Indigenous Australian Politics and Activism - Essay Example

Topic: Indigenous Australian Politics and Activism Name: Admission No.: Institution Due Date: The Wave Hill Walk-off 1. Introduction The Wave Hill walk Off is of great importance to the people of Australia who were under oppression from the British settlers (Abbott, 2009). It provides an avenue where unity was created for the purpose of campaigning for their rights such as ownership of their lands and advocating for better working condition at the Wave Hill work station. This paper shows that despite the claim that there were a number of reasons for the strike; the main reason was to ensure their ancestral land was relinquished to them by the government. The leader of the group of workers’ Vincent Lingiari organized other employees to negotiate with the management of the Wave Hill Station so that their rights could be addressed, failure to which they would not return to the station to perform their duties or become loyal to the authorities at the Wave Hill Station (Diamond & Jones, 2004). A number of attempts were made by the leader of the Aboriginal groups who worked at the Wave Hill station to ensure their concerns were addressed and the level of oppression is reduced. There are many reasons why the Wave Hill Walk off took place. This paper puts more emphasis on the contribution of activists in an effort to repossess their Indigenous lands from the foreign setters who had colonized them. It focuses on the causes of the strike and the attempts made by activists such as Vincent Lingiari to fight for the rights of the Aboriginal community in Australia. It also presents responses made by the activists in response to rejection of their requests and how they were organized to fight for their rights. The main areas of focus include initiatives such as the formation of the Aboriginal settlement in Daguragu to enable understanding of how the Aboriginal workers in Australia attempted to form associations so that their concerns at places of work could be addressed (Hardy, 1968). For instance, it is possible to understand the importance of the plan in establishment of a pastoral operation managed by the community, on their individual lands that could be owned by them. The wave Hill Walk Off also shows the importance of actions of the Gurindji people with the aim of showing the importance of their aspirations to accomplish a lifestyle that respected their identity, their traditions and the rights to own their traditional lands (Kemerre, 2007). These actions included the Aboriginal autonomy and rights to land ownership that resulted into reshaping of the Australian government policy following the 1967 referendum that resulted into granting of new powers to the Commonwealth Government to formulate laws that were favorable to the Aboriginal people. The new policies were applied in governing remote communities, such as communities in the Northern Territory. 2. Reasons for the Event There are a number of reasons that contributed to the Wave Hill Walk Off by the aboriginal workers of the Gurindji origin. These reasons range from sexual exploitation of the female workers at the Wave Hill station, poor payments and the need for the Aboriginal people to regain their ancestral lands from their masters. In order to ensure these concerns are addressed, there was the need for the Aboriginal employees at the Wave Hill to form associations so that they could address them as a unit (In Chall & ProQuest, 1953). The manner in which the Aboriginal community related with their masters at the Wave Hill Station resulted into a number of problems that made the Aboriginal Community form associations to fight for their rights. The association was led by Vincent Lingiari and aimed at ensuring fair treatment of employees at the station (Ross, 2011). When these demands were not addressed, the Aboriginal workers of the Gurindji Community went into strike in 1966. The aim of this strike was based on the manner in which they had been treated in the past. An example of immediate contributing factor to the strike was the rejection by the Vestey’s manager at Wave Hill of the proposition by Vincent Lingiari for a increment of wage by twenty-five dollars per week for Aboriginal employees who worked in the stocks section and at least thirty-four dollars per week would be paid to non-Aboriginal stockmen (University of New South Wales, 1996). However, the request was not accepted and Vincent Lingiari responded by mobilizing Aboriginal employees to a walk from the Wave Hill camp to the Victoria River bed. The act of mobilizing Aboriginal employees to the walk off was not the beginning of the strike. It was clearly evident that the main causes were much deeper. According to Vincent Lingiari, the money claim for twenty-five dollars in each week did not mean a lot to him (Rowse, 2012). He explained that the conversation between him and the manager of the Wave hill was not focused on wages but about the manner in which Aboriginal women were sexually abused by European workers on the Wave Hill. Significantly, the contributing factor, subject and purpose of the strike was based on the assertion of a claim by the Gurindji people of the need to return their ancestral land. When the Whitlam Government came to power in 1972, a platform was reached in which land a right of the Aboriginals was to be addressed. There was genuine negotiation between government, Vesteys and the Gurindji community so that part of the Wave Hill lease could be relinquished by Vesteys and additional two new leases was issued, one to the Muramulla Gurindji Company and another to the Gurindji people (Kemerre, 2007). The areas assigned to the Gurindji people comprised three thousand square kilometers and included a better part of the ancestral lands. 