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Like all sensible Quadrant readers, I am not in the habit of attending any of the ‘Invasion Day’ protests on January 26. At one of these get-togethers in Melbourne a few years ago, the pyromaniacal sentiments of organiser Tarneen Onus-Williams provided the day’s surprise attraction. As you may recall, she concluded her semi-literate tirade by spluttering: “F*** Australia, hope it burns to the ground.” Ever since, I must admit, such rallies have never seemed like my idea of a good time.
This year, however, with the Voice referendum looming over the proceedings, I decided to stop by the event in Sydney’s Belmore Park, or — as the attendees insisted on re-naming it — unceded and therefore stolen Gadigal land in so-called Australia. I arrived in the middle of an address by a female Aboriginal speaker, who exhorted her listeners to “Open your eyes, hearts, minds, ears and fuckin’ listen!”
The crowd dutifully obeyed, offering self-flagellating applause at all the right moments, especially when she advised the whitefellas there to feel ashamed of their whiteness. She kept reminding the audience — unnecessarily in my view, as one could tell from her tone — that she was quite angry.
Next up was an alleged musician whose name and music were — sorry — unfamiliar to me. He rapped about sovereignty or something for a while and then invited the rabble to extend their middle fingers and repeat the chant: “Fuck the colony.” This continued for some time, so I wandered over to a group handing out campaign literature. Funnily enough, it turns out that the local chapter of the Australian Communist Party is also opposed to the Voice to Parliament. Their larger quarrels, I gathered, are with the idea of having a Parliament in the first place, the Constitution and the Australian nation itself, as the six-page pamphlet explained.
In fact, as I looked around, opposition to the Voice was just about everywhere. I didn’t see a single placard with a good word to say about it and there were quite a few explicitly rejecting it. The chappie with the poster that read “Land back, ya dogs”, I suspect, wouldn’t have much patience with an advisory body, either. One speaker, Lizzie Jarrett, seemed to have as much contempt for the Voice as she did for her other targets, like the police and settler colonialism. She warmed to her subject by mocking the Queen for being dead and then barked at the cheering crowd: “Will you support us? If you do, when that referendum comes around, kick it to the ground like Australia.”
Earlier in the week, the organisers had made it clear that opposition to the Voice would be a key talking point of the rallies. Some in the media seemed surprised by such an announcement, though they shouldn’t have been: ‘Invasion Day’ protests are principally the work of the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, the far-left activist group that regularly burns the Australian flag and is quite open about their incendiary plans for the country itself. (The aforementioned arson enthusiast, Ms. Onus-Williams, is a member, of course.) Something tells me that they would prefer constitutional abolition over any amendment.
The rebarbative Lidia Thorpe had also previewed how the rallies would reject the Voice. The Victorian Senator, whose utterances usually contain derivations of “coloniser” and not much else, showed off her slightly expanding vocabulary this week when she growled at The Guardian:
“The war is not over so we have to continue to fight the war. Every Invasion Day is a reminder that we are still at war.”
She stuck to this theme at her own rally in front of Parliament House in Melbourne, where she brandished a battle stick, and then banged on for a while about both the ongoing “war” and the inadequacy of constitutional change. To her credit, she summed up the mood pretty well by saying:
“What do we have to celebrate in this country? Do we want to become an advisory body to the colonial system?”
Back in Sydney, as the rally-goers left Belmore Park and headed towards Broadway, I moved through the crowd in the opposite direction, surprised at what a terrific time I was having. As one who would like to see the Voice referendum not merely fail, but fail badly, I think the events of the day may foretoken such a result. As the grassroots Left’s opposition to the the Voice gets stronger, Anthony Albanese may well find it difficult to add up the numbers for his ‘yes’ case, especially if the Greens refuse to formally support it. Lidia Thorpe’s coalition, the Blak Greens, who dislike both the Voice and spelling conventions, will be impossible to persuade after yesterday’s theatrics.
