More than 50 people gathered outside Old Government House in Burramattagal/Parramatta, on December 12, to hear from Wiradjuri activist Paul Towney, who is campaigning for Wiradjuri land rights and sovereignty.
Towney told the rally that “First Nations people all over this country are living in poverty, in third world conditions.” He pointed to the recent report that found Aboriginal deaths in custody are the highest they have ever been.
“We need land and we need justice, please support our campaign for land back to Wiradjuri.”
Towney had been charged with trespass and property damage for a protest held in February in Orange on Wiradjuri land occupied by Charles Sturt University.
Outside the Orange Court on September 9, Towney and 50 supporters protested the charges, and Towny refused to sign the amended fact sheet from the police prosecutor. The court dismissed the charges.
Towney’s trip to Parramatta began at the burial grounds of revered Wiradjuri warrior Windradyne in Bathurst, supported by a group of about 30 people from Naarm/Melbourne, Gadigal Country/Sydney, Muloobinba/Newcastle, the Northern Rivers and Central Coast.
Windradyne led an armed uprising, known as the Bathurst Wars, from 1822, against the colonial government.
Windradyne’s resistance was so successful that NSW Governor Thomas Brisbane declared martial law to try and quash it. In December 1824, Windradyne and about 100 Wirudjuri warriors travelled 400 kilometres to Parramatta, where Brisbane formally pardoned Windradyne.
Towney marked the 200 year anniversary of this journey by recreating it on foot in 2024. This year's convergence again recreated the journey, this time in cars and trains.
They mimicked a journey that Towney had taken on foot in 2024 which was inspired by the trip Windradyne had taken with more than 100 Wiradjuri warriors in 1824.
Towney said he was inspired by Windradyne and by First Nation warrior Pulmeway, who led the united armed resistance to British colonialists from 1790–1802. Pulmeway was killed in battle in Paramatta in 1802.
Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Dave Bell said it was important to teach First Nations history and culture. “We need to be truth-tellers,” he said.
Bell recommended Arrernte and Kalkadoon filmmaker Rachel Perkin’s documentary series The Australian Wars, which documents the Frontier Wars. “Parramatta was hard fought over and this Old House holds painful memories for our people. This land is important for our warrior history and spirit,” Bell said.
“We need Aboriginal schools, so our young people can learn our language and culture. We need people to be educated in First Nations culture and traditions when they come to live here, not the lies they are taught at the moment.”
The next step for Towney and the campaign is to take a case to Federal Court and follow a legal precedent set in 2024 by the “Dungog Shire Council versus Attorney General of NSW” case.
This case established that land grants handed out by Brisbane in 1823–24 were illegal because they exceeded the 200-acre limit set by King George IV.
Dungog Shire Council had claimed ownership over a sports ground in the Hunter Valley town of Paterson, after the previous owner died.
The NSW government, however, argued that native title rights had not been extinguished as the 1823 land grant to James Woods by Brisbane was void.
[Support Paul Towney’s campaign for Wiradjuri land rights here.]