AUSTRALIA DAY - A REASON FOR CELEBRATION?

[Leonie]

Ooh, give 'em the meat pies today Maureen. What was that old song about meat pies and Holden cars? Got it, (goes off singing) .... Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroos and Holden Cars. la la la.

[Neville Briggs]

Ah Martyboy, you can agree with me anytime, as Peter Sellers would say ....that does me a power of good !!!

[william williams]

Here is a bit of Trivia

Ross you mention with out the English, Australia would never have been
On the central west coast near the centre where the Baviteria was wrecked. There was found a tribe off Aborigines that amongst the tribe there were some that had red hair when they were discovered by the whites it is genetically unknown amongst the Aboriginal race but several of the crew members and that, and other Dutch ships it was stated had red hair when the ships came here?

There is strong documentation that the Indonesians and Malays occupied northern Australia for gathering of various shellfish and dried them and also they transported BANTAN cattle here which are an Indonesian and Malay breed of cattle which are found wild though not in large numbers are found in Australia’s north in the gulf and on Cape York Peninsular but were never according to Australian records bought to Australia, but the water Buffalo was and released much to our sorrow.
But were we lucky that the Pomm’s took over the place or what ?

Here here Ross Bill the old Battler

[warooa]

The Dutch saw the West Coast, and the west side of CYP and seeing nothing to encourage them to stick around they did the Harold Holt. What if: they ventured down the more verdant east coast . . . would they have stuck their noses in and maybe got a sniff of some tradable commodity - like gold . . . and we may very well all then have been Dutch?

[keats]

Hi Maureen, be very very careful speaking for other people, be it in verse or song. As the great Don Walker once told me, "If you ain't been there and done it, then don't put ya voice to it!" has rung true over the years. Approach indigenous writings very carefully as I don't believe we have the right to impersonate them, their ways and their plights. Try approaching from a sympathetic and not emphatic direction, or it may very well backfire on you. I had to stop reading the poem myself before the end of the first verse, as it made me very uncomfortable and for anybody who knows my poetry, that is saying something!! lol

Being true to yourself and your beliefs does not ALWAYS entitle you to step into someone else's shoes and see from their eyes.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Totally agree Keats that you can't speak for other people - you can only share your views and perceptions , but can let people be aware of the truth of situations and not the sanitized versions. You don't necessarily have to have walked the walk to appreciate the situation - if that was the case nothing would ever get done anywhere - I am lucky to have an aboriginal elder as a neighbour and friend and have run my stuff past him before putting it on line including my poem Kadeitcha Men as I felt that may have been Mens business and did not wish to offend. Les saw no problem with it and actually paid me the greatest compliment about other pieces that I have written by saying that I wrote with the heart of an Aboriginal person and my love for the land was obvious in my words....that was good enough for me. Especially when you consider by birth I am a Pom.

I have never been an abused child - but that will not stop me speaking out against child abuse. I have never been hungry a day in my life, never had to fight in a war - thank God - or even been in one at close range - won't stop me putting the words out there that just might make one person think that war is not a good thing, or that there is a side to war that is not all bravo, and courage and bonhomie and bloody great adventures.. Were I concerned over political correctness, shaking people's beliefs, altering perceptions, making people feel uncomfortable by what I have written - I would have to zipper my lips, throw pen and paper away and go get a lobotomy. I was accused once of being racially prejudiced towards white Australians because I write Aboriginal poetry about historical facts that depicts Australians as being unfair towards them. I hate the term white Australian...are we not all Australians? And what part of our history did they not get?

I have to say I was quite gob smacked by this persons comments - but built a bridge. One thing I know for sure is you can't please all the people all the time and you can't please some people any time - so I guess I just try to be true to myself and my beliefs without hopefully running roughshod over any one else in the process - as that is never my intent.

I appreciate your advice Keats and for taking the time to voice it - but maybe at heart I am still a child of the sixties - a hippy child - who grew up singing protest songs.

Cheers

Maureen

[Bellobazza]

G'day Maureen...
I know I'm raking over old coals here, but I feel I must offer my support, because I sense that you write on this subject from a genuine empathy with indigenous Australians.
"Get over it and get on with it" is a total cop-out in my opinion, and so is "Please sir, it wasn't me". The consequences of colonisation in Australia, as well as many other countries, are still being felt today. Bloody Hell, it's the 21st century and indigenous Australians are still not recognised under our constitution!
I'm very glad to have had the chance to play a small part in the referendum of the sixties that finally extended the right to vote to aboriginal Australians, but not without a certain amount of shame that it should even be necessary. That referendum was carried by a 90% majority. It's interesting that the results of research that were announced just today show that around 10% of Australians demonstrate racial tendencies. No progress on that front in 50 years it seems.
If there had been none to speak out about injustice, America's economy might still be based on slavery, we might still be sending children into mines, and Aboriginal Australians might still be non-citizens.

Keep the faith, Maureen...
Regards, Will.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Thank you Will you have no idea how heartening your comment is

Cheers

Maureen

[r.magnay]

G'day Will and Maureen,
Though I don't doubt for a second that your intentions are honourable, be very careful quoting percentages, racism goes more than one way remember, it would be interesting to know who was polled to achieve these results and who adjudicated what is racist and what isn't!

[manfredvijars]

The May 27, 1967 referendum passed with 90.77% voter support.
Commonwealth of Australia gazette No 55, 26 June 1967.