Another Lesson in History

Question: What do March 20, 2003; Jan 26, 1788 and June 27, 2007 have in common?
Answer: All mark the invasion of the Country of other peoples.
In each case the expressed reason for doing so was seemingly morally unassailable or innocuous whilst existing as a subterfuge for far more base and self-serving motives.
The former was the day the “Coalition of the Willing” invaded Iraq, ostensibly to liberate it from that evil dictator, Saddam Hussein. Of course, after being told an assortment of lies about weapons of mass destruction etc, it’s now almost universally accepted that the real motive was a blatant grab for the resources of Iraq, its oil reserves.
We also now know that the effect of this invasion was the disintegration of Iraqi society with various factions fighting a guerilla war between themselves and against their common occupiers.
The latter, today, June 27 2007, is the day the Federal coalition and its willing State governments will invade the Northern Territory, in particular the Lands of the various Aboriginal peoples there.
The stated reason: to liberate Aboriginal children from the oppression of sexual predators.
The subplot (#1): to effect the displacement of Aboriginal peoples from their lands so that it is freed for the mining and uranium waste disposal industries to have their way. Why else the scrapping of the permit system which allows Aboriginal people to exclude grog peddlers and other undesirables from their Country, in some cases some of their own including those known to be pedophiles?
Subplot (#2): it’s not a coincidence that an election is only months way. Howard has been shown to be cold, hard and cynical on a number of ‘human’ issues; refugees, David Hicks, Children Overboard etc. He needed a softer image in this area. What better than to turn things on their head and get the Children Onboard. The Federal Government has had the 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997 and 2002 reports on the plight of Aboriginal children in the NT gathering dust until now. Why has he suddenly got an attack of the compassionates.
Even if you accept that a primary motive in Howard’s invasion of NT is the protection of Aboriginal children, his modus operandi bears disturbingly close parallels with the disastrous invasion of Iraq. One can only wonder if the outcome will be equally unsatisfactory.
In Iraq, the US and its allies acted unilaterally without the approval of the UN. This made it an illegal war under International Law. However Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, did a snow job on the UN with pictures of supposedly WMD trucks and blurry photos of buildings said to be WMD factories and the UN decided to turn a collective blind eye.
In the formulation of his invasion plans, the PM and his ex-Army officer Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough have consulted with no-one, least of all Aboriginal leaders and Elders of the NT. Instead the plan has been announced as a fait accompli to be enacted within days.
Over recent days the TV and print news has been full of pics of lots of Aboriginal children (aren’t they cute?) and Aboriginal men- either drunk or with a slab of beer under their arm, presumably off to get drunk. And rape and pillage too if the PM is to be believed.
No scenes of Aboriginal adults behaving soberly, peacefully, interacting lovingly with their children. No news report that only 15% of Aboriginal people drink alcohol (compared to 87% of non-Aboriginal Australians).
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commissioner yesterday gave the NT operation his blessing with only a superficial examination of the plan and contrary to what the average citizen would expect would be his decision if a government agency suddenly decided that all children under sixteen living in, say, Vaucluse or Toorak were to be forcibly medically examined.
Iraq was invaded, occupied and its resources plundered. 100,000 Iraqis are estimated to have died. The carnage continues daily. The average Iraqi has few rights in his/her own country even less freedom and little hope for a brighter future. Little wonder then that many have decided to ‘head for the hills’ in order to fight what they see as a war of resistance.
Already there are repots that Aboriginal women are picking up their children and “heading for the sandhills” of central Australia as their only way of resisting the impending invasion of their Country and their childrens’ dignity.
This continent was invaded on Jan 26, 1788. Captain Arthur Phillip carried instructions that the Aborigines' lives and livelihoods were to be protected and friendly relations with them encouraged, but the instructions made no mention of protecting or even recognising their lands. It was assumed that Australia was terra nullius, that is, land belonging to no one. This assumption shaped land law and occupation for more than 200 years until the Mabo decision.
We of the white tribe now have a 219 year history of occupying every bit we see of value and plundering the resources therein. As we discover more resources in more remote bits of the country we have somehow found excuses why those bits are no longer suitable for the original inhabitants and either move them on, ‘resettle’ them or confine them to ever-smaller bits of their own Country.
Enough is enough.
History is a great teacher; but you have to listen.