We shall not be moved

by Janice Hamilton

Residents of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra have vowed to stay put 
after enduring a number of freezing nights with their electricity cut off 
and the confiscation of portable toilets installed by the union movement. 
The historic tent embassy was first set up on Australia Day, 1972 and has 
become a permanent fixture out the front of Old Parliament House in 
Canberra since 1992 as a protest against the Liberal-National Parties' 
refusal to recognise indigenous land rights. The cut to their electricity 
was made following a small fire at the embassy.

Federal Minister for the Territories Wilson Tuckey, who has become the 
self-proclaimed minister responsible for the embassy, said recently on the 
wretched John Laws program that the embassy could be replaced with what he 
describes as an Information Bureau, or something of that nature.

He seems to be using the fire as an excuse to permanently remove the 
embassy.

On the same program, Tuckey made non-specific allegations concerning child 
welfare and other issues as a reason for getting rid of the embassy.

What child welfare has do with it is anyone's guess. Neither the Minister 
nor the radio spin-doctor mentioned the impoverished conditions that 
Aboriginal children live under or the inadequate health care and education 
they receive due to government cut backs and racism.

In response to the Ministers claims about electrical faults, Wadjularbinna, 
an occupant of the tent embassy said, "the fire was not caused by an 
electrical fault. It was caused when the flap of the kitchen tent touched 
the flames of a fire brought inside the tent in a four-gallon drum. The 
fire was extinguished before the fire brigade arrived."

Wadjularbinna said that he considered this to be racist. "If an electrical 
fault did occur in the home of a person living in the wider community, the 
problem would be repaired and made safe for the people to continue living 
in their place of residence. However there is no recognition that people 
are living at the Embassy to fulfil their obligations to their people."

"We deserve the same services as any other Australian and in particular, we 
should be supported in our efforts to bring the plight of our people to the 
attention of the government and the international community."

For anyone who is a regular visitor to Canberra the Tent Embassy has become 
part of the scene.

There is a continuous flow of people at the embassy wanting to find out 
more about Australia's indigenous history and the conditions facing 
Aboriginal people.

Many a bus load of children have been seen learning the traditions of 
Indigenous culture.

Maybe this is what the Minister was talking about when he referred to 
concerns of about child welfare at the embassy.

Is he afraid that the children of Australia or in fact the world to hear 
the truth about his government's attitude towards and treatment of 
Indigenous Australians.