What we choose to pursue at this time will either make things harder or easier for future generations. Our decision now will either protect the existence of an ancient culture and knowledges or contribute to its complete decimation.
Josephine Bourne
What we choose to pursue at this time will either make things harder or easier for future generations. Our decision now will either protect the existence of an ancient culture and knowledges or contribute to its complete decimation. This is why we have to take the time to do it right. We have already compromised so much. The next step is Truth Telling and Treaty. As an individual I have already accepted that I am playing to the rules of a long game. So I am focussed on the contribution I can make in my own lifetime. A Treaty has the potential to express the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ through a comprehensive settlement that includes reparations. A Treaty process could also facilitate a negotiation of governance structures that give some power to manage large-scale future funds in accordance with the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I wonder if a Treaty process could address the structural racism that we continue to come up against in legislations that undermines the aspirations of various groups. Interpretations of how we are represented are diverse; therefore the expression of representation will be diverse so communicating with each other and thinking together is essential.
I acknowledge that the native title legislation has facilitated activities around identifying who we are and asserting the identity of the groups we belong to. However, over more than two decades the native title legislation and more recently the Indigenous Advancement Strategy has divided us into the haves and the have nots, in terms of finance and culture. This continues to inhibit the kind of collectivism that has served us well in the past. Our ability to come together as a collective is strained by the tension between the pursuit of individual agendas versus collective interests and often this can mean that collective rights are overlooked. Equally challenging is the tension between protecting the interests of groups versus the pressure from governments for us to have one voice and one position on all issues.
I think the pursuit of recognition must include a settlement that secures the ability for groups to be economically independent. Every mainstream narrative I have heard about us in my lifetime has been about hiding a truth – that governments have robbed us of our economic right. They have pilfered from of our waters and our lands. Through the media the dominant narrative hides that we are intelligent, we value education, we are hard working people, we are entrepreneurs, we do care about control and power over our resources. Through the hard work of many who built Indigenous media we are now telling and owning our stories. The new tactic is to reward individuals who support and promote the deficit narrative and play wedge politics to distract people by engaging the public in unhelpful and inaccurate conversations.
If we decide to move towards a collective effort to achieve a comprehensive settlement with the federal government through a national Treaty we all need to prepare for that. Whether that is at the individual, family, community and/or regional level. Some groups talk of a need for a Treaty or memorandum of understanding with neighbouring groups. Others may identify other work that needs to be done in their location and spheres of influence. In any case a national Treaty process must appreciate the reality of what is happening on the ground across the nation, while there are common issues there are also unique circumstances, and diverse attitudes in different locations. As individuals and families we have made our own decisions about how we engage with or do not engage with the free-market economy. A Treaty process will need to appreciate the diversity in people’s choices and support a range of interests.
I remember marching in Townsville for Treaty when ATSIC launched the Treaty – Let’s Get it Right campaign in 2001, it was an exciting time, and then the government abolished ATSIC. The purpose of a social movement is to be included in a system that has excluded a group. We are fighting to be included without having to give up all our rights. Throughout the long history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activism and resistance I imagine the ‘Australian government’ repeatedly asking the question ‘are we there yet?’. They opened their school gates to us, then they included us in the census, they allowed us to build a representative body (then they abolished it), then they apologised for the forced removal of children. After that I can imagine the ‘Australian government’ thinking, ‘surely we have settled with the natives now?’. The truth is we are not there yet, we have continued to ask for a Treaty and the government have continued to change the subject. Treaty is the way to go. Treaty now.
Josephine was a participant in the IndigenousX pitch & publish masterclass in November 2017
Josephine Bourne is a mainland Torres Strait Islander and currently an Indigenous Studies lecturer at Macquarie University. She is completing a PhD about a national governance framework to sustain national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations in a changing world.
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