Tharunka, 4 June 1996. - University of New South Wales

MESSAGE ST/CI(
his is thc first ediliun of' T harunka dedicalt.:d 10 I ndigcllou~ is~ues. The edilOr.~ of'Tharunb
arc not, 10 Ihei r knowledge, of Aboriginal de'\ccll1, and /()r Ihi!> reason decided nOl IU write
any ft',Hure articles 011 issue~ rdating 10 Aboriginalit)'. For thi.., editioll to ha\'e meaning and
achien: its aims, wc felt it es~enti al that the predominant \'oiee.., heard should be those of people
from the Indigenous Community of UNSW.
To Ihi~ l'nd, {\\;H F.W,lrt, Imligenol1\ Student..,'
Director of' the Student Guild co-ordinated articles, artwork ,md photography froill Ind igenous \tudent~ ;md worked d mdy wilh Ihe edirori3ltealll during the \\'ceb leading up 10 and the weekend
of Iayup. Aho pre~enl (wer the production \\'eekl'nd Wl'rC Vickie I:ai r, Damien :-'·Iillel' and Tre\'(lr
B1cJl((J\\'c, with whom the front cover WJ~ discll~scd in del.lil before its creation by Dale I brri~on.
T
VOLUME 42,IssUE 7 JUNE 4 , 1996 I NDIGENOUS EDITION
Clearly, the Jnic1es within arc written from per,~o n31 pcr~pc(!i\'e. NO! all cOnlribulOn agrec with
Ihe se l1limcnt.~ expressed by their brothers and sisters . All wuuld agrel', however Ih:ll the fac t I1 is
Aboriginal vokes which speak aboullheir issues is an imponam step forward in;\ publication directed :'1I tertiary students of\\'hom the \'ast majority will have Jcal'lH what they kllOw about Aborigi nal
rx:ople 31ld their issues from non -Aboriginals.
MEDIA DIRECTOR S O.tle Harrl~ol1
EDITOR S
EGULAR CONTR IBUTO RS
Il.it!" KCIllITl
Rlno Brceb;\;trt
Roulic dt) ' >Ili~
Ruth M (C:m~llIn<l
Tot31 foggy ignor.lllce is emb3.r.lssing. Loud, obnoxious ignorance is nasty slUfr. ntH ignorancc
obscured by assumed knowledge and theof)' about the experience, \'alues 3.nd priorities of 3. superfi cially homogenised "'people" is possibly the most dangt·rous of all. Historically it has been institutions which havc most fr.:lcturcd Aboriginal societies, f;lmilies and person:ll li\'es : ed ucation
departments which have refu .~e d access to Aboriginal peopk , soci:!1 wdi;lre departnlellt s which take
children Irom their homes and plll them int o domestic sla\'ery or c\'en worse, inlO "care", a legal
systcm which today presides o\'er the highest f3te or inC;'LrCel';Hioll in the world, a health system
which today 3cCeptS a Sl'andard of health so low as 10 be LLnclassifiab1c by the World Health
Organisation ..... The list off3ilu rcs extend 1'0 cvery are;l of our bureaucratic WeslminMcr ~)'-qem.
Nathan H"rt
Rusty Y(llmg
AI~x Ehrll'r
ILLUSTRATION Wendy P"n (S(OPC~)
CONTRIBUTORS • AborIginal Students' Centre
Mat EWitrl
Vicki e Fair
O"miNl MUI~r
Ann Mulln
Nathan Tyson
Trevor Blllncowe
Some things arc bener today for some Aboriginal peo ple Ih.1I1 thl~y wcre 100 ye:m ago. Howe\'er
the institutionalised r.:Icism h istori ca ll~' so d3.maging to Aboriginal people, is far from disappearing.
It is evidenced in classrooms at this university 3nd in student org;llliS:lliolls here :H UNSW on J regular basis. It is reinlorced when wc ignorantl}' accept the 3ssenions of wh ile acadern k.~ 3nd OTher
socialthcorists on Aboriginal issues. Th is is not to dell}' tl1;11" non -Aborigin:11 people [11:I y lead liS to
question the oper.:llions of our society and beh3viour in I he C ()lHe.~t of lhc Allglo/ AUSImliall treat ·
ment of Aboriginal people . And Ihis can be very useful\\) help us understand the typcs ofoppres·
sion perpetr.:llcd againsl Aboriginal peoples. However, ifwl,' arc to undcrstand thc illlPfl eJ. of this
oppression , the imerc.\ts of Aboriginal people, the meaning of their oh so colourful :'LIld tribal 3rtwork which Picasso loved so much 3nd now nets thousands for white dealers, \\'e arc goi ng 10 ha\'e
10 shch'e our prejudices for J while 3nd trust (hose Aboriginals to tell liS how it is. It mea ns
3cknowlcdging ou r ignor.lncc and that of our p3. rellt's and peers. It means reading works, hearing
words and asking questions of Aboriginal people. It means starting from 3 premise that there is
actually more than nlr:cts the cye to Aboriginal culture than that perceived and disseminated by
commercial media and go\'ernment instil'utions.
Anil " H ds1
Carol T homas
ALL [)II.AWlNGS BY John Huntu
OTHER CO NTRIBUTORS Anna N ett h e i m
M arykn Ste ffal1
Ni gga
Ben MudaU.v
An gu s Grmmel
Jilcob J os~ ph
Je ff lee
Lc ~ Gray
0 01.111<.·1 Edwaros
Ross Caya nac"
INTERNET EDITOR
PU8ll SHER
Ni ge l Gardln e r
Do u g lMI Coo k
Aav~RTISING: MARK WlnE RvAN
663 046 1
(currently o n leave , for advuli1ing contact DaleJKatie)
P KU'lTING : P RI NTHAIl: 12. 78 AODISON R o M AlIlIlCIIY lllE (02)
5U
6200
Edito ri a l Poli cy
The views e Kflressed herein are not n«essarily the views of the
StUdent Guild. Contribu tors or Editors.
The Editors oITharunka we lcome all submissions. These should
Ir.clud e the author's name. student ID number and tel ephone number. Names wi ll be withheld o r pseudonyms used if requ~sted .
Please submit material In legible form. Submissions on dis c or
typed. double spaced material Is preferred and we lerve to ulk
your work o ver with you before we lay it up.
THARUNKA LVL I, QUA.DItA.NGlE BUILDING
UNSW. SYONEY 20S2
TEt 663 0461 66293048
(MAIL: THARUNKA @UNSW.EDU.AU
WE8PAGE HTTP"iIREALCOM.AU/
MAGAZINesfTHAAUNKA
THE NEXT EDITION OF THARUNKA Will BE fOUNDATIO N DAY, FOLLOWED
81' "INTERNATIONAL" EDITION
These delJils may ~eelll ped3ntk and uninterestin g 10 those \\'h'l \\'i~h tur 3 more \\'illy or e\'C1l thcorelic31 edifOriJI , howc\'cr given the silencing of the Abori!;in.ll \'oice , and Ihe continued appropriation of Aborigin31 issues lo r the purposes of domill;1llce, intellc(!lIJI cfl'dibilit y and aC;ldemic
kudo~, J plIblicJtion put Ollt by five whitc kids dealing with AboriginalilY must be dear with rou
about exactly \\'ho is s3ying what 3bouI Indigenous people .
n l lS
I have 1camt more abou t· i.~sucs of Aboriginality and Australian hisl'ory li'om Mat Ewart, Jenny
Munro, Carol Thomas, Damien Miller, Vickie Fair and TrC\'or H1cncowe by listening and chatting
lh3n I havc in sixteen years ofform3.1 edUC3.1ion in AUSIr.:Il ia . This is an indictment o f Ollr education
systcm. I take rhis opportunity now to thank thel11 for their patiencc with my ignorance 3.nd for
sh;lring their knowledge and wisdom. I hope this edition is Ihe creation ofa new sp3.ce - a genuine
Tharunk3, through which may be exprcssed experiences, imiglm and perception!> of indigenous
people of this campus community for the bendir of all ~tLld elHs of UNSW. T ime will tell.
Kmie Kernm
\
discontents
SPECIAL FEATURES
Feminist Movement ~ There ain't enough in it to fit
me
Lyndel Robb
12
Reconciliation
Nathan Tyson
Blackfellas Love
14
-•
e
•• .
. e ...
•
e.
e•
e
•
14
Carol Thomas
•
•
A trivial Matter?
Court Costs for Aboriginal Defendants
Damien Miller
17
•••••••••••
•..
~~~'
•
•
Aboriginal Health - a state of neglect
Mat Ewart
20
•
Stolen Generations
VickieFrur
23
•
•••
Ruby Hunter
An mterview by Anna Nettheim
and Ruth McCausland
32
•,
••
••
Noel Tovey
An interview by Rosa1ie dennis
Myths and Facts
about Aboriginal people
33
•
•,
25
18
East Timor
Jett Lee
You have 5 minutes Reading Time
Rino Breebaart
27
Poetry· Expressions
28
30
Sangria
6
Soapbox
4
Gassing with the Guild
7
dancing on the lawn
10
Reviews
Education - equality and access
Ann Martin
.
•••• • • •
'
24
VoxPop:
Do Aborigines Get Special Treatment?
Death in Custody
Ben Mu da1iar
.'
34
Dot 'n' Del do Mat
29
Diggin' the Whole Scene
Mrs D n Me
Stars
43
43
Sweetie?? Darling!!
It's a Sport'sIJfe
41
30
42
•
•
~oa~
0 0~£Ol
minds wi[h ! '\'IJybe ,! Wl S IITUtl!-!- l hmlt th<: Jo h n H n ward
j:red Nile is prob,l bly mllfe )'UItT ~t )· k . Do ~"()ll Pfl)'
Itlr rJin u n '\\'mti Gu s fOo?
CLEARING UPTHE CONFUSED
T ht u d dot pJ n i~ thlt yo ur kind (If nOrJIlJl , IrJIlll'les ol'er
peor le Jnd t hl' elll"i runlllent, joini nl!. tlw unil'Cr~ity blnd ·
wa ~on and Ihen yeJrs 1,1I er clamping .1 mi ne to t he <:.In h,
sucking out Ih<: las[ r<:mJ ins, Ile\·<:r kno\\"in ~ who Chic!"
Sonic \\";I ~ . LJ u~ hin~. likt whe n yo u \\"o n t hll <:oun <:,Ise
I t;Ji nsl Ihns.:d dJ lllned IJnd right clJims.
First ly, i ll res pon,c to "Con rused~ ( T llJ runkJ, Iss ue 5 ,
Volulll<: 4 2 ); A n~' co nfu sion yo u may feel u ndoubtedly
cOllie) IZ'om y01l1" own insecurit ies. There is not hing wrong
\\" i[h b.:i n),: hcterosex\I.II, tJ II , O( i lld eed alheist. Just as
th cr<: i~ IIl11hin~ wrong with homos<:xual/qlU,;er/ gJy/ ks·
biJn . 111'1 J' t htre is tH,thing wrong \Ii t h bein~ dislbled.
l us t J~ Iha.: i, nothin~ \\"n l n~ wit h bein~ Buddhist ,
hla mic 1',1f!,,111 or <:I"tn Chri,ti .Hl. ,\\ in nrily nth li re is 1:lr
frolll "e i ll ~ <:.:khr.lltd T h.: t:ll·t )ome seg m elll~ of .~ ()cie l y,
whic h h,I\'~' hl'':11 ,ile tl(cd or oppresstd in t he pasl, 0<:<:.1 '
siOllJll y 1ll.11I.I!-!-e to r.lb..: .1 vuke Jnd de mo n\trate their exis·
t<:nce ill J I'lIbli( way (eg; .... !.lrdi G rJs ) ~hou l d bt setn as
olle Ilf I he b<:lIl'lit, of I,ur 1'~lCn eg;JlitJri,11I s,l(iety.
~tull :
DANCIN. JUST AIN'T POLITICAL
])C,lr
Letters should be addresed to Tharunka and delivered to Lvi' East Wing.
Quadrangle Building. (Tum left on the balcony off the Basser steps down from
Esmes.) Letters should include your name. student number and contact number for verification if necessary. Please write to us. We get lonely.
near Tll.IrU llk.I,
TllJrtmkJ.
\\' h,lI h
~oi n~
on
,It
U N SW: O r, rJlh cr, II"hJI\ 1101
~uill~
Oil.' A~ .1 11l,lIun," J g c SHldc111 , rl'fhJP~ Ill~' t:1Cllhics Jfe not
J ~ ~ h,l rl' .l ~
Ih e)' used
to
be bill ,
Oil
\V"dncsday, I could
flJI'c sworn tl ll l t here W,IS J student str ike. supported b)'
su lf. Blit u ni l'c rsiry tJcu hics o bdnusly ,In' 1101 ... h JI I he)'
uH'd 10 be cith~'r, for I I 2pm I
,,Ill'
rOHm, full o f CJ ~..:r.
who , ho ll ld
n Jin~ (,Icn, \\"li t in~ tor l ~·(tl m.:r, Jlld II llor~
11 \ a sad sl d wo rl d. Suchd in.
know bc!t l'r.
S. H o lstro11l
wrinkl)', I' m ct1l1~d o u s ,1u t Ill)" r n:~<': lI(c o n
CJ lll l'lI\ h tok rl lcd if not \\"l't..;O Il W, .lIld Ih.l1 yo u nge r Sill dents (,Ill ' 1.1)' home if d lc)' \\',11l! to be n.l ~~cd by gro wnu ps, b lll enough is eno ugh. Don ' t you Ul H.lc n.IJI 1(i II"hJI b
lurrcning in Ihi~ count ry: Your cduCJl iol\ is in jt.: opnrd)'
.1Ild you n:~p(Jnd by throwing J PJ ny
AgJin .
J~ J
Do \"n u t hi nk loh n HowJrd l nd AnlJ nd J Vl mlU nt co uld
!-:il·t- J St llll" if you sptnd I II Jlitrnootl Iyi n ~ lround 1I11'
librJrv lal\·n. iZNtad o f Jl l cndin~ clJ~ ,t , ; ()1I1 Ilf sig.hl , 11111
nf mind.
It 11l ~ Innt; Ixtn known d UI Iht onl~' I h i n ~ which rl ist s Ihc
irc of \IIJJI"'~ smdents is a kick in th t hi p I'OCkeL Hut . Ihi)
time, el'en 'lhe JpplicJtio n of a gm'ern111e lll jJckboot 10 t he
colkctil"c hig.her eduCJ tiu n b.lCkside doe, n', .\ te l11 10 hal·t
h,ld :I n ~ ' cll"c(L
God', ),Ike, get o il' your butt, Jnd take 10 tht st rl·tts. The
thin~ IhJ I mml tills Ihe rJrli l llltIllJr).· dini nl! room wi t h
d)"per~i,1 i, Ih~ sight of delll ocrJC~' in .I(, ion - a sw;mn of
\"OIcr, protl" l il1g in J public pl.lCC (ntreJ rll pu, ) .1g,.l in~ t g,01"ernllltlll roli cy.
.. .I 'M NOT
))':Jr ThJnttlkJ ,
[n (espo nst tn "NnrlllaJ- o r 2 154 Xll (T hJ runkJ, [ss 6.
VHI. 42). In d..:l"c nce o f ThJnmkJ I would like !Cl SJY that
this pro\"ocJ l in', q uali t y pu blic l tion doo not critici~t
cI·trythin h th al is "good Jlld pro p<:r .l bollt ill<: II'JY wc linollr lives" . On t he c ontrJ~', in th <: ~'c J rs I hJ\'e bee n J Stu ·
dtnt hert I h,lvc seen it cri[ici)e cI'el"}' Jspect of our modtrn
wot ern exist ell cc, in an J ltempt [0 IlIJkt peo ple Ihi n k
about whether what [hey do, how Ihe~' Ih'<:, \\"11J[ they
Ihink, is tmly " ri ~III" or jm! common ,HId l1li'~lIidd . T ht
re~ uh o f J soci<:t r which h,ls ,IIII'J~·.\ I<:ndtd to , hUll [he d if·
tere nt .md disl' [1l powcr the tenIJIe.
Furt her your disdain lor GJY Jn d LesbiJII ,oeietie~ i~
Jbno rnlll. A \\"ell Jdjus ted individull would nOI hJ\'e J
probkm wilh I h~ exprcs,ion (,f JitnnJle (uhurc ~ . Y"u hJH~
tol.11\- miH<: pn', e!1ll'd t he Wom<:Il's O men. Shc h.I' [I(\'er,
in Tlunulkl, or Jllywherc ele~e , exrr<:"ccl JllIi m.11e s':llti ·
11I<:11t. She hJ\ e~pre~~<:d Jnli · l11yS(lhyni~t ,entiment. It i~ I:'r
Irom the 'Jn1e thin!;.
Sce you Jt the fJlly .
Kcrrie L.:c, # 2 I 57989
WHO'S NORMAL ANYWAY! ...
DeJr Tlu nlllk..!,
T O " N o r nlJl" ( Stud e nt N o : 2 154X21 ) a nd co, ( ie.
Scymo ur lhtlt head Jnd Ihe !i.lllr stnoges: Di;.:ie, RJ ndolll
etc)
Ht llo~~!! h an )' body h ()me?~!! O r is it jll.~ t ,1 big blJCk
nlid ? YOll r lew::rs did n01 conl'q ' normJlit)', they conl"eycd
stupidity. Do you learn an ything a[ uni! H o w you callle to
be at un i in t he tirst place astounds and th rills me. ( H ave
,l nY o f r Oll by chance had a frontal la bolOrll)'?) Now td l
me hon.:sd y, you walch SWj:. AT don't you , and I bet you
I·oted 1{lr Ju hn Howard [00 .
Your dul ing le{(erS arc nno ther insun ce of your b rccd o!
z()l1l b ic ~ di snull y tr yi ng ( as a d ying bre e d d o es ), (0
ressurect ignora nce, ho mo p ho bia, 5Cxism, elc and pass it
o il" as normali,y. Is your d efinition o f nornlll t hc same as
you r dctinit ion o f stupid ? Whal d ictionary! Or did you
inl'cn[ it; Hang o n, I dou b t you evcn knoll' II'hl! an inve n·
tio n is, or a d ictionary or n dcti nir.ion . Let me nanslate .. .
gCl Jsk yo u teachcr.
Although I dou bt )'ou 've been hiding in your mothe r's
womb I{,r the past twe nty years, I be[ yOIl wish you had
been . T ht wo rld is just a big scary place , all those cra;r.ed
fe minis t.s, proud gays (how dJre Iht)' lorm thei r own COI11mine ), bloody et hnics and all t hat pon. And .111 r n u want is
the go od clea n world o f Lassie, when boys were boys, me n
were m.:n and wome n we re girls a nd kn ew the ir place.
Hal'e rOil tried the Daily Mirror dar lin g (no oftencc 10
readers ) but it'~ still t.rying 10 ressureCt )'OU utopia! On
second tlwu !,:hu, ma )' be TV wee k and women's da r for
you !
I suppose ThanmKa is just out of your league . Too intellectual! Don't understand those big words? Or JUSt t hat
indecent contcnt it's poli ut.ing young, influent ial slUdent
Society i~ in l IlI n~ not becl I!" c bl''':JII\e it PlY' too much
ti mc [ 0 l11inority ~roll p~, bill becJu\,: it d o<:~ 1101 pl)' the m
enough \ PJce . [f society h,IS engJ!-\ed in de i1lonil.illg alt<:r·
nlte cultures, ~ex, Jnd dC\'iJ[;ml, fro lll the norm. if socia y
creJles utlre Jli\l ie s l ereotype~ of b<:ha\'iu ur fo r !lien Jnd
wO I1l<:n t hen it IllS U tili- i[scl f to blJlllc whe n its constuCltd
tears, J n x i e ti e~ and insecuri tics Jrt ':I'oktd \\" h<: n Ih<:se cuI·
rures rJise th t ir H lk t s and ~ll'o p le do n't cont(lrm to Me reo·
Iypes. The anxiet)' yo u lelr, the prejud ice )"011 espouse is
not based o n any reJ[ity, but o n l1lisconce pti on~ .
Yo ur state ment t hat people CJn be inllllenceJ by T haru nkJ
become wJrped Jnd lo st comple[dy insult s the inte lli·
gence o f the studcnts who read it. You obviousl)' ha\·t no
laith in Ihe \' Jlues yo u call Mnorl11al'"' if the reJding of J. col·
lection of anicJes ( written b)' your p.: trs~ ) results in those
I'alues being abandoned .
10
Society is 1ll00'ing 10 a bCller and opcn way of dealing I\~th
dillerence. l'e()ple arc learni ng to ll11ke d t d \ions fo r' themsdl'es, rJ ther tha n blinfd lr acctpting sundardi;r.ed behal'iour hlnded down by ignorant preceed ing gene rat ions.
Wotlle n CJ n now d o 3nd be an}'1 hing. Men Cln J[ IJst learn
how [11 bt c mo t ionJlly malUre. Differe nce ca n Jt I.tSt be
cmbraccd JS ~ be ncticiJI !o ree, creJti ng .\ y ner~y - making
sodety greater t han Ihe sum of its parts.
Rcgrettabl)" r()ur le ar J nd ig nu u nce indicJte society hl \ ,1
lo ng II'ay 10 go.
Nonm l peu ple Jre cI·.:rywherc. And [hc), arc g al', les bian,
heterosexual, black, white, hal'e dreadies or weJr slacks and
cha mbrcys.
Nat
Gn)' services Dcpt Co ·eot\l·enor.
sggJ y@Un.~ w .edll . lu
III ~ teld )'1>11 h,ln' <: h' I.\ l' n 1" inlc rprct thl" pn l~res~ of Ilur
)ocitty (in I1l1l1"in),: to\I"lnls tnd~' embra( ill !-!- the dClllocrJcy
il i~ su p rO\~'dly bJ,ed u p·on ) a~ I n attac k on your IIwn frl"e·
d om to P"l"\ut in[trptrsn nJ I rel,uions. l'<:rh,ll's ynu r lack uf
succc" ill \l"l"kin~ 1'·IIl.1 1e (()llIp.lIli(1 n ~hip lit, in l'Our own
p oor culll l1 l1l11 ic.lI ion ~ki l l~ or I.lt"k o f self (on tiden(c
w hirh 1'''11 hl.tml· ,, 11 \' \'cryone el\<: h ilt your,elf. l'os,il)I~'
t ll<: re.I~OIl yllll hit 0 11 LnbiallS i, b.:eJ. u\<: you .Irc .1 "reia ·
tio l1 · jllnk ~· ~ .
Secondly, in r<:'poIlW to ( :lI.trles HU ll! (TI1.lnlllkJ. hsud .
6, Vol. -12 ); Ch.lrk" I .1111 cxtr<: tl\ d~' h;I PIW you don'T ti:eI
di,cmpowtrnt in ,III~' \\ ',1)'. 1-IO\I'e\'cr [ leel YOIlI" ~t.llemcm
in reg,.lrd !If tIll" "'C\'ell te,ol I'whlem"" [0 be di~lurbill~ .
rou ,aid ;
"I'lclw wnd "vcr your 't,·.:n le ,01 I'robkm : [ '1\1 illlo [hno tIlill~ . "", ill Inl"'II'C 1<1 "C l lll fu'rd'," clJim tillt it'he hit) 'Ill
,I L,:,bi.1Il he i, Iikd)' [0 b.: Ihro tt led by ha ~t\"CII t" ol 1,111
girl fril·lH\. If YOLl I1IC.IIII b)' Ihi' th.1I ~'ou would hJppih'
thWl1k [hi, j.:,lluu" tJIl Lc,biJn, Ikd thJt i, J r<:prehcn~i ­
bk cour't uf .1":lion . It i, big,oted, 'peJks 01'.1 CJlou, prqll
dice J~lill't o t ha pt"pk (dlt.: [0 [he 11',1)' [hn' dllfl"l~ 10
LO VE <:.1<:11 ollicr, which i,.1 cOlllplete pJfJdox ill .1 ,ociel~'
which ci.Jim, 10 1·.IIIt.: 101'': ol'cr W.l r ), :md .,u),:g,c~" .111 irr,1
[ion.11 Jllti ·k,bi,lll ohw"ioll, 'peciticJlly Jnd perhJP~ of .1
l11y~O!-\~' lIhl 1l.lIltrC ~l·lIer,llI y.
() n t he ' Ilher h.lnd if yoII ,...:rt '1t~~l"'lin),: yl'lt 11"l\lld likt
[0 b.: th roukd I~Y ,I 1.111 l.e.,bi,lll, I \\"o uld C\Junsel J!-\l ill\t
tlli, . Str;\Il~ul.l[ ion <:I n b.: d.II1 U).\i ll g. to IInt\ h':.llt h. I re..:1I1ll1l1<: lI d YO II , ~e some on e \\" ho mi hht be ,Ible [11 work
t hroll!-\h, wi t h YUII, why )'0 11 ~C':1I1 to de~irc ,cxlI.II pkJsltre
linked 10 dln~<:rou" \Jdisti( acl;'·ity. I'(ls~ibly h,:'.:rn~':XII l l ­
it~, is nut \\"" rkin~ 1, ,1' ~·<lU . and you migh t like 10 tl)' the
sweet em\>nI~t ,,{ l llllthcr t1I,lIl'~ J rIl h and t he gentle PJ~ ­
siolls of g.,I)· 100·e .
1' .5 . Cunfll~ed: ~'ou r in~cc lt ri ty in ymlr l11ale i,k11liry (shili in h from t~'i n !,: to Ix n "~\\"<:ctie" II I tl"}'i ng to be "PC" w
try ill ).\ to b ~ "(O Ill C lllp!UOII S") II1l y I11tJII lht whole he[aosexu;11 t hi n~ i ~ jll" nOI ri~h t ti ' l" )"011 .
MISCONCEPTIONSAT SYDNEY UNI
De.IT T hJrlt nk,I,
Wc write in rc_,p'on\C III t he lell cr printed ill the .... Iay 2 1
e di lion of Tlu rltll k.l, submitte d by Ms Lmd\e O ' Bri.:n
fru m th.: SIIHil-n t Il..e p resen[al il"e Co un ci l o f SydnC)'
U ni v<:Tsi t )· . Wc Ii ~ t the fo llowin g, Top Te ll Du bio us
Ih sertioll., ,ht n ukc~ ,Ibow t he n,uu re of \\·om.m hood alld
~ex u .l l ity .
1.'",\ buniulI i ~ nlllll ll ~e r a crill1 e~
T ru':, I'.: rh.ll's, bltl it is slill lis[cd under tht C rimes Act J nd
has nel'<:r b<:c II ollicially repe.lled . Its dec ril11ill l l is~tion does
n()[ Ilc<:<:ssJril y II1J kc it legal.
2.'"Aborrinll has becume ill st i rut i (J n al ise d ~
You nuk<: it su u nd like 3 drive · through Mc Du nald's. Do
)'011 Wlllt li'ies with thJt~
3 ...... ,1 wa y to keep Ih.: girl -nex[.door good , to ... rescue her
r
nurriase prospects"
Wc don't know what century you juSt QuannLm Leapt in from, but hal'e you ever considered that abonion is used by people who have been raped or sexually abused? Onc other
thins - is the concept of staying single just totally alien to you:
4."Abortion is an expectation of men"
Boy, have you been dating some fun guys.
Scene: a bedroom at /l ight. Man: Was it good for YO II? Do YOII wlm t a tigartttt? W/Jell art
yOllgttfillg nil abartjo,,~ Wom3n: Hilt I'm 011 the Pill Man: 71mt dotm )t matrrr. I txprrt
REBEL FROM A CAUSE
Dear Thamnka,
I am writing in response to Barrie England's BHP letter. B:lrrie is nOt a BHP share holder
or a economics student hoping for a job as the editors guessed. He is in fact a minin g
engineering student. But the even more puzzling thing is that he comes from :I \'el)' environmentally aware family . I study environmental science with his brother at U NSW. His
family is \'el)' aware of environmental I'alues. Maybe his :lltitud(' is a rebellion against envi ron memalism.
YOII wgt! all aflOrrioll.
5. "Sex is male, impotence is woman"
Let me guess ... post-modernist poetry?
6. "\Voman is reduced 10 sperm receptaele"
Yep, that's us. Just roving mobile sperm banks. ( Have you el'er heard of grammar? )
7. "Woman must be flushed out and dry if she is to be of any use"
Oh deaf. I'm JUSt not going near that onc. However, my colleague recommends KY Jelly.
Apparently it works a charm.
