ANTaR Vic is a not-for profit community organisation dedicated to achieving
equal rights and respect for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people.

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ANTaR Victoria solidarity acti...

26 January 2012

Share the Spirit/Treasury Gardens Aboriginal Embassy commemoration, 1pm-7pm, and other actions

ANTaR Victoria has initiated a series of solidarity commemoration gestures and events for the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Embassy, 26 January, 2012.

The Aboriginal Embassy was established on the lawns of Parliament House, Canberra, on 26 January 1972 (Australia Day/Invasion Day), the morning after then Prime Minister McMahon’s ‘provocative’ policy announcement on Land Rights, and in recent memory of the Gove case of 1971, which went against the Yolgnu people of Arnhem Land.

This eloquent act of protest by members of the black power movement in Redfern, Sydney, at once announced Aboriginal people’s sovereign status as a group of nations, the sense of being aliens in their own land, and the material poverty of Aboriginal people’s lives – symbolised by the form of the tent.

The Aboriginal Embassy elevated Aboriginal political agendas to the national and international stage; impacted on the historic election result in 1972 which brought Gough Whitlam to power; and led to land rights legislation in the Northern Territory (1976).

The Embassy was reinstated in Canberra at many times between 1972 and 1992 and had a permanent presence there from 1992 onwards. It has become the longest site of protest in Australian history. Its longevity indicates the continued urgency of its original call for land rights. Land injustice is even worse in Victoria than in any other State or Territory in Australia, with significantly less than 0.1% of the total area of the Victoria being Aboriginal owned or managed.

On 26 January 2012, ANTaR Victoria joins in commemorating the 40^th anniversary of the Aboriginal Embassy. We pay respect to the courage and eloquence of that original act, and assert in solidarity that the demands of the original Embassy are as urgent as ever.

Tents at the Share the Spirit festival in the Treasury Gardens

Share the Spirit festival has kindly supported ANTaR Victoria’s concept by setting aside space for a ‘small-scale Aboriginal Embassy commemoration’ in the Treasury Gardens where supporters are invited to pitch a dome tent or beach shelter for the period 1pm-7pm. Please note there is limited space allocated. You are requested to RSVP, indicating if you would like to bring a tent, so that we know how many people to expect: antarvic@gmail.com. See Events page for more details. 

Wherever you may be, you can commemorate the anniversary

We ask anybody across Australia and globally, wherever you may be, to pitch your tent or beach umbrella and hang an Aboriginal Embassy anniversary sign on it.

 Belgrave Survival Day in Victoria has run with the idea and will have a large tent at their survival day event in which they will be showing films, for example, Ningla-ana, a brilliant documentary film shot at the Embassy and in Redfern in 1972.

Media enquiries
Clare Land   0409 352 297

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