The Australian Flag to me - An Aborigine

To all who like the Australian Flag as it is today-are you aware of Australian History PRE-1788?

I, Michael Connolly (Munda-gutta Kulliwari) am an Aboriginal person of this great land we know as Australia. Before 1788 there were estimated to be over 500,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples on this land. When Captain Cook sailed up the east coast, King George III told Cookie to put the Union Jack Flag in the ground at Possession Island and proclaim the land Terra Nullius (the land of no one) and claim it for England.

Well funny, there were People here already – my Ancestors who had been trading with the Chinese and Japanese, the Macassans, Dutch, Portuguese and French since the 1400’s.

By 1933 it was recorded that there were approximately 100,000 Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders left-only 20% of the original total. From 1788-1933 over 400,000 of my people were decimated by way of disease, removal and massacres at the hands of the New Australians. The Australian flag today denies this history. It remains a colonial flag, signifying a nation borne of the British Empire just a few hundred years ago. Australia did not start at 1788; it began long, long time ago...

The land beneath the Southern Cross should also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and our dreamings by showing this on the flag of the new Australia—a land that we would like to share, and in which we should work together for a better future for all.

-Michael Connolly

Mr Connolly's article was rejected by his local paper on the grounds that it would somehow 'incite hatred'. To read a satirical response to the editor's reply, click here

Justice reinvestment an urgent priority for Australia

Australian states and territories should urgently introduce justice reinvestment programs to break the cycle of crime and escalating imprisonment rates experienced by Aboriginal people, according to Indigenous rights organisation, ANTaR.

ANTaR National President, Dr Janet Hunt said the recently released Social Justice Report by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma provides a blueprint for how Australia could finally turn the tide of Indigenous incarceration.

"Justice reinvestment as proposed by Commissioner Calma would be a bold, creative and pragmatic response to the policy inertia that has characterised government approaches to Aboriginal incarceration" Dr Hunt said.

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ANTaR seeks applicants for two key positions: National Director and National Campaigns Manager

Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) employs the National Director through its National Management Committee (NMC) to provide leadership and management expertise to assist it to achieve its objects in pursuit of justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The National Campaigns Manager works on both strategic and operational levels with the overall aim of increasing ANTaR's national social impact on issues critical to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The positions are based in ANTaR National's offices in New South Wales.

Click here to see the full position descriptions, or right click and choose "Save Target As" to download.

This page is updated regularly by ANTaR Volunteers. For more news, read the National Indignenous Times