Second dispossession
MELBOURNE — Around 500 people attended the 1997 Whitlam Lecture on April 28 to hear Noel Pearson, chairperson of the Cape York Land Council, condemn attacks by the Howard government on native title and the Racial Discrimination Act, by attempting to override the High Court Wik decision.
Pearson explained that both pastoralists and Aboriginal people have equal rights under the law, and that the aim was to find a solution where both groups could exercise those rights. The current scare campaign in the mainstream media and by the National Farmers Federation does nothing to assist the creation of harmony between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, he said.
If the government succeeded in quashing native title, Aboriginal people would be dispossessed all over again, Pearson said. He called on the Australians to rally against the racist attacks on Aboriginal people.