8. "The whole feminist pan of your letter.
Urn, does the Mother Ship know that you arc missing?
9. " I [ol'e the mystery which fertility brings to relationships"
What is this, an episode of The X Files? Quick Scully, get the Discover Onc-Ste p.
10. "The longing and passion shared by lovers arc killed by the Pill and abortion"
Bo)" whatever you' re taking is STRON G.
While wc have spe nt the majority of this letter la mbasti ng Ms O'Brien, out intent is serious.
Your assumption that the moment a woman takes birth control measures, she abdicates
her wo manhood, is frighte ni ng. You equate womanhood with the ability to produce childre n. Whl're does yo ur world-view inelude women who arc unable or unwilling to procreate? 'Where do you consider infertile women, women who do not wish to hal'e children,
women who arc non -heterosexually ident ifyi ng? Arc all women who arc unwilling o r
unable to reproduce failures as hUlllan beings? And whe n do wc Start to be fai lures as
hunlln beings? If wc ha\Tn't reproduced 3t 16? 20? 30: You deny women the right to
choose. Your view of what fema le sexuality should be is as oppressil'e as that of the patriarch\, you sce yourself a 1001 of.
Barrie commented that he felt that there had been bJa\"alllly onc-sided reporting of envi ronmemal issues in Thanlll ka. The BHP an:iele was written by a 4th year Chemical
Engineering student. He has done work experience in the indllstl)' and sarhered his information from A.M. Eagle, the Manager for External Relations in the Health, Safety and
Environmental Aflairs Department of BHP ViclOria and the I\HP publication, BHP and
the facts. I think that you'll find that his article was acmally quite bal~nced. True, it's nO!
the onc sided reponing you get in the mainstream media who have vested interests in the
company and can nOt prim lhings against them, but it is also nOt the son of article a illinformed fera l would write in Green Left Weekly.
Barrie said "compared with similar sized mining operations on a global scale the impact is
r:tther small." Just because other mining companies do cve n worse t.hings than BHP does
nO! mean that it's OK fo r BH Pto have terrible elwironmenu[ practices. Barrie W3S quite
correct in his commcntS about the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund .
They definitely encourage increased exploit3tion of natural resoucces and control borrowing country's path of develop ment. Their resC[tlement practices lea\'c much to be desired .
Forcing traditional landowners offlheir land and leaving them in a position where they can
nO! earn a Ih'ing by the only methods thl'}' know. They also have a tendency to measure
changes in peoples Jiving conditions by economic indicators. Hmm ..
With the regard to Australian aid money. Only 10% of Australian ~id money is spent on
improving the Ih'es of people in majority countries. The rest is spent on unsusl3inable
'del'dopmem' projects, such as mining and forestry and defence! T he rc arc certainly mher
methods of helping Papua New Gu ineans which the I'NG government, Australian Aid
O rganisation and the World Bank could be exploring.
It is amazing the amount of brain washing that can occur after only six months of mining
engineering and two years in a boys private boarding school.
Kerl)' Nettle
2 11 9447
Student Guild Envi ronmcnt Di rcCl o r
Despite what you seem to think, there ace women who enjoy sex, even whe.n they arc on
birth control. Far from killing passion, love and mystery, it Gm enhance it. \Ve acknowl edge )'om personal opinion . \-Ve respect your right to your opinion. However, wc don't
hnl'e to like it.
NOTICE OF CASUAL
VACANCY ON
GAY SERVICES COM MI TTEE
Nnme Withheld
BADABAGAN - NEVER TO RETURN
Dear Thartmb
Why is Bldabagan so noisy?
Wh y is the tood so bad!
Why do the pi7,7,as have more oil than Mobil?
Why i.~ it that evel)' limc !lIe)' try 10 lnake the indlicient service more eflici..:nt it ends lip
bc.in£ el'en mOT..: inefficient:
Wh)' is it lha[ the latest attempt at improving cllicienc)' has resulted in the creation of J fire
ha'lJrd and more importantJy blocked off the only disabled access to the lower section?
(where the pi7,7,as arc).
Why ar..: there 100 many tables and chairs and why afe thq' packed together so lightly
making it vel)' ditlicult to get to the I'ending machines and e\'en more difficult to exit in
the event of a fire? especially for those using wheelchairs)
Wh y have they attempted to improve the service by re·locating onl)' twO rcgisters, leaving
othc.rs (like the onc in the pizza section ) unused
Why h31"e the)' decided thal the disabled access is a route for those not inclined 10 pay, and
blocked it oll"with silly yellow plastic things which say 'caution slippery when wet" or
something, with silly yellow plastic chains linking them?
Because it is mn by morons.
MathewT,2158607
WELL THAT MAKES IT OK ...
Wc would like to clear up a number ofinaccllracies contained in your column Sangria.
Firsdy our namcs arc spelt with a double "t" and a single "g" respectively.
Also wc deny catagoric3lly ever airbntshing our photos for use in Union ekction material
... wc used the funny linle smudge device instead.
Matt1 Ding 2 137859 and Greg Moore 214203 1.
Nominations arc invitni from interested men to stand for election to flll a casu al vacancv on the Ga\' Services Committee of the UNSW Student Guild. All
non- here~oscxually idcntif:,'ing male member.~ ofrhe Student G uild (ie, all male
srudellts enrolled at UNSW who h:1Ve paid their Guild membership fee ) arc cli~
gible to stand.
The comm ittee
i .~
responsible for the tormul::nion of policy on matters aAc cting
identif:,'ing male students. IT is also responsible for the
coordination of campaigns and activities is areas aAccting the interests of nonheterosexually identifying male students.
non-heTero.~exually
Nominations for this po.~ ition arc declared open as of Tuesday 4th June 1996,
and will close aT 12pm on Tuesday I lrh June 1996. Nomination forms may be
collected from the Student Guild offices. NominaTions must be prcscnted in
person to the Secn:tary-Treasurer of the Guild, who will be acting as Returning
Officer. The Secretary-Trcasurer will be in the Gui[d offices from lOam - 12pm
on Tuesday 11th June 1996 to collect nomination forms. At orher times, the
Guild whiteboard should be consulted to see if the Secretary-Treasu rer is in tbe
ofTice. If the Secretary-Treas urer is unavailable, nominees should leave a nOte
::).nd contact number in rhl' Secrctary-Trcasurer's pigeonhole so a suitable time
for presentation of nomination forms ca n be arranged. Candidates must be
nominated and seconded by two people who arc eligible tor the position bur
arc not standing in The election. Interested men are advised to speak to mem bers of the G;lY Sef\'ices Committee at the Guild nllices.
The position will be appointed at the Student Gui ld Council mecting to be
held at 6pm on Tuesday 11th June 1996 ill Room 1001 , 1st Floor East Wing,
Quadrangle Building (opposite the Guild o flices ). Candidates may g ive a 5
minure election speech to the Council , Of may send a written statement to be
read to the meeting. All such statements should be given in person to the
Secretal),-Treasurer along with your nomination fOfm.
Q}lerie; ;iJollld be dirtcud to:
DOllglas Cool:
Stcretary-TrenHlrer (AC/h'itits) 1996
Swdtllt Guiid, 1ft FWor HaJ( Willg, Q!,fldmlJglc Hlliidillg
Ph: 663 0461
Pager: 132222 Quole No:287389
"
After the past few weeks' effortS in Sangria some members of the Guild
have been grumbling as to whethe r Sangria should be reporting on varioos to uc hy subje cts. Well as far as we here are concerned. the general
population get to see what we've been doing every t wo weeks (Le.
Thuunka gets published) but the re is no real way (apart from the odd
gassin' report) that anyone can tell what an yone else in the Guild has
been doing ... so here we are. and here we will stay o bserving the ways of
the university (and thanks to BP and TC fo r the ti ps in this iS5ue.. .Iove and
kisses).
this
column
under
•
repair
SIGN PANEL IS
TEMPORARILY
AWAY FOR
MAINTENANCE
compost heap
T he shame of it all. T he environment
department was directed u the last Guild
Admin. Committee to clean up their space
in the Guild because it was so messy and
was supposedly contraven ing health and
safety regulUions. Apparently the little
greenies were growing little greenies themselves in a bit of a compost heap that was
happening with the left o ve r food from a
BBQ that had occured a few weeks earlier.
Re- use eh what!
Yes the above photo is true, the UNSW Image Committee (yes there is one)
has run rampant and is now placing signs where the re aren't any ... what will
be next we wonder! A sign saying that the sign that wu placed to tell you
that the sign that was placed to tell yoo that the sign that was originally there
is off being repaired is aCtually off being repaired ..grrrrr.
National
Oayof
Akshun
Unionudies
with your host JerryV
The National Day of Action went off with a bit of a bang. Plenty
of our folks gOt their mugs (and their Guild shirts) on the TV in
what was one of the biggest student rallies since the Vietnam war
(thats thirty years folks). The campus came to a stOp while members of the staff (bo th academic and general) picketed between
8.00 am and 10.)0 am. the library was closed. Union outlets were
(mostly) closed (and on that point congrats to the Union for the
solidarity-Sydney Uni Union stayed open the naSty so and sos).
lectures were oH. computer labs were closed and mOSt of the staff
and students were on strike. Though disappOinting. there were
reportS thu some exams went ahead regardless ... scabs (nah only
kidding). Perhaps the most satisfactory part of the day wu the
sheer amount of academic and general staff that turned up (there
were CPSU t-shirts everywhere) and the fact that Prof. Mary
Chan shamed the rest of the English Department by turning up
and marching even though she walks with difficu lty due to bad
kn ees while they suyeed at home and marked essays (or read
books by Eleanor Dark and Charlotte Bronte).
--
Jerry Vochteloo. Union Board Honourary Treasurer (soon
to be ex) and all round good guy has hiS own web page
that is directly linked to the wonderful Union home page
(we don't mean to disl Bliu but they should have a look at
Nigel Gardiner"s Tharunka on-hne to see how to do it. ..
http://www/real.com.au/magal.inesltharunka). Jerry, apart
from being a bit of ~ popular guy down at the bar (due to
his StatuS as Yellow Shirt legend) and with the ladies (dittO
no doubt) is in the process of complet ing a PhD in
Computer SCience and (we must admit) has gOt the o ld
web page design pretty much down - very classy and ve ry
slick with a cute little photo of smilin' Jerry and little icons
that link to other sites. One of them has a picture of a
buxom young woman that is linked to. guess what!, a
bunch of pictures ... Well we can repOrt that Jerry likes the
work of Dali. Pollock and. well, how do we say this. nudie
piCtures (wait until he gets a copy of the latest Black and
White). For your Viewing pleasure we downloaded a picCle
that's reprinted to the left ... more can be found at his site
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.eu I-jerry. Good to see that he's
a red blooded male (well...) and using both the Unive rsity's
and the Union's resources to its greatest capacity.
Cl em the Gem
was one of the high points of the day when he brought out sandwiches and coffee
for the whole gang of picketeers. Go and see him for the best food on campus
(well..:tis prerry good) ~
riot grrrls (and b(grrr)oys)
havin' a ball(s)
The Rexub Ball get the Stan Zemanek "Gender
polities is for wimps mate. they're all JUSt femi.
nuis and man haters. I don't want to get involved
in challenging an y stereotypes cos' I fuckin' make
them mate"' awa rd with their advertising for the
upcoming ball. Feaiuring a tastefully drawn
schooner glass in a tuxedo dancing the fandango
with a champagne saucer in an evening dress. It
begs the question of whether Baxter are actually
creating a distinction or fenecting on one .. I
mean. blokes do tend to wear tuxedos and sheilas
do get around in evening dresses don't
they ...ahem.
By now you also he~rd about the bunch of folks that stormed the foyer of John Howard's
office. and let me tell you you should be proud of your Student Guild and your campus. Whether or nOt you think that the Guild does jack shit in terms of your little stretch of earth. there we re a considerable amount of Guild office bearers
and councillors who actually got through the police lines. Anna Cl.och
(women's officer). Robina Jones (lesbian Services co-Convenor),
Dale Harnson (MedIa Director). Mat Ewart (Indigenous Officer).
Angela Koutoulas (EthniC Affairs committee). Kerry Nettle
(Environment Director) and Damien O'Brien (Guild
councillor) were all there with a huge contingency of
general Guild members (some of whom were
leading the charge). Well done folks. Sangna
is mighty proud of you. UNSW showed
that though we may be criticised for
many other th ings it can't be
said we don't know how to
riot ...
rosemary gibbs
president
"1y apologies for the abse nce of my report tor the
last edition ofThafunb but I site massive workload
and my own \'ariablc organisJtional skills. I hope
that everyone enjoyed the RAVE on the 22 of !'vby.
It WlS by all lccounts 3. success in teTms of the \'01lime of the noise and the volume of the issues.
WC!cOIlH! suppOrt came from all areas of the
University including the chancellery, Jcademics,
adminisu:uil"c Jnd support suIT and swdcnts. The
issue of claiming smdtn! space was reflected not only
b~' the Jelllal cn:nt blll :J.lso in tile comex! of Ihe
overall fund ing 10 Universities and to education in
ge neral. The proposed federal go\,cfllmmt cutS 10
UnivCTsities will have a drastic :tfTee! on opportunity
Jnd this is the key. Educ::ll:ion should be Jvailable to
everyone who has [he ability to cope with [he study.
Intclligence has never had a socio-cconomic base. It
is no good talking about llser pays and then about
equ it)' in the same breath.
No onc is arguing tha t HECS isn't the better option
to lip from fees but increases in HECS just incn.:ases
the debt ( plus interest ) burden that each swdent
[Jees when the)' leave University. And try getting a
loan bclore you hal'e paid off~'our HECS debt? If
lip front fees come in for undergraduate degrel;s and
this is being tal ked about t.hen that will clTenivcly
el iminate ;I whole senion of [he population trom
el'er receiving any tertiary qualifications ofthis kind.
Im,lgine ifyolI had to come up 11~ l.h the emire years
fee s for your course at the beginning of each yea r.
Tr)' saving $12,000 minimum. There was a rall ~' on
30 Ma~' in Hyde Park and I am hopeful that most of
you reading this I\~ll have attended d\31 rall y to );I1'e
a dear message to [he Federal government that [he
proposed CutS to education a rc ull;lccertable .
it is not only lhis campus that will hI; atlccted but the
proposed cuts wo uld hit hlrdl;st at [hI; smlll and
regional cllllpuses. T here is this m),th of o l'e r fund ing 10 Unive rs ities bllt lhe rellit)' is tha t UnilTrsities
have. been economising a nd 'belt tig htenin g' 10 the
point of being unable to SWlllow l ny mo re cut s. T he
A'fi nister for Education, $en:1I0 r Vanstone has sho wn
hersclfto not only hal'e no idea about the composi tion or contributio n of Unil'ersitics in this country
but she has shown herself to hal'e ' no idea ' at all.
She embodies in a politician thc perkct combination
of arroipnce and ignorance . ,\ combination that has
taken her 10 the lOp of her po litical ca reer. But what
has she learlll along the way? What knowledge and
skill has been acquired? It is sad to realiSI; dl31 the
answer is nothing and il is casy to understand then
why Ihl; hderal Mi nister for Education places so lil de I'alue in education.
There is only onc word 10 separate intorm:ltion and
knowledge: that is underst anding .
Regards
ROSe llla r~·.
with the
an n a c zo ch
women's d i rector
Hello and welcome 10 the Indigenous Edition - the
laSt Tharunka edition for t his session, and my last
report for this session .
Most of the work that I n;l\'e bee n involved in has
been NOWSA (Network O f Wome n Shlden ts
arou nd Australia ) organisJlion . T he Women's
Dept has gone fe ra l (aarrgg hh !) in the chocolat e
ti.11ldraising Ihat we" 'e been do ing to ra ise l110ney 10
subsid ise 1I"0men to attend lhis conferenCI; in PI;T\h .
Wc will be selling !\I &M 's ( peanut and plai n) and
Malt el;Sl;r's ulllil l' rid ay 7th june. If yo u'd like to
~ u p po rt t his ttlndraising ,"emure, COnle to the
WOl11c n\ Otlice and buy a pac ket tor 3 doll ars.
What's On in the Womel1's
Department
Other th ings that arc continuing in the
\-V0111en 's Dep\ arc:
Wome n 's Co llecti ve m eetin gs. On
Thursda ys, 12 -2pm , in the Women's Room,
1st !' Ioor Roundhouse.
Reclaim T he Night meeting. O n ,1\ the
UT$ \Vomen 's Room, eve r y seco nd
Monday (next nleeti ng Ju ne 17t h ) at 7pm.
PI ECES_ Peo ple i nitiating Edu(,] tion
Ca mpaig ns Eli mi nating Sexism Collective
hls had thei r tirst AGM :l nd is presentl y in
thl; process of bein); set IIp l S a C:\SO C
club . \Vatch out tiJ r 1110re det ;lils in sc.~sio n
two .
i
have also received NOWSA registration forms. If
you ha ve been thinking about a[\ending NOWSA
please see me before Friday 7th June. I \\~Jl be
sendin g the registration forms o t1' to Perth on this
dar_ I wi ll also need to organ ise tra\'d, accoml1loda e,
. Thu. ., , "'_)'
'00 .. e ,·f )' OU
u·o,
decide to go after this dafe.
,
",,·'d,-,' '"
d
~
..
b,
1-"
FORUM: Feminist Futures. T his is a
lorum presented
by t he
Nati OllJl
Foundation for Australian Women . T his is
held on Friday 21st June 1996, trom 6 8P111, in the NSW Parl iament House
Theatrette. It \\~II address 3\ the issul;s of
where Feminism is and whe re it is leading
us. Speake rs include Dale Spender, Cat h)'
Craigic and C31herine Harris. Admission is
Sl5 concession and S20 full price . For more
IL...information
_________________
sce me at t.he \Vo11le n's Office. .J
mark walker
Vice -preSiden t
(educat ion Iwelfare)
HO\\"d y! Y' aJl !!
T h;\ nks for aTt e nding th e picket line last
T h ursda)" t hose o f you who came, and thanks to
e\"erybodr who came to the rJlly in Hyde Park.
What a hoot that was!
just;} rem inde r th~ \ the c,1 mpaig n is no t o\'(,:r,
Jnd the stri ke was on l~' the beginning of the
campaign . There \I~JI bl; a S[all on the Library
steps most lunchtimes until t he end of te rm
where you ca n come to sig n t he petition to
ParliJment , and the letter to AI11;}nda Vanstone,
the Minister for H igher Educ31ion.
Failing thJ! , there I\~ II be "Student Post'" mailboxl;s in ,Ill the food Outlets lo r yo u 10 drop the
letters illlO, lnd stude nts \\~ ll bl; circulating
those IOfmletters during lunchtimes right up to
the exams. Please sign the petition (we've col·
lected almost 1,000 signatures as of last week);
and till in the form lette r, or by all means write
your own!
C heers!
xx.
l e sbian ser v ice s convenor
p e t e r mckee
go y ser vic es ( o-con v en o r
WeD, the most exciting thing that's going o n at the
mOIl'K:Jlt is the dissolll1ion (or, Il~ corrL"ct~', di\iion ) of
GALA TIle Gar And Lesbian Association ofUN$W no
longer cxisrs in ilS IYL"';OllS form. Gay and Lobi.m cOJ.lition politics has lx-.:n thro\111 out the \\indow, and the
UN$\V Ga}'!; and Lcsbian.<i ha\l! dccick'd 10 go their 5t.p1'
rntc WJ}'S., although II\! arc still t:J.Iking to ~"lch other!
• AU applicmlS who declare their scxuality 10 be alter thm
Gay. Lesbian or Transgcnder, will Ix rcqui"'-"'d to justi~,
\Iil)' tilL)' shotdd be gantL-d mcmbcr~hip of lhe Sydnq '
Glyand Lcsbi.m l\'Lmii Gras.
TIle adOjXion ofthQ:C ; un:.:ndmCIlIS Ius (JIlSl--d quite a Ijl
of debate in both the Quccr and the n'l.1illSfI\';lJl1 mediJ.
HO\\\."\"O'", onc should remember that the Sydnt.;, Gay and
The Lc:sbilllS ha,"c SL1 up their 0\\11 campus dub which
\\ill be afliliaH:d \\;lh CASOC:IS "BU$S". ' n H:SC ku ~ Lesbun fo.1.ardi GI"3S OC&1n a.~ ;I pro!est a&1insr fl"Jlfl."SSion
actually do SI::and for $Onx:thing., but I don', know what of and discrimillJuon agaillSl Gays and I..c;buns by our
thnt som,..,hing is, so, if you want (0 lind out, you'll hJ\"c soOI.'t)'. \-\~dl Ihis in mind, onc Ius 10 seriously q ucsrion
II'h~' a pmon 11110 was 1l0! Gay or Lesbun (l nd pn.-pm.xl
to 3Sk the ne." lMaJl you Sl.'C.
10 publially dedarc themsch"CS as such ) would want to
The Gays 1\J\"e also S<.."t up our Ol11l campus dub, and, as occome l member of an orgmi<:ation GlUing itscff thc
you miglu c.xpct"t, lI"e couldn'l rcJdl consensus on a ilL"\\' Sj·dfll.;' Gay and I..dli.tn Mlrdi Gras (wlle;s thq' wanlcd
llalllC! 'Vc lI,lITowcd il dO\I1l to .-_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _- , to be ablc to obuin tickI."IS 10
thc ,\h rdi Gr.lS Pan)' and/or
two JXr.'~bilitic;: GAY5OC, or TWI
SlcllC Ball?! ).
( I1tJt Wl~' Indincd ). Some pL'oplc
....';IllIed us to 1l.'.C boIh! (how COil '
On a lighter rlOIe, 3/1 you
fiNng). so In:: dL"Cidl"(1 to ~ic.k 111lh
fJg~ and Dykes on C"Jmpll~,
GAL,\, fOr !!implicil)" althougll il
don'l IOrgl1 the Hand In
doesn't aCltLllly st:and for an~1 hing
Hand dance p.m)' at the
nOlI' (I (XT.iOrLlJ~' think il could
~und for the Gay And Lilllpwm"tcd
Hordclll Palilion, Slxmsofl'd
~, ACON. Oil the 5J.mrw),
Asso::iation, bUI rrllybe thal"'s a bil
100 sl\:reotyp[cal) ( You 'r( 1101
ofthc Queen's birrhdi), lOllS
1I'11»!!}!.r - Q) '111e ncw GAu\' IlilJ be
\\\."ckend (how appropriJle!).
afliliating wilh O\SOC in WL"t.'k 13.
TlCkL"IS arc 545.00 ITntH till'
ll<;\.La/ plJces.
Tumins
IO
Ihl..' Ilider Ga)' JJld
'\!!L~_.;;::~:::;~;J;L_.J
Lc:s.biJJl Communit)'. &"\'eral 11"\."Cks I.._"';;:=l... ..
G~y and L...··J:iln
Mardi GI"3S held ;U1 cXlrJ.oniin,l'1· b"Cllcral nlL...."tinS of its
mcrnben;hip 10 dd).lle and I"otc on proposc..xl an'l:nd·
nlCllLS to il r\lles of lllt:nilxnltip. Mer much hcall.'d
debale, the IIlCL-ring \"Oled bj' a 1hn."C quJ.J1crs lllJjorit}'
(the nurgln rL'quifl-d by Ihe anidcs of Ihe Gly and
Lesbian Mardi Gras to passa motion pn:scntL-d al JJI c.\lra·
ordi nary AG!l.l) to adopt changes 10 Ihe fl'qujrcnlCllts to r
tnI:mbcr.hip of the Sj·dn<..;' Gay and I..dli.tn ~lardi GI"3S.
~ chJ.ngcs, in ,,:SS-.:1l1X (am:aing OCIl' lllL'111lxnhip
appliotions only), II"cre:
ago, the SydLILT
. Aro:punce of all trlehlixnhip applications (subj(:a to
3v:.liIalXlilY) trom applicants who dL-cian: mar sexualilYon
the ;l.j)pliGllion looll as Ga)', LL.-.JJian or Tr.lIIsgcnder and
who 3£rrt' to promOle the aimo; lnd objcar."C'i of Ule
S),dnq' Gay and LL-..biJIl MJI"di GI"3S.
lh.J1·S il !Tom me. be happ)'
3nd SAFE!
End of (.lJ1lpuS dinner: Friday 14dl June 8plll 8ctt's
Soup I(jldlcrl, Crcnm St SI.lITY Hills. Bring:1 mend or
nukc onc 01"0'" soup ...
H ELLO LUSC IO US LESUl ANS AN D BO ls r EROUS BI -SEXUAL
WOMEN!!!!!!!
We an: nowali.Ult1ioningc01llLllittee bl.llthcn: an: still twO ,,!.ices to fill !Or any women
intel\'SlL-d in SL1ting iIWOO'L-d in thedq:urtll'l:nL Come and ha,·c J dUI I\ilh lL~ to find
out wlul its aD about and thcn :Ill yOLl hJ\"C 10 do is fill in J nOll"ination fOl111.
11le QlILU"CoIl.iborJlion~coJlii:n: nce (10 be held in Perth) is luppeningSOON ( h~)
I-5th), and wc would /(II'C to send as Il'l.lny women as JXr.'~ble on Ix:half of UN$\\~
Q.C is a cross·CJlllptLS org;mi"ltioll and Ihe conference. apart from being tOL lS ofti.m,
Ius workshops and disalS.-..:ions dc..iling I\ith on·(JJllpus Cfl IL'CI" i\'Sl,ll!S. \\\; can oiler
SOlllC fin,moll ~llPpOrt 10 m.tkc Ihc trek across to the West, so drop into Ihe Guild
ASAP fOf llIore dct.tils.
\Ve dcfinitd)· Ill"\.-d numocrs ~, thc relcase of th is L-clition so if you want to come to
.....Iul is trldition,uk' I..hl..' l\iIdCil but CCruiIU}' most intcrcsring confen!llcc of tile
)'car.... Gi\"c us J c.u!!!!! YOIL LlU)' :lIso be illlCJl..."ill"(11() kllOw thal NO'>V$t\ is at1u;ul)'
on in Perth the \\l,:ck altcr, so any girls tlul were thinking of going 10 NO' V$t\ ("In
nOli" collie 10 QC 96 or as its morc colloquuU)' knoll' as QC GOES \VFST!! !~ !
BLISS is now our otliciJI social dub Jnd IIC \\lll bc af!iijJtcd I\;th CASQC as of Sl:C'
ond session. S:aLl'l: lillle (1-2pI1l '\l:dncsd,I}"s) and Ill.: will be alloc:It~'d a room once Ill.:
MC alliJiatL-d. All this 1l11"Ul~ 10 Ihe old girls tlut IlSL-d 10 go to GAI.A rlll.."L1ing'l.1nd
know thc LesbiJn group on CJLlIpuS as GAU\. is thal Ill.: ILlI'e a new IUJllt: and an: a
COmpiL1d }' scp.lrJtc CASO C sroup...(l1l.1nks for all your hdp l!Jrt!!!)
We nn: ah.o in d~""x:r,lIc nCl"(j ofpcople 10 hdp org;.Ulisc FROOTLOOI'S (cross·cam·
ptl'i qlll."LT.l 11sulllnd perl()I11UnS lrtS c.xhibitioll), whidl is in September. If~'OIr hJl'c
JJI\' idC".l.~ tor whlTl:. ,md how it ~h(luld be.;ct up il would be gn:Jt~, appn"CiJIL-d. Or if
)'~l arc iust intcr~led in I..' Lllerinf. an an\\"ork, shOrt film or p.;rlont"Lll1Ce then collie
lnd g<..1 an appli<."aliol1 IOrlll.
l:or those of you l\i1O don't kllOw IltlCfC the IcsbiJJl SCf\;CCS dll)JJ1lllt:llI is; 'I\: are
lOCJtL'd in Ihe Student Guild otliccs. u.."\u I of thc Qlud building and arc here for
<'"OI utsdling, reti:rr<lt-., and b.l'iiC ~ltppOn and inf()lll'l.1lion t(lI" an)' gil"l~ outllllTC. Please
oom .· in anr rinlC 10.- J d ut or a rotli:c II"C an: l&1;t//y around .. (le \\\! don'l SO to d.t\'!
alllhnr ofien ....oh well.. .. ).. .5<."C you S<X)1l .....
101.'1.' and hUb'"
ClI and rob)'
End of campus I'imic: Saturday 15th }t.UlC Il am
Cmtomial Park. outside dle kiosk.. This is J combined
.....·cnL Hring .1 n ls, a soccer ball, of sonlL1hing and Ilmch
and drinks and wc'U hal"C a ball!!!!
