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Scott Morrison on Australia's Colonisation

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Scott Morrison on Australia's Colonisation

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"Australia when it was founded as a settlement, as New South Wales, was on the basis that there be no slavery … Yeah sure, it was a pretty brutal settlement … but there was no slavery in Australia.”

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When Prime Minister Scott Morrison was interviewed on 11 June 2020 about the Black Lives Matter protests taking place in Australia, he said he thought statues of English navigator Captain James Cook should stay. He claimed, "Australia when it was founded as a settlement, as New South Wales, was on the basis that there be no slavery ... Yeah sure, it was a pretty brutal settlement ... but there was no slavery in Australia." He was immediately refuted by many historians and Indigenous people - most notably, through an image of neck-chained Aboriginal prisoners at Wyndham, Western Australia.

This photograph and others like it circulated widely, graphically demonstrating Australia's brutal treatment of First Nations peoples. It offered a stark challenge to the Prime Minister's comments - for which he has since apologised - which seemed to deny aspects of our colonial past and the legacies of systemic racism.

One of the reasons the photograph is so powerful is because it also evokes a longer history of the transatlantic slave trade. When the anti-slavery movement emerged during the late eighteenth century, its logo was the kneeling slave medallion produced by Josiah Wedgwood in 1789, and widely reproduced in popular culture and art.

But the image of the chained Aboriginal prisoners itself has a surprising history. It was originally used to demonstrate the humane treatment of Aboriginal prisoners. This image was first published in February 1905, following an inquiry into Aboriginal administration in Western Australia. The Royal Commission headed by Walter Edmund Roth heard from witnesses who revealed in shocking detail the prevailing police practices of arrest without warrant, imprisonment "on the chain" and travel on foot across vast distances to the nearest magistrate. There was widespread use of neck-chains for suspects but also witnesses, who were usually young women or girls. They were chained together in a line often for weeks and were completely at the mercy of the police during this time. The rape of female "witnesses" emerged as a major source of concern.

Roth concluded that pastoralists and the British justice system had failed the Indigenous people of north-western Australia, and critics described their treatment as slavery.

In the debate that raged after Roth's findings, the conservative rural weekly, the Western Mail, offered a lengthy analysis of the evidence for chaining prisoners. It quoted the former Comptroller of Prisons, Octavius Burt, who had defended the practice as humane. Sir John Forrest, premier from 1890-1901 and then member of the new House of Representatives until 1918, typified the official response in questioning whether the neck-chain was as "inconvenient to the aboriginal as the wrist-chain." He stated in the West Australian on 4 February 1905, that the chains "are not heavy and are protected by coverings so as to avoid that portion which presses close to the skin being unduly uncomfortable during the hot weather." One settler - calling himself "Old Nor'Wester" - wrote to reject the accusations against the settlers, that "most of these large-hearted, true-minded pioneers were merely a kind of superior class of slave-dealers. Rubbish!" ( West Australian, 9 February 1905).

The Western Mail 's photograph supplement - normally filled with images of rural industry, community and entertainment - on 18 February 1905 featured "The Treatment of Aborigines - Prison Life in the Nor'-west." The image was captioned "Aboriginal bathing gang," and was meant to support claims that the prisoners were well-fed, clothed, and kept in a clean condition.

Once the scandal died down, not a lot changed for Aboriginal people in the north-west. It was not until the 1930s that public attitudes began to shift, and not until the 1960s that mainstream Australia began to acknowledge the experience of First Nations peoples. Photographs such as this became shameful evidence of a troubled past - but many archivists also considered them "sensitive" and likely to cause offence to descendants, so they remained locked away.

Over recent years, photos like this have been used widely by Aboriginal people and historians as irrefutable evidence of the brutality of colonialism. In the context of the "truth-telling" demanded by the Uluru Statement from the Heart, they have become key witnesses to history, and an indispensable part of the Australian Black Lives Matter movement.

The story of this one image traces a remarkable shift in popular thinking about Australian history - from denial and shame, to an increasing insistence on acknowledgement and truth-telling.
Professor Jane Lydon is the Wesfarmers Chair of Australian History at the University of Western Australia.

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One photo brings Australia's history of colonial violence into focus

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After Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed in a recent interview that "there was no slavery in Australia" - a claim for which he has since apologised - he was quickly refuted by historians and Indigenous people. One photograph in particular came to illustrate the racism of Australia's colonial past.

