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“Australians no longer need to hide their racism”

Ngurampaa | 08.01.2010 23:32 | Anti-racism | Ecology | Social Struggles

Goodooga, northwest NSW, 8 January 2010 -- An Aboriginal activist, who was once engaged by the Australian government as a consultant on special race relations matters, says Australians are so racist that they cannot recognise it anymore because racism is so pronounced and active here. “Australians no longer have to be covert about racism, they show it publicly,” Michael Anderson, leader of the 3,000 Euahlayi of northwest NSW, writes in response to the recent murder of an Indian student in Melbourne.

Michael Anderson farms ancestral lands
Michael Anderson farms ancestral lands



“Have a listen to Australian talk back radio programs, they appear to have an unlimited right to racially condemn people,” he writes.

The first Aboriginal public prosecutor in the district court of NSW in the field of criminal law, Mr Anderson says for the Victorian police to say that this is just another crime by ordinary criminals, shows their naivety in such matters as race relations.

“It is absolute cowardice on the part of the Rudd Labor government and their Liberal coalition Opposition to deny that the recent killing of an Indian student in Melbourne was racially motivated.

“The audacity of the government and police to say that the student should not have carried a lap top computer while walking to work after dark is absurd and pathetic.”

Mr Anderson, who lectured Aboriginal studies and politics at several Australian Universities, charges that Australians have always encouraged race supremacists to settle in Australia.

“Just look at the ‘chicken run’ from South Africa when the white race supremacists chose not to live under black rule. They were encouraged to come and live in Australia. It is not surprising that where they settled Aboriginal people have suffered increased racial abuse and physical attacks; just take Townsville as an example.”

He cites as another example of racism the Moree Plains Shire voting down Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology, saying in a resolution that they did not support it and that there was no need to support it.

Nearby in the general area, Mr Anderson now runs a sheep and cattle property on his traditional ancestral land in the lower Ballone river system on both sides of the New South Wales and Queensland borders.

The last survivor of the four young Black Power activists who set up the Aboriginal embassy in Canberra in 1972 cites other examples of racism:

• “You only have to listen to white Australians who after getting out of a taxi racially condemn the black and/or Asian drivers.”

• “How many white police or correctional institutional staff have been prosecuted for killing Aborigines in custody? How many more Aboriginal deaths in custody have occurred in prisons around the country since the Royal Commission Report?”

• “Governments can get away with passing discriminatory laws because the Australian public chooses not to want to know about it. This is what makes this country a dangerous place when it comes to racism.”

Mr Anderson implores the Indian government to demand that the Australian government take a more pro-active initiative on racism and to pass much stronger anti-racism laws.

“In particular this is a case where the media must be reined in and boundaries must be set. If Germany can set in place strong anti-racist laws which include how the media deal with such things, then so too can Australia.”

Michael Anderson can be contacted at 02 68296355 landline, 04272 92 492 mobile, 02 68296375 fax,  ngurampaa@bigpond.com.au


Mr Anderson’s release in full:

It is absolute cowardice on the part of the Rudd Labor government and their Liberal coalition Opposition to deny that the recent killing of an Indian student in Melbourne was racially motivated.

The audacity of the government and police to say that the student should not have carried a lap top computer while walking to work after dark is absurd and pathetic.

For the Victorian police to say that this is just another crime by ordinary criminals is to show their naivety in such matters as race relations.

Australia is so racist that they cannot recognise it anymore because racism is so pronounced and active here. Australians no longer have to be covert about racism, they show it publicly. Take the Moree Plains shire, who two years ago voted down Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology; in a resolution the shire said they do not support it and that there was no need to support it.

Have a listen to the Australian talk back radio programs in this country, they appear to have an unlimited right to racially condemn people. Listening to these programs will give you a very good insight into the Australian mentality towards people of colour and racial origins.

Let us tell it as it is. Australians have always encouraged race supremacists to come and live in Australia. Just look at the ‘chicken run’ from South Africa when the white race supremacists chose not to live under black rule. They were encouraged to come and live in Australia. It is not surprising that where they settled Aboriginal people have suffered increased racial abuse and physical attacks; just take Townsville as an example.

In NSW and Western Australia police have waged a war on our youth, stopping them every time they walk in the streets in small groups, in some cases confiscating their personal property if they cannot show receipts.

You only have to listen to white Australians who after getting out of a taxi racially condemn the black and/or Asian drivers.

How many white police or correctional institutional staff have been prosecuted for killing Aborigines in custody? Consequently how many more Aboriginal deaths in custody have occurred in prisons around the country since the Royal Commission Report?

This is the only country in the world that has a Human Rights Commission but has the constitutional power to suspend it when they seek to pass special laws against any race it deems necessary. Thereby permitting themselves to pass discriminatory laws. And they can get away with it because the Australian public chooses not to want to know about it. This is what makes this country a dangerous place when it comes to racism.

Wake up Australia, you are a racist country and you don’t have to go far to find this out, listen to those you call friends when they talk of other races who come to live in Australia.

Australians demand that the new comers should give up their cultural identity, including their languages, to ASSIMILATE. We Aborigines can tell you a lot about this. This is RACISM, this is not patriotic Australianism.

I implore the Indian government to demand that the Australian government take more pro-active initiative on racism and to pass much stronger anti-racism laws. In particular this is a case where the media must be reined in and boundaries must be set. If Germany can set in place strong anti-racist laws which includes how the media deals with such things, then so too can Australia.

Ngurampaa

Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. Been another attack — Down under
  2. Not confined to Australia — onlyme
  3. Interview — Diet Simon