GSD dcttils: swy@unsw.ooILalL (663 0461 )
Call anytin'l: and don't hesitate 10 send us n"Llil!!!
ch a d ' boss ma n d o v i s
activiti es di rector
IXltJUcbtiOIl DJ)' 19%
Oh Ill}' god it's here 3f.Jin. 'VhJI is it ? It i~ siIllP~' tile biffiC'ill."\·C1l1
held on t';UllI'LI$ in Ihe yeJf. In 3 n\Ll.~h~Jl , Ihi., i~ IIt1.lt SOlOS on .
Yo-Yo Round Up
'nte COCJ·CciJ. Quapidc Yo-)'o Collllx.1ilion was rttn JJld 11'011 in
\.\b;:k. 10. It was a scll5.lIiorul SltCC~"'~. \"1..' Iud SI.."\l.:n pllIllCfS who
were g."Illlt: enough 10 h31'e 3 SO, nuny of whom hJd nO! yo,yoLxl
since childhood. We wcre <.·.I'en grxoo I\ith tile pn::il:ncc of the
Hnzili,1r\ \\brtd Ch.ILIlpio n . l"lt:g!ia (hc lud a ~l.LI1I,ILI-':, only 1'1"1..' f()!"·
gotten il). N{'"\\."f befon: luw I SI..-cn anyone IHIke:: a yo·yodei}' grJI"
O pcn D ay
t\mo.uld 7 11.'.111\\ Ililh ~ 1n.my .1' 200 memlX1S.
A SClI"I:J1t;cr hunt Ii.q with ilcm, !rom Ijr nnd " ide.
A wontI\' ch;uit\· to I:u'\c SI:!&., and lilxh of CI.,h 10...
A...nUlI .:OI11petiiioL1 t h~t Ilill quilc rrohlblyinl"(~I'eal b "t onc Illi.\~·
ing Iibll:gI~ wwand ",."\"(.:r.1/ bw suilx.
An anemooll ofrn..-c CnlLTtainmCrl! " ith lill id, b.md... C{)LllL-diMl and
3 gr.lIuitol.l~ hl..'Jp poo on SydnL)' Uni dd)JII..'.
A crowd ·you the re,ldcr- oftho\ls,lll<l~ 10 II';Itch and L'*~' the spec·
tadc.
llsten can..11.illy, I sJull say thi.~ OII~' once.
h )undalion Day is soLllL1.hing you DO NOT mL\'!.
When? TI-l U RSDAY "hi: 2. Scs.wn 2.
r..'Sj'CnJb/c ~"'lh JfilT he '"dlOkcd" on hi.\ THlltD loop·the-Im p.
Rumour Ius il tlu l ,\bu h.1S now n\O\"Cd o n to bi~ and tx.1lcr
10),1' ,lLld lllif.ht soon L"\'cn St.tn 1:1lkinS to girh. Hy Ihc lI';1y, I ~liU h~\"C
yo ·yos ;lIld sl"lre strings tOr '\lie at the oflicc. So if ~'ou I\";IJII o nc,
Ihen drop into Ihc Guild Of stop nlt: if you scc nlt: when I'm OU! and
,lbout .!fOund GllllJllLS.
ity or take the shape of the fjl1\:1 Tower. An~'1I";1~', I llll proud III
JJlnounce thJ.llhe I\; nner ofthc comp 11'.lS M.au Dins who blit'lJ,xl
the opposition \\;t h a tot:LI offificcn 1oop·lhe-loops. ,'vtan went on
to colllpL1e again.'!1 the II;nncrs fTom OIhcr Uni\ Jround Srdn L")' al
the Coke n"kJSCUlll. OUt of founccn comp_1ilm fo.h u Clme J
I'\'er)' four re.1rS the Unr.·cNty "('1'CIIS it'~ doo('" to till' publi<." 1.....·
h:l\;ng In (~'Cn l),lY. 11li~ )"Cat the I'l.: the ,tudent\ I\J\"\.~ Ihc oPl'or
lunity to !;Cl in,d l'l'd in n U ll)' 11';11-';. r ou GUl \"ollLrlI l"U" your rime
Jnd c1l1husiJStll ~. Ix:conuns a lOUT guide, ~ill~ your £Ict~I~' in
11~l aIL"\'l~r Ih<..·Y dl"Cidc to do, wandcring m )l.Lnd Gllllp11\ jLlgg/inf..
hadcing, bc\:Jk.·dlllo ng or p/J)i ng 1I11h to)~ IhJ! dlildn:n ri nd JJll1.Ll>
in ~. llu:re is L"\"clI going to be J \ ...\BLE·-rv Station Ol'Cr.lling tOr
the DJY. The lI"orkint: nlLllC tOr- il i~ ()I)·TV If3ny ofthi.~ 11l11lS yOLl
on md rol.l would ~kc to be part of Ihe tcam IhL'1 plca.sc tdlme as
soon 15 I)()\.~iblc so th.lll t';U1 sct L"\'Cl)lhinl5 hJpp..!ning. 01"1.'11 DJ)'
is huge, auraru Ih(l\l~nds of pL-opIc, families and rotcnti:ll smdents.
It's l gc.,1 opportunity for ),)u to hJI"C 3 bit offiLn hdping or enlLT'
l:lining Ihe pLlblic.
r
kerry nettl e
environment director
Australia has 30%
moment wc o nl}'
Natunl resources
emment wants to
o f the world's ura nium rese rvcs. At the
h;wc 10% o f the ma rket - what a waste!
just Jr ing in the ground!! The new gOI"
put an cnd 10 this reprehensible abuse of
the free market SO wc can h3ve our filiI 30% . or at least fight
100lh and nail wit h Ca nada ( who have 30% o rlhc world's
market ) for a bisser share.
t ho usands of years. Tell the politicians to keep it in the
ground!!
There arc as many as twenty new mines on the dra\\~ng
board, and nine serious co nsidCTltions - two of which arc in
KlkJdu Natio nal Park. The gove rnment is "determined the
projects can go ahead" but nOl if thC}' "brC3Ch cm'ironmental standOlrds". ,Vhose cll\'ironlllcllIal standards these
arc, and who will do the testing of t hem is left unsaid. Bc
suspicious, be IW)' suspicious! !
Nuclear wasle of an}' kind is a long term problem - usually
in the leaglJe of thousands of years. No country has managed 10 eome up wi th a satisfa ctory waste disposal pro b'Tam! [n fact the o nly sa fe slntegy is not to create Ihe
waste in the tirst placc , Don't let the Coalition get away
\\~th expa nding an uneconomical, destruct!,·c uranium
industry.
The proposed mines arc I ) }abiluka, 2 ) Koongarra in
Kakadu; 3) Kintyre. 4) Yeelirrie and 5) i\-lanyingee in WA;
6 ) Be\'erler and 7 ) Honeymoon in SA; 8 ) Westmo rela nd
and 9 ) Bell Lomond in Qld. If all these go aheJd, wc will
ha\'c ele\'en ndio,\Clh'e centres across four states and [erritories.
Come to t.he Snldent Guild Environmcnt Department lor
ideJs on letters ),011 ca n write and other thin!;S you can do
on th is issue. StOp Uranium Mining (the coalition of cnd·
ronmelll youps who organiscd Ihe Stop Uranium Mining
RoIl1y in Ihe city o n Friday 241h Ma y) 111eel el'ery FridlY at
5,30 It Friends of the EJrt h: Suite 15, 1st floor, 104
IJnhurst Strect in the City.
Peace time nuclear technoloS}' consists of research reactors
lor - nuclear medicine and power research, and nuclear
power producing reaClors. The O\'er riding problem with
all nuclear tech nology is what to do with !.he was td
Nudear power has lost all popularity in North America
whcre no new nuclear power plants ha\'e been ordered in 18
yens, ElcClricity cornp:mies which own nuclear power
pl;u1\S arc aClUall ~' disadvJ lllJged in Nor th America where
the electricity companies compete for subscribers, because
nucJcar geneflted ekctricity call cost I\\ice 3S much as fossil fud generJted power! Twelve of the US's JlllcJcar power
pbnts ha\'e been mothballed in the last decade!
There arc also form letters to RoIndwick Council lnd thc
SUtc gOI'eTllmcnt abolLl lightrail which can be signed in the
Em'ironment I)epanment. Lightrail continues to be an
issue for Randl\;ck Council :lIld the Slate gOI·ernlllCI\( . 'Vc
need to Illainl'ain this pressure , Kecp I\Tiling letters alld stay
involl-ed . l'lcnty of ideas for letters frolll thc Environmcnt
Departlllcnt.
The opening up of the uranium industry b~'!.he Coalition is
a dangerously shonsighlcd, mone)' hungry act. Uranium
and it\ produ,t~ ~rc' radioaeti"e, Jnd n:tnJi n dCJdl~' !or
T he National Student Environment conference, Students
and S ustai nability, is being held ar Somhern Cross
Uni"crsity in Lismorc from Jul y 1· 5t h. This is a ,"cry
UNICOPY
.....
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Lecture Tape Duplication
Thesis Copying
Computer Disks
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UNITING STUDENTS
FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT
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UNIONACTIV
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Thnnk you, bye.
UNICOPY
"
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empowering confen:nce of people .....;th environmental concerns. There arc works ho ps on many issues, such as
DJylighling and Building Design , Medilation, Uni\'ersity
Environment Policies, Opium And the Politics of Heroin
and MilitJrism and the Enviro nment. Details about the
conference arc :waila ble from lhe Environment
Departmcnt . It \\ill be subsidised and there arc lots ofpcopie from UNSW goi ng, It is a great way to get in\"ol\"ed and
excited about the cnvirOll lllellt. Please comc in ;lIId find
OUl abOl11 Ihis fJll1aSlic , empowering, informative confer·
ence.
Self-Service Photocopying
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All yo ur jUIIlPSlli L<;, ill !'tu :l, hJ fir every siflgle one of YOII.
Alld YO llr rll g!;, Hlld your plalfo l'lll s h o es; (y( II I' III)( ~ six
illdu:s (alln,.!) Pay us a visir sooo. Bul YOII dOli', I'( ~illl y
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UNICOPY, LEVEL 2, LIBRARY
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Wednse:day
the 22nd of May
was the date for what
was the: first in hopefully
many on-campus, non-violent and
....
(gasp shock horror die: on the: spot at the
very thought) fun, education actions that the
Guild will take: pan in. In case: you missed it, the
Student Guild got together cl 5000 watt PA, a bunch of
lights, a record bag of DJs and a lawn full of people: for an
afternoon of fun and frivolity (and unlike this page, few clich·
es). Yeah, it was a protest. and yes people: also danced and
enjoyed themselves (even the: odd godless communist got
Involved ... ) and if your wondering if it was effective just ask
anyone who tried to run (or attend) a class. There was no
need for the fIVe security guards that they posted out·
side the VC's offIce because no-one actually wanted to
storm the Chancellery, we were already in the act of
reclaiming the grass that we pay for by dancing on it
good and hard (and for over fIVe hours). A fine day
that couldn't have been achieved without the help
of Alex Hulver (applause from on high), the djs (Sub
Bass Snarl, Marty B, Micheal MO, Psychik, Dins,
Bass Chakra) the live act
(Squish), the Union (for
the food), and last but
not least, all the people who turned up
and partied for the
right to education
and all that
~
~..,...,.
r
a.
- the organisers
Gil es H. and Karen J. prOviding
Union members with ch~ap
sausages (oo-err sounds like
Oktoberfest has come early)
cheap vegie burgers, cheap
drinks a nd, ahem. no bread
(though they did scrape up a
frozen
loaf
or
twO
later
on ••• mm m , taste sensation)
I "~
' ---====:"Yi
=e:=:s=,=I~n=d~ig=e=n=o==u=s=s=t=u=d:;::::e=n=t=s=o
===
n+=-----'Mat Ewart
Indigenous
campus are visible.
~i~:;;::
First and foremost I would like to thank Tbaru nka for devoting an is.~ lIc 10
Ind igenous issue.'> and wel come the reader to it s page s. Thuunk a is an
drawi ng from the experience of p,l.'>t ,lIld pn:~cnt ~Iudcnts . There IS a N~ll i onal
Aboriginal and Torn:s Strait Islamkr Stu(knt Ncrwork, formed in 1994 . The
Aboriginal word for ~mcs.~agc st ic k" wh ich originates from the Eora people
\\'hmc COlllllry spam much of the eastern suburbs. T he largest Aboriginal popu lation of the Eora people arc located 31 L1. Pcrousc, or co mmonly known as L.I
network d eals with issu es that an: ;lflccti ng all sll1(knL~ from all univcr... itics as
wdl a.~ dealing with salient isslIes 011 ,\ campus tu campus basis. Wc hold annual
or biannual conferenccs and comlllUnicatl' throu!,;h thc il1lCf net throughout the
year.
Per.
h i~ customary to thank the local commun ity whencver you
visit their land or haw a \'oice on their land . I would
pcnonally like to thank the Eora cOlll lllunity as;1
Wiradjuri pcr~ol1 (myself) and as a mClllbcr of
thl' universiTY community. I am not aW;'Ifl'
if thl' ori!,;inal publishcrs of TharunLl
o.:l"t:r thoughl of acknowledging the
peopk of Eora or eve n asking permh!>ion
to U~t' the
n ame
""Tharunka " , however, I think it i.~
appropri:He (if nOl overduc ) that in
lilt· first ever indigenous i.~~m· this
;lcknowkdgemellt i~ made .
I havc been givcn tlm ~pace to basic;}! -
.•.. •
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•
•
••
...
.~~
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.•~'7j •
•
i~ the 1:1(t th.lI wc arc on
tIll" Guild and I am t()r\un ,l\e enough to be writing thi~
article . The p{(ICe!>.' ofbeillg ekCted on the Guild wasn't without ()ppo.~irio[) . Nevarhele~~, the Guild
Council listened to the indigenous studelll~ o f
thiS C;IIl1PUS .1I1d two yl'ar!> later wc h.1VC a
wdl e., tablishcd executive pmitinn and .Ire
,lbk to expfn .~ our~elve .~ through tht'
m.lin sllllielll publkation . Thi~ h:l~ tin;llly
broken the C; uild tr;ldit ion of nonindigellou ., executive members writing
,Ibout indigenous issue.' - which in most
clse~ were ill informed and Ignorant to
the Aboriginal commun iry
Jlis t a symbol of our activity un campm
....... ... .•
'- - ~
-
•
e,
•
Iy tc!1 ally interestl"d parties about
Aboriginal studcllI at1ai rs. Firstly Wt' have
Jmt over 100 AbunglllaJ and/or Torres Str3!t
..
Islander stud ent ~ at U N$W spn:3d throughout ;111 - e '
th rn' camp u .\e~ and N ID A.Th cre i~ a ll Illdisenoll .~
Stud ent ~ ' As~odation . comprising of President and Vice i'rcsidertl
and also in addit ion to that we h<l"e a reprcsen tative on Ihe Guild i. e. The
Indigcnous Studl'ms' Dircctor. There i~ also Ihl' Abo riginal Studcms' C cntre
wherc most of uS hang out. Polit ica lly wc arc q uit t: active in .~ tLldcnt affairs,
• •
JU~I J ~ylllbu l of ou r ;lctivi ry on campu!> and
\'i., ibiiity wa~ o ur invol vcment wllh the ~rudcnt
rally la~t week ( 30-S -96 ). A la~gc coll1ingctlc), of
bbckfcllas from all ova NSW univ(;fsitie!> congregatcd at
Hyde I':trk 311(1 lead tlK processioll to thl' Prime M in istcr's
offict" . T hc placard that I wa ., carrying read "DON'T W I PE US
OUT ... ..AGAIN" . It i, quit< i,oni, >I"" ,hi, ,ymbol of m" muggi< wa.' m"h,d
by policl" o llicer.~ ;1ficr Illyself and ;1 bbck broth er fro lll UTS occupied t he foyer.
The rcmnants of the p lacard wn c s;,lvaged and remain 011 display at th e Guild.
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Use The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Fi nan cial R eview to I
keep up to date on local, national and world events, economic trends and community affairs. II
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FINANCfAr"REVIEW
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L
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~ JOHN
FAIRFAX
EDUCATION~
THE
FE~INIST
THERE JUST AIN'T ENOUGH
"When and anly
when, Abariginal
wamen become a
major part of the
feminst movement
here in Australia,
then will the relations between us
change"
,
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rofessor Delares Williams, an African ·American
womanist theologiall, comments on The White
Feminist Movement and the idea of Ihe Black
women becom ing part of the while feminist mo\,ement:
P
UH o lll':Y I want to say something about rhis fcmini~l .
This all reminds me of the day I went iIllo a f.111CY
dress .~hop downtown and saw a re:l] pretty dress. Tht'
colours in lhc dress blended right'. The dl.'sign wa.~
modern and fashionable . The bUlluns in the frOll1
looked real prcrI)' with the material. Everything about
that dress looked JUSt right. There was only onc problcm .... The dress was size five, and I wear size twem),.
The sa1cslady IOld me that shop didn't caHY no dresses over size thirteen. I ca n sew real good, but I knew
was no way fo r me to alter that dres.~ and still have tht'
same thing. There JUSt wasn't enough material in thal
dress \0 make it fit me . Now that's my point, honey.
This femini sm and feminis t theology is real prell)', but
there just ain 't enough in it to fit me. And what I'm
wondering is: if you black felllilli~ts u-y to make it fi t
mc, will you still have the same thing?"
h is lhe same situation here with the diOcrences
berween whitc fe minist s and Black woman i sl'.~. Wc do
not want to makt' the mistake of taking the white fem inist dress and all"cring it to fit our Aboriginal women .
Our difference.~ arc so great because of the tri-dimen sional oppression Aboriginal women suffer racism,
sexism , and classism . An example of this is necessary
for you to be able to comprehend m uch better our
differences. In Alice Springs some years ago, an
Aboriginal youth was arrested and held in custody for
drunk and d isorderl ~' behaviour. The gaol cell in
which he was hc1d became his cold and lonely place of
death . The father and mother of this youth were outraged and overcome with gricf over h is death. They
sought justice in the community and in the Supreme
Courts. The supre me Cou rt heard how this youth
died whilst cUSlody of the police. The coroner's find ing explained Ihal his youth could not have hung himself without someone elses' a.~sistance or withou t
someone else doing it for him. The Supremc Court
found the police to be "not guil!),". The father wa.~
so distraught by this verdict, he committed su icide.
The mother was left alone to once again fight the verdict that was passed. Aft er man months of deliberation the verdict of not guil!)'. Was again brought
down . This Aboriginal mother turned to the laSt
resOrt as she decided it was suicide.
I have 10 ask my.~elf: how did this become the last
resort ~ In a country where wc arc laid of equal righrs,
g ricf c~lU n seJJors , a variel), o f community services for
women which arc there for gras.~roots care and suppan how did this become the last resort? Could it
have been bec3use she was an Aboriginal woman?
Could il" have been because she W3S 3 wom:m fighting
the judi( ial system alone~ Or could it have been
raci.~m , classism and sexism all rolicd up into une giam
boulder which a.~ it rolled down on top of her,
(rushed her very will to li\'e~ Just as you have so many
differences as individuals, so toO do wc as Black and
white women have as m3ny differences.
Abo riginal deaths in cuslody is a visi ble ael ofthc society's rac i.~m. Have you ever as a woman lost a child,
nephew, brother, si.~ter or an aunt or uncle at the
hands orlhe police? Han' you ever told ~'our children
TO be very wary of the police: No, of course not -the
police an' lH.'rl' to serve our .~ocieq' in preventing
crime . That is for you, but Aboriginals , they have
become pan of the criminal world. Here is a difference.
Wc as mOlher.~ have 10 live with the cold .~tatistic~ th,1I
thc aboriginOlI infant mortality rate is three times high er than that of tile Australian average. And as your
b:lby grows and suffers the llS lI ,tI colds :lnd flues you
become paranoid that your child b going 10 die. And
a.~ you wke your child backwards and torw:lr(I.~ 10 the
doctors' and hospitals they make rou feci less secure
about rour parenting abilities. That is, you t:lke your
baby to Ihe hospit :l1, if there is onc near by.
Unfortunately though, the grcell Medicare card is of
no use when there arc no facilities to use it. This is
the case for m:II1Y Aboriginal mothers: their children
dk ill their arms and the mOther is helple .~s . Surely
th~' death r:\IC of Aboriginal infants is an imle which is
important 10 all women, not JUSt 10 Aborigi nal
women. H ere is a difference.
A~ far as unemployment goes in Australia , Abori gi nal~
arc four times less likely 10 be employed . I am lucky
to have had the opportunity 10 be educated and now
I am successfully employed. Today, many Aboriginal
women do not ha\'e the opportun ity to become educau:d o r to even 10 be able 10 stay at school. This
obviously hinders the employmel1t opportunities for
Aborigin3l women . Man~' of my friends , who arc educated just like myself, still have nOI found permanctU
employment. The education syslem is provided for
cvcrybody, or so we arc led 10 believe. Bur the institutio nalised racism within it makes it nearly impossible
for Ihe average Aboriginal ch ild to complete rwcJve
years or education successfu lly. The mcdia lOO focus es o n the Aboriginal sports person but very rarely do
the focus on the successful Aboriginal scholar. H ere
is a differen ce.
This brings us 1"0 thc avcrage income for an Aboriginal
per.~on which is less than that of the nationa l averagc .
Unemployment being the contributing f.1 CIOr. Here
is a difference . Mr Ro ben Tickner,) has wrillen:
'"' By virtually evcry slams measure and in almost all
dise3sed cat(gories .... (Aboriginal ) health is much
worse than that of other Australians".
Park Kyung Sea, there Executivc Secretary lor Asia of
the World Council of C hurches, said:
" I work with churches in 27 countries in Asia . I h:'JVe
ncvcr seen pover!)' in Asia like I he poverry of these
people in Australia . The}' have no adequate access 10
clean drinking water, no shelter except a few bits of
tin, no health services.
In Asia pcople look to
Australia as a country of dreams. I am shocked at the
shame of this great country".
~OVE~ENT
IN ITTO FIT
wri tten by Lyndel Robb
Also, after a rCCCill trip \0 South Africa , 1)r Brcndu n Nelson, Ii.mna
President o f the Australian Medical Association, commented that even the
condition ofh cahb among Ihe SOll lh African I ndigcno\l .~ was 31 ;1 much bel ier SI;lndard tb.1I1 thal of Ihe AlIstr"lian Aboriginal. HDW can rou as ,\ femi Ilist movement fig hti ng for rhe rights of women on:rluok these imp(m.:rished conditions in which Aboriginal women 3re living:
This is why
Aborigin:ll women need to be involved in lhe process of freedom for women
hen: in Australia . To exclude us is 10 deny your vcry own right!> as women
as wdl .
As an Aboriginal woman I G ill hear the silent crying ofAborigin31 women .
hear il because I fed it; that is, there arc spiritual as well as physical d imen sions. Wc arc ti red of being excluded from the feminist movement - which
is supposed 10 represent the rights and freedom of all women living under
the Southern Cro.~s . But instead of having a place here in this circle of free dom , Aboriginal womcn have iound that this ci rcle suffers from
classism or racism or paternal ism or possibly all three . Do you
not want change? Arc you not excited b)' the possibilties, the
diversir), that wc a .~ women ca n o ffe r o nc anm he r: Most mome mellls progess. Is this not \Tuc? Progression is a fac t of life . A!>
women wc arc told time and time again: "timcs arc a progressing" . Well what happened to the progression within the feminist
mo\'Cmcm? From the mOllth of:lrl Aboriginal mother!
"A~
Wc a!o Aborigi nal wo men ha\'e tu Ih'l' wi th a g reat d l"al. Racism ~I gai n sl li S
everyday is ~o hard to COpt' with bu t beC<llIse it is a maller of surviva l you
Jc:lrll to rise above it. Your mother teac hes you al a you ng age 10 dismiss
much o f what ~'ou hear, a nd 10 st.m d up and confront what it is you lear.
With womcn like our mad mothers wc learn from and try ha rd to listen to
the lessons they have 10 teach us, becau!\e Ihcsc d o bl.'corne pr;lctical expcri ence... as you age. Thl' tl'achin g Ihat Ihey hat"\: 10 olTer you is li ke the advice
you wo uld receive from any victims: victims of rape, victims of oppression,
victims of ~ocie[y. Hut lik(' mmt children you can ncver c onCl~i ve the impor\:Incc o f tllC.~e kssons um il they become your experien ces. And like most
children you !\hu t all that pain that the), want 1'0 shafe wilh you . Or you magically make up thi~ land where all is equal and everyone lovcs
each other. Thert' is no black there is no white , there arc nO!
hurt's, no wrongl\ done , jusI fun , fUll , fun . Hut then you too
beco me J \'iclim - a vict im 10 your ignorance wh ich makes
YOll only more vulnerable 10 being a victim of tile worst kind
. a victim of ignOTallCl· .
"Do you not
want change?
Are you not
excited by the
p'ossibillties,
the diversity
that we as
women can
offer one
another"?
a mother, as a black mother, as ;\ woman - I led fur the lam of Daniel Yock (another Aboriginal yo uth who died in police
custody). Wc have our you th dying in custod y and dying in our
community where the law lets our you ng people continue to kill
themselves. I have a son g rowing up in a racist society where
institutionalised racism conti n ues to livc on. I am worried . What
will happen next 10 our young people. Wc arc trying to get back
control, get back our heritage lh rough dancing, mime, our art but t he 1:I\\'s manipulate where wc wal k. \Ve have 10 do something. Wh at do wc do? Wc ca n't forget what has happened . We need 10
take cont rol ourselves now. Thi .~ i.~ Ilot a just .~oc iety - because the laws arc
made by forcigne r.~ . Wc ha\'C to decide ourselves o n cultu rally appropriate
laws. Wc have 10 c hange the attitudes of our you th . A~ a mother I plead ·
wc mUSt stick together and walk strong. As a mother wc cry fo r the young
one.~ wc have lost."
iI~'
eIlCl.' jusI Ih is year which rele;\~ed a book in which many Indigenous women
were represented , co veri ng the wom en who re pr e~e llle d the Pacific Region.
However, Aboriginal women were no t incJ u(kd. Forgottl.'ll ollce aga in.
I stand here too as a mother, as onc of tile young mother.~ who has a daugh ter. I have responsibilities. I have the responsibility to speak o ut to feminist
g roups to improve our relations, but not JUSt for my daughter · for all young
Aboriginal gi rls about to e mbark o n their jo urney into wo manhood , so that
when they slart that journey conditions arc different here. The)' will have a
Hlack womanist mo vcmelll fighting for them and representing them , but ,
most of all , they will have a movement that addresses their pro blems, their
suffering, their Spirit ualit)" which willlcad 10 their empowerment.
This is a responsibility that cannot be taken lig htly. Wc seriously need 10
addres.\ the Iri -dimensional oppression from wh ich Aboriginal wo men suffer.
How can you and Non -Aboriginal women undeTS[and this oppression?
Surely though some initiative needs to be l::aken to include the vaSt ::amount
of Abo riginal women 's publications. Basic::ally Aboriginal women need to be
remembered as the Indigenous representatives of Australia . Isn' t it sad that
wc have been forgotten , ig no red, lost? There was an im ernational confer-
\Vhell il h;.ppen~ 10 you , though , the perso n who is caring for
you with grace and love ;lnd who is just a !Ower of strellb'1h
for you is a woman . \Vhether it be you r mother, aunt sistcr,
cOllsin, they arc an Aborigin;ll wOlllan cider, And JUSt as they
warned you bclore YOII drified ofT into fantasy la nd, they arc
therc in reality 10 help heal those deep wounds - the ones thal
cut so deeply they can lleVl'r heal . T heir tears that were like
ac id leaving track ma rks do wn your fa ce. The way yo ur eyes
move now and the way yOll perceive the world becomes so
vcry dilTerent when you become a victim _ IJu l the differencc
is you can I.'olui n ue 10 be a victim , thi nk likl" a vierim , act like
a victim, COWl'( li ke a viclim . O r you call choose 10 listen 10 those words that
were given to you by your mothers, sisters, unties, cousins, ele. That is the
onc thing our women elders arc 110t - vic ti ms. These women can teach you
a thing or twO about bei ng a woman . Don ' t you want 10 learn about it?