There is also a warning here for moderate or undecided voters, those who do celebrate their country but may think of the Voice as some innocuous gesture of goodwill: remember, nothing you do — whether it’s voting for constitutional change, paying the rent, enthusiastically acknowledging country every five minutes, you name it — will ever satisfy the demands of the Aboriginal Industry and its urban activist class. Should the referendum actually succeed, these are the same radical groups that the Voice will have to listen to and placate. They may oppose the Voice now, but they’ll still use it to their advantage if the opportunity presents itself. Are their demands not worthy of utter rejection? Why take such a risk with a ‘Yes’ vote?
Of course, the Left’s divisions over the Voice shouldn’t be the only cause of its failure. Going forward, I’d like to see the Right cast off its timidity, make fewer demands for details, and cultivate a whole lot more annoyance with the industry that hates the country and seeks to disfigure our Constitution. Let us be optimistic: post-referendum, when the next Australia Day rolls around, we should have even more reason to celebrate.
I cant help thinking that what we are looking at is standard Aboriginal politics – a power struggle between Marcia Langton/Tom Calma and Lidiya Thorpe. If it looks like one group is going to succeed and get the Voice … then another group will have to pop up to make sure that they don’t succeed. Success with the Voice would make Langton and Calma just too powerful within the Voice Industry.
In essence – this is why the Voice would always be a disaster for Aborigines – they could never agree on any thing cedes power to another clan/tribe/faction whatever.
As I political centrist, supporting some Lefty issues and Right ones, I see The Voice not just as a constitutional amendment we do not need, but as the first step along the road through ‘Treaty,’ bantustans (or should that be ‘kooristans?’) already set up over much of Northern Australia, to one united and independent Kooristan diplomatically recognised by whosoever overseas pleases to do so. It is not such a step from that to treaties with whatever foreign powers, and foreign military bases (Chinese, Russian, Indonesian….????) and finally, continental annexation.
“For want of a nail, the shoe was lost….” and so on right up to loss of the Kingdom; read Commonwealth.
I don’t often agree with Ian Mac but today is one of those times. These Aborigines are so opposed to Australia that I wonder if they are indeed already working for a foreign power. My question is always who benefits from their efforts? The answer is certainly not the Australian general population and it is not the vast bulk of Aborigines who by and large are well and truly assimilated and just want to get on with life. The actions of these very vocal provocateurs must make the Chinese and the socialists at the UN very happy.
We are in danger of, by our apathy and belief in everything will be alright, giving away our nation which has been saved by generations of soldiers but is the envy of those nations who long for our resources. I am also sure that if that time ever came that a foreign power controlled the whole or part of Australia that Aborigines would be the least of their concern and would suffer accordingly.
I note that all the rejecters of colonialism turned up in their bush clothing: grass skirts and bark sporrans, walked to the park…hang on, ‘park’ is a colonialist invention, so not there, please. Declined to use amplification equipment, computers or mobile phones, avoided standing on any paved surfaces, relieved themselves in the bush, supped on scraps of last week’s cooked Kanagroo and avoided posters on card (Chinese invention), and flags (or is cultural appropriation OK now?).
No?
I wonder why not.
All our forebears came from tribal societies to modern societies at different times…so Aboriginals are naturally welcome to such benefits…indeed the British were keen to share them and they were typically well received. Fully reconciled, I’d say.
Jan 27 2023 3.23pm ESST.
Great comments,I agree Lawrie, Ian Mac is spot on ,I really have warm spot for Ian when he makes sense.
As an aside Ian , your wife must be keeping those ice packs apace a plenty!
As for the Voice, it’s just more of the same self indulgent quasi socialist ,commo ,amoral corporate ranting , however in this case the fat cat Aboriginals ( the likes of Dodson et al) are the ones wanting centre stage .
More greed from the socialist piggery. If it’s not the picture of the Queen or the changing of the national anthem, or the flag or the constitution, or our day, all of Austalia’s day, or interfering with the minds of kids by telling girls their boys or changing boys into girls or treating children at school or in the universities as pawns in their twisted and perverted political equity and equality mind games.
