News
Wednesday 25 January 2012
Aims of Tent Embassy are still relevant
Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda has acknowledged the important contribution made to Aboriginal rights in Australia by the early campaigners who established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra on 26 January 1972.
“The Embassy’s protest on government policy, along with the Wave Hill walk off by the Gurindji people, and the Gove land rights case of 1971, have been cornerstones in the history of the land rights movement in Australia,” Commissioner Gooda said.
“The efforts of these early campaigners helped to galvanise support and commitment to overcome a number of critical challenges for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at that time such as land rights, health and housing, which sadly remain just as relevant and as urgent today as they were 40 years ago.”
Mr Gooda said the original Aboriginal Tent Embassy brought together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from all over Australia and helped to sow the seeds of more recent campaigns to improve access to justice, education and equal rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“The legacy left by these and other early civil rights movements has been to take the very real concerns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to the forefront of Australian politics,” Mr Gooda said.
“While their efforts have helped to make self-determination the overriding factor in thinking about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, there is still a long way to go.
“Now, this early goal remains as important as ever as we work towards bringing the nation together in one voice to finally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution,” Mr Gooda said.