CJas~ i ~m is another tra uma with which \\'t' have 10 deal, as b sexism , from an
introd uced patriarchal sy.\tem whic h has been blindly adopted by ou r
Aburiginalmen . Everywhere wc turn wc arc fighting . Wc arc fighting 10 be
heard . Surely, if Ille majority o f Indigenous women arc now being repre ·
.\ented at international fo ru m!\, then the exel usion of Aboriginal women at
th ese forums - for whatever the reasons - is an absolute insult. An in!\ult to
our race, an insult 10 our gender, and an insult to the woman!SI movement.
When and only when Aboriginal women become a major part o f llle feminist
mo\'Cmcnt here in Australia, then will lhe relations between us change . Yc.~,
wc do understand Iha\ as a white woman you arc d iscriminated against on
the basis of your gender, bUI have rOll evcr tho ug ht about ou r si d e~ When
YOll arc a Black woman and }'OU arc d iscriminated against yo u really don ' t
know whether it is because you arc a woman , whether it is because you a
Black, o r whether it is because you arc nUl part of that class. A!> a wo man ,
you need to hav{' some fo rm of spiril u;ll slreng'" in yourself 10 be able to
defe nd your rights and wc as Aboriginal women have thal strength . We
Aboriginal womCll arc as solid as Uluru .
This paper was Ofiginally presented at the Women's Business: 1st National Ecumenical AbOriginal Women's C inlerence, hose tad by the AbOriginal & Islander Commission (AIC)
ollhe National Counci of Churches in AUSllatia, held at New College, university 01 New South Wales, December 1995, and Is being publiShed by the AtC in t996
Oelores S WUllams, Womanist Theology, in Women's Visions: Theological Reflection, Celebration, Action, ad. By Ofelia Ortega (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1995), p. 11 2
Aobert TlCkner, as quoted in Anne Panel-Gray, The Great White Flood: Racism in AusllaJia, AAA CullUtal Criticism Series, 2 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996 (forthcoming]).
Park Kyung Seo, Media Aelease , World Council of Churches Team Visilto Aboriginal communities in Australia, Atice Springs, N.T. 1993
tn StOfies 01 Land ad. by Breocla Fi1Zpatrick, 2nd ad. (Geneva: WCC Publications, t993) pp t 3-14
reco1:"1.cilia "1:i01:"1.
a token gesture?
Wc have had the Internationa l Year of th e World's Indigenous People, we arc in the decade if the vVo rld's
Ind ige no us Peoples, and this week it is Reconcil iation Week. Onc has to ask rhl' question whaher these
allotted periods arc a se rious attt:m pt to bridge the bo-aP in relatio ns between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
Austl.liian s. o r whcrhcr sllch periods arc token gestures designed [Q allow the wickr community to assullle
th~lt everythin g is hunk), dory?
Why do I suggest that suc h gestures may be token? Beca use despite an abun dance of gestures, rhetoric and
po li tical correctness, racism and di scriminati o n arc still prevalent in tod ay's society. Within the last" fc.:w
mo nth s I have experi enced racist remarks from ca b d rivers, pol iticians, fellow stud ents and a prominenr
member of the Gui ld Council. It see ms that man y no n-Aborigin al Austral ians have real ised that being: racist
and discriminating against Abo ri ginal people is ' nor o n' , without any real und erstand ing o f why. I believe
that many peopl e have ga ined tolerance of Aboriginal peop le due to the possib le Ieg~l l ramifi cations of d o ing
otherwi se, rather than our of trlle respect for Aboriginal people or any attempt o r intention to lessen their
own Ignorance.
Relatively few non -Aboriginal Australians have any understandin g of the tragic impact that colonisa tio n has
had upon Aboriginal people and thei r cultures. I believe that ifm o re no n-Indi ge no us Australians bothered
to take an objective (or better still, empathi c) look at the hi story of this co untry and the pol itics o f past
govern ments in relation ro Abo rigi nal peoples, there wou ld be a greater understandin g of the prob lems and
issues that Aboriginal peoples fuce today. With such understanding wi ll come recognition and respect fo r
Au stralia's Indigen ous peoples, which will in turn lessen the divisio n between Indi geno us and non Indi ge no us Aust ralians, thu s furt hering the mediation process.
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President
Indigenous
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UNSW.
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black fellas love
--+----+-
An eHTrOCT o f The lIep0rT o n co nsu ltot ions with A b o( i ~ i no l commu n ltl t!S NSW DomestIC
lence st rot e<si c pl an, 199 1 w rr tten bV caro l Th o m as
VIO
J~~--~---------------4
I
here th e GO \'c r n l11c nt t3k \!s actio n (0 preve nt do mest ic vi olen ce i n
th ese communities it mu st do so i n Wl yS whic h add ress th e com ple xi t ies o f 1111:: Aboriginal so ciet y, kinship and cu ltura l valu es, th e
histo rica l dCSlru c ti o n of Aborig im J tTl d ilion s by whil e n13n 's colon isation
and tyra n ny, J nd th e ex te nt o f alcoh o l and o lh e r substance ab use. In 199 1,
co nsu lta t io ns we re carried OU I b)' t he N SW Do mes tic Viole nce Co mmi tt ee
with Aborig in a l wo me n i n rU Ta l areas o f NSW. Di scussi o ns cove red issues
such as t he histo rical background 10 d o mestic
violence in Abo rl l:\in l l comm uni ties, commu ni ·
ty eduCJti on, lega l issues, po li c ing hospital s,
hou sin g . Abo rigin a l Scn'iccs, alcohol J nd
yo ung people. H istorically, violence .1gainst
women a nd c hildren was prac t ioJl)' unknown in
traditional Abo riginal society. Men Jnd women
s hared the food, 11I1IlIing and ga l he ring roles
Jnd thus l13d equal so cial Jnd economic impor.
tance wi r hin society. Acts of I'iolenee agJinst
women received sel'e re puni~hl1lenl and condenlllJtio n, the .lTriI'J[ of white settlers br(lught
kl"eb of violen ce which lITre previolls[y unknowlI ; Aboriginal people were
massacred or d ril'e n off t he bnd b~' means of poisoning, rJpe and venerl"J1
disease.
I he white selt[ers were predomil13ntly nule Jnd contlin over
women was a d(llllinJ llt theme in bbck Jnd white relJtions . ,\Iale "settlers
mJS ~Jcre d , raped and abducted Aborigina[ women , who were Jlso bJrh:red by
,\boriginal l11ell. "U ll t Il' hilf the COllrflgt of thf IIU/I who IPC/It fo n rllrd {O mta
tlu E"rop"IIIII "#_al rlrar, it n' aj probably s" rpa JJui by tbat of 11u; JO/III.!] WO/lUll
11'1J/1 II'(re fre qll tlllly dispatclud by their mair r"nril'CI 10 appea se rhr uX/lnl
appttitc oftlu llra1/ge alld rbrralC ll illg whirc 111011 ( RC)'lIolds, H . 198 1, The
ot her Side of the Frontier, James Cook Unil"l~rs i tr, Townsl'ille ,) Land :ll1 d
people we re re m ove d . Abo ri gi na l peo ple were denied acccss to Ir,lditional
IJnguages and custo ms and forced into miss ion s .1I1d onto reSef\'es, Thei r
Ir aditio n al ways were ridic ul ed b)' I he whi l e
nu n's s),sle m lnd I heir lI'a ), o t' li fc was
des l rtl )'ed by raciS I policies and while religion ,
W
nilies the level at wh ich domestic viole nce is accepted In the communities .
Co mm u nities nee d su p pOrt i n run ning a series of awareness programs and
in form at ion days to i nfo rm women an d m .... n of t heir Iqp l and individual
rights , Wh e n Police t e ll women t here is nothing th e)' ca n do fo r t hem, ( and
so do i ng, fa il to per fo rm th e ir job ) women have liu ic c hoice but to re t urn
ho me. It is iron ic that Aborigin al organisa tions recei l'e widespread criticiSIll
fo r the no n-Aborigin al cOnlnmni t ), for not performi ng their fun ction s effi ·
ciently, when public services, such as the policy and hos '
pitals . knowingly refuse to help Aborig inal W0111en in life
;md dC.lIh si t uatiOns. AS:I resull of being denied infor ·
nurion . women rel1uin unsupported and unawJrC of
Their legal righls and Ihe cou rt proccss, and J re reluctant
to become inl·oll'.'d, There.He women, hOll'el'er. who
lre aware of the icgislJtion but d u not u\e il because they
have no IJith In Government policie~ and lall' ~ and
becau~e Ihey believe ( in C0l111110n with ,dl Aboriginal
coml11unities ) Ih.\I solutiom arc 10 be found, and ~ hould
therefore be del·eloJled. wilhin each communitl'.
[I
II'ould be wrong, th erefore, 10 assume that Ie~i slatio n
.Hld Jccn~ to the Ie!:>.ll rroces~ i, the JI1~wer for all Aboriginal wom e n and
co mmunitie\ , It is also wrong 10 ass ume Ihat women ,Ire not lI\ing the Jaw
becau\e they do nOI WJnt 10 . All Aboriginal women need t o kno\\' their legal
righ ts Jnd the proces~es involved 111 mins th e illl'. They need to h31'e thi s
option lnd 10 be confident !lllt if the~' dH)o~e thi~ path they will receive all
the help Jnd JSSiSlll1ce 10 wh ich the)' ,In: enTitled.
[ Police arc iJlf nmolllfor ] Their failure to respond to calls, their reluctance to
go to mh~ion~ ; they do nOI offn j"fULLIlJtion on legal rights , ~\LsscslinS tlUI
there is lIothing IhC)' on d o, the y Ire,1t victim~ badly and consider domesric
\'iolence ro be J cultural problem . \Vo111ell 3re not lIsing the police , courts
and Icgi~latioll beCJuse of raeisl11, IJck orknowled~e and lack of)upport.
Hospitals in count r )' town bck speciali,! ~ef\'i ces, and raci)t behal'iour is
chronic. Onc nujor Sydney hospital's CJsuaJL)' section
refuses 10 tre31 Aboriginal people IIlI tillhe)' Cln provc
thq' do nOI h;II'e Hcp.ltitis B.
Blackfellas's love is a common term and in itself signifies the level at which domestic violence is accepted in the
communitees
k
Where the Governent takes
action to prevent domestic violence it must do so in way
which address the complexities
of Aboriginal society, kinship,
and cultural values and the historical destruction of
Aboriginal traditions by white
man's colonisation and tyranny
GOl'crnme lll policies saw ge nera ti ons of chil ·
- - - - t - - dren Stolen fro m their fa m ilies a nd forced to
ado pl comple tely a lien a t titudes and elll'iro n 1I1Cn IS. Th e effe cts of I his practicc on bot h Ih e
chil d re n 3 nd t heir fami lies hal'e be en d eVJstJT ·
ing and, in some oscs, have led to i dentit~,
proble ms, diffic ul ties in fo r ming relationships
alld d ysfun ct io na l pa re nl in g ski ll s. Those fa m il ies whic h lost child re n have no t only s u ffe red
int ense pai n a nd a ng ui sh , b ut have a lso learned
1101 ((I truS I Governmenl Ju thorlties , Po li ce
Jnd wor kers, T hese fac to rs. a long with o th er
discrimin310ry policies alld prJctices , led 10 the
disintes Tation of soci al and IJll1ily Structures
311d Ihe disintegr31ion of women's social posi .
tion~ within many NSW Aborigin,11 co mmuni ties , This i~ not \(I ~a~' that dome"ic violence
;1t1101l);SI the :\bo rig,illal conH11l1llity h.l~ been caused by whi te co loni S,lIion or
Ilut Aborigir131 peoplc thcmselves hold no re spoII~ib ilil y for act) ofl"ioknce
,Igain~t WOl11en, It s uPPOrtS the ide3 tlut sexism Jnd roulting violence lI'ere
1I0t part of Abori gin al life bcfore 1788. It sa)'\ that the di sintegration of
,\ borigillal life happened so rapidly and so violently, Jnd WJ' bJsed on s uch
racist philosop hies , tha l Abo riginal communities wday h3ve a level of accep rJ nce of domes tic violence which may nO I bc tolerated in othe r c ommuni ties,
The)' hal'c bee n den ie d access 10 inform at ion about lI'omen's rightS, as well
access to cmploylllent. education and q ualiTy of life , There J re so many
des tr uctil'e facto rs affeCling Aborigi nal people's lives that to many, domestic
vio le nce is accepl cd as JUSt a nother (Inc. Violence WlS a nd is used as n mcans
of bo t h control Jnd survivJI.
Today ma n)' co mmun il), women do not know lheir righls and t ha t th ey have
J rig ht to help. Aborigina l people have been denied access to information •
.1l1d co m rm rnit1cs arc isolated in ways which hinder knowledgc of rig ht s and
responsibilit ies, This isolarion is not onl)' geogrlphical ; urban women J re
also isol ated thro ugh lack of access to seTl'ices an d info r mat ion. A large
number o f women arc u nawa re that the), hal'e opli o l1 s and I ha t viole nt be hav ·
iour is u na ccepl3 ble, Ma ny men Jre unaware I' t he serious co nscquences of
thci r action s.
Most Abo ri gi na l people today have ei Thc r been d irectl y
invo lved , o r have a close reb ti o ns hi p with someone which is inl'o lved , in
d o mestic vi o le nce. " Bl3 c k felle r's LOI'e" is a commo n te rm and in ilScl fs ig .
Alcohol is a serious problem in mo~t cornl1lUnilks. It
contributes to the de )tr uction of the famil ), unit j'- - - - I
affects people's plwsiol and mental hl~allh; ch3nges
pc rsol1 a lltie~ Jnd destro~'s the environment. \Vumen
co nsulted fch tlllt alcohol contributed 10 thc regu lar.
it)' of beating,s and domestic viole nce. Ikelu se alco hol is a problem in many cOl1lmunitles. it is ot"rell the
(OCI1S of atte ntion. 1-{(HI'ever, women slre\sed thal il
is nei t her lhe (.Iuse of, nor .In exc usc for, domest ic
l'iolence. Onc 11'011l3n related I he situation in her
town , where religio n hls a high p rofile and alcohol is
banned. D Olllc-ric I'iole nce remain~ a hu~e problem ,
to which Ihe communit y turns J blind eye , It i~ inte r ,
eSling to nOle th.lI Ih e church lead en arc men
l)omc"ic l'iolcnce i~ hJvin!! .1 dISa\ITOU\ effcCI on the
indil'idllll. thc f.lmily ,ll1d the communiT\', A.\ It is,
Abori~inJI pJrel1t' !Jce I1lJn\' prohlenu beeJuse ofthc
r.lpid Ch.HI!!C' in their lifc\tyle in l 7SS . l[o\l ele r, 10 pJtl·nt properly, Pl'Ople
hal'e to b.' .lble to look after th e!ll\ell'e\ ; the)' have 10 know their 011' 11 \'l lu es
Jnd to hJI'e their own idemitr. For mJnl' pl'oplc , men Jnd \\'omen . domes tic
\'iolencl' m.lke.\ this impos~ible. M.HI ), Jrc livi ng ill \el'erely d y\fun ctio nal
fJm ili n , Some AboriginJI youlh Jre hOl\1ele" hec.11I~e of dome\tie violence .
Young boys arc learning to b3sh in In effort to exert power, Jnd l'Olll1g girls
will go into violent relJtionship~ . Onc woman speJ kin g at J commu nit y
meeling ~aid thal afler ye3rs of Jbusc she hJd Iefl her I'iolent hu) ba nd . Now
she wJtches her gown sons bash their p.lrtners Jnd feeh ~he has f:1i led .
Communities sce children 3S their mosl important ahe t be ca use they Me the
future represen ting, the sur\'iv31 of a unique people. Yl't clder~ Jre afraid to
pass on knowledge to young people bec.lUse thcy feci there is no onc thq· can
trust with it. There arc children who a rc 100 distressed to be. children . AI
the mOl11enl 4 () · 6 0% of Aboriginal youlh .HC in .111 il1~ti t uTion. Communities
want thcir children to be inl'oll'ed in dome\tie violence JJld ~exllJI a))JlIlt
a\\'arenes~ progrJI11S within their ~c hools . The~' want their ehildrcn 10 lea rn
about their people's culture so that the y <..'.1n develop self-es tee m 3nd pridc in
who t hey 3re.
A T-r ;v ; ~r M ~tte-r?
The court costs to Aborigines
as defendants
As :m Aboriginal person I am
grc.lIly interested in the impaCl that the crimi nal juslice syStem has
upon Aboriginal people, especially in the lower (Qurts. I have chosen 10 narrow llly d iscussion p rim 'H it)' 10 my perce ptions of
Indigenous dcfcnd:lllls in the lower couns. Havi ng observed court
processes I :lIn angered by ;} prn'a iling sense of hopelessness and
injustice. Although nevCf personally experie ncing the trauma of fa cing COlLrt, I could cmp:Hhisc with those Aboriginal persons flung
into what Pal Carkn describes as:1Il "extremely Ullcomfon;lblc environment ...
I am attempting 10 hiShlight the 'unique and profound' intimidation ,md confusion many Aboriginal people feci in COUT! . This
cman:ltcs from ;1.11 intense suspicion of Ihe weslern legal sySle m, a
syste m which has s ubjugaled us throughout 208 yea rs of
Coloni$3tion . The resuh o f this inhen:1lI fear and distrust of authori ty coupled with speci fi c discriminatory legislation and pranicl' by
court S and 'sel cc t i\'t.~ policing' has led 10:
I ) diseord and injustice among the Aboriginal community resulti ng
in disproportiallate numbers of Aboriginal and T o rress Strait
Isbnders in cuslOdy; 18% of the prison populatioll is Aboriginal
when only 1.1% of the A usrarlian population is Aboriginal.
2 ) Aboriginal people an: ten times more likely to be incarcerated
th:ln non Aboriginal Australi:llls
3) Over 160 Aborigi n:lls have died in custod}' si nce 1989 (:md the
numbers keep rising)
Source: The Austra lian inslilute of Crimi nology.
Overall, the syslern has effectivel}' weighed against Aboriginal people
and funher det eriorated ou r d isadvantaged position in society. The
pict u re is bleak and unfo rtu nately my coun observations did nothing to d ispel m~' anxieties nor give me hope that the situation wou ld
ch:mge in the shon term .
I n o rde r to prope d y discuss t he vari o us proble ms faced by
Aboriginal people in the Magistrates coun it is advantageous to
divide them into 4 major themes:
1) reliance by the couns on C rime Control Values
2) t he impact of stereotyping
3) the assumption o f triviali ty in the Lower courts.
4 ) Aborigiml perceptions of the court environlllelll.
Reli ance on Crime Control Values.
Onc of the faelOl'S I find most dis tressing is the speed oflhe process.
In o nc hearing I witnessed, in less than te n minutes the magistrale
had made a decision and sentenced the defendenl for an incident of
peuy theft. As sla led by H . Packer in , 111' Limits O/Crimillnl
Snmlion the aim of the crime cOllrrol process in cri minal eflicienc},.
It was not en tirely clear whe ther the yout h had commi ll ed the
offence o r nOl, the ro uti ne nature of these cases denied an o PPOrt u nity fo r wider investigation of the maller. As a result of the huge
backlog of cases and lhe growing crowd oftcnse defendants waiting
in lhe gallery, the magistratl: seemingly found it more logical to succumb to the pressures of maint ai nin); efTiciency O\'er the fulfillm ent
of justice.
It was quite appa rent frOIll my eoun visits that police cl e arl~' monopolise p roCl~edings. In ma n)' instances the cases hinge(l o n the po licics word versus Ihat of the acc used . Onc oflicer eve n m~d e Ihe
rel1l~rbble st~ l ement that the defendant was likely to have CO IllIll mined the offence because it w:\s quite common for mller you ng
Aboriginals to commit acts of l:lrcl'ny ill the ~rea. Hy 1ll:lking slLch a
bro~d , stereotypical statement the offi(er had stigmat ised the ju\'enile, as 'j ust another criminal Aborigiml' and in the process magni fied the presumption of guilt. It seemed as though Ille police suspi cion was enough to predetermine the result of the hearing. Parker
suggesls that as the police ha\'(' a vested interest in the proceedings,
they seck to ensure speed and finality . In my vil'w il is a dan1!erous
p rsop ec l to allow police dominat ion of procel:d ings where
Aborigi nals ha\T no assu rance or opportunit y to properly defend
ourselves. O f four Aboriginal dcfendmt~ I witnesscd, it ~eell1ed to
me that all had fd t a pressure to plead guilty. In ~impk terms it was
as though the)' should plead guilty ami get the matter O\'cr and
done wilh . In the word s of Parker, -thc courts tendency of closing
ils eyes to factllal probabilities is normatke and kg~l" .
~nd common pheno menon of\he Crimc co nt rol Modd
is the tctlCk ncy for the ext.reme pressurc of emcienry to over-ride
and hcnce de ny judges an opportuni ty 10 Illake an informed determination of the wide r socialjellvil'Ontlll'rllal prob lems th~t m~y be
f.1 red by an Aboriginal per.>on befme lite ( ourt. As aforementioned
tllan~' of the cases included various falbcious judgements concerning
Aboriginal peopk and their so ca ll1ed -predisposition for crime".
Aboriginals arc not any more criminal th~n any other group in society. Ye l il is a h istory or repression and su bjegatio ll th~ 1 have
impacled on the Aboriginal life course acting as a ca talyst for crimirul activity. The Roral Commission into Aborigina l Deaths in
Custody d iscovered tha t Ihe phenonolllellon of such d isproponionale num bers of Aboriginal deaths in im:arceration had a hasis in the
accumulation of a histoT)' of appalling neglect and hOSl ililY on the
individual.
A daunling
The Impact of Stereotyping
Judges and magistales often look little or no accoullI of aspl'Ct S of
the dcfe ndant 's life . Magisrra ll's were 100 interested in clearing the
court lists ra ther than allowing their semencc to att empl 10 accom mo d ~ t e th e derendan t 's history :I 1Hl pre se nt ne e ds. Wh en
Abori gi n ~1 defe ndants arc involved it is specific~lly impo rt:lnt \0 put
panicular convictions in some kind of perspec tivc . OtiC of the ma gistrates amempled 10 do Ih is by asking the ddcndatll a few simple
questions about their background . Too o ften Ill:lgistrates simpl)'
employ ' factory line justice ' . When Aboriginal people arc continu:tll~' appearing before Ihe coun for simil;lr offc ncc~ n 'e!)' time aild in
the process accumulating a vast crim in:ll rccord there shou ld be an
01\US on the magistane to gi\·e sentences that are appropria te and
beneficial. This method is clearly nOt excl u~i \·e 10 Aboriginal people, most magistrates take into consider:u io n Olher char3cte risl ics
pan icular to a defenda nt. The dim:rence being th3t the nl 3gislrate
considers th e defendants Aboriginality as a faCIOr. As a result of the
Crime Control Model's over emphasis on minimising occasions for
ch311enge and reliance solely on the conCTCle f~CIS o f cases, magisIr:nes rarely consider that an Aboriginal defendant;
• may have had no formal education
-*
• may have been forced to live in unhygenic conditions
• may have sutTered intense psycholoical trauma as a result of being
taken away from his fam ily under me Aboriginal Protection Act
• may have been continually channclled from onc despotic institution
to the nex!.
As a res ult of these factors and a lack of propcr socialisation
Aboriginal pe9p le arc likely to harbour a dcep distrust for White.
Authority. Many have never experienced love, cooperation o r
responsibility yet only know su\'servicnce, dominance, rigid discipline,
conformity, repressive dependance, hum iliation and fear. When in
court many of these inherant fears arc triggered and intensified, the
forum is often perceived to be the personification of all that West ern
domination stands for. Clearly many judges refuse to acknowldedte
that the above mentioned factors have a relevance today, yet as is
shown by death.~ in custody the effect of history is still a reality.
Magistrates must con isider the etTect that their sentences will have on
the individual and on the whole Aboriginal community. They must
not ignore the considerations that go towards explaining criminal
occurrences and they shou ld act in such a way that prevents agf3vatio n of the problem, punishment of otTensive behaviour achieves litte.
h is true that sentencing standards dearly contribute to the present
over representation of Aboriginals in prison, Counteractive tactics
should be used by magistrates to restore self reliance, respect and
independence.
The Ideology
0' Triviality
Although the media often pays little attent ion to the lower courtS, it
is here that the vast majority of Aboriginal defendants appea r on
charges o r va rious mino r offences. It is assumni that b..:caus..: the
mallers arc disposed or summarily they arc trivial. MeBarneelle confirms this view when she states "'That the idea or triviality pervades
the Iowa ranks or the criminal justice srstem. Many orthe recognisable f.1cto rS reqUlsitc In due process ;lTe CkM!r not present, despite
this tIll· pcnalti~·s and lhe court o.:perienCl: aTe quite definitely not
trivinl fix Aboriginal ddi.:ndall1s. Th~' issll~' of triviality is clearly subjCl.:til·l\ f<H the \lr b;l ll Aboriginal popubtion minor ofli.:nces are the
b:me of their exis t ~·nee . OffelKes such as the drunk alld disorderly
vagmllcy, dd:1lI1t of fine and offensive language arc commonly used
by the police to harrass them as a target groups. The paradox or the
situation as pointed out by 1\olcBarnett is that the ofl·enees may be
deemed trivial ye t not too trivial for co ntinu ous proseCluion.
l-I:!wkins and Morris also point out that the prosecution of suc h
otTence is a tremendous waste or resources. The court experieneee
itself is not trivial, it may be for those who simply sce it as an involvenience, ret for those who arc unaware or the language and rormat of
committal proceedings il is an orde:l1. A~ Carlen highlights , "'it is
apparent that the law operating m inor otTences is suspect~. My
observatiun of procedure ror these minor otTences is supported by
McBarntEt when she states "that the marginality o f legality in lower
COU rt~ goes unfettered. "It is apparent t.hat the magistrates and judges
continue to give unnecessarily (xcessive sentences in order 10 deter
future crime, t.hey fail to realise that the etTect is to create a 'revolving
writteK by i'('lIIieK Miller
d<Xlr synd rome' that becomes a vicious circle. Ibther than using the
law 10 punish the problem it wou ld be advamageous to lIse more welrare oriented sente nces, an example or this arc the provisions of the
lntoxiated Persons Act.
The Court Envi ronment
Onc of the most striking feantres of local court p roeesses which I
have observed is the etTect that the court has on Aboriginal defendants. As arorementioned an Aboriginal's experience in court is differnl to thal or other groups in society as a result of their unique posilion in hislOl)' and cOlHemporal)' soeiety. or the ddendant s I have
witnessed some were extremely nef"l'OllS as a result or the courts tactics or intimidation, while others seemed O\<ertly apathetic seem inglr
COllvinced of their pre-determined fate and that it was simply better
to get the matter dealt with hastily. Many of the defendants hung
their heads ckarly fecling vulnerable and inferior before dle majesty
orthe court. Informed by Carlen's work, it is possible to discern the
vaious methods and structures used in the court environment to
establish legitimacy and authority over the accused. T he mechanisms
arc extremely powerful and traumatic expaience ror Aboriginl juveniles in particular.
Much or the langU3ge used in the procedure is convoluted and orten
paternalistic. Onc or Ihe magistrates I have seen became extre mely
angry when onc youth did not seem to acknowledge his presence.
This was not surp rising with such poor spacing and equipment, the
magsitrate was often inaudible. Carlen suggests that the court is a
hostile environme nt. "'It is an insti!Utiol1;ll setti ng dlarged with the
maintenancc and rep roduction or existing rorms of structuf31 dominance'" The court environment , with its ea r~'rull y eOllstrucl\;d physical and submininal clev;llion orthe magistrate ;l nd the confinemellt of
the accused in t he dock, sef"l'ed to strip the lC~·lIsed of any digni ty and
clearly delilll·atcd Ihose with power, wisdom and authorit), and those
without Thc 1ll3gistratcs intcntion was to inhibit the confi(knce of
th~· accused to sland lip for themsel!" and h~·nn· dl"lly any self presentation. Carll"ll concllTs , "The f<lTIll;ll ,ll1d ritllalislic format ;lIld the
l·a l"iO\l5 r~·pre~entariuns or aut horiry has ,1n ,1\"0."1";111 paralysing l'fli.:n"
In conclusion, mallY po1iticans and various senurs of the community
complain tltnt Aborigi nnls get 100 Illllch special treatmcnt. These
groups rail to realis.:: dtal Ilot so long ago the eouI1 worked actively
in the reverse, denying many Aboriginals any basic civil liberty. All
that is being asked is lhat magistrales be aware of the consequences of
their manncr III court , be more aware or the rok or th(' police, consider the language they use and an~·mpt to empathise with the socio
economic background and the special pressures felt by Aboriginals .