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Woolworths' refusal to listen left us with no choice but to call for action from Reconciliation Australia.

The decision by Woolworths to press ahead with the Dan Murphy's megastore on the doorstep of three dry Aboriginal communities in Darwin exposes how large corporations present themselves as socially conscious while ruthlessly chasing profits no matter the human cost.

For five years Woolworths has been doing all they can to push through an application for one of the biggest bottle shops in Australia in my hometown of Darwin. Two years ago, the Independent Liquor Commission refused the store because of clear evidence of the harm it will cause, but Woolworths continued to push on.

That's why this week community groups in the Northern Territory wrote to Reconciliation Australia calling for them to revoke their endorsement of Woolworths' Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

Their RAP has the CEO Brad Banducci saying: "We have a deep respect for our Aboriginal and Torres Islander team members, customers and all of those in the community we serve. We firmly believe they should have a voice in the decisions that affect them."

But Woolworths did not let us have a voice when they were planning to build their alcohol megastore.

They did not engage with Aboriginal, community and health organisations about their plans. And when we raised our concerns and called on them to abandon their plans to build the store because of the harm it will cause, they continued anyway. We objected to the plans in the Liquor Commission process and still Woolworths did not engage with us. They just had their lawyers try to discredit or exclude expert evidence about the increased volume of sales and harms that would flow from the store.

Woolworths pursuit of this store equates to the same wilful and deliberate destruction by Rio Tinto of Juukan Gorge. The destruction of lives this store will cause deserves the same level of public contempt. It is no surprise that almost 150,000 Australians have signed a petition standing with us in opposition to the alcohol mega store.

When Woolworths' store was rejected by the NT Liquor Commission, they pushed on the NT Government to rush through a piece of legislation that took the decision out of the hands of the Commission and placed it in the hands of the Director of Liquor Licensing, who of course ruled in favour of the retail giant.

And the reasoning, such as it was, behind the Director's ruling? A simplistic and flawed argument that favoured pure economic "benefits". Nothing about health and other social consequences: just the tired old cliché of "build it and they'll come". Which, of course, is exactly what Woolworths wants.

At the recent election, the NT Government ran on a platform of transparency, accountability and giving a voice to all Territorians.

So blatant was the deceit, the Government's own Minister for Alcohol Policy Natasha Fyles refused to introduce the Bill to parliament, leaving it to the Minister for Small Business Paul Kirby. It is hard to understand why a Bill that was introduced to further the agenda of one of Australia's largest corporations, was introduced by the Minister responsible for small business. It is incomprehensible a Bill would be introduced to explicitly deny natural justice.

The NT Government has spent three years introducing reforms that are making a positive difference to the lives and health of Territorians. In just one year, between 2017/18 and 2018/19 the Territory saw a 23% reduction in alcohol fuelled assaults and a 17% reduction in alcohol fuelled ED presentations.

It is unconscionable that this decision to approve the alcohol megastore will undo a lot of this good work.

Two days before the decision by the Director of Liquor Licensing to approve the store, Woolworths announced an "independent panel review" to assess "the adequacy of stakeholder engagement".

The panel will be headed by Danny Gilbert, a person who is a well-respected figure among many of Darwin's Aboriginal leaders. Had this been put in place years ago, one might have lauded Woolworths for its good intentions, but the timing suggests it is little more than a PR stunt; a strategic move to take the pressure off while it waits for the wet season to end so it can begin construction on the store.

The only reasonable outcome of a review would be a finding that the store cannot go ahead in the NT. Opposition to this store is about the harm that alcohol causes to our communities - the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, violence, hospitalisations, chronic disease and death. Our opposition is backed by our experience as people who live and work in Darwin and is based on solid evidence.

The review announced by the Woolworths Chair Gordon Cairns is an acknowledgment that the company has not meaningfully engaged with the community. If they had engaged in the first place, there wouldn't be a need for them to review their own conduct. It is an acknowledgement of failure on their part.

It is not too late for Woolworths Chair Gordon Cairns and CEO Brad Banducci to make the right ethical decision and prevent an act of incremental genocide from going ahead.

It would show that Woolworths is doing what it outlined in its Reconciliation Action Plan, rather than hiding behind the vacuity of their token gestures.

