By Annolies Truman
SYDNEY — Calls for the formation of an indigenous Australian church, compulsory Aboriginal and Islander studies in theological colleges and the enactment of a "Social Justice Package" to address needs not met by the Native Title Bill were among recommendations made by the Martung Upah Indigenous Conference, organised by the Aboriginal and Islander Commission of the Australian Council of Churches and held here December 5-11.
Subtitled "A Just and Proper Settlement", it featured some big names, including Mick Dodson, Sol Bellear, Henry Reynolds, Frank Brennan, Greg McIntyre, barrister for the Mabo case, and Fr David Passi, one of the five Murray Island claimants.
The program was such that various topics (e.g. sovereignty, land rights, deaths in custody, racism and economic justice and native title) were treated, where possible, by two speakers — one indigenous and the other non-indigenous. This technique served to contrast a Western, dominant culture approach with an Aboriginal or Islander one.
The white speakers had an academic or legal background, and their analysis of the Mabo case and the legislation before the Senate was impressive. They focused on pertinent facts and shed light on the background and future implications.
For instance, with soundly researched and well-presented arguments, historian Reynolds and lawyer McIntyre slammed opponents of the Mabo judgment by citing precedents in British common law and international law going back prior to European settlement in Australia.
McIntyre also outlined the benefits of the native title legislation: it provides for procedures which can be informal and not follow the law of evidence to prove native title; and it allows for conversion of Aboriginal pastoral title into native title. He said the disadvantages were the automatic validation of non-native title up to January 1, 1994.
The Aboriginal and Islander approach, on the other hand, was to see native title in a holistic light. Their talks, even those of the Aboriginal lawyers, were imbued with a spiritual quality which broadened the issue beyond the parameters set by the non-indigenous speakers. Time and again indigenous speakers insisted that their rights to the land were stronger than any government ruling — inherent rights that no government could either usurp or bestow.
The star of the conference, it was generally agreed, was Fr David Passi, Murray Islander and one of the claimants in the Mabo case. He was highly critical of the legalistic approach to land title, pointing out that for his people it was an imposed system, totally unrecognised by their culture and therefore invalid.
For the Murray Islanders (and Aboriginal participants concurred) the land was theirs because they had lived on it for generations and had followed the law, not of governments which enact and modify legislation according to political whim, but that written in the land, which is unchanging. "The land will be ours until the end of time", he said.
Given the timing of the conference, with the Native Title Bill before the Senate and the Green senators debating whether to approve it or send it to a committee of inquiry, it was inevitable that the proposed legislation should form the basis of much of the discussion. Midway through the conference two resolutions were sent to parliamentarians, urging strengthening of the bill where possible, but insisting on immediate passage.
Christabel Chamarette attended the first two days of the conference and was encouraged to speak to the gathering about the Greens' dilemma: they had to weigh concern at inadequacy of grassroots consultation and substantive deficiencies against the possibility that the bill, if delayed, could be weakened or lost altogether.
After each set of speakers, workshops were held in which a dozen or so indigenous and non-indigenous participants from all over Australia would discuss the issues in the context of their local environment. From the workshops came plans for the participants to take back to their communities and areas of responsibility, as well as conference-wide recommendations.
These included:
- the formation of an Aboriginal/Islander church based on their values and beliefs or a separate indigenous structure within mainstream churches;
- compulsory Aboriginal and Islander studies in theological colleges and workshops for active ministers;
- education and anti-propaganda, anti-racism campaigns within the churches and general community;
- a "Social Justice Package" to fill in the gaps of the Native Title legislation;
- an Aboriginal Bill of Rights;
- an affirmation of the notion of sovereignty for indigenous Australians.