Adam Baker, Brisbane
"Fifty-five million dollars are peanuts in a bowl", declared Lionel Fogarty, renowned Aboriginal poet and fighter for his people. Fogarty was speaking on the platform of Emma Miller Place, also known as Roma Street Forum, which was the starting point for the rally and march to mark Invasion Day on January 26.
The issue of Indigenous Australians' stolen wages was a major theme of this year's rally. The Queensland Labor government has made a capped "offer" of $55 million, with each claimant entitled to a maximum of $4000 in unpaid wages. A condition of accepting the offer, however, is that they must forego any further legal action against the government over stolen wages.
The deadline for applications for the payment was extended to January 31. Tiger Bayles from the Stolen Wages Campaign pointed out that only $17 million of the $55 million has so far been paid, and a massive 40% of claims have been rejected by the state government.
Bayles made a comparison with the Ansett workers' case, in which the government applied a levy to all airline tickets to raise the funds needed to cover the entitlements of Ansett workers who lost their jobs. He pointed out that no such action has been taken by the government to ensure that Aboriginal workers are paid properly for work they did decades ago.
The offer of a maximum of $4000 dollars has to be put in context, argued Bayles. For example, victims of the Queensland health system's alleged "Doctor Death", Jayant Patel, were offered $5000 each by the state government to help cover legal costs. He stressed that money for stolen wages was not taxpayers' money, but money that Indigenous people had worked hard to earn, money that is owed to them.
Around 1000 people joined the rally and march, which was chaired by Aboriginal community leader and Socialist Alliance activist Sam Watson. Watson reminded everyone that the first Invasion Day demonstration occurred in 1938, marking 150 years of British colonisation.
Fogarty also welcomed the election of Bolivia's first Indigenous president, Evo Morales, and said that the struggle of the Indigenous people of Latin America is the same struggle as that of Indigenous people worldwide. The rally was also addressed by Gillian Brannigan, co-chair of the National Sorry Day Committee.
In stifling heat the protesters marched through the city, over the river and into Musgrave Park.
Also present at the Invasion Day activities was the new Black GST group. The acronym stands for Genocide (to be stopped), Sovereignty (to be restored) and Treaty (to be made). The group has Indigenous and non-Indigenous members and is campaigning around the demands:
- a detente, which recognises Indigenous Australians and ends the conflict;
- that parliament pass a recognition of sovereignty act; and
- the commencement of a treaty process.
The Black GST says that if these demands are met before March, the protests planned for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne will be called off. Recognising that this is unlikely, the group is urging people to be ready to travel to Melbourne for a peaceful "Stolenweath Games" protest.
From Green Left Weekly, February 1, 2006.
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