One thing is certain - we will continue to fight.

We have been facing and overcoming obstacles like this for many generations. We have a lot of fight left in us because the health and lives of our people is too important to us.

We will continue until Woolworths listens to us and abandons its plans to build this harmful alcohol megastore. To proceed is to ignore the voice of our communities and to engage in wilful corporate blindness.
John Paterson is chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health peak body in the NT.

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Dry Aboriginal communities don't need a Dan Murphy's on their doorstep

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Woolworths' refusal to listen left us with no choice but to call for action from Reconciliation Australia. The decision by Woolworths to press ahead with the Dan Murphy's megastore on the doorstep of three dry Aboriginal communities in Darwin exposes how large corporations present themselves as socially conscious while ruthlessly chasing profits no matter the human cost.

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Australians have marched in the streets of Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns and Kempsey amid continuing global anger over the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of police.

Coronavirus restrictions have been eased, allowing for the protests to be authorised.

Fewer than a thousand people have gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane city, leaving organisers disheartened by the poor turnout.

The rally against First Nations deaths in custody comes just a month after about 30,000 Queenslanders rallied following the death of African American man George Floyd.

"I can not explain the disappointment," Gomeroi Kooma woman Ruby Wharton told the small crowd gathered at King George Square on Saturday.

"It was okay for people to come out here and want to be a part of it when they were chasing a hundred likes on Instagram."

"That is shameful and tokenism," she said.

Organiser Bogaine Spearim told reporters the rally was intended to be a continuation of the global protests that kicked off in the wake of Mr Floyd's death in May.

"Deaths are continuing to happen in Australia - Dave Dungay Jnr said 'I can't breathe' before dying in custody," he said.

"We will continue to hit the streets and disrupt until there is justice."

Mr Dungay died in 2015 after he was restrained by five prison officers in Sydney's Long Bay jail after he refused to stop eating biscuits.

Garrwa and Butchulla man Fred Leone called on the Queensland government to conduct a broad review into black deaths in custody.

"Black Lives Matter. They do not just matter cause it is trending, they matter every single day."

More than 430 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are known to have died in custody in Australia since a royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody delivered its final report in 1991.

Organisers are also calling for anti-racism training in schools and an end to racial profiling by police.

In Adelaide, organisers said the rally comes at a historic moment in the fight against systemic racism.

"In Australia, we see mining corporations destroying historic sites while Aboriginal communities are forced through the humiliation of cashless welfare," they said on Facebook.

"Other black and migrant communities also face over-policing, job discrimination and social inequality."

In Perth, hundreds gathered for the city's third major Black Lives Matter protest, calling on the Western Australian government to put the same level of energy into ending systemic racism and institutionalised violence as it has in protecting the community from COVID-19.

Several young speakers passionately addressed the physically distanced and mask-wearing crowd, which repeatedly chanted "black lives matter", with numbers well down from the thousands rallying in the city previously.

As they marched through the city, protesters held the Aboriginal flag and signs, including some that read "Systemic racism exists here too" and "White silence equals violence".

Among the speakers was Keith Tapiwanashe Makuni, who told the protesters it was time for positive change.

"We are the future leaders," he shouted.

Mr Tapiwanashe Makuni commended Premier Mark McGowan for the WA government's efforts to keep the state safe during the pandemic, including keeping the borders shut.

He said the premier should put the same amount of energy into fighting systemic racism and ensuring equality for everyone.

"To those who don't want change ... please, close your borders to them," he said.

"We want a new era. We want empowerment. We want equality. We want fair treatment.

"Change is in young people ... change is within us. Together, we can do it."

Earlier on Saturday, Mr McGowan told reporters the lifting of coronavirus restrictions meant rallies were allowed, compared to one month ago when he advised caution.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state's restrictions on gathering limits. Testing for coronavirus is now widely available across Australia. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080. The federal government's coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe is available for download from your phone's app store. SBS is committed to informing Australia's diverse communities about the latest COVID-19 developments. News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus

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Black Lives Matter protesters in Australia call for anti-racism education, action on deaths in custody

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Australians have marched in the streets of Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns and Kempsey amid continuing global anger over the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of police. Coronavirus restrictions have been eased, allowing for the protests to be authorised.