Tag: Uluru Statement

The chairs of the four Northern Territory Aboriginal land councils will visit Parliament House in Canberra tomorrow to deliver the 2023 Barunga Declaration urging Australians to support a Voice to Parliament.

The chairs and members of the land councils are elected representatives of tens of thousands of traditional owners and Aboriginal residents of remote communities, homelands, town camps and towns across the NT.

The four chairs will present the Barunga Declaration to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

On 9 June, members of the Northern, Central, Tiwi and Anindilyakwa land councils signed the Declaration at Barunga on the anniversary of the 1988 Barunga Statement that was presented to then Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

Thirty-five years ago the Central and Northern land council chairs Wenten Rubuntja and Yunupingu addressed the leader of the Federal Government and called for Aboriginal recognition and rights.

Today, the 2023 Barunga Declaration speaks directly to the people of Australia and calls for “the recognition of our peoples in our still young constitution by enshrining our voice to the parliament and executive government, never to be rendered silent with the stroke of a pen again”.

It invites all Australians to “right the wrongs of the past and deal with the serious issues impacting First Nations peoples…and unite our country”.

Northern Land Council chair, Dr Samuel Bush-Blanasi, said: “This Declaration comes from our people. It is the voice from the bush calling on all Australians to recognise us, support us, and help us make the changes so urgently needed for a better future, together.”

Tiwi Land Council chair, Gibson Farmer Illortaminni, said: “Through the establishment of a Voice to Parliament, we, the Tiwi people, want to be at the table when decisions are made that affect our land, culture, and future. We urge all Australians to join us to ensure our voices are heard and respected when important decisions are being made that affect us”.

“The Barunga Declaration deserves to hang alongside the Barunga Statement on the walls of the people’s house for all times and make future generations of Australians proud,” Central Land Council chair Matthew Palmer said.

Anindilyakwa Land Council chair, Tony Wurramarrba, said: “We want our voices to always be heard in the parliament and by the government before decisions are made about us. Business as usual has failed us. We are here to ask all Australians to help us open the door to a better way of working together and vote yes in the referendum.”

Watch grass-roots members of the land councils signing the agreement

Time and venue of the media event to be confirmed by Prime Minister’s Office.

Watch the video without subtitles

Download the Media Release

Media contacts (at Parliament House): CLC Elke Wiesmann 0417 877 579, NLC Francine Chinn 0427 031 382

The four NT Land Councils held a historic meeting on Gurindji country, on Thursday, 25 August 2022.

Executive Council Members discussed a range of topics including Uluru Statement from the Heart, Voice to Parliament, Northern Territory Treaty, how to address the poor turnout in remote Aboriginal communities at the last election, remote housing and homelands and imminent rent increases for remote communities planned by the Northern Territory Government, and township leasing arrangements on Aboriginal land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.

Chair of the Central Land Council, Mr Robert Hoosan, said he was proud to host Executive Council Members from Tiwi Land Council, Anindilyakwa Land Council and Northern Land Council at Kalkaringi.

“Gurindji Country is the birthplace of Land Rights and this week the anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk Off. History was made 56 years ago this week and history was made again today,” Mr Hoosan said.

Senator Patrick Dodson, Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement, and Member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, spoke about a range of matters including the Voice to Parliament. The combined Executives passed a resolution supporting implementation of the Uluṟu Statment from the Heart in full and changing the Australian Constitution to enshrine a Voice to Parliament within this term of Government.

Chairman of the Northern Land Council, Mr Samuel Bush-Blanasi said he was proud to support this historic resolution. “We have been waiting too long for the Voice. I heard Prime Minister Albanese speak at Garma about changing the Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I’m glad to see things are moving forward again.”

Representatives from the Australian Electoral Commission were also invited to attend to address Executives Members on how to ‘close the gap’ in voter enrolment and participation rates between urban and remote areas of the NT and other states. 

Mr Gibson Farmer-Illortaminni said this is an important issue. “I heard today as many as 25,000 Territorians are not enrolled to vote. We need to do better. This is about getting our young men and women involved and educating our people about having a say in elections for the Territory and Commonwealth governments,” Mr Farmer-Illortaminni said. “Things are not much better for older people, the system often fails them too.”