3. Major themes of Indigenous history and rights A number of themes of human rights can be observed from the events that took place during the Wave Hill Walk Off. The theme of advocating for fair wages is evident in the protests. For instance, there was the complaint that the aboriginal stockmen who formed the backbone of the northern Australian cattle industry were not paid wages in a fair manner or in equal amounts to white counterparts (Hunt & Australian National University, 2008). This is supported by the introduction of equal wages for the Aboriginals in 1965 but not implementing the idea until 1968. In March 1966 the Conciliation and Arbitration commission delayed the promise to award wages to the male Aboriginal workers in the Cattle Industry. In addition, it was a policy that aboriginal workers were not supposed to be paid more than a particular amount in goods or in kind (University of New South Wales, 1996). When an equal wage bill was introduced in 1965; it did not succeed due to the arguments from pastoralists that the process of providing equal wages would result into destruction of the industry if payments are made immediately. This resulted into differing of the decision for three years. Consequently, the Aboriginal communities in Australia began to strike in 1966 in an effort to bargain for fare wages at Union Camp at Newcastle Water station, a place that was 270km to the North of Tennant Creek (Abbott, 2009). The aim of the strike was to create a national attention on the need to entitle the workers on pastoral properties in the Northern Territory (NT). Another theme that is evident in the case is the complaint about poor working conditions. There was inequality in the manner in which workers and masters were treated at the Wave Hill Station (Garner, 2004). The Aborigines community observed that they were subjected to poor working conditions and there was no concern for their welfare such as lack of proper concerns for the health of workers while their masters lived better lives. Bourke, C.Bourke, and Edwards explain that this resulted into health impacts on the workers that resulted into lack of respect for the policies used to govern them in their working places. The working conditions did not improve their lifestyles while the government benefited greatly from labor provided by the Aborigines. There was also the theme of the fight to regain ancestral land. The Aborigines believed that they were the rightful owners of their ancestral lands and wanted to own their lands. It did not make sense to them that they worked as employees to other people in the land that was originally theirs. Thus, they opposed the idea of being controlled in their ancestral lands and made to work for the government (Hunt & Australian National University, 2008). This affected their benefits on the labor they input working in the land and resulted into their unproductivity while the government was enriched. As a result, they began to oppose these practices of controlling them and advocating for the need to provide them with working conditions. The theme of poor methods of governance and level of pay is also evient in the Wave Hill Walk Off cases. Sexual exploitation of the female workers and low wages sparked protests from the Gurindji community under the stewardship of Vincent Lingiari (In Chall & ProQuest (Firm), 1953). Despite being inferior to their masters, they started a number of groundswell resistance to the poor working standards under which the Aboriginal people were subjected. This was the contributing factor to the Wave Hill walk-off. This culminated in recognition of Union Camp in 2009 as a site of historical importance. As a result of their efforts to have their ancestral lands returned to them, the Gurindji were the first Aboriginal community to have their lands returned to them. In 1975, Prime Minister awarded a lease for 3200 square kilometers of land obtained from Wave Hill to the Gurindji people (Ross, 2011). The importance of this precedent in relations with Commonwealth was demonstrated through passing of a handful of sand to the leader of the Gurindji people. This was a demonstration of a new way of relations with the Aboriginal people where policies are based on respectful recognition of the identity of the Aborigines and relationship to the land that was influenced by the Gurindji when they walked off the Wave Hill Station by establishing a new community at Daguragu (Abbott, 2009). Due to the continued opposition of the Aboriginal Community to the manner in which they were governed, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976 was passed. In 1986, the traditional claim to the traditional land by the Gurindji people was fully recognized and a freehold title based on the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976 (Rowse, 2012). As a result of these accomplishments, Vincent Lingiari was recognized for the role he played in the leadership of the Wave Hill Walk-Off events, such as the establishment of a new community at Daguragu. He was able to combine leadership on issues affecting worker’s pay and working conditions in a contemporary environment with high authority in traditions of the Aborigines and his community (Garner, 2004). A number of popular songs have been composed in praise of his contribution and determination in poor conditions as an example of Australian value for ‘a fair go’. 4. References Abbott, T. (2009). Battlelines. Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Publishing. Bourke, C., E. Bourke, and B. Edwards (eds). Aboriginal Australia. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press. Diamond, J. & Jones, L.S. (2004) A Path Made by Walking: Process Work in Practice Lao Tse Press. Portland, Oregon. Garner, H. (2004) Joe Cinque’s Consolation: A True Story of Death, Grief and the Law. Picador, Sydney. Hardy, F. (1968) The Unlucky Australians. Nelson Publishing. Melbourne Howard, J (1996). Sir Robert Menzies Lecture, 18 November 1996. Hunt, J., & Australian National University. (2008). Contested governance: Culture, power and institutions in indigenous Australia. Canberra, A.C.T: ANU E Press. In Chall, L. P., & ProQuest (Firm). (1953). Sociological abstracts. San Diego, etc: Sociological Abstracts. Kemerre, P. H. (2007). One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia. Sydney, N.S.W: The Art Gallery of New South Wales. Ross, A. (2011). Indigenous peoples and the collaborative stewardship of nature: Knowledge binds and institutional conflicts. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. Rowse, T. (2012). Rethinking social justice: From 'peoples' to 'populations'. Canberra, A.C.T: Aboriginal Studies Press. University of New South Wales, & University of New South Wales. (1996). Australian indigenous law reporter. St Leonards, NSW, Australia: Prospect Pub. Read More