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And as for connection to country, pigs backside. If they want to claim connection to country and land rights ,let’s see them living as their ancestors did and withdraw the greedy white man’s welfare.
I ask the question, what have been the Aboriginal contributions to the betterment of Australia and all Australians of late, besides the fact of showing the rest of us the rort that we have a great welfare system ,by one and all of them in general continually sucking on that teat.
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What a mob of parasites.
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Advance Australia fair . One and all ,should start to stand up and speak our minds and put a stop to the socialist itch and virus that is Aboriginal greed and self indulgent Labor paired green grievances.
No we don’t want your Voice ,we want you rotten people to be just as fair dinkum as the rest of us- do a hard days work, pay tax , and contribute in alleviating Australia of misery.
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The Left ,that is the Greens and their brethren parasites ,the ALP, as well as the amoral right with their hangers on, the immoral corporate parasites, this is Australia and it belongs to Australians not institutionalised political agendas and for those in their corporate ivory tower, our country is not your personal fiefdom and plaything. Australia does not need social engineers what is needed is real practical people and engineers interested in building Australia not wrecking her.
Timothy Cootes speaks for me on these things and his insertion of brief words of levity makes for easy reading.
How can the urban aboriginal activists like Lidia Thorpe be compelled to acknowledge that they resulted from an ecstatic union of pre settlement and post settlement couples. They are all mixed race and without the DNA mixing they would not be here and speaking English.
Post Australia Day a bipartisan plan needs to be devised on how to restructure/relocate town camps so that families and those with potential can be weaned off ‘sit-down-money’ and given the dignity of work, or given education away from a debilitating demand sharing violent tribal culture. The socialist have no answer as all they did was unwind, since 1972, the work of church missions which helped many like the
the great watercolour artist Albert Namatjira.
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We’ll share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian.
I went to Belmore Park also out of interest and I regret it. I was shocked and disgusted at the attack on Australia, and a slavish crowd cheering it along.
The site was well placed so all the very strange alternative people from Darlinghurst could walk in and most of the alternative lesbian set from Newtown caught the train 2 stops in.
They want the rest of Australia to basically cease to exist – and you have to pay the rent. And 10,000 people who probably live on welfare cheer.
Remember land never ceded …. Always was always will be. It
Might be better to Quote Russell Crowe from Gladiator “why don’t people know when they are conquered”
But then the weird part was there was a lot of white people playing aboriginal screaming into the microphone – and a lot women who in traditional culture were basically property/chattel/slaves of old men and would never have the right to carry on like that.
It’s about the money.
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https://paytherent.net.au/about-us/
And if they want rent, we want all the welfare paid back. Can someone give us a figure for the Aboriginal bludge in Toto?
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And I would like to know the welfare figures in regard to how many people of the Aboriginal origin have been involved in the theft called long term welfare for the last 50 years. Let’s get the government to release all the figures including the exponential growth in welfare that has been funding Aboriginal Obesity and diabetes and kidney disease for that period of time.
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The voice is just a fancy way of saying” we want more “, and as if these people haven’t already got the market cornered,and I don’t just mean welfare gluttony.
Nope sorry enough is enough, these people have been given carte blanche to walk over the Average taxpayer for far too long – the rest of us have had enough of all of this bottom of the barrel social discontent.
Can we take them at their words and withdraw the benefits they enjoy as a form of cultural appropriation?
Was at a morning tea after a “feel good” meeting at one of the worst communities around where violence etc. is all the “go” but isn’t fully reported and unless you are approved by the ##d govt. you are not going to get within a bulls roar of the place, a place where even the sale of vegemite was banned because it was used as a fermenting agent for home brew. A local lady opined to me that she and her kind would like a large fence placed around the community to keep whites out so I asked her if that fence would also keep the flow of money and the RFDS out. She stalked off. That’s the bottom line, they want the money and services we taxpayers provide but give nothing in return. A one way street.
Such a good comment STD – “The Voice is just a fancy way of saying ‘we want more'”.