Clealy Ihe aim is to combat the distressingly high levels or incarceration and to break the crcle or criminality especiallr involving Ihe so
called tril'ial otTences. Although lhis discussion has concerHf3ted o n
the negative aspects orthe criminal justice srste m it is dear lhat many
judicial officials arc taking small SlCpS to address these problems and
reslOre some dignity and selr respect 10 Indigenous Australians.
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There is an issue in this country thl t despitl' its need lor urgent ,m e nt ion fi nds itself in a backwash of political
rheto ric, so mctimes masked in it s imemjon, and sometill1l's painfull y and i n s": l1 s il il'eI~' o pen in iL~ Lgnorance o f the
paniC\llar dynamics that d..:fi n..: th..: issuc T hl l iss ue, [ho ugh il is r..: pr..:senl..:d by myriad COllcerns, is [h..: r..:alil ), in
which 'lndig..:nous Austral ians' find t he tl1sekes, the Slnlclurll frJmework that pllces them in ,In orde r of , things'
or 'objects' .
l'oet/ acadetnic "'! udrooroo ca Us this struct ure the 'r11ast..:r's fram..: work', a t..:rm t hll denOles bOlh an implied
ownership and normalising eth os. T hll is, des pite its intemions ot he rwise, rhe ' nlJSl er's fr;} r1lewor k' alwJ}'s pre sents Indigenous Au s tr;lli,ln ~ as 'Other' o r 'Object' ,Ind no n· indigenous A ustra l ian ~ ,IS 'Su bject' ,U1d the maSter's
wa )' as the appropri al c onc
As a me[ll ber of Ihc no n- Aborig,inal communit), I had al wa )'s recognised, al least i ntell ec tu a ll ~' , t.hat Ind igeno us
Australians did not d..:scn.·e: to be: trelted as abject si mply becausc rhe)' II"cre Indi geno us Aus trJlbns. But I Wl S o nl y
equipped Ilith the skills t hJI allowed me [() represe lll ide,ls wit hi n th..: ma ~t e r \ tralllcwo rk. I t.ICked the 1001, to
recognise t he mea ns b)' which the boundJries of Su bject lnd O bject conld be re move.d .
The master's Stn lCHlul frallle work uies to brid ge the gap between Sdf l nd Ot her by encorlll',lssi ng the O t.her as an
impression ofthe master's ident it}' . This is cJlled assimihtio n. No gdp of d itTe rc ncc is brid ged lhrough rhis method
. a homogeny or sameness is encotlr:Jged lnd d i\'er.;ir y is q ud led . T he ga p can only be brid ged by the rIl l Ster
rccognising diflcre nt frameworks of undcfSllndi ng, and re:cognisi ng how the)' hel p to dctermine the wa)' in which
people l fe placed and place thernsdvcs in those ditlc rent structllfal Ir,Hllcworks. The people t hal bri dge t he gap
I'o~Jl be Ihose Ihat Cln remove the bou nda ries of Subject and O bject, or It leaSI blur those bou ndarics.
The rnastc:r's IralllcII'ork IS o wned by him; lIIJSler o n to p, l nd the ddined calego rics, ~o rnetirnes inlerchangeable
depending o n dte SiU!alion , below. Mudrooroo concepltrJ liscs !l J~ J pyramid . It i, l striCt hierJrch y, o nc that most
models of Anglo- Australiln cll lturl' re.semble . The mast er beliel'C' thlt all Iha t i~ requ ired whc n approachin g
' black' probkms is to provide Indi genous Au ~nJli,Hh wil h t he \()oh \0 plJce t h e rn~eh-es on a hig ha lel'cJ of the
pyramid. T he masl er nn'er JCCCpb Ih ,ll Jn l' " Iher stnll.'turallralllewo rk ofu nder'tl nding need, to b..: cOllside r..:d
when appro Jching ' black' prob1c rm ~o when Ihe mlstcr\ ~o l !lljon~ fa il beecHlse he h:J~ t:lil ed 10 recognise Ihe uux
of the pro blem, it just sen.'cs 10 eon!irlll t hc worst of t h~' n\J ~ tu' , c:.~ Jle:ctJli()n~ of Indige:nou, AUM ralla n,
Mudrooroo, in his descrip tion of I n d i genou~ :\ ustraliJll kinship systems, b die\"c~ thll the mode of relations hip that
exists i~ fu ndJ mentally diflc re11l to thJt which CJn exi ~t wilhrn the Mrtl(tu rJ I Iramework o f t hc pyramid . For
Mud rooroo , t h..: stnr ClUra l fralllcwork thal rllLrturn I ndigeno us Auslrali,ln kinship s}'s tem ~ can be more easily
tho ug ht of ,IS a rre..: \\; Ih spre:ad int; brJn c h~~ : n"<.:l)·thint; is a P,lrt of thJt [ree whether it is Ind igenous :\usl rJliJm'
relarion ship I\;th t he land or with each oth er. T hu ~ Ih l" StrU( Wfl' i~ in he:rcIllI), resist J nt If) Ihl' producl ion of
Subject/O bjl'ct re b ti o nships, 1e,ld;ng to obvious problc !ll~ .
I do n' t expect t hlt till' bo und,lries of Su bject and Object can be blurred by thi~ me nial explana tio n of d illcfcllt
StnJClU rl ltrlr1le\\,orh . And to introd uce, ex pand , Jnd concJulk t hese co ncepts in th is lo rm is tu lie el'e:r)'t hinf!, into
neat parcels or consump tion whic h, having passed Ihro ug,h the ,lppeJr,lr1ce of co rll'crn, are: qu ickl y directed \()wlrd
thc cnd of t he que ue. But ma S l e r~ , if 1 ( an hJve: I'our ,l1Ienuon fi fr jus I one rl10 Illerll , wh,lI I Wlnt i, \0 blur vour
boundaries of Su bject and O bject. An d when I e nd this , it lI"ill cnd lI'ithollt the tOrlll,l1 ;1 l',ld e m ic/j()Urn ,l h ~l1 c conclusion, because III'Jnt t hose bounda ries 10 re main blurred . I don' t wan\ \0 be: dec..:pt ivc in my met hodology, J nd
that is why I ha\'e stated my imem ions J I Ihis puint.
I want to emotionally involve you in a story. I want to tell you
about a man named Mal colm Charles Smith •••
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-'
the story of
Malcolm Smith
c
C/
'J
h-bIroIm Ol.,rles Smith was born in 1953, the son ofJo<: and Gbdys. He spent thc first 11 }'C:US orhis
life in D3t<.-1011, south,wcSt run! NSW. 1hls time ....'aS charJaciscd tJ:" a ccmin nomuIity .. l\tlkolm was
ham' and IOI'~..d. When Malcolm was II he stoic a pushbikc I\;th his brothcr Rdx:n. EI'CIl Ihoo.lgh his
6ther n.1urnoo the bikes he was told that the boys wOl~d have 10 go to coun. Jac wcnt 10 mll1 ~N to
sce his lx.r,os being taken aWly.
This 1I'aS diflbull from whitc kids being n.-prinunded by the mln, or <..-..·en punished by the COlIl1.
Welfare and the police didn't tcJI Jac when: the bo).'S II-en.: going. For the flmily, that w~s it, thc...;' \\-en.:
gone, TIle wdfin: n.-port SI........ mcd to SlY more about the funity than the incident, ....;th the report con,
t:tining SI........ rring.!y unimponant dLT.J.il~ about the case; "n<.--g1CCled chik! ..impropt:J" attention lxOtL5C he
hed in a tent. .. he w;:mden.-d ... II"35 in ~ diny condition"", On the 10th M:Jy, 1%5 Maloolm 11"35 scm to
KinchdJ Bo)'S Home, 1500 kilon ....
away. Maleolrn's f.unil)' 11"35 nOltold where he 1I"1'l, ln the words
of Ridurd Fr.mklin, a Il.oral Conulll\.oon inl"CSIigatOf: "life 1I",l.~ changing fOr thc:sc ba,"!i .. tOCy II-en.:
going into J 1I"0rld where nlies.1ild n.-gulalions rcplacl.u 101'\: :md affl.'Crion".
~}'stcl n . TIle pi)'Ciu:uric n.-pons in f;lol said th:!t he was: "ccrtninly slow and dldl,
an)' brains that hc had ru\'c been dcstrortx! by alcohol"'.
"-'bleohn 11;15 now nlCfCl)' a mmlocr in the incarcCfJtion S)"Slell1,
While l\tlkolm WJS in prison he n:ccivl:d 3 kner thJt his sisr.er~ 1\,1;g)', "'as being hit around b)' a nun
n:un.:d Teny l\:rm'll. So 111K'II MilcoI1l1 SOl 011' (If prison, hc met TO:rI)' Pen:ival in ;1 pub. Thl)' talked
for a "hile and lhen th"-1' went (Jutside. fo.blcolm hit him and Terry wcnt dOllTI. Teny's head hit the
CClllCJlI ...and dicd ofa brain luenx.IIl·hage, When I'e~' SlW him, she Slid: }'Oll killed n~' baby's 6ther
, \\tlO'S going to look ~ner my bJbr " rOll'1\' not n~' brother any morc - )"Oll're no good - leavc 11':
a101le~, For MJJoolm, the only I'copk tlut nl:Jnt .1n)1hing to him on the oul!!ile hJtlU him for what
he lud done . When he \Icm imo g..ll~ this ti111e, thl"1\: \\;J$ nothing lor him.
're;
yc;lIs (It beinS '<.-UIIClt<.--d' at Kincheb, allth~t the lll.1n.1g<.l" of Kinchd3 said about him
"taking into accouJ1l Malcohn's IJck Ofa(;ldelllic qualificatiolls it is diflit.,~ t to n.'CCJrlHllcnd an)1hing
to Ihe lilWrc ror him". He lI"35n't scru homc; he w.1.~ seJ1l to Sydnl.j', a you ng bo).. lI;thOllt the ~Is to
.Illr"lT.·C in ~n enl;mnmL"I1I that hc'd IlI.."\'<.-T kllOllTI ' innocent and illitCfJtc. He w;,\.~ Slill .1 W.1rd of the sute
so <'-"\'ef),hing he did 1I"3!. r<.-ported. He Jr.·ed in a boarding homc in Pt1enham, It \\'l.~ June 1970.
Malcollll stole J l-...... d,1I tOr hi~ pmhbike, and unr"-l)I"CSCnted in (Olln he 1I",l.~ plact-d on prob.ltion for a
pcricxi of 12 n"KlIuhs.
/ \l thc cnd ot 5
II".IS:
a~'c
by tl:lture -
But people \\110 kill'\\' him d~lx-d him difii..Tenily. KL"'lll Williallls s:I)os: "conl'cISations lI;th him
11."\'ol\"<.-d around intelligent thinw; . not eduClt<.--d thing;, but intelUgellt thing.; '~bout life .. he liked 10 t3ik
about an. - he used 10 paint ;ill the tin.:". Wetld)" Lines, an occupational thCfJpist. at LonS B.Jy Gaol
bclk"\'cd that though he cxhibit<.--d.ill the signs of an insriruoonaliscd person, it was his an tiut COIIllCOt-d
him to his emotioll5. Blit rou COl~dn't atford 10 be emotional in prison to sunT.1:.
BUI M.lIcolm louoo Sl\"ioo.lI"lo .. well, ~liOltn. of a~. He st3J1<.--d 10 u1k about religion and forgiveness.
FIX};iI'en~ W;J$ coming !tom rdi)ti(lu.~ p..:oplc. 1~"'1:n:.nd Rcg O.uk rcnl:mocn:.d meeting lIilll an
erl111ll~i.l<;[ic ,lIld eIK-emtl yllllllt; nl.Ul .1.o;kint; him ifhe lud nny I ,ll~ of the bible. He g,.lI'e l\uleolJllIJPes
of fo,·IJth<.-"\I·'s go-pd. f\.Uthew, (9.29) <,J~~: "if thy ri~ll (j'e otli:nds tht"C, pluck it OUI and throw it away
it is IXlIer for th('C to 10-..: onc p.m of thy IxKly than tOr the IItlok: of it to be t!trollll into hclr.
Shortly atier, MlIcohn's job was dUJ1SL-d. He was pm in an ollicc. lI.bkolm aJllld n'\ read or write .md
he startl'(l IiLrning up bte and then bter lost his ~*'. Losing the job nll.'3nt thJI he hJd bn:.JchlU the con·
ditions of hG. pl"ub.uion and bn:Jdling proOOtion I1ll',1I1I that MalcoIm was sent 10 the ilOfOriOIlS Mt
Pcrung Tr.uning Gem1\:. Mt Pcnang was nOl abOut1raining it \\':b about OCOJr>ing time and nlJin·
'<lining control. Minor oflellccs \\U'c puni~hl-d \\;th lX1)'S being placed on the 'Holy Stone'; a rka: of Kt"\;n WiIIi,Ull\ \.l)"S: "I\lal Sl.1nl-d p.unting ,",cnD out of the bible nnd t,lIking Jbout b'tult Jnd l;lIking
sandstone that tIK"Y had to mb IxIck :ll1d fOl'ward . $.llUniay rnoming-; \\\l"C spent di~ng lip the fidds Jt atxllll the til1ni~' ...and onc ni~t wc 1I",.e \\';l1chint; -1\' \\ith(ll11 wtLnd and he's jUIllpt..-d Slraigll1 up J.lId
grabbed me by the hJnd .. ,Malcoim was
,'.It Pcn.ll1l:' k)f no ahcr n:ason
gOlle - he ,,",IS cl')ing, [ could ~ee he W~
10 occupy time - nothing \\'.1\ e\'cr
gone · Jnd he said 'do you kllOW who I am.l'
plJntcd. ,\ ::.lin the r..:ports were ~ !I
'yeah, you'n:. I\b1, Mal Smith .. 'no I'llll1of'
negative:
July
1<)70,
the
- then who lI\: you? - ,.:I'm 'esll~ Quist lnd
Surcrimcndcm rnsmi\-;cd Makolm :l.~:
I t~'e l"\'cr)'olleofthClr'llI1~~.
"3 SIJle wJrd of du ll intellige nce.
than r------------------------------------------,
...From the age 0111 to his ckaIh, 17 years later, he
While ""'lIco1lll
spent a total of 17 mondlS as a he man...
\\;l.S
at i'll Pcnang, 3 L__________________________________________...J
,lltCfl1pl'S were m.1<1c to lioo his f.unil)'.
The mt time Ihe Eunil)' m~dn't be louoo, L..."C!I though thL1' Jud onl)' nlO\'Cd 3 shon &.uriCC &0111
their oriP-inJJ addn..."\~. TIle .'>(:cond time, the farl1il). 1\\'1"C found but wcre deem!..'d not suilJble and the
third time, when M.l.lcolm was to 1e~I'e Mt l'etl~ng, all that (Ol~d be SJid was: "placemelll is not
rtqthn."d \\;th Ihe f.lIllil)'~, He \\';h SCll[ to suy \\;Ih Mn.Plaler ofSprin~d.
After 3 months of m.:cdolll he IOS! his tob and he star1L-d stealing thin,;; - small, il'l.'lisnificafl! thin,;;.
Again, in (OW' no lall)'er 11"35 pr<)\;(kd. He was told th3tlxxh his PJTI:IlIS had died 1.."\1:n though Jac \\".IS
srilJ afu"C.
In 1971 he II;J$ SCnt to the TamwOT1h Boys Home. J\rbloolm's expericnces lIith Ihe other institutiorl5
could oc'n:r IU,"e pn.p.tn.-d him fOr T~llJwonh. llle ba,-s lived in cells, thl1' could only speak to each
OIher for 10 l1imllcs in the morning and 10 minutes in the afi:ernoon, and C\UI then that was not a
right but a rmilcsc to 1x e.lJlled. TIlC only tinlC they couk! speak. at o(\lCl" tirrx:s II"JS when they 1I\'1"C
spoken to by .1 staff n':lllber and ifthl")' wanted to speak to a sraff member they hld to come to atten,
tion nodoscr dun 6 fcc..1 away and look at me suff n-cmbcr's fCClas tix.-y spoke . Punishmenlli were aud
and oftCnccs inchKkd such thing; as srraying &om a staff m::mba's 1Cct,
In 1972 Malcolm found that his mt her was afu·e. All he thought about \.1'35 getting home, When he
horne he Wl'l 19, lnitiaI.Iy, all he wanred to do was spend:as rruch time as possible \.11th
his famly, but it soon bccunc that it was nO( 3S easy as it would seem, espcciaD:y alia almcN ten)-c::ml of
institutionaJsi3rion. Fer 9}~ Makolm hadn't sc:cn his farr1Jy. In those 9 years he hadn't been taught
10 integrate bad:. into society . He Jud only been taught to be angry. In 1973, Malcolm, sriII.",ithout
cnployrnCllt, stole tv.-o suitcases and a m:.dial kit.. He was ~oIo:i, but now he: was in the adult pcnal
CI'tJIruaUy came:
Soon after fo.UkoIm lril-d to gouge his L')"C
out I\ith his hand. lie 9.1m,,-dl-d in blinding hinriclf. Kt"\1n \\~lIiams dc;m1x.-d him: "in prison he 11"35
al1l'3)'S oyin!; t31king about ICSlI'> .. pri..oncr; IIwe laughing at him - 'he's O"Jckint; up' - till;' didn't
und<.-"JSmnd IlilY". Nor did the ~ycholoSi 'lS and the r~:dlbubts, lnd thq. didn't nukc anr rc.JJ dlilft to
undcn.und. l\b/collll W.lS IUtmd bter in the j"lf'J )"er posture I\;th his throot cm. He II'JS pUce<! in the
'obSCfvation' \I;n& of Long ItJr. ainic notes tOr the 11th December 1982 g:I1C; "tried to gouge left
"-)'e ~g.ain - bi/.lm.' bchJI10llr - b.lngs heJd agairl\t w~1I .. rcligiOlL~ ddll<,lorls " rcfilSC\ n.:dicltion .. bdil."\'C'i
he is in hell ;\nd sltOltld be k:ft to lunn himsclj". K1."\in \\~!li,l1ll'i belil"\1:d (hnt ifhis tamil). had said 'I,,:
fOr£i'.·c ~"OU l\tll' he'd still be a1r."C. But ,\Wcolm's r., nul)' \I~ rK."\"Cf notili<.--d of\ltut was happening.
Thq' wen:. nL"\l..T given the chance 10 forgr.1: him.
On 29th Dt.."CCmber 1982, soon after hc " 'as released from the 'obscI"I-auon' wing, whilst Malcolm Jud
been painting, he IIUlt into a toik..1 - Julf a minute bter a piercing scream 11"35 heard coning from the
cubide. He I\",l.~ fOllnd kIll-dinS 0I."cr the toik:t: lI;th a paintbrush stabbl-d through his lefi: eyc. Only the
mCl31 sheath and hairs 1I"t;1\! protruding. He Wl'l hc.mltosa~' son ....'1hing like 'oh god'.
On 5th JanUJ1)' he was pronounccd dCJd.
From the age of 11 10 his death, 17 yc:lfS later, he spent a total of 17 months as a m.-c nl.lJl, If I ;\Ill to
conclude this I'D use Knin Williarns' words again: "how is it that a talented pason could be: told the)'
werc hopdc:ss - the S)"SIC11 sholdd be held 3cCOllnuble". Fort."\'OY n"nllX!:llt that they dictllcd the c0nditions ofltis life they should be hdd accountable. IndigcnOlIS AlNr.l.!iam h3ve continued to die in prison
since the cnd of the ~-aI Comnission, and as yet: no-onc has been held accounmblc
... .
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Aboriginal
health
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- in a state of neglect
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The World Health Organisation .~llggcst that Aboriginal health i.~ .~o bad
that there arc not enough carcgoric.~ to c1assily the st:nc of health. The
mortality and life cxpccrancy statj.~tics arc staggering and while the government has acknowledged the shame of Aborigin:ll health , nothing as
yet has been done on a g r:t~S roots level.
Aboriginal and TorTes Strait Islanders have long recognised thar the standard Wcslan biomedical approach to health care i.~ not appropriate for
the cOI1lIlHlIliry. Colonisation and the legal fiction of ItTrfI lIullius, with
the
"Many r emote A bo riginal communities wh e r e
s helt er and living st and a r ds are so low as to be
unclassifiable."
conseq uent di.vcgard for rhe rights and cu lLUrc of Australian indigenous
peoples, an.: at the root of their most c urrenr health problems. Poor
health is directly rdated to dispossession of land and denial of political
and civil rj ghl.~. The Aboriginal tnditional view of healrh Cllcomp.lSses the
whole oflifl: and the cyclical concept of "I ife-death-lifc". Health does nor
just mean the physical well -being o f the indi vidual but rcfer.~ to the .~o cial,
emot ional and cultu r;ll \\·ell -bcing of the whole comm unity.
NACCHO played a fundamenral role in the inquiry of the Royal
Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. In partnersh ip with governments, NACCHO conrribmed to the N;lliot) ;l l Aboriginal Health
Strategy Working Party Report 1989, endorsed by the Joint Forum of the
Australian Ministers for Health and Aboriginal Affairs in 1990.
Unfortunately, the intent of the report has been defined by governmellls
and cenai n individuals ,llld the consequent scma nrics and rhetoric of rhe
Report have ensured that tbe Repon has llot been implemented in its
true spirit. Panicip:trion, for cx:tmple, has been misinrerpreted as meaning
rhe creation of 'advisory cOl11lllinee.~' rather than as faci litating the provi.~ion of self:deterrniDatioll through the provision of appropriate resource.~.
The piecemeal appro,tdl to impicmemarion and funding has perpetuated
the f.1ilings of P;ISt go\"nnllleIlt policy, ensuring that Aboriginies cannot
be self:determining in health .
At the present' time there :lre only two Aboriginal doctors in this coulllry
working in the COnHlll1l1ity. There arc, howe\'Cr, over twenty Aboriginal
medical .q udellls studying ,lI1d on their way to becoming doctors. Thi.~
nevertheless presen ts ,\ problem in the community wh..:rc they <Ire yearning for Aborigin;11 doctors, where ,lll empathic rdationship already exi .q~.
At the saml: timc though, the Curriculu m Design Project Team is developing a pmition paper Oil the vision for future medical training. [t will
examim· the principal knowledge, .~kills and :I! ritudes required for a doctor to work with indigenous patients, induding an undnM:mding of the
definition ofwell-bcing, the historical realit), and the cultural imperati\·es
ofrhe Aboriginal ;lIld Torfe., Slrait Islander community. The phi!moph~'
will involve ,1 hulistic ,lppruach 10 community and individual health
asse~smell\s, with the d(Ktar working a.~ a member of the a (e;lnl , cumid-
Good health for Aboriginal people relics on an interconnecting system of
land and spirit, body and mind. An elder of the celllral desert tribes of the
Northern Territory has explained it in lerms of a living interrelationship
of culture (land-language-law ) and health ( mind -body -pl;lce ), in which
an)' .disturbance of onc h;IS a negative impact on the other. So it is that
infringements of community or spiritual laws ma~' cause spiritual,
"Co lonisation [is] at the root of their most curemotional or physical illness in Aboriginal people. This is 110 less
true of urban Aboriginies: the idea that the), arc somehow "less rent health problems. Poor health is directly related to dispossession of land and denial of political
Aboriginal" reflects a lack of understanding.
and civil rights."
The three pronged attack uf coionis,u ion on Aboriginal people namely, the imroduction of new diseases, the dispossession of
ancestral domain and the application of assimilation policies - cominues
to have a devas t;lIin g impact 011 this complex balance. It has Idi
Aboriginal people in a state of disease, despair and social disruption, with
no spiritual an chor to slow the process of decline . i\kmbers of the
Aboriginal con1ll1unit)' lack equity in life choices and arc excluded from
political decision making as they arc perceived to lack the ability to underst:lI1d . Feelings of disempowermcnt, I;lck of self-esteem and depression
prevail. T he alarming health statistics arc there fo r us all to sec.
Aboriginal health is a maller of sovereignry as much as a matter of ser.'icc
ddivery. Clearly, the most appropriate way to deli\'er health care is in the
holistic term .~ familiar to Aboriginies Themselves - ie. cu lrurally appropriate health care. The challenge for the medical ptofC.~sion is TO develop ;I
new philosoph y of care which allows for an understanding of the politics
and cultural imperati ve.~ associated wirh Aboriginal health issues. Such a
policy should adopt the World I-l ealth Organisation's definition ofhcalth
:IS "the state of complete physical, mental and social well -being and nor
merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
There have been some positive changes; most importantly, the creation of
the Aboriginal communiry-controlled health services, the fi rst of which
was established in Rcdfern in 1971. Today there arc over 90 such scr.'ices
throughout the country. The), provide effective primary health care in its
true spirit, affording sclf-dete rmination in health [Q over 200 00 0
Aboriginal people. The peak representative body of these sen'ices, the
National Aboriginal Communit)' Controlled H ealth Organ isation ( NACC l-I O), has forged a new partnership between comm unity-controlled
health sen'ices, the private sector and government departments.
cring, with the p,nlcm, rhe implications of decisions for the patient, the
community and the provider.~ ufhealrh ca re .
The medic.tl comultation .\IH)ldd provide options and a clear plan r,lIher
than a did:tctic .'>et of order.\ developed from a non-Aboriginal biomedical
per.~pecli\"e 011 healTh. The doctor ~hould understand his or her role, the
rok of other providers OfllL'.lltlt care and the pressures and problems that
each member of rhe team fac e.'> in everyday work ( eg. rhe role . . of
Aboriginal liaison oOicers ;md Aboriginal health worker~ ).
The curricululll will .~el a recipe for the de\leloplllerit of loc;ll course~ la
allow for local needs and culrural variation across Australia. It will recognise that, while Australia n ind igenous culture has common themes, it
remains hCh.:rogcneous and h;1s certainly never been lo.~t in the :lnemptcd
proct·s.~ of a.~simiJatiO!l.
Above I have discussed SOIlll' of the political and social ramif1cations on
Aborigitlal health, and some measures used to address the problems, but
let me now add some insight into the diatribe of horrors that arc all toO
prevalent in the community.
Not only arc there epidemi c proportio ns or some diseases in the
Aboriginal communit)" both urban and non-mban, they arc in all categories ranging from specific illnesses like diabetes, glaucoll1;1 and tubercu losis through to mental illness and HIV/ AIDS. It is common to find
individuals amicled with multiple illnesses, most of them chron ic.
Many of the prob!cm .~ in remote areas arc attributable to third world living standards,which include contaminated water supplies and lack of food
•
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"At the present time there are only two Aboriflinal doctors in this country working
in the community. There are over twenty Aboriginal medical students studying and
on their way to' becoming d octors."
frOIll land thar was at onc lime rich and susl:'l inablc, but no w eroded and !ecched. This is the case with rnall)' remote Aboriginal cOlllmunities where
shelter :lnd Jiving standards arc so low as to be u]lCl:l.~sijiablc.
Not to mention the people from Maralinga where radioactivity has contam inated all of their country, where they rcly on the land for su rvi"3!.
Tragic:!lIy, the commu nity 3rc not surviving - most deaths caused by cancer from radio.1ctivity. Many ofdlc remOle problems arise from the industri·
alisation of the land, however, there is reluctance to recognise this f.1Ct or provide compensation to provide the people of Ihe areas the essential
resources necessary for survival. Also in remote areas the delivery of health care is quite poor due to lack offunding .
To look ahead there first has to be an acknowledgement of the historical significance and the cncct tha t this is having on Aboriginal health . Then
through culturally appropriate means there m llst be the delivery of health that encompasses the holistic model ;lIld reaches Ihe grass roots level. Not
juSl another inqu iry so a politicia n ca n go out and sce how bad the problem is (remember Graham Richardson ), acknowledge the necessity to do
something then spend millions of dollars com piling a repon which cannor, because of its context, be implemented.
Ikalon, N. ( 1994 ). Aboriginal heJhh 1nd
J
new mfrimlum fOf nlfJI dOCtof§. Mfdicn/ j Ollrl/n/ of A II!lmlin. 160 ~
WHO. ( 1995 ). International primary heahh (.Ife. Geneva.
