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Aborigines fan flames of protest

By Jane Holroyd and Peter Ker

13 March 2006 - IT WAS illegal to light fires across most of Victoria yesterday, but police, firefighters and City of Melbourne park rangers looked on as smoke billowed up among the trees in Kings Domain.

The smoke came from a sacred healing fire blessed by local Boonerwrung elders and lit from ashes from Canberra's Aboriginal tent embassy. It marked the start of a protest camp against what indigenous rights activists have dubbed "the Stolenwealth Games".

The camp, organised by the Black GST group, is 600 metres from Government House, where the Queen will stay after opening the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night. The State Government and the Black GST had attempted to co-operate on a site but could not reach agreement.

Police confirmed there were no arrests at the campsite yesterday, and the fact that officers did not intervene despite the fire ban indicated the State Government has decided on a softly-softly approach for now.

The group plans to camp at Kings Domain for the duration of the Games.

Camp fire-keeper Robert Corowa said he hoped the Queen and Premier Steve Bracks would visit protesters. "We're inviting them because we want them to heal themselves and to become part of Aboriginal Australia." He said the Queen needed to tackle issues of compensation and repatriation for Australia's Aboriginal people.

When asked if it was appropriate to camp opposite the Queen's residence, Prime Minister John Howard said: "Look, it's a free country."

Games Minister Justin Madden indicated last month that he would not tolerate the camp being set up in Kings Domain but was yesterday content to leave the decision to police.

Park rangers instructed where tents could be pitched safely (though illegally), while firefighters stopped by to make sure that the sacred fire would not become unmanageable. Senior Sergeant Bob Scarborough, said normal police patrols would be conducted in Kings Domain during the Games. He had earlier received rapturous applause from about 250 protesters when he accepted an invitation to place gum leaves on the fire.

"We've had cordial dialect with the organisers and we hope that continues," he said. "At this stage we can't see why there would be any issues but the police will continue to monitor it."

The Black GST also plans to stage a protest march through the city on Wednesday, hoping to attract a crowd of 20,000 to draw attention away from Government-sponsored events on the first day of the Games.

Trade union members have been asked to provide portable showers and toilets for protesters, who yesterday used public toilets in the Alexandra Gardens.

Source: The Age

Aboriginal protesters converge for Games

12 March2006 - Hundreds of Aborigines are converging on Melbourne in a bid to embarrass the federal and Victorian governments over their indigenous policies as the international spotlight focuses on the Commonwealth Games.

An estimated 300-to-400 Aborigines have converged on the city's King's Domain parkland, with many more expected to arrive ahead of the Games opening ceremony on Wednesday night, according to protest organiser and Aboriginal elder Robbie Thorpe.

"We are converging on this site," Mr Thorpe told AAP. "There's people coming in all the time."

Mr Thorpe said he did not have an exact figure on how many Aborigines would take part in the two-week protest, but said they could be measured in their thousands.

Mr Thorpe said a decision would be made whether the groups will camp in the parkland but, in the meantime, they have set up a "sacred fire" to burn during the Games.

The protesters have gathered under the banner "Black GST" , with GST standing for Genocide, Sovereignty and Treaty.

On Monday, they plan to drop a banner from a city pedestrian bridge spanning the Yarra River, reading "Stolenwealth Games".

"The Commonwealth spotlight is on Melbourne, the only time whey you can make an impact and embarrass Australia internationally," Mr Thorpe said.

"It's all our issues. How do you live in a country where genocide is not a crime?

"We have got nothing to lose."

Mr Thorpe said it was not the protesters' intention to disrupt Games events.

"We are all keen sports people," he said.

Mr Thorpe questioned why Aborigines did not have their own team in the Games.

"Why haven't we got a team in all this," he said.

"We have got a flag, we can stand alone as Aboriginal people."

Protest leaders are inviting all people, including athletes and other international representatives to the Games, to go to the parkland, have a cup of tea and discuss issues of importance to Aborigines."

"We need a new awareness of indigenous rights among Australians and people everywhere that the Stolenwealth Games can deliver," Mr Thorpe said.

Source: The Age

related links:

• Stolenwealth Games
• Black GST
• Without Cathy Freeman, Aborigines aren't in the race
  14 March 2006 -MELBOURNE this week hosts the largest sporting event held in Australia since the 2000 Olympics. The country will be on show again and Aboriginal people again will be visible: some are competing, others are involved in associated arts and business events, many are taking to the street in protest.
• Tradition wrapped up in cloaks of possum
  13 March 2006 - The skill of making possum-skin cloaks disappeared from Victoria about 150 years ago, leaving behind only a few specimens in museums around the world. That all changed seven years ago when three women on a printmaking course were shown the Aboriginal collection at the Melbourne Museum, which has two cloaks from the 19th century.
• Queen won't acknowledge Melbourne's traditional owners
  13 March 2006 - Buckingham Palace says the Queen will not be officially acknowledging the traditional owners of Melbourne when she opens the Commonwealth Games later this week.
• Camp Site Established
  13 March 2006 - The Stolenwealth Games Convergence in support of the Black GST established camp today in Kings Domain, Melbourne.

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