Thread: Cape York Shut.

Last I was at the Tip (2019) the camp sites there were a disgrace. The one long drop dunny at the Somerset campsite was barricaded off with yellow tape because the wooden ramp up to it had collapsed due to maintenance neglect. Some people were just crawling over the barricade to use the dunny, others using the bush I imagine. The actual long drop itself stunk like nothing on earth. Ive seen better long drops along the Canning Stock Route.

If the place is being temporarily closed to address these kinds of issues (who is responsible for maintenance, where does the money come from etc.) then it's probably a good thing. If the real agenda is to shut people out it's a worrying trend.

Originally Posted by Ferret

. Ive seen better long drops along the Canning Stock Route.

Hope you're not referring to the wells...

Originally Posted by Ferret

If the place is being temporarily closed to address these kinds of issues (who is responsible for maintenance, where does the money come from etc.) then it's probably a good thing. If the real agenda is to shut people out it's a worrying trend.

Indeed. That really is it in a nutshell.

Agreed: "If the place is being temporarily closed to address these kinds of issues (who is responsible for maintenance, where does the money come from etc.) then it's probably a good thing."

However: "If the real agenda is to shut people out it's a worrying trend", there are deeper longer term causes to understand beyond bogans stuffing it up for everyone.

...Is it really so easy (convenient) to forget (or perpetually deny) that the majority of Aboriginal people across this entire continent have been 'shut out' of their country, and therefore presume that open access for everyone else is a god given right?

The underlying politics of this whole thread are very poorly disguised and needed to be redressed.

SpudHeadTed
First I don’t want to inflame
But a serious question
At what point do we accept the current paradigm and make a path forward together?

Which wave of indigenous Australians have the right to the land and deny access?

Should the Kimberley be a closed off to all current humans in respect to the people who made the Bradshaw Art or even the indigenous Australians who displaced those first settlers , painted over the Bradshaws showing little respect to the original people (Windjana People)
Or the countless other groups who would have walked these lands for 40 something thousand years?

I totally agree that the current TO have a claim to the lands on which we walk BUT unless a way is found for us all to be Australians there is no future.

Division is never a good thing - just look to our cousins across the Pacific - Partinsinship is tearing the very American Country apart?

Steve

Originally Posted by roverrescue

BUT unless a way is found for us all to be Australians there is no future.

Easily the most profound statement on this thread.

An interesting read. At least the T.Os tried to give it a go.

https://offthetrack.blog/tackling-th...n%20in%201992.

Yes it is an interesting article.

The time line has me intrigued , I was there in July 82, and i remember the only place we had to pay to camp, was a QANTAS “Campground “ right at the Tip.

Originally Posted by roverrescue

SpudHeadTed
First I don’t want to inflame
But a serious question
At what point do we accept the current paradigm and make a path forward together?

Which wave of indigenous Australians have the right to the land and deny access?

Should the Kimberley be a closed off to all current humans in respect to the people who made the Bradshaw Art or even the indigenous Australians who displaced those first settlers , painted over the Bradshaws showing little respect to the original people (Windjana People)
Or the countless other groups who would have walked these lands for 40 something thousand years?

I totally agree that the current TO have a claim to the lands on which we walk BUT unless a way is found for us all to be Australians there is no future.

Division is never a good thing - just look to our cousins across the Pacific - Partinsinship is tearing the very American Country apart?

Steve

Hi roverrescue,

Thanks for your considered reply. You've raised some important questions below, although the underlying issues are more complex than your questions allow. I've tried to reply to each of your questions.

Please note: the answers below are to the best of my knowledge; and any Aboriginal people on the forum may have a different perspective, which of course I would welcome. ...I am an entirely fallible whitefella human being after-all.

I hope this contributes to better understandings of the complexity and importance of land rights issues we are all responsible for across this continent we call home.

1. "At what point do we accept the current paradigm and make a path forward together?"

Firstly, the 'we' you speak of (I assume you mean all Australians) is one of the most culturally diverse nations on earth, inhabiting a continent which was stolen 223 years ago from the worlds oldest surviving First Nations peoples on earth (the peoples of over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations).

The 'current paradigm' is that those Aboriginal people's nations are not recognised by the Commonwealth of Australia and the presumption that Aboriginal people should simply be assimilated into the the Australian nation without even a constitutional voice to parliament, let alone a Treaty is not just farcical, but it perpetuates the colonial mindset under which 'Australia' was 'settled'.

We don't accept the current paradigm. A lot needs to change.

2. "Should the Kimberley be closed off..."

Well this is a red herring as it's not even a proposal. However, the answer to the second part of your question is very straightforward - It is the Aboriginal peoples of the multiple Aboriginal nations that make up the 'Kimberley region' of WA who have the right to decide on all matters relating to their ancestry and cultural materials / heritage, not anyone else.

3. "I totally agree that the current TO have a claim to the lands on which we walk BUT unless a way is found for us all to be Australians there is no future."

It's good to hear that you recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander TO's claim on the land. The massive disadvantage that Aboriginal people continually endure as a result of their land being stolen, means that any notion of us all 'becoming Australians' is hugely complex and there is no easy fix. This is primarily due to the prevalent model of growth capitalism in Australia that excludes those who have limited financial resources from participating equally our society; and secondly to the land tenure system that excludes anyone from any land who does not own it. Stolen land = stolen resources, identity, homelands.

4. It is very important to note that the debates around the "partisanship tearing the American country apart" have largely excluded Native Americans, who face most of the similar disadvantages that Aboriginal people face in Australia - not least being consistently excluded from the economies and politics of their country.

I'm sure you are aware that in 2017, a highly significant and inclusive attempt by Aboriginal peoples in Australia to foster a shared pathway forward towards a Treaty (& towards what you have recognised is needed) - 'The Uluru Statement from the Heart' - calling for a First Nations Voice to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution. However, the Federal Government at the time rejected it and continues to do so.

See: Uluru Statement from the Heart

IMO we non-Aboriginal Australians need to stop and listen, be humble in recognising the privilege of our sharing this extraordinary continent and lead with our conscience in terms of recognising there is a long way to go before we have earned Aboriginal peoples' respect prior to us all claiming to be equals in this country.

Cheers
Spud