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VITAL STATISTICS
The frightening reality
at bondi
TEN DOLLAR
o
'"
nun
CO
ATTHE
ealuring
:;;....,
It
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life expectancy among Aboriginal women is up
to 15 years less t han for Australian women.
•
life expectancy for Aboriginal men is up to 22
years less than for Au stral ian men.
•
More t han I in 10 Aboriginal people suffer from
diabetes.
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Aboriginal infant mortality is still more than 2
times higher than that for o ther Australian chi!
dren.
•
The incidence of trachoma among Aboriginal
children is 20 times higher than for other
Australians.
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TWD fREE DRINK VOUCHERS & fREE ENTRY TO COMEDY
BEACH ROAD HOTEL · BONDI · PH 307247
Medital
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Onc of the mosl hcartbn:'1kinS :,,"<1 shameless examples of ethnic cleansing. oPPI\..'SSioll.
cidc and ap;mhcid \\"3S the deliberate 3bdu~-[ion of :\boriginal children and their c~ .~. ~.-, ~
gr.aion whel'\.: the Gove rnmenT$:IW fir.
In ISS3 the New South \Valcs go\'..:rnmcnt established the Aborigines Prorc,'clion Board
BO:l.Tll). Its m:tin responsibility was for t.he Il.'Lllo\'al of many Aboriginal childr..:n.Thc
h3d no specific power until the enactment of Ihe Aborigines Prolc.:tion Act 1909, \\;Ih
ame ndment in 191 5. 11,e Act gll\'(" the Board the right [0 tilll cuslo<ly and control
child of ,In)' Aboriginal person if it was dcd dcd tlut such JIl aniol1 was "in the imcr<:slS
.::hi1d" , A court hcaring was nor 1l..-cC5S<lry. Th..: Hoard gained its powers by cm!»r!;.ing. on
public camp:l.ign which sought to com'inte the public :md decision n\;'Ikers that bc.ing
Aboriginal pal'\:llt in ilsdfwas ncgligen t.
Alt hough the Boom wen! through name changes ifS policies didn't, and the theory offoro:C'd
assi milarion re mained. The Honourable Paul Haslllck, 1'1 !ember of Padiamelll ~urcd in 1953
the r.l tiooale of assimil:uion polky w~s:
"their (Aborigina l people ) fUlure ti~""S in ;"lSM}CbllOn widl us. ,md
they must either associ:l.\e \\ilh \IS 011 st".\nd a"rds that \\ill gl"e them
the filII oppornmiry t"O live worthily :lnd h JPpily or lx- reduced to rhe
SQci~ 1 ~~t\lS o t"l)ariahs Of (OutcASrs" ( Rc:ul , 19S2,4)
h
m
"
A
C
po;
Ft
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cc
Al
Tit.; policy wa... e~plieitly aimed at:
I . ending t.he ide ntifk,u ion o f the n o n " tllll blood" members (Of the Aborigin,lI
populatio n "ilh Ihose dcsign3 ted ~tull blood" by isol3ting Aboriginal people
iTom our commu nirie.s :md fam ilies. and
2. reducing; t he. Aboriginal birth t;lle by removal of adok.'l<:ent~, partkularly girls,
lTom our l,.""Ommunilics.
The Annual Rc port o f tll<;" II03rd in 1921 st.ned th al "the continu:lrioo of this policy of disso-
ciatiny, the children from
':,UllP
lili: must c"C"11I\Iallr soll"e Ihe. Aboriginal proh!COl~ (Re~
1982;:0·
Takl:n from our fu111ilic:s, our ~'ullllrc, our land, our bnguage and <'ur spiritu;'lli ty thc,<>e chi
drell wcn: for..:ed inlO stt;lng~' :lnd l)flen erud .:nl'iron111eIUS. In NSW }'t)ung"r dlitdn'n Ileft :\ I
gCIll't;llly SCIll to BllOl:ldcrry C hildn:n's honH', neu Nowr.t. Bors \\""n: SCnt to Kindleb, I\(: COl
Kempscy, and girls around the age often WC"I"\." So:IU 10 COOt:"LmUIH! r;\ girls home.
.:ant
mu
Whal " '.IS it lik.: fbr thuse children wh(l wcre abdu ct\·d lnd fOri:ed HI liI'e in cull! .1nJ tunlt h)1
enl'iroll1nents~ 1\1:lll\' rh ildren \\"er~' led to bdicl'c their f.llnili~~, didn't 1\.1111 thl·m. t..Iidn't IUI{
thnn or thd r !llvth~r ami [ uher I\cn.. lk,d . In !loom" UlSI.111l'eS dlildren WCI'\: ((.Id th(\' wmd Th,
Euro' ......IIl, Indian or itllian heritagc • th . . lr :\bnrigin.ll1l"Y WJS n ever few.lled to Ihem.'Childrtl. ;\1'1
conq.lIllly n .."ch...·d ncg.ltil·c mess,lges ahout AI....,rigill.)1 culmre. AI> Re.,,\ ( I ~82: 10) stalC$:
Gel
" the pJ"\.pa!;::aoda h.ld il" surl'\·ss,·s. !\<'!ll,' dlildrel1 lct't t he home
a~h:lm",1 of thc ,'olllur \It" thdr skill. Ahorigin:a\ girl~ h.\\" sUle.! thlt they
Ilscd to cnw. Ill..: road in ,)T\!cr 10 :I\"oi;;\;"In Ahoriginal nUll lhl")'
Im!,,:ollle to believe th:ll he w:\s dirty, bntt-al • bl:lck !"
11, '
till'
IllT\
on
mg
,,'1;,. .
The ehllJren in th..: home.!>
e ulmrJ.II~·. enwtin nally, spirimaHy. p~...:h('>lngic:lll)" and ll\tti- .\U~
knuall~' depriwd . Childrcn rarci r saw Iheir pare nts, ,·oni.lCl wilh bnlther." .md ~iSf~11'> occurmi ..\be
nery kw ~e.lrs.
Ihe
Oll(~ fiftecn, the children h:l(\ to leave the homes. Children eith.::r bcr.am.:: SI-ate w.mls (11' IICIf
indcntlu...·" inlo ~apprenlkcships " . Girls became maids Md young bors st.ui nn ImtdJ. l
encourage houschold.~ w take on ~n Aboriy,in(tl m;"lid Ihe R.1.1rd .,dlleniscd in the Aumwl,.
lVomm 's Mirror in 1940 with the h..:adlil1e "TRY AN ABO APPRENTICE!". On( f;
II"h\\ did l.lk.: <10 a.n Abori);;in.ll girl boasted "n:.;x:.; h;\., h...etllllc o n,' llf the fumilr and is \I
tln"\."e of the Ihe while m:lids wc haw employcd."
•••• • • • •
• • • • •• ••••••
j
Aix.
1..:110
57 ~
t.cel
m~
\et
- • •••
• • •• •••
• •
•
•
J
a group of people fi'ol11
Coot"a.mundra gi rls
home
h \\'~ll'llInlil rhose laken away rc.lehed ad uhhood that the y~arni n s ;1I1d desi re 10 find Out
looUl their h..-ritagc ;Uld cuitllfc bcl';J.nlC strong.:r. Many haw been re united \\i th their
bmilr and ((.m mun ity. Many h:wc Ii:lund Ion:, found:l S('ns.; ofbdnnging.:I bdnnging as an
Aborigin;}l person. ~l'l any hoW'; 1101 . WOOUClI ( 1989) in his inquiry inw !.he death Ill' M.t1cohn
Owles Smith for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal dc;uhs In Custody ( RCJADIC)
f'OIIll~ OUI the dt-stmcth'c effect o f the dispc~"I1 poliC)' "the hom)r of iI. regime that fOok you ng Aboriginal childrcn, sought
to CUI the m off suddenly fmm .111 conr:u.:r ";I'h t hei r families and
(ommunilic..., instill in them a n:pUgn:U1CC ot' all thin gs Aboriginal,
;lIld prepare them harshly lo r a lill: as the lowcst k\'d of worker in
a prejudiced white communi,)" is still a living lcg.u:y amongst man)'
Aboriginals today".
In ~ddirion , the H uman
Righrs and Equal Opponunil}'
C() lllllli ~s i {) n ( HEREO C) is ':u rrcn l l), conductin g a
n;l.Iional inquiry inm th~' scpar:u ion o f Aborig inal and Toms Strnit Islander childn:n.
Th..: inquiry has be..:n ash-d b)' tJIC Fcdcrnl GO\'emmenl 10 \'xamine past laws under whkh
Aboriginal ~nd Tom:s St.r.lit Islander childn.'1l \\we fon:ibl ~r scpar.lIcd from their lamilies. con
sickr qu~'stions of .:ompensati o n , and .:):amine curr.:n l welfare prnCfices and policy. The
inquiry has I")(".:n allocated t he measl y !>u m of S 1,3 m illio n , most of it g,)ing TO.s.:t up the
inquiry. People aflccred by th..: n:m(wai poli(ics run inlt> Ihe thousands. This begs the /.jIlCS ·
tion how elli.:ni\·c can the inquiry b,: when mi ll i m all\:sour.:..:.~ ha\'c ix:el1 s.:t asidd, how serious is th e Government in :lddrcssing the wrongs whic h ha\"e beset o u r c(lllllllunil)' ~
P~uline ~!':.l..cod. raken at the ag.: of 2, ca ptures th.: th.: sense (If Aborisin~1
pocm titled T h e YC3 nlin g Of My Sou l ,
Fon~ three of the 99 deaths in custudy investi);;ated br t he RC IAD IC were people taken from
fullili~"S. l1lCse children missed OUl o n 10\''': ,identity, f.unily, Aboriginal culture and
tunmllOlty life, all of which arc rightfully thei T$.
Mooe 5111\;\'01' of th e poliq· St.llCS in Read & Edwards ( 1989:89 -90):
I th ink it~ imlxlrtal11 fQr pcClplc t o realise t hal these kids w..:re tak..: n
aw;J.}' fwm their fumi li.:s. scpar.lI..:d fonn lhdr culture. their identity,
had 10 pUI up \\;th dreadli.tl, dreadfu l things. How many of us sun;\"ed
$Jlle I Jon' l know and I rc3 Jisc why so llIan)' o f us h3w died lhrough
~lcoho1. Instead of t he slow death of ·~lcohol! tricd tile qu ick death of
pl1ls nr hanging. ! tried to kill myself. I was lonely. I was unhappy, I
\1'aJl lcd my nlOlhcr, I w:lIlred m ~' ident ity.! felt (h..:ated, I wa nted to
be me .... ...... .
'111e ledin);; was b ecoming stwng..:r.
I could no lunger ignore the ~"a lt.
SomctJling was h:appenin g wilhin me.
Breaki ng down my hidden \\".111.
To become a person complele;
A woman becOIlling whole.
Rlad:. and Beautiful ,
I{.r the fi rst time I lislen
To Ihe YEAR1\'ING OF MY SOUL.
...... .1 started a life I\;th my son , the lirst living person that belo nged to
me, thal I could s.'~' he W"J.S mine. He was the first thing in m~' lite: tha l
20. 11. 86.
~oulU look at me :md &ll' I 10\'e you 311J could hug :lnd love this ehild
,1Ild know thlt I couldn't be SCI\I aw3y or rejected, After IWC'lHy three
1"t"~D (11 being rCJcct.:d III rour lite, thi~ is prelty lipcci.11.
,
k:nt'~ Ihought often
wells tt,}.!"" in the e~~· . '''klllori~ an: sp..1rked by whilt som..: would
msignifK'Olnt l>\.· cum::l1ces. An aunt te lls Ihe stol)' of when sh..: w;l.lks dOll'n the street
bb,k t-:lJrd, shudders oftright arc s.:nt down hcr back. I1 \\'~s known in the com·
llOU around the Ihre~t uf (hilJTen being t:lken JW,I)' \\.J !'> '-':31.
unt the mem,)!)· (If being ~hunkd 311':1y in the hi ~ b13(k fllrd is utr.:mcl y I;\,id,
..""h" the hlg blJek Ford
reln\,,·,}.1 \If t\l>nrigillll .:hildren IrOn! our tiUllili.:s I\':\S akin to the kwish holo.:.lUsl
Nllr"t"mherg mals of NaZI war .:riminah. the United nations Convention ( '1\
W1\ dc\"t"lopcd, wlueh AU~II";\ha. adopted undl'r thc Genocide Con\'t:ntlon Att 1949 .
Ildclineu l\ ",J.Ct~ comnlllted \\;Ih th e intent In destroy; in \\hole or pJrt, a IlalionI
ur r"t"liginu\ ~wup" The clllw.:ntiull includes such al·tS a!> killinl:\ m..:mbcr:. ()t"
(J.lWn~ b(1odil\ or menul ha.rm, imposing Illeasur.:s inttnded tu pre\'..:nt births. Jlld
lumkrring children of une grtlUp In al\tlth..:r group. Tlw ;l.cti('TlS (If the gowmment
fon:c..1 rcmm'alllf Ahorigillal and Torres Strait Islander chi1<Ir.:1\ 1:ltls within the me;ln
."-":Id, Kt down b)' Ihc Ullltcd Natioll~ We C3nnOI Ignore this abhom:nt pcrilki in
h11U'~ Nr.d l·ClnQn. dm:clOr (If the C3.pt' York Land C')llOcil \t;1ted "el'cl)'
pcn..n \0 Ihi\ (IIUIII I) ha.\ been atlccl":u by the fi'r':cd renl\l\'.ll Ilf children" . 11 i~
In J;\pcl\'IC\\iuII Th(~ \1 hOlOok tlur land JW;l)'. tuok Clur .:hild.-.:n aw;\y.
~
~r!~'~;';'~'~'":';:t'l~,,::~g'wernmenl
tu be accountable lor Ihelr paternalistic
II
' th e \'lIiIIIlY ~lf Ihe "flhe lormer Aborigin31 Orliin:allce Act
19 18. under wll1~h d llldren were filrcihl), remnwd from their f3.milics. has
Cuurt 11le group ut" Northern Terr1tol)' Stokn G~'ller;\ti(}n arc Sl"ck":::~~::::: Inr thc d~mages bmught hy Ihe pmcc.~s (tf re mn\'al. T he High Court has
~
11\ delt~ltln
in a
There was :l.TIoth..:r part of mc;
Anot her part o f my lili.: .
;"'Iy n:lIurnl family taken al\':I)' from me:
Hidden throughout my tifr;,:,
their
I
spiritu~lity
.Ibove : 3rd n'ollllhc right, Mr A1cx Kmgcr,prillcip.ll p!aimiO' in the h ig.h
COllrt ,Klion , slIrrollnded by ,Idditional members of the ,lCtion . T,lken 011
the third day orthe h~';\ring
It H+RF:-:< F\
,·\1'11
Rtl>orl ~,
1\)[0, 1<)1:2, 192n 21 , 1<).22 B, I,)B 24
Rc~ll,I' ( 19R2 ) Th.tJi!J.)kLLGs:.ll t.r,lIi.illl~1J\c.l~cUlm~I... ~tisU.MLC1uWf\" ILi.u~"W
U!!B
In
1')69 . NSW Minuu)" lo r Aborig inJI AAJ.in. , 1982.
W",Ht.;n J.H, ( I C)IlQ ) Rerun nil thc IlltwiO' jmn the p~~!b Ite ~blcntJll ('hU b Sl1mb ,
RCIADIC. ,\(.;I'S.
•
Myth: Aboriginal people are involved in a la nd
grab
AE LilY Y
Myth Aboriginal people get special treatment
In the North ern Te rritory. the majority o f t h e land owned by
Aboriginal people is e conomica lly marginal and consists of
former Aboriginal rese rves of de sert ond se mi·desert count ry.
Form e r reserves a cc ount for most o f th e land he ld by
Aboriginal people under New South Wales land rights legislo-
,
Aboriginal people do not receive higher social securit y bene fits than ot her Australians. In relation to
special e ntitle m e nts as individuals, there are only
two are a s in w hich Aboriginal and Torres Strati
Islander people have access to special benefits.
In the area of education only 30% of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander children aged 16-17 years and
only 7% of young people 18-to 20 ears are participating in education or formal training. This compares with nat ional; rates of 75% and 40% respectively. Access to Abstudy and allowances from DEfT
has made a major contribution to improving the
e x tent and quality of education for Aboriginal
youth. Abstudy is means tested, students on the full
rate of Abstudy receive the same os students an full
Austudy. Special tutorial assistance is available to
Aboriginal tertiary and secondary students under
the Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme.
rion. The only land available for claims in Ne w South Wa les in
unalienated Crown land which ;s not required for on essential public purpose". In Quee nsland. Abo riginal and Torres
Strait Islander peo ple obtain fre i! ho ld t it le to existin g
reserved held previo usly unde r dee ds of grant in trust. In
South Austmlia, the t wo major areas o f land re t urned t o aboriginal owne rship - th e Pitjantjotjoro la nds and the Moro lingo
lands - are in remot e arid dese rt regio ns! In Wes t e rn
Australia, Aboriginal people hold land predominantly in more
remote areas of the st ate, unde r 99 o r 50 year leases.
11
Land rights legislation has bee n fru strated by t hose sta tes
Upper Houses in Victoria and Tasmania.
s
Myth: Aboriginal people and
alcohoL ..
F
In the area of housing, on 36% of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander families own their own home
compared with 70 % of all Austraiian famifies.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on low
incomes hove access to strictly means-tested concessional home loons from ATSIC.
Myth: "Aboriginal Affairs is awash with money"
The annual Commonwealth budget for the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Commissioner (ATSCIC) in 1992-93 was
approximately $788 million
Expenditure on the Community Development Employment
projects (CDEP) scheme and on Aboriginal housing and essential infrastructure programs account for approximately 60% of
this budget. From its budget ATSIC provides and enormous
range of services including: support for medical services
water supply, electricity supply, sewerage, rood funding, and
other capital works in Aboriginal communities, provision of
housing. support for Aboriginal economic development initiatives.
French
C
,
• up to 35 % of Aboriginal m e n do not
drink alcohol compare d with 12% of
non~Aboriginal men
• 40% to 80% of Aboriginal women d o
not drink alcohol compared with 19% to
25% of non~Aboriginal women.
• In the Northern Territory, it has been
estimated that 75% of Aboriginal people
do not drink alcohol at all.
s CIIEC
Japanese
The Institute of Languages is
o fferi ng special courses for
U NSW staff, students,
Alumi and friends I
colleagues of UNS W
membe rs. Beginner
and Post -Beginner
courses offered are 10
weeks in duratio n.
By comparison with non-AbOriginal people, a large proportion of Aborigina l
people do not drink alcoh ol at all and,
in some Aboriginal communities, alcoh ol
consumption has been ban ne d by the
residents.
Spanish
Myth: There is no accountability
in Aboriginal Affairs
There are few if an y are as of pu blic
administration which are subject to more
stringe nt accountabilit y req uirem ents
than Aboriginal affairs.
In ad ditio n to t he ususa l processes of
public accountability which apply to 011
publi c secto r s pend in g - se ant e
Est imo t e s, scrutiny b y the A ud ito r
Ge ne ra l a nd re leva nt Parl ia me nt ar y
committees.
5 August - 25 October, 1996
Contact the Institute for further infoonation (and ask
for our brochure for
t imetable and fee
details)_
( ) nt ~ e vt:ni llg pe r wee k 3t t he Kt: ll1ingtllll C:HllptU
0339
e·mail: Il.lAlndo llo@umw.l!fl u.1J1I
O n e of t he first de cision s o f ATSIC's
Co mmiss ioners was t ha t Aborigi na l
organi sati o ns w hich fo ile d to ac quit
grants satisfactorily would not receive
furth e r funding e xcept in excep tional
circumstances.
vox '0'
Carl (left) I don't really know eno ugh
about Aboriginal issues to know whether
t hey get special treatment.
Leah (below left) Yes, they get special
treatment... they need it to reach equality.
Israel (below) Yes, I think they do get
special treatment and I don't th ink that
t hey deserve it. They abuse the priveleges they get.. they trash housing commission places ... 1 think Aborigines shou ld
get on with it and get over the stuff that
happened 200 years ago. My father 's an
A boriginal hater.
Kate (left) They don't get special treatment,
- they are di sc rimnated agains t so much that
we are only just beginning to address the
issues. Th ere's nothing "special" abo ut equality.
Saneia: Alor of institutions treat them dif-
feren tly because they have racist attitud es
towards them.
DO ABORIGINES GET SPECIAL TREATMENT?
NOTICE OF CASlJAl VACANCY ON GAY SERVICES COMMmEE
Nominations aft im'ittd from
Sam (below): Yes,
they do, but they
need to reach an
equal position in all
aspects of society.
on tht Gay
Stn'ice~
intt l"t~ttd
tlltn to
st~l1d
for eli.:clioll to fill a casual vacancy
Comlllitfte ofche UNSW Sludc.nt Guild. All non-htt<.: rostxually iden-
ti/)'ing male members of the SlUdtllt Guild (ie, allmak smdenl5 enrolled at UN5W who
ha\'e paid thtir Guild membership ICe ) arc eligible
to ~llnd.The
commirree is responsible
for the formubtion of policy 011 m:l1tas lflcctillg non · htterosexuall)' identil)'ing male Sllldents. It is also responsible tor the coordinltion of cJ mpaigns and activities is areas anCcting the interests of non - heterosexullI~' identi/)'ing male students. Nominations lor this posi ·
lion arc declared open as of TlIesda\" 4th hUlt 1996, Jnd will close It 12pm on
11th June 1996. Nomination lorlll ~ 1, ._
" -.,. ~ rrom the Snldr-- '
Steve (above) : I'm not really
sure about th e issues - th ey ask
if you're Aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander on the HSC. But
I \ /ent to a selective school and
there weren't any Aborigines
there, so I don't really know.
Tucsd ~ "
Nominauons mllst be presented 111 p ... ", ,', t.. the StCfttJry- I'rtJsurtr "" _
be acting as Returning Offictr. Thc. Secret.1r~'- Treasurer will be in the Guild otllcn
lOalll ' 12pm on Tuesday 11th June 1996 to collect nomination tarlns. At other
h
u ..
time.~,
the Guild whiteboard should bt consulted to sce if the Secretary-Treasurer is in \he office.
rfthe Secretary-Treasun.:r is una\"aibbk, nominees should
Ica\'l~ J
note and comaet nUlll-
ber in the Secrelary-Treasurer's pigeonhok so a slIitabk ti!llt lor presentation of nomina tion forms can be arranged . Canditbles mllSt bt nomina ted and seconded by two people
who arc eligible to r Iht position bllt art not standing in the election. Im t rested men arc
ad\,ised to speak to membe rs of\he Gay Sen'ices Committee at rhe Guild offices.The posilion will be appointed at the Student Guild Council mee ti ng to bt held at 6 pm on Tuesday
Il lh June 1996 in Room 100 1, 1st floor East Wing, QUJdrangle Building (o pposite the
Guild offices). Candidatts may !;i\"t a 5 minute electio n speech 10 the Council, or may
send a written statement to be read 10 t ht meeting. All such statements should be given
Zoe (left):Yes, but I
think it's goo d because
they are in a disadvantaged position and it's
necessary in te rms of
access.
in person \0 the Secretary-T reasurer along with yo ur nomination tarm.Queries should be
di rected to:Douglas CookSecrttar y-Treasurer (Activities) 1996Student G uild, 1st Floor
East Wing, Quadrangle BuildingPh: 663 0461
I'ager: 132222 Quote No:287389
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
STUDENT GUILD
-
world war
until the
present
• " East Timor World War T wo to Ihe
Present " will be o pened by:l well·known
mcdi:l pcnonalit)' at 6pm on T hursdJ>,
20rh June <'It the Gallery space withi n t.he
Faculty or Architecture lnd Design al
UTS. H u ris 51, Ulti mo (o pposite t he Ron
Ma rchc Building). I)ctlib And rcw Mc
Naughun or ]cln.cc (02 ) 560-5563 .
• The Opono Conference o n East Ti mo r
\\~th
Timar World War Two to the
is timed to coincide with an International
Conference on East Timar (known as the Oporta
~~'!Jf~~,~n:~~I~~b~el~t~ween June 21-25th that is co-sponsored by the University of
NSW Law
Human Right~ Centre, the Sydney Univ~rsity's As!an Studies
and the Uni
--0
,~ I~~ :J~1J~~!J
Loca\lon t.ttp://"''''"W COO9-booksoop.com <l\lt
Vhat'sNtw'l Vb.lt'sCooI'1
Handbook
I
N<>\Starell
I Nttt>n<:tory l
expertS
on
Friday between 7-9 .30pm It Wallacc
l
sessio n with Or George Aditjo ndro the
Indonesiln academic who teaches
Sociology at NewC.I.)tlc Univcrsity and
Professor Pefer Care}' from Trinity
College I t O :d o rd. Registration is very
c hc~p for students ~ n d s(3IT ~nd can be
obtained befo re the conference from
Insti tute o fI m crnation31 Srudics. No. 8,
Broad war (nea r Harris ::il) or phone 330-
Technology's Institute of International Studies In conjunction
Nctscape: ( o-op Onlinc Bookshop Home Page
O\'CrsC,lS
The3t:rc (Sciencc Rd, Sydney U rn.) is
with Oporto University in Portugal. Or And.rew ~cNaughtan, a me~l~al doctor
who lived in Darwin for a number of years In which he made four VISitS to East
Timor has embarked upon an ambitious exhibition displaying the work of key
photo-journalists from around the world, focussing on the East Timor region
between 1945-1996. Some of the photographers ex hibiting will be Jenny
Groves Elaine Briere Max Stahl and Steve Cox, the latter whose work IS best
remembered for the 'horrific shots they smuggled out of East Timor during the
November 1991 "DiIi Massacre".
o_
ovcr SO invited
ElSt Timur runs from Friday 2 1- Mo nday
25th June. The opening nig.ht address on
1574. -
8
III
S<lft.... art
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• HwI.I.8t....... ......,.ftJJ1eo • .oJO.
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11
ave
minutes
•In
rea
11
time. ••
"exams don't demonstrate
Imowledge or understanding,
they favour the crammers, they
only test factual retention in x
amount of time, under pressure
and in artificial conditions that
will never be experienced in
"real life''''
There remains ,-cry link left 10 u}" about an insrirution wc hJ"c all bcmolncd Jnd
dealt \\;th at onc time or JIlO1hcr. The ll1oti"Jtional guidc~ 10 rJ~sing (':lJms and
wrili ng bel ler essays keep mnning olT the press \\ilh prolit:lb1c abandon. and ye t
most of us hJ\'c alrcad)' heard or know of the \'Jricd h:chniqucs trom personal cxpcrien' ..... . 'arrange rOUT ideas so that rOUT aim and purpose shine through, look up
pJSt papers and g<:1 J fed tor what is cxpcClcd of rOll, cra mming is good but onl~'
on cloud)' days, sur calm, answer Ihe casy questions firs!. ..' yeah, shitc And [h<'11
[hen' is the pos! -I:Xalll breakdown where the Jnswers arc swapped the egos
enforced, and where the little inklings of exa mination incf1cctivcncss slowly bubble
10 Ihc surfJ(c from multiple choiCl:/short anslI'crjdiJl,;;rJ mmatic/fill in the blanks
consciousness · 'exJ llIs don 't delllonstrate knowledge or
understanding, they f.wour the cra mll1ers, Ihq' only rest
fJctu~1 retent ion ill x ;1l11011nt of till1e, under pressure and
in artificial conditions t hat will ncver be experienced in
"rcJllife "".' So how 10 turn a 'Ocell there done that'
complaint into a fresh Jnd 1131'1')' look int o the photo,
copied world of examin ations? Talk about new Pepsi
Max, the S..l\'iOllr of burnt ,out minds and those 4AM
spells ofun5uble bl3ddcr, T here lrul)' is littk left 10 do
but re-eslJblish the facts - so t.hat ),011 coin correctly
scowl 3t Ihe gl'lphica ll)' IIlll\lre eum Jdministu tors;lS
they \'u hurc o\'er thc fi\'e-minutc alloted reading time.