The Executive Council Members also discussed funding for remote housing and the Northern Territory Government’s plans to impose a large increase in rent in remote Aboriginal communities commencing in September. Members passed a resolution calling on the NT Government to implement a moratorium on the rent increase until further consultations have occurred on the rent framework, a permanent subsidy is put in place and rates per room are brought into line with levels proposed in consultations in 2018.  

Council Members also welcomed the Government’s $100 million election commitment for NT homelands. Members passed a resolution seeking a commitment from the Commonwealth Government to ongoing funding for homelands and to co-design a process for the distribution of homelands funding. 

“This is important for all Aboriginal people on homelands and for Aboriginal people in the Anindilyakwa region,” Mr Thomas Amagula, Deputy Chair of Anindilyakwa Land Council, said. 

The combined Executives also discussed township leasing arrangements on Aboriginal land. Chairman of the Northern Land Council noted that funding for townships leases and the cost of administering these leases comes from the Aboriginals Benefits Account.

“The Government should pay for this somewhere else. It should not come from ABA – that is Aboriginal money,” said Mr Bush-Blanasi. Executive members agreed to send a delegation to Canberra to discuss these issues with Minister Burney, Minister McCarthy, Senator Dodson and Member for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour. 

ENDS

Central Land Council delegates have endorsed the historic Uluru Statement and demanded an active role in designing the ‘voice to parliament’ ahead of a referendum on constitutional reform.

Meeting at Brumby Plains, a remote outstation four hours north-west of Kalkaringi, more than 70 elected CLC delegates discussed the double-edged sword that is the ‘races power’ of the Australian constitution.

It has delivered them land rights but also the failed Intervention.

The delegates released the Brumby Plains Statement, saying they need to be part of designing an Aboriginal body advising the Australian Parliament in order to ensure it represents remote community residents and acts as a powerful voice against racially discriminatory laws:

“We, the members of the Central Land Council are sovereign people drawing our strength and laws from country. We sing for country, we dance for country and our laws and systems of governance are still strong.

The Australian constitution must recognise us as First Nations of Australia. Nothing will be lost, instead Australia will gain 65,000 years of culture and history.

We endorse the Uluru Statement, which calls for constitutional protection for a voice to Parliament, supports treaty making and truth telling.

We have long called for Aboriginal self-determination and Aboriginal self-government, and greater control over our own communities. Local treaty negotiations should be protected by a national treaty framework.

In the NT we have benefited from the Commonwealth ‘races power’ through the enactment of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

We have also experienced the worst of the ‘races power’ with the imposition of the racist NT Intervention. The Australian Parliament should not pass racially discriminatory laws that harm our people.

We want to be part of designing the voice to parliament to ensure it represents people from the bush, and to ensure it is powerful.

This work should be progressed before we go ahead with a referendum.

A successful referendum requires the support of non-Indigenous people, and we invite all Australians to join us on this journey to achieve constitutional reform.”

A meeting of around 100 Central Australian Aboriginal delegates at Ross River, east of Alice Springs, yesterday elected 10 representatives to argue for substantive constitutional change on a national stage.

The three-day meeting chose Richard James, Barbara Shaw, Geoffrey Shannon, Owen Torres, Valda Shannon, Pat Brahim, Jody Kopp, Rachel Perkins, Natasha Abbott and Damien Williams to represent the region’s priorities for meaningful constitutional reform at the national convention at Uluru on 24-26 May.

The meeting supported a statement of acknowledgement in the constitution, dealing with the race power in a way that prevents discriminatory law making, a representative voice to parliament, prohibition of racial discrimination and treaty.

“I was so pleased to see everyone grab this opportunity with both hands and get involved,” said Central and Council director David Ross.

“It was one of those great moments where everything fell into place and everyone, young and old, participated. The interpreters at the meeting did a great job of translating complex legal ideas.”

Mr Ross said the meeting was respectful with everyone having an opportunity to voice his or her opinions.

“Having male and female co-chairs and local facilitators helped to make everyone comfortable,” he said.

