Freedom summit calls for action on Invasion Day

Activists gathered for a “freedom forum” at the Block in Redfern, Sydney, on 18 January. Organised as part of the Freedom Movement, the forum called for protest, not celebration, on Invasion Day – 26 January.

Jenny Munro, a Wiradjuri woman and founder of the Aboriginal Tenant Embassy in Redfern, opened proceedings. She condemned the conservative leadership of the Aboriginal rights movement: “They, rather than serve the interests of our people, serve the interests of the government. And in terms of those who serve the interests of government there seems to be a trilogy from hell: Pearson, Mundine and Langton.

“These people have been involved in politics for a long time: in the 20 years that I’ve been involved, they have undermined and compromised the cause of Aboriginal people.”

Munro spoke about the long history of resistance to Aboriginal dispossession: “We have had enough. It’s time to change. The act is in the dialogue. And from now on the dialogue will be: ‘We own this land’. We never said to James Cook, come in its all yours, and we never said it to [Arthur] Phillip or any other bastard who followed him. We have maintained our rights to this country and have never ceded it.

“And today they have actually come close to succeeding in their campaign of genocide and the extermination of our people … at the moment they are dispersing and dispossessing our people again. How many times will white people have the audacity to move us around and say, ‘It’s for your best interest’?”

In ending Munro said: “The time has come for us as Black people to say to Tony Abbott and any other government that’s voted in: you’ll have to talk to us. You will not to divide and conquer us anymore.”

The forum was chaired by Indigenous Social Justice Association president Ray Jackson. Other speakers were writer and activist Ken Canning, Nyoongar elder and social justice campaigner Uncle Ben Taylor, and journalists Gerry Georgatos and Jeff McMullen. All speakers urged those present to join the Freedom Movement’s convergence on Canberra on 26 January or attend protests in capital cities across the country.

For details visit Indymedia.