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Green Black Alliance PanelEarthling Environmental Activist Forum Green Black Alliance Panel 10.30am - 12:30pm Saturday 30th September, Newcastle Town Hall, Banquet Room Some alliances between environmentalists and Aboriginal activists have been hugely successful, as are some Aboriginal conservation areas. Others have raised questions about where Aboriginal and environmental interests diverge. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal panellists and audience members reflect on their experiences in green-black alliances. What works, and what needs to be improved? A major challenge ahead lies in the harmonising of the protection of biodiversity with the values and responsibilities inherent in traditional Aboriginal ownership of country.The “absolute right” to private property currently being foisted onto aboriginal communities as a way of securing “self determination,” must be questioned in the context of the need for biodiversity conservation and traditional communal ownership. The handback of Uluru in October 1985 was an attempt to synthesise land rights and biodiversity protection. The model of Aboriginal-owned National Parks was extended to NSW by the Mutawintji National Park Agreement of 1998 and the Biamanga National Park Agreement of 2005. Such models are criticised for being merely another way of alienating traditional people from rights to their land. Others claim these protected areas are a workable middle way between property ownership by Land Councils, Government alienation and the protection of important areas of biodiversity. The long-running Stockton Bight Aboriginal-owned National Park process sets the scene for a discussion of the merits and limitations of such models. While alliances can be built between indigenous people and environmentalists by working through such issues, they can also lead to further conflict, both within Aboriginal communities and between environmentalists and land rights activists. Is there a better way to support Aboriginal sovereignty and self determination while at the same time being comforted that white Australia’s impact on this country can be slowed by protecting what’s left? Carole Ridgeway-Bisset, Worimi Traditional Owner
Arthur Ridgeway, Indigenous elder Ellie Gilbert, Lake Cowal defender Peter Thompson, Nature Conservation Council Lucinda Douglass, The Wilderness Society Panel-led and audience participatory panel. |
SearchRandom image Upcoming eventsPopular contentAll time:Random QuoteSince 1998 I have had a deepening sense that climate change was something really bad. I joined Friends of the Earth and did all the conventional campaigning like writing to MPs, and I still do. I think that's important. But it does not feel enough. Climate change is not just another environmental issue like GM crops. It's a life and death issue. This direct action is necessary because we've got to get the urgency across. What we're doing [against Drax] is symbolic of what everyone should be doing. |