For yo ur relief So th3t wc can all look at the sin tJtion
a~ it really i~ and know that it dcservcs link respect
and worry
The main problem lies in filldinl,;; an a!ternath'e IQ the
I(stin!;, nlethods Ihat wc expericnce alread y, The
main argument for Ihe examination techniques is the
tJn that it ~ee ms 10 have worked con~istend)' in the
past. so why should we go abou t (' hanging it now, it
,el"\'es itS purpose wdl , ete. Since \\'e'\'t~ Ocen raised
111 all e!l\'irOlllllent where exatllinations Jre dIe
norm. and since our society ha~ founded itsc1f (at
k ,1St Kldemically ) on ~o m e tilftli of examination,
the sheer notion ofitllJginilll,;; a sy~t em \\~tho Ul it
s~etm I.lughJble. It i) ~II dlcClive procc)s of elimination, it iden ti iie~ the b~M in ~ group lnd it\ Iweral1 cotllparJli\'c tremh, and it indicates to the
111 h degree the SlatisticJ! dlcCli\'ene,~ uf J course and t he ~13tuS of each i ndi\~dual
smdelll \,;thin that population . Not e\'el)' t e~IJbk punul\ is reliatl\ 011 the exam,
but then JgJin most \\~II almos t llways look 10 tlte fi nd}' refi ned mechanism of
en11lS that we enjoy today.
The altitudes adopted by the JCldcntic elite 10 eXJminations, and what they rcpre~ent 10 their su[us is also cvident jrom the req\liremem~ IhJ! 1,;;01 thetl1the job whether it be through 3nic!e publication, esSJ)'s or rq>ons. The eXJmination system
plaeed them where they lre, Their licld of pr.IClice is Jllowed by the exam. This
notiun. when eXJmined in isoiJtion. i, ju~t l tri/le ab~urd lnd on the whole nOt \'ery
dangerous 10 their carecn or Iheir gcneul wdlbeinl,;;. So much 50 that the disuncc
between the slu<icnt siultl g f(Jr the e-'lm ,Iud the lecmrer (let ~ not SJy teJcher
hefe ) is \0 \,lSt Jnd cal ml y objectl"e that to e,'en question the exam i~ J ~tupidity
liable 10 lose )'ou nunr tIlark~ You Jfe 1:11' mon' comforlJbk where rou afe - a percenull' figure (at best ) \\'Jtched over by unnecosJrily )eriOil' Jdntini~tra tors JUSt
gIO'\1tlg \,;th the IJim ,mid gin " (pcow-power ~t1d discipline
In light of the IInnceessll)' strc ~' of the tl1attCf, why not have ( Omputer) testing us
in !title hool.h~ like a little blood letting oft;,cl) and fil:\ure~. tmke it all multip!c
choice, req'cle all lite que~lions Into tu:w gr.lmlllJticJI formation, like the
l'sydlology dep't do (dw \ wh)' ther(' \ no pJ)[ e~,111h J" l dJbk to you ttl Open
Resel"\'e). g.1\'e u~ an tnstatltJnCIlU' re.ldoltl .1I1d J little quc'tlonnairc Jbo ut wherc
wc like 10 cat lunch and wh,lt wc Ihoul,;;ht Ilfthe ~(I"\' i,e .lttd \'oiia : t.he exam is
()\'er, It'~ ulti1l1Jtcly thc sa tlll: tnt of knowledgc, it 's ccrlJinJy more user-frie ndly,
and t\O'Otll' has to moan .thout marking piles uf eXJminJtion papeT!> bc/ore the closing datc. The objcctificJt.inn process \\~!l ue complete. nntl\ltl~ bq'ond fJcts and
fil,;;lITes has to be lJugltt , and cverybody ~ets an all -round retention score whic h
gets you discounts at job inter...iew q ueues , l-1el1 , why not till your CV with a utility score, that could well be the secrell)' desired g,oJlnfthe current systern anyway.
And SO nt.lybc we\'c left the lecturer and his skill out of the l'tetUTe_ Is that so bad?
Well. if! was teaching y'allabout mJtters of culture, I'd Ix' there HI watch )'OU as I
personall y administer till' C;XJlIl It'd led inMllting, no mJller how tempti ng. to let
some other, ignorant peoplc do the job, Epistle number o nc 101' the subtle enjoyment of exercising power. T he con tinuin ~ power of it IIn tit not changing t.he way
its administered or pcrcd\'ed . Just to nukc rOil think
RINO BREEBAART
e qualiTy and access
cl
c
n 1915 mr grell -grandmother stood outside PMliamcnt house in Sydney refusing to leave until the
concerns she hnd rega rding an equal education for
her children had bee n heard . Nanna had travelled all
the way down from the faT North Coast and was well
prepared for the battle whic h lay ahead of her. Why
did this happen! Well a decision had been m3dc b)' a
large proponion of the commu nity that only nonAborigi nal children could ;lI1cnd this school ;lIld all
Aboriginal children would allcnd a separate school.
What Nallna could nOl and would nOl l cccpt was the
fJet that the the Australian gover nme nt would take
onc ofhcr sons 10 light in the war b ut would not allow
her yo ung er c hildren 10 pHticipatc with n(lll AboriginJI stlldci1IS I t sc hool.
I
'Veil Nall"a eventually got her wa)' but only afte r a
hard fought tWO yelf banle \\~th government aut hori·
ties and members of the community where they
resided. This is a part of our fa mily history and if you
speak to other Aboriginal and Torres Su ait Islande r
families you \\~1I find the sa me type of Story repeated .
•
I
o
From 1915 we move along to 1947 where white par·
ents at Kinchela voted 38 to onc (good on the onc) to
ban Aborigi nal children mending " their" school. In
stark conlrast on the shores of Botany Bay at l..:J per ·
ouse, it was shown that both Aboriginal and Torres
Suait Isla nder fami lies worked side by side. I was
somewhat amused that the principal in the article
believed the imelligence of Aborigines at his school
was o n average onl)' onc· tenth of a point below the
a\'efage for non-Aboriginal pupils. This is somewhat
perplexing. The cb ss of 1947 was iilled with my auntS
and uncles, and sometimes when reading infornlltion
such has this the anger \\~ll slowly grow, but then people like myself C,1I1 draw O il our past and realise th ~ t
the Elikins ofthe world were more often than not 0 11'
the wall with some of their findings regarding 'intelligence'.
it was not until around i 965 ( I was 13 years old ) that
the Government began waking up and developing a
slight conscience regarding equal righ ts for Aboriginal
~ nd Torres Strai t Islander people. A select committee
of Parliament was established from both Government
and Opposition to report upon the welfHe of
Aborigines in New South Wales "~ th partieular reference 10 education and housi ng and legislative or other
proposals which were deemed necessary to assist
Aborginal and Torres Strait Isllnder people to atu in
all improved st3ndard of living.
By 1968/69 mOlle)' was beillg set aside for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people and the allocation for
education during that period WJS 5200,000 ";th
health receh'ing a paluy amount of 550,000. "'·tonc),
would not be t.he solUlion to fixing the problem but it
would cenainly assist in allowing Aboriginal and
TOffes Strait Islander 10 being a catch-up phase in
regard to education .
A~
wc mOl'cd into the 1970's a num bcr ofprogratns
began to emerge which were spccific311y gea red
towards allowing Aborigillll and TOffes Strai t Islander
participation in cd ucational institutions. In f3Ct the
UNSW through people like Hal Wooten and Garth
Neu hcim in the Faculty of l.lw provided an opening
and a numbe r of Aboriginal and Torrcs Stnit Isbnder
people to study at a uni ver.;ity where they were welcomed 3S students not just as Indigenous Australians.
Wc arc still in a catch ·up phlse. Equity hJS not been
ac hieved at this point in time. There is still along w;"\~'
to go.
Fortun atdy undn the reccnt LJbnr
Government they recognised the needs of Ab{)rginal
and Torres Strait Islander students and pro\'ided certain iitnding to assist this pasS,lge . But Jt this point in
time as \\~th 311 invol ved in Higher Education we arc
now at a poim where last year, wc elwinged J great
leap forward wc now belic\"e that t.he only progress
\\~ll be backwards.
Something else which nC\'er ccases to amazc me is the
1e\'eI ofignonnee that abounds rq;arding funding for
Aboriginal Jnd Torrcs Strait Isbnder education, This
notion of "shonk), bllck 1lI0nl!),H, is uiiJ thrown up
and tro m the most unlikely people. To these critics I
s.ly to rOil. ,Isk the question instead of providing the
Slat emeilt . The answer given mJy hal'e dr;lwn )'OU 10
a ditl\:rl!J\t conclusion.
To mc , to be able to walk into a cla~srooll1 whe ther it
be kindergarten or J Uni\'ersity lecture thcnre to sce
bOlh lndigl'nous and lion-Indigenous working side by
side is fulfulling . i\ly Nanna would be so proud as I
know people like C hieka Dixon arc who SlY to me Ihis
is l ~ucce~s "who would ha\"e though in m)' lifetime
thal wc would h~\'e Koori doctors lnd lJw}'ers·. Well
wc hnve them but not enough so the journer though long ;\ lId Jrd uollS is bcginnning to par off.
In tinishing [ would lik.: to say to nil the IlIdigenous
studcnts who pJrticipJte in th.: Aboriginal Education
Program tlunks for bein); so damned commiltl~d
because you will make a diO\:rl!lIce for those who follow in rour ii.lOtsteps. And to Pro re ssor Jnhn Niland ,
ProfCs~or Tony \ Vicken and Stanky Croker, thanks
trolll JII at the Aboriginal EdcJtion Program lor },01lT
COllllllitlllel\l during the l.ISt t\:w rears to Aboriginal
and TOrTes SHait Isl.tnder education ,11 UNSW. By Ihe
way, this is not !(Ir Brownie point~, wc truly mean it.
Ann Martin, Director,
1996 ELECTION TO FILL A CASUAL VACANCY OF
ONE (1) POSTGRADUATE STUDENT MEMBER
TO THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL
At the recent elections ro the Un iversity Council, no nomina tions
I <)96 ELECTION TO
THE UNIVERSITY OF
:,\EW SOUTH WALES UNION
130.-\RD OF DIRECTORS
The foHowing have been declilred elected as members of the
Un ive rsity of New South Wales Uni on Board of Directors for
twO yea r period ceasing at the commencement of the first
meet ing of the Board after 31 May 1998.
Aboriginal Education Program
Cl
O ne ( I ) Life Member
were received for the pos ition of one (I) postgrad ua te student member
to the UniverSity Counc il. U nder rhe Un iversity of Ncw SOllth Wa les
Act, 1989, and the By~laws, fur ther nomin ations are hercby sought [()
fill rhe vaca ncy.
Qua lified persons are enrol led students of the Un iversity proceeding
wwa rds a degree or diploma, othe r tha n a bachelor's degree or n on~
grad uate diploma , and who are nm members of the academ ic or nonacade mic staff of the U nive rsity,
The successful ca nd idate wi ll ho ld office until 30 June 1998,
Stephen FORD
NOMINATIONS OPEN ON MONDAY,Ii JUNE 1996
Nomination forms which include full e lectorate information are avail~
able from:
Enquiries Counrer, Main Entrance, The Cha ncel lery
Records Administrat ion, Room G27, The C hancellery
Faculty and Schoo l Offices
T hree (3) O rdinary Me mbers
joseph Danie l COUCH
G iles Bcrcsford HARDIE
Gregory Philip MOO RE
NOMINATIONS MUST REACH THE REGISTRAR,
ROOM 202, THE CHANCELLERY,
BEFORE 5.001'1>1 ON MONDAY, 8JULY 1996
If necessary, a postal hallor wi ll he cunducted and will close ar S.OOpm
on Thursday, 8 August 1996
Crysta l Condo us
Registrar and Deputy Principal
Enquiries may be directed to rhe Elec[ions O ffice on 3852860.
The University 01, New South Wa tes
May 1996
"''''0''
Crysri11 Condolls
Regis1T;1r ;1nd Depury Principi11
JUNE 1996
Dor 'n Del here, back from a wizz-b:mg-kittcn -caboodlcn-thc·kitchcn-sink 747 bike tour O lll LO the Red
' ~ I L I'll'! t41,,~
Centre. Wc hitched up OUT skirts, let ollr hair
L
",.,:"=,,
down, pulled Olll our falsics and off wc went,
•
l"
blowin' in the wind - and yes, my friend wc found
,1l,..lt
w/a
I' .
the am'\VC T. T here WJ..'\ no room on the bike after
~
Dot 'n Dd gOl their derrieres on there , so Dot
-V'"
strapped the csky of Fruity Lcxia 10 her head, :md prayed
/1""\0
to the Lord above th:H Del wouldn't take the corners 100
fast. Goodness gracious \\'1; met some corkcr ripper bcaudy kinda
blokes on o ur way, tootin' their horns at li S from their big rrucks as wc
passed them by on the highway. T he things tilal happened 10 us out there arc 100 horrific and drawn out to be shared with you yo ung thi ngs, bless ya CotlOll soc~, wou ldn't want to sully y;t
good honest young cars, .. So wc headed back 10 finer things in the world of hard hittin' im'estigatiw journalism, namely, Mat Ewan. Ou r Gu ild Indigenous Student's Officer, King of the accordion, Doe of a))
we are
on
our
trJ.des, Wheel of Fort une award for the best Psychology thesis on masturbatory guilt and general Caltex allMot. How proud we were
next to this greot man,
rounder in a wond1.:rfully joll y fellow kind of way.
helpln' him spread the word of Koorls everywhere. Hip hip
hooroh, H ip hip hoorah.
•V
A
LV
~
t
•V
.J-g
tl
&.
"""L-
GEOG IW' I-fY:
What tribe arc you from , Mat, and WOOOY?
LIT ERATUR.E :
,
'"'I'm a Wi radjuri lad, myself, Dot 'n Del, ;'lI1d the
cou lllry I belong to stretches from Barhurst 10
Albury."
1. R.,inl~J\\· Serpent .
2. The Talism an .
3. Life and Times of Freud.
4 . I:ox in Sox.
And here's a piCture ofsomc prefTy
foxy fin:cs in ~ornc rox~' fox )' soxes ...
Pick which ~hocs belong 10 Dot , Del ,
~ll1d l\1;1t . The fir.~t correCTset o f
an ,~wer~ gcl.~ ;1 smooch on rhe kisser
from our stud Many, and a cercJl1oni ou~ gbss of fruity with Dot 'n Dcl.
ENTERTA IN MENT:
Tell
liS ~'a be~1
- ---
I)re:l1ll1ime story, Mat:
\\'~s this big grecn frog mOnSler, Who's
was Uncle Johnn )',
He Ijl'cd Oil the other side of the rivcr with
AurH)' MJlldy in J big white hOllse.
!ohnn)' ran the place and Aunt)' Mand)', shc
sa\'c hilll a hand ,
An)'wa)" o nc day t his mob, prelt)' slllart Illob
100, saId to Aunty Mandy
\\'h ~' you t .. king all the mo ney aWl)' from our
eduullon ,
Au nt!' Mand), replied, "'hu h", becluse rou see
she w.ls n' , a ,'cry sm~rl rrog.
An)'way Aunt)' Mlndy decided to takc away all
the money and
the mob trom the other side or lhc ril'cr had lO
stop their education .
Time p3SIS 3nd Aun ty t.hnd y l nd Uncle
Jo hnn}' grcw old
so Ihe)' decided lO cross the river and sce a
doctor
becJuse the
)' were 3 bit rundown ( must have been workphlce pressures).
When Ihq ' got Ihere they lound thl t all lhe
smut Illob h ~d mOl'ed ~II'~)'
bIll the)' !cH a note lor Uncle John l nd Aun t)'
MJ ndy that read ")'on turned your blCk on us,
destroyed our livcs :lIld you don', !;i\'e a
dam n",
T he moul of the story is iryou don't support
cducatlon you will be left stranded like a frog
~i lll no legs ... ribbil.
What \ your fou r f.wouritc books,
!\'b t, AN D WOOOY?
There
n ~me
~
~
SPO lrr / LE ISU IU'.,
\.yhat do you do in y3 spare time, Many? AND
WOOOY?
"[ like .~Jcepins, relaxing, raging, meeting new people, waler sports and macrame." ( Pick the hobbies
that Dot ' n Del made up .. . )
<O [ also 100'c musicals · Miss Saigon ga\'e me ule perfect opportunity to legitimately pu mp m)' organ."
I
H ISTO RY
Tell us about ya childhood, Mat pet. .
'"' I had a pretty black childhood, actually," (Gosh he's a real
live wire , no rcllin' what he'll pop out next. )
" I went 10 .~c hool in Wollongong, in rhe land of I'hI.' Wodi
Wodi, and pumped my accordion 'til I was blue in the f.1ce,"
About thar organ, Mat - just how often did}'a pi;!}' it,
h1ll1ll rn mm?
Here we ore listenin' t o the
man with the tales sittin' in
the dense forro ging scrub
which surrounds our campus,
As you can see, we ore gett;n'
right into the story corker
ripper beoudy tale young
Ma tty Matt Mat is sharin'
with us.
SCI EN CE/ NATU IU~
Do yO ll cat wi tcheny grubs for
WOOOY?
break ra.~I',
AND
"Naaah, they taste like shic Sh in), peallllu, acrually, I
like Comics be~t. Or. Kellogs made ComicS 10 SlOp
people from masturbating, y'know." No wc didn't, Mat ,
but thanks for cnlightenin ' Il.\> .
o.rr:IB"IH,e now can see
enemies.
Koori ,flag
us blacks
history lacks
land
, the 0
!'~~~~t~r.:~:n~COld
Embassy"l fOr
evelJ(!hing
d
-- _sw<t<tit<t rrr
~~~J@,rl:h~'W QQQ
Stunned into a state of denial by cerebral haemorrhaging
induced by stress, the gals have run into assessable hell.
Darling:
Sweet's,
hclp~
I'm drowning! Help!
Sweetie:
Where afC you?- I can't scc rotl ...oh·
there ~'ou arc. Look, Sweetie, if you wan t to go s\\~m ·
mins its always best to do it in water, not textbooks.
Darling :
You insensith'c bitch! I was n't swimming. I was trying to study. But then I realised that the
English paper had merged with the finance report and
the marketing assessable had spilled out to rake over the
general studies assignment, toutly eclipsi ng all sight of
the biolob'Y paper which I thin k the n began 10 sneak up
behind me \\~I.h J huge "F" which looked like an axc ... or
maybe that was when the fl ashback sUrfed to kick. in.
But licit likc I was drowni ng!! This is hell! Hell!
Sweetie:
Look you
JUSt
need some organisa-
tional skills. I IllC3n look at mc - I'm calm.
Oal"'ling:
Swcel';e, you're hig her
beforc thc l>arfchunks killed him !!
dl~n
Hendrix
\oVeren't you ever told that relaxation
Sweetie:
was essential to a he3Ith~' study plan! Before e\'ery assessal>te is due I always ensure th3t I am completely rcbxed.
D arlin g:
Oh - God! You mea n you han: asscssal>ks lOO! Someti mcs I feel likc I' m the only onc in thc
world with Ihis insidious aminion . I mcan C\'cryonc else
still lies around thc l>loody library lawn, fadi ng Iheir
C31\'in's and flashing their Amuni specs at each other,
and there am I locked in somc swcaty lab, wcaring the
clothcs I worc I:OUR DAYS ago whcn I first crawled in,
dcsperately tryi ng 10 cscapc the hell of Rcpeating subjcct.s.
Swee tie:
Why YOIl pathctic link victim of thc
academic est ablishment. Look, wc'lI fix you up. It's
cas)'. All it IJkes is ,I bit of Style, a good w3rdrobe ... or
your house mates wardrobe ... some ready cash and a \\;11 ingness 10 bend ol'cr backwards..
Darling:
Arc you sure? I thought thq' would
have used it to buy an it31i3n suit immed iately upon
graduation?
Swee tie :
Now, now, don't be snide! For that
pcsky Science git nothing v.; ll work except the uied and
true method of t he academic \'ersio n o f the casting
couch. Bending ovcr backwards is a useful technique lO
pique you r lecturers interest. Unfonunatcly science sw·
dents aren't easily corruptible. They\'c got their minds
set on bigger thi ngs ... yo u know; genetic engineering and
stuff so they nn create bigger shlongs for themseh·es.
Anyway, go straight for thc top - hC3d of school is always
good. These people have never seen anything 35 gors' 3S
us, 31ld h3\'c been safely insulated from the o utside
world , which means they still think female equates with
bimbo. Use it to your advantage.
Darling:
Obviously! Oh why didn't I think of
rhis hdord C:i\'c U~ ~ puO: Sweet's, I ' m begi nning to
think I mi ght surl'i\'e this after all. Any Illore pearls of
wisdom, or should I just n id the l>Jnk now for the nec ·
essary cash?
Sweetie:
Ah . Wdl. ! still h3ven't told you the
best method of al'oiding all this study stress. AfI those
people on the library 13wrl know Ihe secret. Only poor
sad sacs like you, who actually spend time studying miss
out of the secret to evcrlanin g JCademic life . DlTling;
none of these people do anything. The)' JUSt obtain
(from t.he illicit and underground economy which thril·cs
on c~ mpus), Ihe assessments from the year before. They
scnlCh 0111 the n3me, write in their own and go for lane.
D a rling:
nut what about eums?
Sweetie:
Oh please! As if those old codgers
c3IJing themsell-es "su per"isors~ 3ren't the gnnnies and
gralllpies of the eflicicrlt , organised 3nd corrupt Students!
Darling:
Wh~t? Will yOll just hu rry up and tdl
me what to do!! ! e3n feel it! You know .. .rr, the Due
Date!! Its creepinl5 lip IllC from bchind , I can feel it !!!!
Darling:
Wdl now tha t YOII mention it, bst
time I W3S in t.he bowling aJleyjunisearch house lhe Stu pid old dri bbling excuse tor eut hanasb with the limp did
scem to be p3ying speei31 attention to some people over
odll~rs ...
Sweetie:
Look ));ITI's; Go to your wardrobc,
take out the tirst pair of Calvin Klein jeans or DKNY
shin that you sec. Approach the on:rseas student in the
class who is super·smart but slightly underdrcssed and
bribe them, \I;lh said item of clothins, to complete the
.uSC5sablc that'S been plagu in g you. This obl,iously
won't work fo r 311 3ssesslllellls, thou gh it works fo r
C..olllmerce.
Sweetie:
I me3n if you hadn't figured out that
thcse old esc3pees from Twilight Village weren't ignor·
ing the computers and mobiles and answer sheets smuggled in by their g.rand -kiddies then you'd obliously lost
it. I thoroughly recommend holding Ra)' Martin
hostage over the next exam period .
D a rling:
Brilliant! Oh quic k, tcll me more, the
Due D3te is closing in!!
Swee t ie:
For any sub jeCl falling under th e
" An s" 13bcl it 's a l w~ys ben to inl'oke the law of
"C3piulist Capitulation" - which states th3t 3ny socialistbloody-feral-Trotskyite stud ent will always accept cash
and is easily bribed, despite cash being thc ultimate symbol of oppression. T hey need it to buy herbage . You
need them to write yo ur essay on Separatist Feminism in
PreModern Europe 3n d Raphaelite Oppression of
Marginalised Dispossessed Womyn.
Darling:
Oh. Well... I feel likc r vc been completely outside of what's been going 011 aroulld me. I
mean I JUSt wasn't aW3re ...
Swee tie:
So ... whe n WAS e\'er)'th ing due
D3r1 'S~
Darling:
Wb3t!! Oh God - l'l'e got three minU[csll! I 'U nCl'cr do it. There's not a lecturer alive who
could be thJt premarure ...
Swee tie:
Hcre, D3r! 'S, have a splifl'.. .1 th ink
you'll need it more than me.
1 have fi nally stopped waiting for something wondering what i have been waiting for who i don't know
who i can not tell who i have been waiting for i
sce things th:lt i hear whilst i have been waiting and
watching fo r someth ing to go right on by me pass me
by with a thin sheet of paper that you have scribbled
a life OntO that some people th ink is mine well edilh
doe.~ have her own life busy as ;l bee busy busying her.~elf\\"it"h things that o nly a mind could imagine doing
for hOllr.~ on end .~he i.~ hll.~y oh ye.~ dnc..~ not have rimc
for things she is so busy doing so many
#hings ..,ho#
aft! 'ht!/j i hear a voke from thc crowd ask me ahhh
wdlro lell would be to reveal my
secret of ne\'cr ending busync..ss and i could not do that
not even for you
nothing likc
waking in the morning :md first thin gs 10 do means
that i am really bmy so bus)' that my head buzzes it
hUITJ; bec;luJ;c i can ' t rest never J;lcep just close my eyes
and let the tho ught s swim around in circles in squarcs
runni ng and bumping imo each OIher onc
thought leads \0 ano ther and anothcr
until all i :1.111 doing is thinking in circles of words that
go around never ending rhythms of words in m y head
alpha bet;1 gamma delta i start to say m y a b c in alloth er i:lnguage !;tngu:tges mixing in my head can 't gct the
right words OUI in the righ t language mixing my cul ture is :t cross culture thing yOll know so ungrounded
need somethi ng \0 tic me down lightly to llle grou nd
pin me down w ith a peg hammer me to the ground
make me
5 tay and look we tch w8 i t for it to happen come be and do s:IY do you know what to do
\I~rh Ihings all the lime i do all Ihe time i know what
things
\0
do wi th Ihe thing.~
that I have to be
Important to me things
bits and pieces lock ing together onc by onc they SIOl into reality
falling down and fitting in lllat's how it works you
know fall and fit fall fit fit fall falling you will feci it fitting you wilt try it but ifit does n 't go then i say don't
push don't shovc JUSt be yo urself and get hammered to
the groulld depressing do you think i well depressing is
sometimes life 50 li ve it wh ile you can
eXpel"ience i t wh ile its therc and wen whcn
its over write a book and sell it to
thousands Im rketing is the key to being depressed
stressed and busy as a
bee \0 fo rget that you
really arc depressed
cry water works it all out
by Rosie dennis
•
~~~:~~~=~~~~:::::]~I~'~":';"~h~'~d;-;rO:'~':'~":d~';1 1 l H'ry itwQh', :d with
" People used to say to me,
"When did you come out of
the closet'?''' . and I'd say .... '
didn't _ we were too poor to
have a closet! My homosexuality has always been accepted"
od To\'c)' is onc orthe most n:putabk direclOr/ e horco gn.
phers and aCto rs worldv.; d e. H e has dircctcd and performed
o n Ih e \VCSI End and pt;rfo mlcd in Hamburg an d l'ari$. H e
is the first Australian to be iO\;ted (() t.he Weim,u Festival with an ,,11 abori gi nal cast. Theam: was a way ou t for To\'ey. h meant that people
a((c pled him lilr who hc was and wha r he could do, instcad of what he
was. " I kft the count ry in 1959 and I went 10 England 10 haw a c,m :er.
Bl lCk peo ple we re nOI tr t'ated as S{"cond class ciri7,e ns there likt' t.hey were
here.
H
His c hild hood was about as sl.l bk JS 11I0 S1 Aborigi nal children 's of tht'
t ime , his ~fJ. t he r was an entt' rt ai nt'r, also a drun k, and d t'ft' Jled, because
he was black, by t ht' establis hment ." Like nlJ nr Aborigi nals. To\"o.)' II'JS
uke n from his fa mily and adopled OUI when he W,lS a child . He had no
for mal education and was o n the strcels b)' th t' linle he was ele\"en . Bei ng
told ht' was di rt)', discour.lgt'd from succt'ss and Ihe gene ra l racist alliw de
and narrow mind ed stereotypes made it diOicuh for him to be trea ted as
a person/ hullIJ n being. TO\'ey wat ched a ~ th t' Aboriginal girls al his
schoo l go t stripped of their u niform s and hosed dC)wn b)' Ihe teacht'rs.
H o w could this Po'pe o frad sm t'xis t? I suppo se o ne could mistak t' it for
an integral part i~ the colo nising o f a country: Or perha ps it is more
closely 3SS0c1a tt'd with narrow minded bigot ~ who we re IOU SC,l re d to
co nfront the fac t that they had sto len a terri w ry and mad t' it th t'i r own?
