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A black day in London

By SIMON MANN and STEPHANIE BUNBURY in London

protest opposite Westminster with Jeremy Corbyn MP

Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke and former Australian Senator Margaret Reynolds at the Sea of hands London 6 July 2000

8 July 2000 - The haunting sounds of the didgeridoo mixed with the organ accompaniment of traditional English and Australian hymns in Westminster Abbey. The Aboriginal flag was displayed.

Over the road, in the British Parliament, a Labour MP, Mr Jeremy Corbyn, tabled a motion calling on "the governments and peoples of Australia to mark the Centenary of Federation by committing themselves to redress discrimination and disadvantage" of Aborigines.

Inside the Abbey the Queen, the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, premiers, dignitaries and more than 1,000 members of the public, marked the first symbolic acknowledgment of Australia's Aborigines during the week of official engagements commemorating the 100th anniversary of the British law that gave birth to the Commonwealth of Australia.

Between the traditional English and Australian hymns, sung to music by Bach and Percy Grainger, Christina Wilson sang I am Australian: "I came from the Dreamtime, from dusty red-soil plains ... I watched the tall ships come for 40,000 years, I've been the First Australian."

A prayer delivered by the Abbey's the Rev Dominic Fenton addressed "Almighty God and Creator Spirit", and there were prayers for "all faith communities".

The Aboriginal flag was displayed with Australian and State flags, while the Queen's personal flag for Australia, designed in 1962, was flown over the Abbey, the first time it has been flown in Britain.

Mr Corbyn's motion, which requires the signatures of several other MPs before it can be debated in the Commons, says it is time that "the special status and rights of indigenous peoples of Australia" are recognised.

"Aborigines have little to celebrate," he said yesterday.

On Thursday, protesters displayed more than 6,000 coloured hands in a small park in central London as part of the Sea of Hands campaign. Hundreds of Londoners stopped to read and collect material which was displayed in Lincoln's Inn Fields.

The plight of Aborigines was further highlighted by the decision of the Melbourne-born photographer Polly Borland to boycott a visit by Mr Howard to her exhibition of Australians at the National Portrait Gallery.

The British-based Ms Borland, who works for high-profile glossy magazines and British newspapers, said she had agonised over the decision and considered attending wearing a T-shirt with the words "Say sorry".

She had written to Mr Howard explaining her decision, she said.

"I don't want to be seen condoning this sort of person," she said later. "I wouldn't want to meet the man; it would have been hypocritical."

The Abbey service was just part of a busy round of engagements for Mr Howard and four of his predecessors who met the Queen yesterday.

"Very good to see you again," a beaming Mr Howard said before the prime ministerial party joined the Queen for a black-tie dinner at Buckingham Palace.

And in reference to Australia's special armed services force, the ceremonial Federation Guard, which is helping to watch over the royal palaces this month, Mr Howard inquired: "Hope those slouch hats have been looking after you out there."

The Queen is apparently delighted with the service. "They're excellent," she responded.

Yesterday Mr Howard attended a business breakfast at Claridge's Hotel hosted by Macquarie Bank. He was also addressing a lunch put on by the London-based group Australian Business in Europe. Later he planned to host a cocktail reception at Australia House to round off his centenary celebrations.

Mr Howard was remaining non-committal about his program for Saturday, the last day of his British visit before he heads to India. However, with the Australian Jelena Dokic having been tipped out of Wimbledon, a trip to the tennis seemed unlikely.

Clip from The Sydney Morning Herald

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