Tent Embassy under Government review again
On August 1 2005, Federal Territories Minister Jim Lloyd announced that Mutual Mediations has been appointed to facilitate discussions on the future of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.(1) The consultants’ report could recommend the Tent Embassy be bulldozed and replaced with a permanent structure recognising the history of Indigenous Australians.(2)
Over three decades there have been several attempts by governments to negotiate for its inhabitants to move after complaints the Embassy is an eyesore and international embarrassment.
Mutual Mediations consultants have said that they
“are to determine the views of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities on the past, present and the most appropriate future form of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy site. We will be exploring all options available to best represent these views. The government wishes to develop options for the protection of the site and to establish in what form future issues and concerns be best represented."(3)
The consultant's discussion points include the significance of the site, camping at the site and what structures and activities should be at the site.
An AAP report in the National Indigenous Times(4) stated that
“Protestors at the long-running Aboriginal Tent Embassy say they will ignore any directive to move on while there is still widespread Indigenous disadvantage out of proportion to non-Indigenous Australians.”
“Tent embassy co-founder Michael Anderson said there was no incentive for protestors to leave, and a memorial was not appropriate because the struggle for rights wasn’t dead.
“Statistics show Aboriginals are still the most jailed, impoverished, likely to die young, drop out of school and have the highest levels of smoking, obesity and diabetes in Australia.
“As such, the Embassy would stay regardless of the report’s findings … the Embassy itself demonstrates that Aboriginal people are disenchanted, they’re not happy, and that there are a lot of issues that are yet to be dealt with”, Mr Anderson said.
“So until proper justice is done and they deal with the true issues … the Embassy will always be there and it will always be an eyesore.”
Former Liberal Aboriginal Affairs Minister Fred Chaney said of the Tent Embassy,
“they get their standing, if you like, by being there as a matter of protest, not as a matter of consent and arrangement. I think that any sort of unilateral action by government would provide a focal point for unhappiness and concern amongst Aboriginal people generally ... it would create its own circumstance and it would become pretty untidy.”
At the launch of the government’s consultancy Minister Jim Lloyd said,
"Any concept of change needs to take into account the views of all concerned, and I am confident that Mutual Mediations are more than capable of doing this."
"I have asked Mutual Mediations to report back to me by the end of October,"
"If we can get a positive result quickly for the Aboriginal people and for the people of Canberra that will be a great step forward."
Mr Lloyd said the consultants will be guided by an Advisory Committee, currently in the final stages of development.
Further information about this Committee will be added to this web page if it becomes available.
To express your views on the Aboriginal Tent
Embassy
contact Mutual Mediations or complete their feedback form:
Or email <info@mutualmediations.com.au>
Or Post
Mutual Mediations
6/8 Petrie Terrace
Brisbane Qld 4000
Phone: 07 3876 6259
Fax: 07 3876 4259
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Sources:
1. ABC Message Stick Online, Source: The Hon Jim Lloyd MP, Federal Minister for Local Government, Territories & Roads
2. National Indigenous Times, Issue 87, August 18 2005, Embassy protestors to defy report findings, p. 12
3. Mutual Mediations, email correspondence with ANTaR, 16 Aug 2005.
