Aboriginal Land Rights Lecture 4 Chapter 9

Native Australians Arrived about 40,000 years ago Arrived in 1788

Aborigines

Today about 500,000 individuals = 2.5% of population Geographical distribution: Northern Territory 32.5% of population Western Australia 4% Queensland 3.6% New South Wales 2.5% South Australia 2.3% Victoria 1%

Aborigines Social problems: Inferior life expectancy –But higher birth rate Higher imprisonment rates –alcoholism, suicide, (domestic) violence Higher unemployment rate –poverty, lower education levels

Protest 26 January = Australia Day 26 January 1938 – Day of Mourning …this being the 150 th anniversay of the whitemen’s seizure of our country …

Land rights Terra nullius = unclaimed not uninhabited –Explorers claiming land in the name of the English Crown –Squatters taking land from the Crown without paying for it –Leaving Aborigines with hardly any land Occupation = civilization –No recognizable land ownership delimitations Agriculture = making use of nature’s gift –Settlers using large spaces for pastoral activity (sheep) –Mining companies claiming further land Destruction of a race –Taking their land and their means of subsistence (=> desert) –Clash of two completely opposite views

Aboriginal vs. Anglo-Celtic culture Communal No social distinctions No political distinctions Close relationship with nature The lands owns the people individualistic Preferment and ownership Class privileges and distinctions exploiting and transforming natural resources The people own the land

From the 1960s onwards 1967 referendum giving government the power to legislate in favour of Aborigines 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra 1973 multiculturalism Putting a stop to discrimination The issues of mining and land ownership

From the 1960s till 2008

Aboriginal lands

Integration or self-government What can Aborigines do with their lands? –Communities, What value do these lands have nowadays? –Mining, tourist attractions (Ayers Rock) What can be done to integrate Aborigines into society? –Education, occupation, …