Campaigns

Help realise the dream of Victoria’s first Indigenous Owned National Park

Barmah-Millewa is the largest River Red Gum forest in the world, in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country. It is predominantly State Forest, which means that it is threatened by unsustainable logging and grazing practices, but also means that it is possible for the State government to recognise Traditional Owner interests though handback or agreements over its use and management. Hence the Barmah-Millewa Collective developed with the Yorta Yorta the proposal of an Aboriginal owned (or ‘jointly managed’) National Park. Similar parks exist in NSW, the ACT and Northern Territory, the most well known being Uluru and Kakadu. In these parks the land title was handed back to the Traditional Owners who now lease the park to the government in exchange for royalties, a majority on the Board of Management and a range of other benefits such as employment and training opportunities.

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Protecting Children in the Northern Territory

Taking Land is not necessary to protect children.

The ammendments made by Australia's federal government in 2007 to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) have nothing to do with protecting children. Not once in the legislation is the word "children" mentioned! And the newly elected federal government has has not reversed any of these ammendments.

Aboriginal organisations from all over the Northern Territory have outlined their initial response to what needs to be done to protect children in their communities. The Combined Aboriginal Organisations of the Northern Territory (CAO) released a report on Tuesday 10 July based on the recommendations from the Little Children are Sacred Report.

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Get Real: Towards real reconcilation

Acting on the request of peak Indigenous bodies in Victoria, ANTaR Vic is supporting their calls for justice and real reconciliation for Indigenous Australians in this state. The Victorian Traditional Owners Land Justice Group (VTOLJG) and Victoria's State-wide and Peak Indigenous NGO's have recently released documents outlining their key concerns and how they can be addressed.

ANTaR is in turn asking for YOUR support and action to initiate change based on principles which respect and recognise Indigenous self-determination, human rights and culture.

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Treaty Scroll Campaign

ANTaR Victoria staff have initiated a project to create a unique 'petition' for a Treaty. The petition takes the form of a 20m scroll which non-Indigenous people will 'sign' with their thumbprint.

The Treaty Supporters' Scroll serves as a call on the Crown and the Commonwealth Government to recognise Aboriginal sovereignty and enter a treaty process. The scroll also seeks to spark action on local agreements (treaties) between Traditional Owners and non-Indigenous people, groups and institutions.

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Removing our white blindfold

The White Blindfold Ritual is a public action drawing attention to the need to continue the journey towards reconciliation in Australia.

Designed as a powerful visual symbol for non-indigenous Australians to acknowledge that so often they are blind to how racism and a lack of respect for Indigenous culture and communities impacts on Indigenous peoples, the White Blindfold Ritual involves non-Indigenous participants ceremonially removing white blindfolds and signing an artistic petition for a treaty in front of Indigenous leaders.

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The Black GST

During 2005, a concept known as the Black GST began to emerge, promoted by a group of Indigenous leaders and non-Indigenous supporters in Melbourne. This idea has also started to reverberate around not only Victoria but interstate.

The Black GST asserts that:

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ANTaR "Stolenwealth" Games Action

ANTaR Victoria supported the Black GST in its aim to use the Stolenwealth Games in Melbourne during March 2006, as a chance to ‘remind Australia, and to remind the world, that injustice lingers in this country.’

The two key actions that ANTaR was involved in were:

1. Public installation of 6 foot high letters spelling out   "STOLENWEALTH GAMES" during the Moomba Parade in Melbourne
2. Indigenous rights statement co-signed by 18 NGOs

Through these two initiatives, ANTaR members and supporting organisations have been able to draw significant public and media attention to the ongoing struggle of Indigenous peoples in Australia to restore their voice, wealth and health.

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