Reflections: 40 years on from the 1967 Referendum - alison fort

176 Pages·2008·1.65 MB·English

Reflections:
40 years on from the
1967 Referendum

A publication of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Inc.

Reflections:
40 years on from the
1967 Referendum

Reflections:
40 years on from the
1967 Referendum
Printed by Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Inc.
321–325 King William Road
Adelaide SA 5000
Australia
©
2007
Publisher Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Inc.
Editor ALRM CEO, Neil Gillespie
Sub-editor George Benzier
Editorial team Paul Babie, Dymphna Eszenyi, Robert Foster, Elizabeth Grant
and Christopher Williams
Research Mark Seddon
Coordinating editor Christopher Williams
Print coordination and design Kerrynne Liddle and Alison Fort
Cover design and artwork Nina Turner
Additional thanks to the State Government of South Australia for a contribution of funds for this project,
and to all those who have contributed to this publication.
Contents
Contents
Foreword ..................................................................................................................................Elliott Johnston QC 1
Introduction ...................................................................................................Frank H. Lampard, Chairperson, ALRM 3
About the Authors ............................................................................................................................................ 5
A comment from the Editor ...........................................................Neil Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer, ALRM 13
Sovereignty and survival ...................................................................................................................Waratah 15
The 1967 Referendum: 40 years on ...................................................................................Larissa Behrendt 25
Promises yet to be fulfilled ..........................................................................................................Glenn Giles 31
Indigenous law and justice .....................................................................................The Hon Philip Ruddock MP 37
State legislation about Aboriginal people .....................................................................Chris Kourakis QC 43
The Blueprint for Action in Indigenous Affairs:
Realising the promise of the Referendum .............................................................The Hon Mal Brough MP 59
Justice through Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Legal Services .........................................Neil Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer, ALRM 65
Has the 1967 Constitutional Referendum had an impact on Native Title? .................Parry Agius 69
Perpetual grief .................................................................................................................................Brian Butler 73
The Aboriginal Lands Trust: Worth knowing, worth supporting,
worth keeping – Aboriginal way ................................................................................................John Chester 75
Forty years of Aboriginal housing, public and community
housing in South Australia from 1967 to 2007.....................................Elizabeth Grant and Paul Memmott 79
For Aborigines? Rights and reality ..............................................................................................Diane Bell 97
Australia’s Legal Response to Aboriginal Demands for a Treaty ............................. Donna Odegaard 109
The Movement ...............................................................................................................................Anthony Kerin 121
What lessons for the future? ..................................................................................The Hon Jay Weatherill MP 123
Silences ..................................................................................................................................................Eva Sallis 129
Reflections on Criminal Justice Policy since the
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ....................................................Chris Cunneen 135
Reflecting on Aboriginal health services and the
history of the Aboriginal Health Council of SA................Mary Buckskin, Ngara Keeler and Kathleen Stacey 147
A reconciled Australia? ..............................................................................................................Warren Guppy 157

Foreword
Foreword
By Elliott Johnston QC
Congratulations to the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement on almost 40 years of continuous service to
the Aboriginal population of South Australia. There is no more important task for the Aboriginal people
than fighting for their right to justice.
The establishment of the colony of South Australia resulted in the Aboriginal people being deprived of
their ancient land and thereby being deprived of much of their ancient culture and way of life. Many were forced
to live on lands remote from their tribal homelands and many were obliged to yield up their children to white
society. It was against this sort of background that the ALRM was established.
In its early days ALRM’s function was almost entirely to represent and assist Aboriginal people charged
with some offence. Of course, that is still a very serious matter, but over time the functions have developed and
now the Movement advises and assists individuals in relation to their civil rights and in various ways it fights
for the rights of all Aboriginal people. Just one of those ways is the handling of native title claims (an important
one of which has recently been won – DeRose Hill).
I express my deep respect for all those Aboriginal people who have over the years in various capacities …
as Movement CEO, as telephonists, as organisers, as legal secretaries, as committee members and more recently
as lawyers … devoted time and effort to the work of this crucial organisation. I think that you deserve great praise
(and I think that this applies also to those non-Aboriginal lawyers who have served the ALRM over many years).
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