Beds are burning

Make no mistake. We are about to witness a very dark day in the history of our Nation. Legislation is before the Senate that will effectively see Aboriginal people loose their right to control what happens on their land for the second time in history. In the name of 'saving children' Mal Brough, John Howard and tehir cronies have prepared 500 pages of legislation that make sweeping changes to the Racial Discrimination Act and the Land Rights Act. They have also proposed changes to allow Federal Police unheard of powers to act in Northern Territory Communities. All of this in response to the "National Emergency" currently being experienced in the NT. All of this in response to the "Little Children are Sacred" Report, the authors of which are now speaking out very vocally against the proposed legislation, insisting that it does not reflect ANY of the 97 recommendations in the report.

So why is the legislation being put forward. What possible motivation could there be?
1. Subterfuge - be seen to be doing SOMETHING and white middle class suburban Australians wont actually care what the something is. After all Aboriginal people are a long way away to most Australians
2. It's a foot in the door to regain control over Aboriginal Land - not really such a big deal, I mean it's not as if the story of Vincent Lingiari and countless others who fought for the right to their own land all those years ago are all that important on the greater context of our National History.Oh but wait, perhaps it was only fine to give the land back to them when we thought there was nothing to be gained economically? Perhaps now that the World is turning Nuclear again there's something to be said for controlling land rich in Uranium, or at least having access to land that can be used to dump Nuclear waste!

Maybe, just maybe John Howard and Mal Brough are not at all sure that they will have a job after November? How much do you want to bet that either or both of them turn up on the Boards of large Mining Companies with interests in teh Northern Territory?

But let's not just sling mud at John and Mal. They are easy targets. Where the hell is the so called Opposition? How can Warren Snowden, the Federal Minister for Lingiari sit idely by and watch this happen. How the hell is Peter Garratt sleeping at night - how can he sleep while his bed is burning?

The time has come to say fair's fair! This legislation is racist and opportunistic and if we as a Nation allow the Government to get away with it we will hang our heads in shame when questioned by future generations.