A chief designer of the Voice, Noel Pearson, when publicly questioned as to whether his advocacy was evidence of tribal ‘demand sharing’ he was non comital. However he often ‘wants more’.
He might be slow to acknowledge it but Pearson is a difficult person to receive any NO response.
As an advocate for his Nth Queensland education trials Noel Pearson has over a number of years requested and received multimillion dollar support from the past Federal government.
Jan 28 2023 ,8.58pm ESST.
JMJ.
Thanks for the kind comment brandee- however the real important thing that matters is Australia, and all the fair dinkum Australians who contribute, to what was once a great country, something to be really proud of.
I’m talking for all those fair dinkum guys who fought for the ideal of freedom, from the two horrific World wars and all the conflicts we have been involved since then, till the present day- all these guys deserve our undying loyalty and I for one are not going to allow a bunch of socialist parasites who have fomented hatred of white people in Aboriginal Australians and turned them against us in order to further the cause of socialism in order to turn the joint into another one of their so called democratic republics, where a select few of “thinking intelligent” elitist scum can peddle the wares of the standard socialist witches brew that is inverted egalitarianism, al la cultural obliteration.
The real people who have earned the right to have a say in which direction Australia should take and how she should be, are all those who have contributed by paying their taxes and those who have fought, and especially those wonderful souls who have given their life for this place in order that the rest of us and especially the elderly and children should be loved and cared for in a safe, secure and peaceful environment.
It really makes me very angry the woe is me mentality of these Aboriginal seeking privilege Australians.
The reality is that all Australians, know matter the colour of skin, have the freedom and the same opportunity ( they are free) to access greater and more abundance than the Pharaoh’s of Antiquity could have only dreamed of.
And you may ask why are they free, and it is simply because of this fact ,that generally speaking it was predominantly the efforts of fair dinkum white men who loved Aus and her way of life who fought hard to stop this country being invaded-not the countercultural communist socialist rabble who thwarted the war efforts uphill and down dale.
Final thought. I believe that everyone who truly loves Australia and her easy ways should resist and repel the duplicitous and hidden communist manifesto of the so called Greens( code for left wing envy and visceral hatred of the culture of family) and the ALP, who’s complete loyalty is to the world wide domination of socialist republics, so called democratic rule, under the iron fist ‘standard rule’ of communist reprobates.
Slightly off track, I know, but this is why I fight like the hard working Australian cattle dog- it’s the only way, if we want to keep Australia alive, and the living embodiment of all that is good in the Australian nature.
Maybe it’s time that Aboriginal Australia asked itself, not what Australia can do for them – she has been generous a plenty- but now it’s time to do something for Australia. Maybe it’s time to stop listening to the politicians,who incidentally have lied, misled and misappropriated your trust by buying your soul with welfare – spare a thought for us, the descent hardworking tax payers, who for the last 40 odd years have had our head down and bum up working ,only to look up and realise that the place is unrecognisable, we too have been utterly betrayed by the political class and modern day elites, people who aren’t worth feeding let alone placing trust in.
My granddad, who had a very basic education but was an intelligent man (and who served in the US Navy in WWII) used to say that the American blacks were under a new slavery: welfare.
However they never had sovereignty. At colonisation the crown owned all the east coast and then later, the rest of the Australian continent.
Batman found that out the hard way when he tried to buy land from Aboriginals in Victoria.
Of course as we spread out throughout Australia in the early days, Aboriginals soon became dependent upon our foods and culture and gave away their stone age hunter gatherer existences, ‘coming in’ to join our civilisation.
For many, coming in meant they left their country for good, never returning, initially doing so less and less over the years until eventually all traditional culture was lost to future generations.
It also saw a huge rise in half caste people as they worked for and alongside us colonists and others.
And it seems the aim, (unconsciously or not) was to be white, males by often choosing lighter-skinned partners and females choosing to partner with White men, and little has changed over the years.
By then the ‘connection to country’ was just a memory, often the memory of their grannies.
So there was no need to ‘cede’ land to us, it was given freely as Aboriginals accepted us and joined in with us, after leaving their traditional lands in droves.