By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — The controversial pamphlet, Bludgers in Grass Castles: Native title and the unpaid debts of the pastoral industry, was launched here on February 7 at the Resistance Centre.
The pamphlet, by ecologist Martin Taylor, has provoked widespread interest and a storm of protest in conservative quarters, since its appearance several weeks ago.
Described as "the latest shot in the [native title] debate" by columnist Tony Koch in the January 24 Courier-Mail, the pamphlet has already sold out of its first print run, causing the publishers, Resistance Books, to order another printing of 1500 copies.
"United Graziers Association President Larry Acton said the book ... was treasonous", reported Greg Abbott in the Sun-Herald of February 1. "State Parliament Speaker and National Party Member for Nicklin Neil Turner criticised as 'extreme bigotry' a column in The Courier-Mail in which the book was discussed", that paper reported on February 4.
Taylor, speaking from the US where he now lives, said people should read his book first and judge for themselves. "Nothing is made up. It is critical that people know this industry group is a greedy group", he said.
"They have repeatedly put themselves above the law. For instance, on native title they actively attack court decisions with impunity and they look for and expect governments to change laws to suit time", Taylor told the Sun-Herald.
Before the launch, Taylor told Green Left: "The essay was written with the primary purpose of building support for the Aboriginal nations that are struggling to retain their legitimate title rights on pastoral leases."
"Native title is going to be Australia's single defining issue", Aboriginal activist, film-maker and writer Sam Watson declared in launching the pamphlet on February 7.
"At a time when the farmers and miners are urging the federal government to fight an early election on the issue of race, this book presents us with a factual and authoritative viewpoint that explores the human and environmental dimensions of the native title issue.
"Taylor is a gutsy and credible writer and he has something to say to us all", Watson said.
The criticisms by right-wing commentators of Bludgers in Grass Castles represent a "refusal to accept that the pastoral industry, like the history of modern Australia, is founded on the dispossession of Aboriginal people", Sam Wainwright, the Democratic Socialist Party's Queensland spokesperson on Aboriginal affairs, commented in his speech to the launch.
"Taylor thoroughly documents both the ecological impact and the level of subsidies received by the pastoral industry.
Taylor's sister, Miriam, read a short message from her brother welcoming the launch of his pamphlet. Chairperson Coral Wynter, a candidate for South Brisbane in the coming Queensland elections, pledged to make "support for native title a central plank of the Democratic Socialist election campaign".
In Perth, around 30 people attended a launch of Bludgers in Grass Castles on January 4. The meeting was addressed by Aboriginal activist Yaluritja, who outlined the benefits to the pastoral industry of continued extinguishment of native title and upgrading of leases under Howard's 10-point plan.
To obtain copies of Bludgers in Grass Castles, contact the Resistance Bookshop in your city (addresses on page 2.)