PEACE BOAT - Voyage 47



	Life Onboard	LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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January 24, 2005

Struggling against racism and repression in Australia – Mick Martin

Mick Martin

“If you step on a crack, you’ll marry a black”. Racist children’s taunt in Australia.
The indigenous population of Australia, known throughout the world as Aboriginal Australians, was invaded, tortured and decimated by the arrival of the British in 1778. It took over 200 years for anyone to realize that the British declaration of Australia as a “Terra Nullus” (land of nothing, inhabited by no-one) was in fact a lie. Australia was an inhabited land of approximately 400,000 native people prior to the European invasion. Disease, massacre, poisoning, loss of political autonomy and confiscation of land were inflicted upon these people during centuries of colonization. Only in 1999 did the Australian government issue an official expression of regret for this mistreatment, but will not, however, issue the formal national apology sought by Aboriginal leaders for fear of encouraging claims for compensation. Mick Martin, a professor in Aboriginal Law at the Southern Cross University in New South Wales, came onboard Peace Boat to promote and address the rights of the indigenous people of Australia and the inherent racism that exists within a country towards their own people.

Performing with Japanese didgeridoo player Arai Makoto

Mick Martin was born on the edge of the Little Desert in a place called Mildura, where the Murray and Darling, the two biggest rivers in Australia, meet. His mother is an Aboriginal Australian and his father is Irish, however his deep connection to the place he was born and to Aboriginal spirituality has led him to fight for the rights of the people who seemed to have lost their voice in their own country. He has been lecturing for 14 years and is a missionary of Aboriginal culture and law. Onboard for his fourth time Mick explained the chronological events since the arrival of the British and the tumultuous effects it has had on the society since.

Mick with the tree he planted in Tahiti

For centuries the Aboriginal population were hunter-gatherers and were not only dependent on their land for economical reasons, but were also deeply spiritually attached to the land which previously belonged to their ancestors. Once the European settlers made their way into the center of this so-called “Terra Nullus”, they introduced rabbits, sheep and cattle and took away land which was vital to the Aboriginal livelihood. However it is no doubt the spread of infectious European diseases such as chickenpox, influenza and smallpox in densely populated areas which wiped out entire communities that is the most tragic of all the effects of colonization. The indigenous people of Australia simply did not have the immunity required to fight off these highly contagious foreign diseases. Population figures dropped to a mere 50,000 by the start of the 19th century. By the 1940s almost all the indigenous population of Australia had been economically marginalized and assimilated into rural and urban Australian society as low-paid labourers with limited rights and no formal education. Their traditional way of life no longer existed and they became slaves to an imposed system where they would earn half the wages of a European doing the same job.

With guest speakers Tanya Kaihe and Lynda-Ann Blanchard

It is said that prior to the arrival of the British, the Aboriginal population of Australia comprised of 500-600 different groups, among which some 200 languages were spoken. It is for this reason that it was difficult for the Aboriginal population of Australia to unite against the colonization and devastation of their land and lives and even more difficult for them to protest against the kidnapping of their children. In the early 1900s native welfare boards had appeared in each state to separate indigenous children from their parents based on the colour of their skin. If they were pale-skinned they were taken away and so it is said that many Aboriginal parents blackened their children’s skin in order to keep them. An estimated 100,000 children were dragged away from their families and often taken to homes where they were brainwashed, violated and trained to be domestic slaves, however the government of Prime Minister John Howard refuses to recognize this history. During Mick’s time on board the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’, dealing with the issue of the ‘stolen generation’ was screened, however Mick found it too emotional and close to home to watch.

It was not until 1967 that indigenous Australians were allowed to vote and began to appeal for their land back and for compensation for the children stolen from them. In the 1990s the Australian government recognized, for the first time, Aboriginal ownership of land and passed the “Native Title Act” allowing the indigenous people to reclaim their land. Headlines such as ‘Watch out! We’re going to lose our backyards’ provoked national unrest and the bill was restricted so that a mere six percent of all Aborigines are eligible to reclaim land. In 1986 the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders Commission (ATSIC) was set up to administer all social services of the indigenous people, including housing, medical welfare, education and legal representation however it ceased to be in operation as of September 2004.

This rocky history of giving and taking in a very disjointed and unjust way has created an identity crisis among Aboriginal Australians, increased feelings of worthlessness but what Mick came onboard to address was the accepted, almost invisible racism in Australian society today. To date, the indigenous people of Australia make up two percent of the population who are discriminated against in both the education and employment sectors of society, but who are, paradoxically, used to promote Australia on an international level at events such as the Olympic Games. Mick declared that the inequality has become such a part of life in Australia that nobody believes that they are racist at all and he asked two Australian onboard GET teachers to comment on their experiences. Natalie and Luke are both from small towns in Australia and had very similar experiences of subtle racism found in childhood songs (“If you step on a crack, you’ll marry a black’) and through family members being outcast for their involvement with ‘blacks’.

Even as recently as December 2004, riots broke out on Palm Island in Queensland because yet another Aborigine had died while in custody. Aboriginal deaths in custody from racist beatings by the police force are reported to be a common happening within the prisons in Australia. Mick concluded his time onboard by stating that past wrongs have to be acknowledged in order for society to move progressively, hand in hand, in the same direction. The Aboriginal population recognize the existence of the ‘white’ people and simply want that same recognition and equality in return. Mick questioned whether creating a treaty is the best option as some Aborigines are proud that they have never signed any rights away, however what is needed are negotiation, recognition and education. A legal victory however is useless without social change. “We are not born racist. We learn racism so we simply need to unlearn it” were Mick’s final words at the end of his open-discussion workshop.