Women for Wik: 'The ground swell will build'
Green Left Weekly's CARLA GORTON spoke to WIN CHILDS, national co-convener of Women for Wik about the growing community opposition to Howard's Wik bill.
Question: How did Women for Wik form?
Women for Wik was launched in Sydney on July 12 as a partnership between indigenous and non-indigenous women. At the launch three Aboriginal women from the "stolen generation" shared their experiences as children taken away from their parents and the effect on their adult lives.
That opened the hearts and minds of the 500 women who attended. Women identified immediately with the pain and trauma Aboriginal women had experienced. The present struggle over the land is a continuation of these colonial attitudes of appropriation by the white elite.
News of Women for Wik's formation spread quickly and groups formed in Adelaide, Wollongong, Sydney, Hobart, and other capital cities and regional centres. We have received the endorsement of more than 50 women's organisations.
We made a written submission to the parliamentary committee opposing the government's amendments to the Native Title Act which would lead to extinguishment of native title and conflicted with the Racial Discrimination Act.
On October 16, we organised a motorcade to Canberra where 100 women from Sydney were met by 100 other women, including from Wollongong. In the committee hearing room we fielded questions on our submission.
Question: What are your criticisms of the Wik bill?
The key amendments in the government's bill will lead to the permanent extinguishment of native title by the validation of potentially invalid government acts. Other provisions will permanently extinguish native title over "exclusive possession" land tenures with a bureaucratic "paper exercise" by state governments. The bill also removes Aboriginal people's right to negotiate on pastoral leasehold, national parks and reserves, reducing it to vestigial rumps of vacant Crown land.
Mining companies want the bill to go ahead because there are a huge number of mining applications waiting to be approved. They just want to come in, take the minerals out and then go. They don't want to spend time on negotiations.
One encouraging development in the campaign is support from some major ethnic groups concerned that these amendments override the Racial Discrimination Act.
Question: How much of Howard's bill is the ALP willing to oppose?
The ALP has firmed up its position as a result of the campaign. We hope that its stand will be similar to our submission, a rejection of any amendment leading to extinguishment of native title or ending the right to negotiate.
Howard is being pushed by sections of the National Party, wealthy pastoralists and mining companies. If the opposition, including the Greens and Democrats, refuse to pass the bill it will go back to the House of Representative and then return to the Senate months later. In that time we will be actively educating the public.
The harder question arises if we are not satisfied with the ALP amendments. We will pressure the trade unions and community and ethnic groups to bring pressure to bear on the Labor Party. Once people know what the High Court Wik decision involves, even in the Labor heartland, they oppose the amendments.
Women for Wik are participating in an Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation coalition action in Canberra on November 25.
For more information, contact the co-conveners: Rosie Scott at (02) 9552 1427, fax (02) 9660 6554 or Win Childs on (02) 9552 3599.