Colonialism

The regional meetings set up by the Referendum Council have been a farce. The 'Delegates' were hand-picked and without any representative election process. Their selection didn't meet western democratic standards or First Nations' protocols. The aim of these meetings has proven to be what many expected, a total whitewash. Anyone with alternative opinions or ideas were unable to speak or even record the events. However SU Volunteers monitored the proceedings at the Sydney meeting and provide their comprehensive report here. [node:read-more:link]

Sovereign Union's brief submission to the 'Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee', which was written in much haste, as the notice impending was extremely limited and many First Nations groups would have not only be unaware of the proposed changes, many others who were probably informed would not have had the resources to provide a written presentation, whilst others who use oral communication in their own language as their principal communication method completely obliterated from any form of action on something highly significant on matters relating to their country and culture. [node:read-more:link]

In a letter forwarded to the Governor-general Ghillar, Michael Anderson, urged the Governor-general to be cognisant of Australia's illegal status as a Nation State.
Ghillar stated: "The fraud that us being perpetrated against First Nations Peoples continues unabated and it is now time for all the colonial authorities to understand and accept their limitations. They must now stop continually imposing their illegitimate notions upon us. These impositions continue to try and steal our patrimony which we have, and never will give up ... [node:read-more:link]

In a townhouse in London's Mayfair, near Berkeley Square, two Aboriginal men sing in their own language 'in praise of their lovers'. Their voices rise above the repetitive beat of the two hardwood sticks they clap together to maintain the rhythm. They wear fashionable Regency breeches, buckled shoes, ruffled shirts and waistcoats. The year is 1793 and the singers are Bennelong and Yemmerrawanne, far from their Wangal homeland on the south bank of the Parramatta River in Sydney. This was certainly the first time an Aboriginal song was performed in Europe ... [node:read-more:link]

ne of the basic fundamental facets to achieve true decolonisation, that is, we must learn to decolonise our minds. This essentially means that we must stop thinking like our oppressor and thereby stop trying to fit a round peg in a square hole.

I say this because every time we talk about progressing forward in our ambition to achieve self-determination and independence, too often our people revert to saying: We have to ask the government, or we need to ask them for money. [node:read-more:link]