Barbara Shaw, the general manager of Anyinginyi Health in Tennant Creek, chaired the meeting with Mr Ross.

She said the meeting elected mostly young and middle aged people to seek consensus at Uluru on a referendum question to put to all Australian voters.

“I was quite overjoyed that we had a number of young people who had the confidence to stand up and make comment. They want to learn more. They were really engaged and really excited to be part of this journey,” Ms Shaw said.

“One of the things that were quite moving was that we had a lot of people who were starting to get the fire back in the belly,” she said.

“They were saying ‘this is the first time we were able to get together from all around the country to talk about an issue that is important to all of us’.”

The 10 delegates plan to meet in the coming weeks in order to prepare for the Uluru convention.

The Referendum Council last year asked the CLC to help organise both the Ross River and the Uluru gatherings, following the CLC’s request in 2015 to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott for an Aboriginal-only meeting in its region.

One of 12 so-called First Nations Regional Dialogues across the country, the Ross River meeting was a chance for Central Australians to debate their preferences for constitutional reform

CLC delegates last November helped to draw up a list of 100 invitees, including traditional owners, Aboriginal organisations and individual women and men.

The CLC’s Dr Josie Douglas and Francine McCarthy facilitated workshops along with Peter Renehan, Mischa Cartwright and Graham Dowling.

The Central Land Council has made sure local Aboriginal people will get a chance to have their say about the referendum on the constitutional recognition of indigenous people at a regional meeting near Alice Springs, as well as a national convention at Uluru.

Central Australia’s so-called First Nations Regional Dialogue will go ahead 31 March – 2 April at Ross River, east of Alice Springs, following a decision by the CLC members to help organise both gatherings.

One of 12 meetings across the country, the Ross River meeting will be a chance for participants to debate what the referendum question should cover.

The CLC wrote to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2015, asking for an Aboriginal-only meeting in its region.

CLC delegates agreed to a request by the Referendum Council for the CLC to provide facilitation and logistical support for the meeting and helped to draw up a list of 100 invitees.

“Traditional owners, Aboriginal organisations and individuals all need to be represented,” said CLC director David Ross.

“The Referendum Council also wants us to facilitate a mix of ages, genders and regions.”

Mr Ross and Barbara Shaw, the general manager of Anyinginyi Health in Tennant Creek, agreed to chair the meeting while the CLC’s Dr Josie Douglas and Francine McCarthy will facilitate workshops along with Karl Hampton, Misha Cartwright and Joe Carter.

“The workshops are an opportunity for participants to deliberate on their preferences for recognition but they are not expected to make a final decision,” Mr Ross said.

Each regional dialogue meeting will be asked to send five participants to the national convention at Uluru in April 2017.

The convention will consider the referendum proposal and seek consensus on the question to be put to all Australian voters.

The proposal follows meetings of indigenous leaders in Broome, Thursday Island and Melbourne in the middle of the year which decided how to run the regional dialogues and the national convention and advised politicians not to rush the process.

CLC and NLC delegates passed the following resolution at their joint meeting at Kalkaringi in August 2016:

“We reaffirm our commitment to the principles set out in the 1988 Barunga and 1998 Kalkaringi Statements.

Constitutional reform must deliver meaningful and enduring benefits for our peoples. We are prepared to examine models for constitutional recognition that deliver such benefits.

Indigenous constitutional forums must be held in the NT involving Aboriginal people in the bush.

Any progress towards constitutional recognition must not endanger our rights to negotiate treaties to finally achieve self-determination.”

A historic meeting of the delegates of the Central and Northern land councils at Kalkaringi today agreed on a shared position on constitutional recognition.

The delegates passed the following resolution:

“We reaffirm our commitment to the principles set out in the 1988 Barunga and 1998 Kalkaringi Statements.

Constitutional reform must deliver meaningful and enduring benefits for our peoples.

We are prepared to examine models for constitutional recognition that deliver such benefits.

Indigenous constitutional forums must be held in the NT involving Aboriginal people in the bush.

Any progress towards constitutional recognition must not endanger our rights to negotiate treaties to finally achieve self-determination.”