Indigenous resistance to previous terror laws

Nicole Watson

When Captain Arthur Phillip unloaded his cargo in Sydney Cove on that fateful day in 1788, Indigenous people became the victims of a number of legal fictions. The first was terra nullius. The second was our change in status to that of British subjects.

Although British subjects, Indigenous people never enjoyed the protection of the rule of law. Rather, the law was suspended to allow our lands to be stolen and to violently suppress Indigenous resistance.

Colonial police forces such as the Border Police and the Native Police were adept at delivering retributive justice. One former native policeman revealed their brutal tactics to a Royal Commission in 1861: "[I] didn't waste time to see whether a cow or bullock had been speared ... I don't think they can understand anything else except shooting them. (Conflict, Politics and Crime, 2001 by Chris Cunneen.)

Throughout the 20th century, Indigenous people were continually denied their human rights by the protectionist regime which deemed all Indigenous people to be wards of the state.

Examining the history of protectionism is relevant to today's discussion about the new terror laws because it counters any argument that Australia has a clean human rights reputation. If we are going to work towards building a culture that respects human rights, that history must be recognised.

Protectionism began in Queensland in 1897 with the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 (Qld) act. It continued in its various guises until the repeal of the Aborigines Act 1971 (Qld) in 1984.

This regime included the indefinite detention of Indigenous people. The act gave the Director of Native Affairs unfettered discretion to "cause any Aboriginal" to be removed to a reserve. Once detained on a reserve, one was there forever. The only escape was a certificate of exemption. However, this was a matter for the director's discretion. Often gaining an exemption certificate depended on one's ability to assimilate. Furthermore, certificates were revocable at the director's whim. Consequently, a continuing association with one's kin could result in the revocation of a certificate of exemption.

Bureaucratic power over wards was buttressed by offences applicable only to Aboriginal people. A cursory glance of the 1945 Regulations reveals offences such as "acts subversive of good order", and disobeying an order to stop dancing. In the same vein the 1966 regulations created the "offence against discipline" that was defined to include being "idle" at work and behaving in an "insulting manner".

Until the early 1970s it was an offence for an Aboriginal person subject to the act to leave a reserve without the permission of the reserve superintendent or police protector.

The Aborigines Act 1971 (Qld) removed this offence but still curtailed freedom of movement. After 1971, entitlement to be on a reserve was dependent upon a permit issued by the director.

The Queensland Bjelke-Petersen used the permit system to keep political agitators out of the reserves. For example, in 1979 a teacher at the Hopevale reserve organised a meeting with union representatives about the underpayment of Aboriginal wages. The director responded by canceling his residence permit.

Palm Island strike

Generations of Indigenous people resisted the protectionist regime and the Palm Island strike of 1957 illustrates this bravery. The strike was a symbol of courage in the face of unspeakable racism and a warning against vesting unfettered power in bureaucrats.

The Palm Island Aboriginal reserve, established in 1918, was designed as a "penitentiary for troublesome cases". The threat of deportation to the island was regularly used to coerce Indigenous workers on the mainland into virtual slavery.

The superintendent at the time of the strike was an ex-policeman, Roy Bartlam. Bartlam was notorious for his sadistic punishments and zealous enforcement of apartheid. He strictly enforced a morning roll call of all Aboriginal residents on the island. Those who were late were jailed for two weeks. All Indigenous residents, including the elderly and pregnant women, were forced to work 30 hours per week with rations their only remuneration.

Another grievance during Bartlam's rule was the distribution of rations. Whereas the European minority received ample supplies, Indigenous people were forced to queue for leftovers.

Although wages and apartheid conditions were the major causes of the strike, the immediate trigger was Bartlam's decision to deport one Albie Geia. Geia had committed the offence of disobeying the European overseer, Croker.

When Geia refused to leave, the community rallied behind him declaring a strike on June 10, 1957. For five days the strikers controlled the island. The strike was eventually broken through dawn raids on the homes of community leaders. The men and their families, manacled in leg irons, were led to a military patrol boat. The men remained in chains throughout the journey. Had the boat capsized, death would have been a certainty.

It is difficult to comprehend the strikers' fear that morning. What would the police do to them? Would they ever be reunited with their loved ones? Would they ever return home?

The strikers were exiled to other reserves on the mainland. None were charged with committing a criminal offence and all were denied access to legal advice.

As a child I remember learning about the Great Strike of 1957. The tales of Captain Cook and the white explorers fed to us in school could never diminish our pride in those early freedom fighters. No doubt the strike also inspired the young foot soldiers of the black power movement. Although a national movement, the black power campaign in Brisbane was manifest in the 1970s Black Panther Party.

Australian Black Panthers

The Brisbane panthers such as Dennis Walker and my dad, Sam Watson, borrowed directly from community programs developed by their African American counterparts. The "Breakfast for Children" program was one, another was the "pig patrol".

During Bjelke-Petersen's reign Indigenous people were constant targets of police racism. In the early 1970s there was even an informal quota on black arrests. To fill it, the police raided pubs frequented by Indigenous patrons.

Members of the pig patrols attended those raids, questioned the police and documented their exchanges. In recording police abuse the Panthers were joined by members of the clergy, such as Pastor Don Brady, and white supporters. Their work was used to counter police evidence in court, eventually breaking the heinous quota.

I have no doubt that the Panthers would have committed the offence of sedition, as outlined in the new terror laws. In interviews given by former Panthers there were frequent references to "revolution" and "urban guerrilla tactics". Members of the clergy and volunteers from the legal profession may have also attracted liability for associating with "terrorists".

I was surprised to read that former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was considering resigning from the Liberal Party over the new terror laws. According to Fraser, the Howard government is "reversing centuries of advances in human rights" in a "country that prides itself on its democracy". Of all the former PMs Fraser should remember Queensland's oppressive protectionist legislation. After all he was PM when Bjelke-Petersen ran Queensland as a police state.

Unlike Fraser, Indigenous families cannot conveniently forget Queensland's protectionist regime. Likewise, we cannot forget the strength of those involved in the Palm Island strike and the black power movement. Such activism produced the forerunners of many of today's Indigenous programs and gave heart to oppressed communities throughout the country.

Their courage will outlive this small-minded Howard government.

[Nicole Watson is a member of the Birri Gubba People of Central Queensland and the Mullenjarli People of Beaudesert, Queensland. She is based at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning. This is an abridged version of a speech she gave to a Green Left Weekly-hosted forum in Sydney in December 2005.]

From Green Left Weekly, January 25, 2006.
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