“OUR Home, our place, it’s not a lifestyle choice.”
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The passionate chants filled Albury’s main street early yesterday as members and supporters of the Border’s Aborigine community made their feelings clear on the idea of forced closures of indigenous communities.
Their voices joined those at more than 70 marches across Australia and the world, which served to condemn Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett for moving to shut 150 Aboriginal communities.
Criticism was also directed at Prime Minister Tony Abbott for past remarks that Aboriginal communities were making a lifestyle choice that governments shouldn’t fund.
Mr Barnett yesterday seemed to distance himself from his stance, instead he referred to a “hub and orbit” model that could see larger communities built up while the very small an under-resourced ones were closed.
Those involved in the protest did not put any stock in this stance.
“It doesn’t make a difference — they’ve lied before, what’s stopping them from lying again?” Leonie McIntosh, a Wiradjuri community member said.
“They’ve already started bulldozing. Homes are already being destroyed.”
Dr Pettina Love, a member of the Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Community, agreed: “He keeps changing what he’s saying every week. He’s scrambling for another excuse and this is part of a pattern he’s shown over the past six months.”
About 200 people marched down Dean Street from the botanical gardens to QEII square, bearing posters and banners with slogans such as “I do not support the great land grab of 2015” and “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land” amid shouts of: “No Tony, no Tony, no Tony no.”
Wiradjuri member Darren Wighton performed a Welcome to Country, along with a rousing speech calling for “strong united voices of solidarity” across the country.
“These peaceful actions and demonstrations make it clear — we do not support Barnett’s plan and we do not support the federal government enabling it,” he said.
Mr Wighton said arguments from governments that closures were about “fiscal responsibility” or child protection were false: “It’s about land — it’s always been about land.”
Dr Love said the protests were about ensuring Aboriginal could enjoy a “fair and just society”.
Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Michael Cutmore questioned whether a policy of closing small communities would apply to all remote communities.
“It astounds me the Australian government policies have changed very little (on indigenous matters),” he said.
“It always seems to be a common denominator to break down our people.”