By Bernard Wunsch
IPSWICH — Some 350 people attended a forum titled "One year of Hanson: Exposing the myths" on Sunday, March 2, in the Ipswich Workers Club.
The forum, organised by the Ipswich Anti-Racism Committee, was aimed at discussing the racism pushed by Ipswich MP Pauline Hanson and the Howard government since their election.
Speakers included Aboriginal activist Noel Pearson, Frank Brennan (Catholic social justice advocate), Archbishop Wilfred Napier (South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission), Belzah Lowah (Torres Strait Island representative), Patricia Thompson (chair of the south-east Queensland ATSIC regional council), Peter Walsh (Queensland Council of Social Services) and John Thompson (secretary of ACTU, Queensland).
Most speakers stressed that the Howard government and Hanson, have launched a huge assault on the rights of Aboriginal people, migrants, working people and welfare recipients.
There was general agreement that the effort to divide people by promoting racism poses a serious threat to Australian society and is affecting the ability of people to unite against attacks on the community. Land rights, justice for Aboriginal people, the history of racism in Australia and the government's austerity program also figured in the discussion.
Noel Pearson was one of the architects of the last ALP federal government's native title legislation. In his well-received address, he praised the Mabo decision, which took the battle for land rights into the courts, with hundreds of subsequent claims by Aborigines.
He said that the Mabo judgment was a compromise between the indigenous entitlement to land and the 204 years of occupation, and should be respected by the government, mining companies and pastoralists as well as Aboriginal people.
Frank Brennan's speech, titled "The black armband view of history", focused on the history of Australia after British invasion. He rejected the conservative backlash against Australia's real history of oppression and dispossession of the Aboriginal people, noting that a bill of rights was left out of the Commonwealth constitution in the 1890s because the government needed to continue its policy of institutionalised racism against Chinese workers and Aborigines.
Pat Thompson talked about the injustices suffered by the Aboriginal people as a result of their dispossession. "None of us are responsible for the guilt of past [race] relations, but we are responsible for understanding what happened", she said.
John Thompson concentrated on the anti-worker nature of Hanson and the Howard government. He noted that Ipswich "needs a member who can come out and listen to the community and support working-class issues".
Peter Walsh made a strong speech lambasting the Howard government for its social welfare and education cuts. He said that while the insecurity of the working class is rising dramatically, there has been a conscious effort to scapegoat the unemployed, single mothers and racial groups by saying that too much is being spent on welfare. It was essential to tackle inequality in wealth distribution, not government spending.
The most important aspect of this forum was that it helped to clarify the links between the federal government's attacks on various sectors of society. Attempts are being made to drive a wedge between Aborigines, migrants, the unemployed and workers.