happening at the camp over the last month? And what do you envision for its future?
We have had a fantastic time. It has been a really successful camp up until this point. It has been about 30 days.
We are getting stronger the longer we stay there with our fire: it is a mark of our occupation and our lore.
We are looking forward to engaging with the wider community, the Melbourne city community and, maybe, the Governor of Victoria.
We have some great plans. We want to permanently occupy the space with a cultural interpretation centre. It was formerly an Aboriginal reserve, beside the Botanical Gardens. It’s also a burial site of our people.
[Tune in to Uncle Robbie Thorpe’s program, Bunjil’s Fire, on Radio 3CR at 11am on Wednesdays. A longer version of this article was first published at Sydney Criminal Lawyers.]