Statement By   Peter Yu Kimberley Land Council 25th November 1998   "We were very glad to receive the African indigenous delegation in Broome last year. It is important to gain information on indigenous struggles elsewhere in the world and to inform other people of our own situation. The idea for our visit here began around a camp fire at Jarlmadangah community during the exchange visit. John Watson discussed with Charles Lane and Jo Heath of Pilotlight the need to meet British people and explain to them the historical relationship between our peoples, and talk to them about what is happening in Australia today.   Our region is about 421,000 square kilometres and has an Aboriginal population of about 12,000 people. We are the majority population in the bush and usually account for more than 50% of the population in the six small towns. We speak about twenty distinct languages across the region and have our own system of Law and culture. Our Law as many of you know, is based on a celebration of the land and the many sacred sites in the landscape that were created by our Dreamtime ancestors, So the land is much more that a matter of property to us, it is also our religion.   Despite being the first people of this land, with a continuous culture over 50,000 years old, we are the most disadvantaged in any set of social statistics you care to name. Our people experience much higher rates of imprisonment than white Australian and are more likely to die in jail. Our life expectancy is considerably lower than the general population. We have high rates of third world diseases such as trachoma. Infant mortality and premature death rates are also very high. We are currently experiencing a truly devastating rate of youth suicide with twelve of our young people dying in this way within the last ten months. This is immensely painful to the families and communities of the youths.   At this stage Western Australia was only one of the Crown colonies on the continent. The Colonial Office was apparently concerned for the welfare of the natives, but the atrocities committed by the settlers were often hidden and where news did leak out it was denied. There were numerous attempts by the colonial power to see that our people continued to have access to land and that a certain proportion of the revenue of the state was put aside to compensate us for our losses. None of these measures were ever compiled with by settler governments.   For much of the century our people have not been free. Under various state welfare regimes our freedom of movement was taken away. I'm sure you will be surprised to learn that the Aborigines Act of 1905 was the inspiration for the infamous apartheid regime in South Africa. Australia has led a charmed life in escaping from the international spotlight that has been so justly directed on south Africa in recent years.   In our own case, the towns were under curfew for us, we had to leave the boundaries before nightfall. Our employment on cattle stations was determined by the Native Welfare Department. Our peoples children were taken away from them and sent to distant reserves. Many British people feel great sorrow when then think aobut the thousands of British kids who were shipped out to Australia, in the 1950s and 60s, often without their parents knowing where they were. Most of British people will not know that our people have had their children systematically removed from their families between the 1930s and the 1970s. A recent report by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission documented the severe trauma suffered by parents and children alike at the inhumane implementation of this policy. The Chairman of the Commission, a former High Court judge, Sir Ronald Wilson termed this policy 'cultural genocide'. He recommended reparations and the need for a formal apology by the Australian government. The present Prime Minister has consistently refused to apologise on behalf of the government, labelling reports such as this 'the black view of history' and preferring to emphasise the achievements of the settlers.   When the legislation was changed in 1972 and we were expected to assimilate into the general population most of the cattle stations had already forcibly removed the traditional occupiers to the towns as they refused to pay the wages that citizenship required. Thousands of our people became refugees in squalid camps on the edges of the towns.   We have our infrastructure of self-governing organisations and they are based on our living laws and traditions. There can no longer be any excuse for refusing to deal with us as a separate and distinct people. We are the original sovereign owners. We require an act of decolonisation on the same terms as any other colonised people.   The Universal Declaration on Human Rights says that all peoples have the right of self-determination. Unfortunately this is still denied to Australia's indigenous peoples. In fact the present government has consistently shown its impatience with international instruments that may place some restraints on its actions and has consistently wound back the Australian commitment to international human rights which has previously earned us respect in the world. In the next two weeks this Kimberley Land Council will be contributing to discussions at the United Nations on the draft Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Australian government has recently taken a cabinet decision to reverse its longstanding policy on indigenous self-determination and try to persuade other governments to reject the present wording of Article Three of the declaration which guarantees self-determination. We think this diminishes Australia in the eyes of the international community and again ask the British people to think about Britain's special relationship with Australia in the hope that you may bring some fraternal influence to bear and bring the government to its senses.   We believe that the reconciliation between the Aboriginal people of Australia and the settler communities that we all desire should be a concern of the British people also. The Australian government should establish a national commission to consider a document of reconciliation embodying the following principles: Constitutional recognition and protection of indigenous rights. Recognition of traditional customary law within the Australian legal system. The development of an agreed document on Australia's history. Symbolic protocols recognising the special status of indigenous people within the Australian nation. The establishment of a sustainable long-term capital fund that compensates indigenous people for past dispossession and provides for economic security.   Bulletin: Aboriginal Australian delegation visits Britain ... Transcript of BBC radio interview ...