| We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Aboriginal flag row erupts in Tasmania | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Oct 7 2009, 08:12 AM (49 Views) | |
| Sayf Udeen Ismaeel | Oct 7 2009, 08:12 AM Post #1 |
Icon by meagan_chelsea @ LJ
|
Aboriginal flag row erupts in Tasmania A ROW has erupted in Tasmania over displaying the Aboriginal flag in the state's parliament. The issue came to a head when a group of six Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC) activists protested against the flag's placement behind the Speaker in the Lower House. The group say three letters requesting the flag be removed until the Aboriginal community decides it wants it there have fallen on deaf ears. They do not object to its display outside the chamber but put specific importance on it being in a place where laws against their culture have been made. The group stood in the public gallery today shouting for the Aboriginal flag to be withdrawn from behind the Speaker. They shouted, "This place is where you make your laws. Remove our flag it's ours, not yours", as they left the gallery. The noisy protest was marred by an ugly clash between an activist and a house attendant. The male attendant told activist leader Nala Mansell-McKenna that she was "not a member of the public" and was "not even an Aborigine" as he waved his finger in her face, appearing agitated during the confrontation. The activists said the parliament should have waited until the wider Aboriginal community had been consulted before putting the flag on display. Ms Mansell-McKenna said the parliament had gone ahead and put the flag up before a consensus had been reached by Tasmania's Aboriginal community. "It's disgraceful, we've had our children taken, we've had our land stolen and our heritage destroyed and now we have the Tasmanian Parliament having more of a say over our Aboriginal flag than we do," she said. "Parliament seems to think it has the right to determine what happens to the flag that represents our people." Parliamentary speaker Michael Polley later said the flag was put in place earlier this year by the will of the house and its MPs. He couldn't say what consultation had taken place with the Aboriginal community over its placement. "It is a national flag," he told reporters. "The flag will not be removed unless a notice of motion is given by somebody in the chamber and the house approves its removal." Ms Mansell-McKenna said she would write an official complaint to Mr Polley about the attendant's behaviour. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26178774-1702,00.html I guess I'd be curious to know if anyone here knows exactly what laws against their culture have been passed in TAS? (Of course there are past attrocities. I can see why they are an issue, but has it been an on-going thing in terms of legal barriers being created? Serious question.) I'm also questioning whether these activists are speaking for their small group of activists or do the wider Indigenous community of Tasmania agree with them? |
 |
 
|
| Belle | Oct 8 2009, 12:03 AM Post #2 |
|
As far as I'm aware, there aren't any laws passed against their culture. There's a fair bit of land around Hobart that's been given back to them, and they're always pushing for more of it to be handed back. I'm not sure what the wider community think, most of the Indigenous community are down south and always have been. Most of the ones I've come into contact with wouldn't give two hoots where the flag is being displayed, as long as it wasn't being disrespected. |
|
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Current Issues in Society · Next Topic » |
10:03 PM Nov 30
