Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

Anthony Amis
In 1997 and 1998, Friends of the Earth
Melbourne hosted two significant gatherings
with Indigenous People. The first, held in March
1997 was entitled “A Gathering in Solidarity with
Indigenous People and the Earth”. The second,
held in November 1998 was entitled “Global
Survival and Indigenous Rights”.
The idea behind the first Gathering came
in June 1996 with the establishment of the
Indigenous Solidarity Group (ISG). This group
had three advisors, Elizabeth King (Kerrup
Jmara), Lionel Foggarty (Wakka Wakka) and
Joan Wingfield (Kokotha). The goal of the
ISG was to provide a forum so that indigenous
people could speak to non-indigenous people
and educate them about the real history of
Australia. The two day March 1997 Gathering
was held at the North Melbourne Town Hall
and was attended by about 150 people and
featured 16 Aboriginal people from Australia and
12 speakers representing issues overseas. A
large contingent of Ngarrindjeri women attended
the Gathering to discuss issues relating to the
Hindmarsh Bridge debacle. The key resolution
for the Gathering was “this meeting recognises
Aboriginal sovereignty and accepts the rights of
indigenous people in upholding Customary Law
in Australia.”
Unfortunately for the ISG costs blew out
by $7,000 on the first conference due to
complications of travel arrangements of people
from the United States. Much of the work
of ISG over the following months was spent
fundraising to repay the money back to FoE.
This was a serious hardship for those who
remained with ISG.
In February 1998, the ISG then got a burst of
energy with a number of new people wanting
to get involved. The group again decided
to arrange another Gathering for November
1998. This time the organising group was
significantly larger and more time was spent
planning the event. A great deal of support for
the second Gathering came from Larry Walsh,
who suggested that the Gathering could be held
at Maribyrnong on the Grounds of Pipe Makers
Park.
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Over 500 people attended the Second
Gathering over three days. The Gathering
made a big impact with many doors being
opened and featured more indigenous
speakers from Tasmania, Victoria, New South
Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western
Australia and international speakers from the
United States, the Philippines, Costa Rica
and Ecuador. Of special interest was the
attendance of almost 20 Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta
women from Cooper Pedy who were building
momentum to stop the nuclear waste dump
being proposed for their lands. The ISG was
given only a day or so warning that the women
were attending the Gathering. Remarkably
as their train pulled into Spencer Street, local
Wurundjeri dancers who were at the station for
another arrival, did a welcoming dance for the
Aunties.
Networking of indigenous and non-indigenous
people at this gathering was very important.
Many relationships were established at this
gathering which in turn blossomed into important
friendships. For many grassroots environmental
campaigners this gathering was the first time
many people had even met indigenous people,
let alone heard such passionate and powerful
speeches. Of special importance was the
speech made by Wadjularbinna Nulyarimma,
from the Gulf Country in Queensland, which had
enormous emotional impact on all who heard it.
Arabunna man Kevin Buzzacott, speaking at the
conference gave a word from his language to
the ISG - the word ‘Nuyumunda’, which means
‘Beginning the process of coming together/being
whole.
A recurrent theme at the Gathering was the
need to recognise traditional lore/law and
Indigenous decision-making structures. This
was highlighted by the resounding support
for using the Treaty process in Australia
and elsewhere to acknowledge pre-existing
Aboriginal Sovereignty.
A third ISG gathering was tentatively planned
to go ahead - possibly in Brisbane in 2000, but
unfortunately never eventuated. The stress of
organising two Gatherings had taken its toll on
the volunteers of the ISG and after a couple of
months the ISG dissolved, although many of
the people involved in ISG have continued to
be involved in solidarity work with indigenous
people. ISG had hoped that the Gatherings
could be organised in a different area of
Australia, however noone has, as yet, taken up
that offer.
FoE 30 Years 61