Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

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The first meeting of the Dharnya Alliance, Barmah forest, Victoria. While FoEM had enjoyed intermittent contact with the Yorta Yorta Nation for many years, from 1997 onwards this connection became more regular and formalised. After the 1998 Indigenous solidarity conference hosted by FoEM in Melbourne, many delegates travelled to the Barmah forest to an Indigenous-only strategy session hosted by the Yorta Yorta community. The relationship subsequently developed into one of FoEM’s strongest. The core of the Yorta Yorta Nation’s traditional lands are the Barmah and Millewa forests which cover around 70,000 hectares of flood plain on both sides of the Murray/Dhungalla River upstream of Echuca. The ecological values of the Barmah-Millewa forest are significant nationally and internationally. It is the largest river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) forest in the world and it supports a range of species dependent on wetland habitats. Despite forced resettlements due to white government policies over the last two hundred years, some 4,000–4,500 Yorta Yorta still live locally. In 1994, the Yorta Yorta lodged a Native Title claim over the forests and other public land abutting the Dhungalla/ Murray and Goulburn Rivers. ................................................................................................................................................................................................... The claim failed in 1998, as did subsequent appeals to the Federal High Court in 2001 and 2002. However the Yorta Yorta struggle continued and FoEM members supported their (and other Aboriginal) land claims because they recognised the special ecological knowledge, skills and practices that indigenous peoples had developed within their local environments. FoEM members also recognised the importance of the human rights and social justice issues involved with such claims. In 1997 and 1998, the FoEM Indigenous Solidarity Group hosted two national conferences; the gatherings in solidarity with Indigenous people and the earth. A large and diverse organising group hosted these grassroots events, which brought hundreds of Indigenous and non- Indigenous people together to discuss strategies and campaigns. A steering committee of Indigenous people, which included Aunty Betty King from the Kerrup Jmara people in western Victoria, Lionel Foggarty from the Wakka Wakka people of Queensland and Joan Wingfield from the Kokatha people of South Australia, provided political direction to the organising group. The Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, senior Aboriginal women working in defence of their country in South Australia that is currently under threat from the proposed national radioactive waste dump, made the journey to Melbourne for the second gathering and developed a strong network Rally in support of the Yorta Yorta native title claim, Shepparton, 1999 FoE 30 Years 62
of campaign support that continues to grow today. In 2003 FoEM successfully nominated the Kungkas for the prestigious Goldman Environmental Award, commonly referred to as the ‘green Nobel prize’. When FoEM participated in a Yorta Yorta occupation of the Dharnya Cultural Centre in Barmah State Park in 1999, elders formally requested that FoEM assist them further in their main objective of regaining management of traditional lands. The FoEM representatives immediately grasped the significance of a request that might open the way for FoEM to support Indigenous justice in an area with strong ecological values. The Barmah- Millewa campaign was born, largely through the work of Peter Barker, who was a driving force in the development of the Barmah-Millewa collective from its formation through until the end of 2001. The Barmah-Millewa campaign had three explicit goals: 1. To achieve a joint management system over Barmah-Millewa as a means to achieving control over land that has been denied the Yorta Yorta through the courts; 2. To sustainably manage the whole forest (both sides of the Murray/ Dhungalla) for the protection and conservation of its ecological and cultural values; and 3. To gain real and diverse employment opportunities for the Yorta Yorta people. This campaign continued over the years and in 2004, the Victorian government launched a Co-operative Management Agreement with Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation to increase involvement of traditional owners in managing the Barmah forest. ................................................................................................................................................................................................... Monica Morgan and Henry Atkinson, Yorta Yorta Nation. Indira Narayan and Lindy Orthia, Barmah Millewa collective, FoE. Jono La Nauze (FoE) and Phil Ingamells, Victorian National Parks Association. FoE 30 Years 63
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Up to a few decades ago, many peopl
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It seemed like a simple idea: to pr
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The optimism, courage and creativit
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Over thirty years, FoE has develope
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decades. In Australia, FoE is commi
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This group acted as an inspiration
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In the 1970s, a handful of key issu
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Page 19 and 20: In the mid ‘70s I was studying en
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Page 23 and 24: egan to jostle for access to Antarc
Page 25 and 26: Keith Suter The future is never as
Page 28 and 29: I first became aware of FoE via Pet
Page 30 and 31: I remember the attempts of the nucl
Page 33 and 34: I grew up with the threat of global
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Page 37 and 38: In late 1980 a couple of people who
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Page 47 and 48: Ila Marks Dave Sweeney talking at t
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Page 53 and 54: In the early 1990s, the nuclear ind
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Page 62 and 63: Action outside the state government
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Page 72 and 73: From 1985 until 1992, undercover of
Page 74 and 75: Kathleen McCann In 1996 I was in Ja
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Page 78 and 79: Dave Sweeney From its earliest days
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Page 92 and 93: When it was announced that Melbourn
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Page 98 and 99: Steph Long, Kim Stewart Friends of
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Page 105 and 106: Roman Orzanski Possibly the first F
Page 107 and 108: Everyone helped make the procession
Page 109 and 110: In 1996, Consolidated Rutile Ltd ga
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1994. VicRoads was planning to wide
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Lee Tan “Let’s chuck in some co
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Friends of the Earth in Sydney (FoE
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Herald Sun Columnist, Andrew Bolt P
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change. Mark Carter, co-founder of
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Australia given Indigenous manageme
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Their final edition, in the year th
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FoEA is a federation rather than an
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input to national decision making f
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are independent. A secretariat base
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lead to some form of wisdom: a know
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Anon (1987); Know your FoE; the Coe
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Page 5 • ‘U Mines’ - Through
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1990s Page 46 • Image from Chain
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• The march that followed the ‘
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Page 116 • FoE ran a food stall a
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Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

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