Ont' can o nly g ut'ss at the answer. .... "This is ho w ra~is m is instilled into
th t' yo ung. '\-\y gen t' ration grt'w up wilh th at Jnd un\\'i tt ingly Ihis is
passt'd on t o younger Aborigi nals so Iht' y fi nd il diOieult no w t o communicale v.~lh non · Aboriginals, that 's the big ga p that net'd s 10 be nvo.: rcomc. $am t' with non -Aborigi nals, they pass on t hc ra cism to Iheir children, unwitlinsir in a lot of cases. Fo r exampJc:, if a mOlht' r is ho l d i l~g l
small child 's hand and a black person wa lks to wards lht'1ll and she Just
tt' llses and grabs tht' baby's hand, aft t' r a lin le while thal bab)' becomes
indoc tri nated towards that thin g, it mi ght not necessarily be a black nu n
it could be anybody. H o pefillly whal I am doi ng in a small wa)' will help
bre ak tha t down . ~
So he left Ihe country ht' still calls his homel,l nd and nlQ\·t'd o n to bigger and ben er Ihi ngs and Ihe search for t'q\lality. " h ( Lo ndon ) helped
me find my Aboriginality.... ha\'ing lefi a country tha l forced me to de ny
my heriu ge and made me feci as hamed 10 be Aboriginal . I became \'cry
militant in equa l rig hts for peopk, fo r all mino rity grou ps in Ihal se nse_
In fact il mad e me d etermined that when Illy profile wu when: it is 1000Y
that I would come back to Australia and claim my Abori gi nali ty and put
l."\·erything I had learn ed back imo the community, SO that 's wh y I came
back." Tovey returned to Sydney in 1991 and has continued to perform
and direct within his community and as ,1 part o r the wide r theatre corn·
munity.
'"'Graduall y, although it sct'med rather suddenly, I was o n all sorts of committees; ADRAD (Aboriginals with Drink Related Nzhdmer's Disease);
(m!Od~'
Aboriginal dCJlhs in
\'cr ~' aWJrc of tr}i ng [0 prn 'c nt l ily other kids goin ~ d uu ugh
what I wen t thro ugh . What I try and do no w when I ~\'c !JIb ;, 10
encourage you nger A borigi n JI ~ who llIay nu! n ,,:(c~)Jril )' idr nti fy wil h
going [ 0 school 10 go imo the pcr lo Tmin!, JTh.- To\'l.')' j, ~ nl l' 1lI un
uising the profile of Aborigi rIJI J( \(lr~ ,lnd pcr~tl n~ . I-k I~ d ue 10
51'('
,,
"
direct A Midm mmrr Night 's J)rflllll t",IT t he
, ne xt ye Jr \\'U 1 all J
bb ck C}SI. Tis pity Ih(' play is (1nl' fr\llll \hc deJd white null' hilll)dC
lnd
I
ln1
TO\'C)' is Jrticulate , we ll spoko.:n and intclligenL Hr i~ aWlrl' uf his
l'as l, preso.: m :lIld in SOI11l' sr nSl' hi ~ I,HUI'C I-li.\ bclid; aft' ~( ro n g ,HId
his PJ ~sio n is inspiri ng; .. ... whc n I \1',1) young, if r oll Wcrl' Aborig inal
)'ou would just disappear inlO the bac kg round . One wa~n ' l awarc of
an)' Aboriginals doing anything, No w of course, in the l,l SI 20 year.;,
people like the late Kcvin Gilben , lack Da \'i~ "nd Bob ,\1a Z:l , tht' rt' h"s
bce n a \"ery strong mO\'e forward lor A b\lfi~illOlb . I t hink t.he und..:rlying racism is still Ih..:rt' though . e\'en no w I lind ... . since I havt' bec n
back, I ha\'c been made to lecl, b)' some peo ple , Aboriginal in t he
worSI so rt o f ....':I)'. People talk a lut ab{JtlI Aborigi nJls, Jn cl wJ nl in ~ 10
hclp Aboriginals and Abo r i~i n a ls comint:- up Ih t' IJddlT ,1I1d JII Ihdl ,
but )"011 ge t lOO high and the )' wi ll k l you know. Ewn \\~ th polilicians, in a ki nd o f way. I alli Ihe \"o ict' o f AbtJrigi nalit)' Ihdl people
want to tal k to now because I nude ~tI()d . l am out t here and I h3\"t'
a strong political \"oice . Uut e\'e n ~o , ~ome IOf lllc c ()n \·t' rHl iun~ I hl\'e
,\ilh pcople the)' art' a bil incred ulous. how ean )omcune like Ille wit h
my backgro und aCl ll a ll ~' aehien' wha t I did ! ! . ~
To\"o.)' is a succe~~ and t.he popul.1r culture/ medi.t has latched onto Ihis
fac t lOolh J nd d aw, t' m braeint,; Abori1l-i nJI cult u rt' wi t h a truth and
int t'grit)' Ihat is fhe eonstinllion fo r ~ny u bloid p ublication . Not BC! '
ling in 100 deep in case issues J ri~e which mar infringe 0 11 t.he wJ(m
fll>':>':)' feeling Tol'q' will bring 10 their pages, skirting the r,t'al iss~es
and baskin g in the slor)' o f t his o nc lIlan. and perh JPs torgeru ng
delt hs in cuslOd y, ht'ah h, eq u<1 lity, and gt'neu l public mis conception.
That is nOI to say, Tovcy is nUl J k adcr, J tigure ht'Jd and J ~pn k npcr ­
son for his conu11unity, il is a u d d isillusioning tho ug h, ifsucces) o\·t' r·
rid t's the reality.
Rt'eently To\"e)' openo.:d Ihe S)"d ne y Ga y and l..I:~ bi J n ~h rdi GrJ ~ . Iht'
firsl Abori g.i nal to do so . His ho mo )e xllalilY is al1110)1 a no n i~su e ,
rcfusing (() accept that he i ~ I1lJ rg.i nalised by Ihe Im jori ly of main·
Strea m cuitur..: . " Peo pk ust'd 10 say 10 111e, " \ Vhl' n did )'Oll ":0111C OUI
of the dost't?" and I 'd say "~ I did n't · we were 10\) P(JtIr 1tl ha..-e J
closet! ,\11' ho mosexualit), ha) Jlwa)') been accepted"
And to conclude.. .. ~Ilhj nk ie o nc is to over C0111t' I n)' prejud ice )·o u
have 10 let it all hang o ut , and so peo ple: acccpl Illt' . I ha\'t' to say, I
wo uld n't be accepted now if I hadn' t of achie\'ed what I II111·t
"chie\·cd. mat is a lot of hard wo rk . Dut on til t' o ther hand I show
~oplc my, jt doesn't nutter what )'ou :If(: or wha t you haw do ne, you
can m'c.! come ,111 of this jf ),ou ha\'~ belief in yo urself. And all my
work is bucd on that: and I d o J lot o f work for nothing, I o rganise
workshops for young Aborigi nals in th~ thcalte, and rcall}' il is all
btscd on sclf esteem."
ffJ('f a modem da.yg irl
i,/" ",,;tier'l day warld
4J'1d "li lhe ' an do
'iJ dr'IW, a bout b, r dr( flIH ,jme
WqrJd
fJlJ oki"lI dope alld drjllb'ID
sh,'f ,rid tbe lot
a'ld ,IOW l be's in tb, flll"I",tr
for b,atill~iI up" top
wbtrt DJ( rmltmbm tU a , hild
fh, kept it hiddm deep i,u ide
for PU'f spiriumJ find she'll alw(lYS be
she willllrvt r 100t her iliplfilY
now me's jll tll' fJ1fellJ
tllis if her Jeumd home
thil il ItN' hut stop
t/;, r" 1 'lOwllcrt ehe to go
soticty'sgiI'CII/ltr (I',rYl/);'lg
II1,JJ a mO/(, m d(lygirl
ill a mlldt n, day world
sht'J d"m.g((111 lot O[ II,(lYS
to i:rrp up wit/; soti'ly
Ill, l)(Is to livt tlJeir lI'a.r
(llId (1// silt call do
;1 drram al,ollt bcr dr((llll time world
modcm da.y g irl
modrm d(lY world.
R
uby Hunter's songs con\"ey the experiences of so many 'stolen generarion'
Aborigi nals - those AUSfralians who were ukcn away from tJldr fa milies Jnd tolllnlllLlitie$ as children and inst.itutionalised under governmental polidcs of 'assimi ·
13l"iol1'. Ruby Hunter was in S}'dncy recently as a performer in thc Sing Sing concert 3t the
SUre T heJtre . a col1abontion of Aboriginal, Torrcs Sfrait Islander and Papua New Guincan
pcrformers. The Aboriginal artists in particular (who included Kev Carmo dy and Ru by's
putner, Archic Roac h ) shared common experiences of colo nisation of Aboriginal cult ures
and commu nities through their songwriting. T here arc strong themes throughout their
music of exploration and defin ition of ide ntity. bot h personal and political. Collaborating
with mJn y mher indigenous anists. Ruby Hunt er's songs all Si"elll from hcr own c,~ pc rie n ccs,
e\'oking images of dispossession, anger and sadness, but also hope , determinatio n and
strength .
Ruby Hunte.r wa$ six years old when she was (cI1lQ\'cd \\~th Olher Aboriginal children from a
[raditional upbri nging amongs t family and community in South Australia:
"\.vhen they c;ame ... rhey told us they were raking us to the circus. They put Out J little red
dress \virh a frill neck round it, :l.IId (;JVC us lollies and ice creams that day and told us wc were
going to the circus. And that day wc went dO\m to a place called Meningi police station .
10 be commined to the courrs."
"'I was taken awa y from the rivcrlands [here and sent to Scaforth Children's Home. Ik c,JUse
wc wcren't speaking English at the time we had to learn a lot oflhings, like how to use forks,
knives, talk and dress and things. So at the age of six I was doing things that six )"ear old kids
don't usually do: lllaking beds ... being taught domesticated t.hings."
1· ...- ..-
Rub)' Hunter was institutionalised until she was 18, with virtually no experience oflili: Out side the drtual dome.~tjc sIJ\·ery that was often thc experience of Aboriginal girls of the stolen
gencration.
"When 1 was institutionalised I was automatically a ward of the state, which meant there was
no choice of freedom for mc, no matter where 1 was. A1ways.someone had a record of me
o r knew who 1 was. So, I had to adapt 'o\;1h the instirutionallife, evtn though I was not a
bad person. I had to adapt JUSt to sunivt ._. [0 keep my sanity and my strength bc:caUK most
girls who 10$1. their minds would have Ix:en transferred into a mental institution which would
have been worse. So )'ou had to ketp your wits about. you in ill UCU. So to get Out ofinstitutio n lifestyle was ver y hard 100. Because one day, you know, you're institutionalised and
then one day the)' said to me: 'Go home' . And my last instirutionaliscd home was a place
.. -~alJed Vornhouse where the}' gave me mone y: Now, 1 did n't even know what the word
money meant, and they said : 'Here's your money, now go ho me.' They should ha\'e [Old me
where my home was so 1 could get there."
"Our friends and our brothers and sisters
that have b ee n brought up in homes and
institutions, we all have the same feel ings of what we know and what we' ve
been through in our own individual way
_._we have that bondage of knowing and
understanding ...
~t\nybod r
could have robbed Ille that dJ r and I wo uldn 't have known why.
Becallsc I had to a dj u ~1 to lh'ing on the outside in a place that I was n OI fa miliar
\\;th , and thal w.1s the cily. And so here I wu ... in my teens lnd here wu J whole
new JdVCnnlre for me. Disco nights and walking down the su eelS and homeless·
ness."
Displ3cement continues to pervade that generation of Aborigi nlls - the dispossession that begins to be understood and articubt ed through the sharing of experience with others of simibr background. It is a mO\'elllent of solidariry with J
simultaneous recognition of individ ual identity within that personal and political
history. As Ruby SJYs o f her bond with Archie Roach :
"Our friends and our brothers Jlld sisters that have bC'en brought up in homes and
instirutions, we all hl\'e the. same. feelings o f what wc know and what we've been
through in our own indi\'idu3.l way ... wc ha\'e all lelrnt wc have to place ir in the
riSht spot in our hearts. evcn though we've all been through the same SOrt of situation. Wc have that bondage ofknowing and understanding."
NarrativC$ of instilUtion life have emerged through the creati\'e expression of the
stole n generation - in music and pGCtr y, in films and drama, and in oral narrari n:s.
Of vilal imporlance for Aboriginal eulrure is the rc-telling of stories in creating
identity for people who ha\'e grown up disconnected from families and commu·
nitics.
"The re·tdling of these Stories would be carrying on the tradi tions of our ancestors ... without the campfires and the circling. And wc still carry o n our uadition
of our pcopk. before, and that history, the storytelling, and tha t's wh y it is so
imporlant dut we voice our stories, 3nd wc voice o ur songs, and our dance. We
project our dancing in areu so people can sce thal it is real and that it is nOl a
myth or anything. that Aborigi nal people aren', JUSt m)'1.h , but real people. Wc
carT}' on our traditions through song and dance. Today 1 still carry on the tudi lion but I carr}' it on in a respectful way. I may wear feathers and clothing but
deep down underneath , I still have the Aborigina l in llle . I am the Aboriginal.
And that's what wc all h3\'e - fecling , you know · and our pride is in our sense of
when wc get up there. 1 think ... at least we come from something, thal wc belong
to someone. And ,hat 's whe re our song and dance (comes from) and that's how
wc carry on our tradition ."
by Anna & Ruth
«I li\'e in the city yet I was born al a bilJabong. I can go back t.here but because
someone else buil! their ho me ,here I' m not allowed there. So yo u h3\'e to think
of the children who ha\'e been uken and dispked in ot her areas and say 't.his is
r ours and that 's yours' - who sho uld be compensated in the right way by knowing what is rightfully theirs: their heritage, their famil y. "
.............................................., .................................................................................................................... .
screens
Le Confessional
(Written and dir. Robert Lepage, starring Lothaire Bluteau)
No, it's not another offering from the pro lific Fre nch film -i ndus[r )'. l.r COlljfmolllJ1
is, in fact , from rill' French-Ca nadian province of Quebec. ]' In no expert on the
French ·Ca nadian film scene, ha ving only seen o nc other filnr fr om t~lat area ; j eSlls
{If !doMna l back in 1989 . Judging by the rdationship betwee n that IllOI;e and l.t
(()ljf(jsio IW I, however, il wOllld ~~e lll the Quebec Jrtis tic cOlllmunity is ,I small olle .
The director of "Le Conl,ssioJlJI-' co-starred as Rene in "Jesll~ of Momreal" , ,Irld
both lIIovin sh:l re Ihl' S,Hlll' lead ; Lm hJire Bhrte~u .
Othello
Richard III
(starring Fishburn and Branagh: starring lan McKellan)
T wo rCJd~pulions of SllJkcspcarc in J ,'cry short J1110unt of lime. \Vhat could it all mean:
O/brllo, starring blln: nCl~ Fish burnc :lIld Bloody Bral1agh is J faithful rendi tion of ,hl' original ,
down 10 t he pun~· shirts J nd t he pcrpclll'll " how now, my Lord's" . RicJm rd III is I.h l" mOT," Icrri(ving, olthe (Qupk , rcc king with slak (a bKCO and vintage jazz and eviL hUllch ·back· hJlch,d
plots with ~ nccring lip J nd cold cOll11ll,l n d . OtfJdlll draws most ancntion with its interesting ,1I1d
slightly irregular casting: Fishburn is e;>.:cel lerH and holds the whole screen \\'ith his presence,
Irelle Jacob does to Desdelllona what t he No rlllallS did to Engb nd in ] 066 . her choice tor the
part secms a little toO eclectic tor the al ready eclectic Velletiall set. And then there is Kenneth
Bloody Branagh as good lago. Probably richer wi th knavish glee than any of his other roles, espccially I-ICljry V, llr:lIlJgh does indeed enchl rH wi th his pencilled -in beard and his sly little Jsides
and pronunciations . T here arc even hint ~ of genuinci)' \'ag ue and o n: beat maliciousness and conspiratory gossip-mongering when he's discussing plots unde r J hca ving- hocin g hay \\'ago n. Hey,
lhal 's t he general idea . But whe n t he cows come ho me it's Fishburne who brings the bacon. This
actor ha ~ vcrsatility and style in any siruation , t:'shion or setting. His presence on screen leads onc
to question not only wh)' he has n'r bndcd hea\'ier acting roles in Ihe past, but wh y d assical
readapta tions arc onl\' limited to Shakespearc. His calibre could open a whole trend in style ;md
re3ding~, reclaiming the. vast line of past litl:fary tigureheads, since th3t'S all wc eJn inevilJbJy
hopc to do in the cnd - when Ihe ideas hJ\'e iJded and there isn' t a d ry fan kH in the world .
Culturally wc arc collapsing o nto o\Lfse!\·es.
Onc la ctor common 10 man y readaplations is the discomfort lhe 17th century language feels in
new srttings, Itirlmrd III is notJ ble tor its comfortable drapi nv, of lan v,uage _ The leads serm like
\\~11)' and truly literat e characters, smoki ng, sneeri ng and American Accenting their way into dramatic effecT. Whe n thr script is 100 obviously dated, when fan cy dress and good Middk English
values aren't enough to break a movie Out oftlle Period Piece rut , you havc a standard adaptatio n. And here, the odd AmeriCln accent (as deliberately reprrssed by Annrtte Benning. but
proudly \\~dded by Robert Downey Jnr. ) complements the film 10 present the most accurate rep,
resenta tion of the 30's possibk . Therr is jazz, there is who's-doing-who royal intrigue, thrre arc
kn ives in [hc back and bodirs in thr Illorgue . Thcrr is a o:rt ai n suspension of disbdiefwhen the
settings arc very fa miliar, and comparcd to thr 1110 re theatre -based Othrllo (in dress and drsign ).
this is richly rral istic. This is ci ne ma lirsl and forc mos\. And r umo ur has it Iha t Sh3ke~pea rr was
always adapted . The asidrs arc personal and compirJtorial , and the crossovers frOill dark l11urdu
to bright and happy jn~, arc bb [arll and loud, not unlike certain British spy iIlo\'irs of the 6 tl's.
Thc ",\oly kingdo m for 3 hor~e~ sccne is the most desperately fi lllny ! h3\'e ever npcricneed . t\
period pieCl' \\'i t hi n a period piece tCXI in J period Style \\~ t h tlambo),3 111 precision . Enough spir·
it and integrity to n 'CIl restore my failh in SllJkc~prarc , wh ich stltfefl'd many;\ horrendo u" blow
in High School.
Reens
... to prove a villain.
Richard III
Apparelllly, Lcpage i~ Quebec's most I:' m ou~ theatre dir<:clor, h;l\'lng worked o n
the stage since 19R2 J nd bt-en Ihe recipie nt of Imlll<:rous Ill1er1lational awards . l.f
COllftSSilllHl I is his lirst film , Hi~ thCJtJC background initially made me wa r~'. l'lay~
rarely translate well to the sereen, the two beillg such difli:rcnt medillms. Si milarly,
[ WJ~ Jfraid th,n SOllleune ~o well \'crsl'd ill the~tre. di rection 1ll1/-lht ,imply try ;md
neate a s t,lge - pl a~' on li lm. ForUln3 t d~' on that count ] '\'a~ complet ely wrong,
L. CiJllftsSlt)llalllJ~ J COmrhc.ut·d riot. revoki ll g around threl' primary rderellce
point..,;. The tirst i~ I<JS9 . the tilm's 'prrsellt' . Pierre b rnonta ~c ( LOIhai re Blutt,llI )
ret\lrn~ 10 Quebec upon th l' death of hi ~ tJthcr r\ ch .lnn' encount er rl~u n i l e~ him
with his t'Slf,lIlgl~d ,Idopt ed brot her, " t He ( P;lIriek (;o),etle ). The rootS of both
their p,ISh lie in the tilrll '~ ~econd reti:rel1Cl' point ; the drama ofthcir parenf\ lil'n
It [he lime of their bi fl h~ in 1952 . This dra ma ec hol's the n 'ell1S in lnd Jro und
Allred Hitchrork's / Ctmfm, which was lctu,llIy bei ng filmed in Quebec City .It
thal time . The oldrr tilm prO\'id e~ 1.( <:/111jfssllllln Fs third point ofrclere nce
Lepage skilfull y intl·rt\\,lIle~ Hiteh coc k'~ l CIIII!m. the e\'ents ~ ()n ce rnlllg thr
L.imontage family in 1952, Jnd [he 'present ' of 19S9, to !!-raduall y unf(lld.1 com
plex, if slight ly ridiellloll' ~tor r_ Lepage\ im;lgin,lIi\'r IISl' of tilm to do ~o com
pletd)' belies hh Ihl'.mieJI b,l(kground .
Onet' ] go t over admiri ng the fOfrl lJ I Jspects, ho\\·e\·rr. thl' lilm didn ' t do much ebl'
fo r me. Thl' conMant lorC).:;rmlndi ng I,r 'clen'r' techniqlll's to \\'elH' the threl' linc~
of SlOry together becorlit's ,lllnoying quite qu ickly. You get the imprrssioll the
director was mOH' CIl/lcefrled ,,; [h how Imricll<.: a 1I10\'le he could make thantelli nf;
a story. ! also tou nd Lt' Clmji-ssillllil l t:lirly llrlilwolving, ernotio n ~II )'. Onl)' 1he last t,:w
scene~ elicited any reJI roponsl' .
Film studcnts mJ r foel oft 1!Il thl' \'huaJ puns ,Ind ] enjllyed seei n).: the brief cllp.\ of
Monty Chit trom 1 COIJjm. Ultimately, ] think I..' COllfrssiolla l is interrsti ng \'isual
I)" bUI isn' t partirubrly s u cc ~ ss till a, an \)verall work .
Daniel Edwards
Rumble In The Bron x
! couldn't reaUy control m~' o ci[emcrl( , being a little bit 01',1 Cha n f:Hl, 10 sel' the
master on the 1~IG SCIU-:EN. S l1~Jn , Ill)' mOI'ie comp,Hlion , h,ld to a~k me 10 cJlm
down ~e\'e r;11 tim~~ . Thi~ W,IS W bt· expeetrd , 11 \\'a~ her tir~1 j,lcki ..' Chan tilm_ ] !elt
! could be changing. SU~,lI1\ lili: I(u'e\'er, be(.l u~e J;lckie ha, I'err Jddini\'e 4uali[ic ~
on some people
Keun g (lackic ), m,lkc' hi~ \\',IY 10 New York to Sl'e his undl'. for Ihl' s.lk of h i~
supenmrh·t ;lnd li,r hi~ wrdding, Eiailll' (:\ nll a Mui ) i~ the ,1I11billoUS yo un g bu ,i .·
neSSI\'omJn buyin~ thi~ ,Iltlpping hea\'cn locJted ill the Bronx . Keurlj.: help~ Ebull'
get ~13rted \\~ Ih her new blL\inl-~~ \\'hik his UllCIe is hOlle),lllooning . The location i~
just 'lsking for trouble, ,llld its nUl 100 Ion!,; before Ihere is some. I ~ t arted \tl get
even more e;>.:citrd ,l~ I knew Kellng 1\"15 ,lbOl1t to cause ~tlll1e great physic.11 dam
,lge, Jlld he didn't let me down .
O f course Ihe people he rOllghcd up werc rllernber~ of a large mutorc),cle gang,
who now wanl 10 rn ~ss up K ~u n g . There is sollle );feat cb~~i c )J(kie C han chJ~e
sc ene~ , and you must look o ut lor the amazi ng. car park jum p. I I ~ stunts likc t hese
that ha\'r made him Hong Ko ng \ Illo~t constan t bo x oniee S\,1r ~incc the late ~e\'
entie~ . Fi lully, t he ga ng CJtch up wilh Keun g. T he foll(l\\~ n g. sce nes neJrly had me
in tears, a~ Keun g(oul dn' t do ,lrl~,thin).: agai nst the ga ng, and C\ll1les 0111 in J rat her
bad wa y.
Keung m;lkes it 10 D 3 nn y'~ pIJn~, J wheelchair bound youth, who ju~ t happens to
be the ga ng leader's girltne n..ls link brother (understand tlut ?). NalKl' (the girlfrien d ) helps Keung, and f.et~ rJther fll nd of him , Ihc natural Chan cll,lrlll. With
t he help of NJllcy, Kcung gncs 10 .\I)ft the gang out ml(l' Jnd tllr all . Its abo ut now
Ihat Ihl' ,toryline 1500 lrul)' ~\fan);:c, J~ per usual fi.lr a /ackic Chan lil l11 . (\ ]1 of a
~udden there 's J diamond heist thll l'veryone see ms to gel lied up in someho\\:
Then Iht dl3o~ begi ns ,lgaln .
The apparel oft proclaims the
man ... athello
A \'l' ry ell)oY,lbk )JCk!l' C hJII tilm, which kiek~ JSS un his olher wlIlrllercial main~ tr ealll mo\;es · 77)( lI~I) 111'1111'/, C{f}(Julllball l & 2 and 'l7,C {'rOta /m' If you're a
JackiL' f':l ll, )'ou'U nntiL'c ,I lew J-/oJ!)'wtJod sryk ht ~ UI [his tillll tha t ),011 usuall y
wouldn't sce. And ItJ add to t he s reJtno', Keu!lB' \ \'luce ha\ beerr dubbed O\'er iJl
English by jackie Ch,lIl himself. You m,IY be able to li nd Ihl' llll ·dubocd CJlIIOnC5C
\'ersion al some Chinese vidro st ores. The unly kinda d is~ppoill t ing [.hing was thlt
the re wa~n'l an c nd Sighl scenc , a lI~ual Cha n trade Imrk . But th is was due 10 Jackic
bre3king his ankle in onc of his stunlS, alld having [0 do SOlllr of the lilm wi th his
leg in J plJster cast. Besides th at. trul y Ch ,lIlta~tic.
Sus,ln Icli t he fil111 loukin);: confused, 111Jybe till' addiction wasn't there [or her_
The Brother.
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FILM FESTIVA L AHOY
Rememi>cr, if you don't WJtch the Movie Show o r lny television for thlt nult<.'r, )'011 Il<.'<.'d to
know that th<.' Film F<.'st.i\-ll is happ<.'nins Irom 7-22 June. Golden I'llm \\inller SUY(lS "",/ Lin Irom
dir<.'clOr Mike Lcigh will be screening, and so will the direclOr himself; AustIJliJn film WIl(/( I JJ(lI.t lI'yittfll tro m
John Hughes, and 1.1)1'( SrYfII"dr by Shirky Burct!, to name but ,I fell'. Come in Jlld ~ec us ifyou\llike 10 hJ\'e
a closer look ,11 the progrJIll and speciJI e\'entS (J focus on Indian CinemJ, Jnd a relTospeC!ive Jround Ros~<.'Iini )
or if you'd like some Jdl'ice on on ticket prices and the like, becJuse thcir subscription tickets Jre good chulll valu<.'.
Lift will be screenin g to give viewers that insight into memory Jnd loss which those of liS on t he Ot h(r side (of I'ri., on )
Cl1Hlot shJre. ])(' i~ J working <.'lass criminal who learns of his positive HIV MJIIIS lnd i~ promptly ~hipped to the
Positive division ufthe prison, whae the pd\t :lIId the lilture blend into 3 pt'culiJr blend of JWJreness Ililh the friend ;;hip of his new c<.'lllllJte, .
Krzynof K itslows!·j I 'm SO'SD js thc ,upabl}' ~illlple ponnit of Ih<.' bte s reJt direc\()r nude by hi, friend Jnd collJborJ'
Tor KrI.I·stofWier/bicki . Viewers fJllliliar II;th the Kialoll'ski Oil Kiuloll'skibook mighlnot i>c surprised much Ilith 311\'
of t he historicJ! delJiI~. bUT you c.m still learn ~() much simply br II'ltching the m.m in his own lI'ord~, J~ he w.llk~ the
S trel't~ where he grew up, J~ he talks film amidSlthe horses , ;lS hc rel3teS his dreJIlIS frolll th e l1i~hT bctc)re lnd tJlks of
li tl.: in tront of the lin: pLlCc. The belllty ofthi~ one-hourdoctllllentJr)' is that it mirrors pertCctly the at tiT ude to litl.: Jnd
Jrt of Kieslow~ki - in (lne g(m or a ~cene, Kr:.r.yslOf I'llks ~b()\lt the cnd of his (Jfeer lnd his reluctJnce Jbollt Ilukillg
mor<.' films, hoping dill 1l1lybe somconc will 111lke a film about his writings, bccJuse life is in Ihe telling Jlld enjoyin g"
3nd the reason he geg out ofbcd and wJ~hes in thc morning is to enjoy life first , and not to l1uke film~ alone . The
director st0l'~ him lnd poillls out the di,ruptive ekmc", of the watch on the Jrm he's kJning, on. like J (flitch. Jnd ~o
they do 3 sccond take . Thc diJloSllc i~ of cOlITse nowhere neJr as inspiring, or TJtha, it tollow~ J compktely dinl.:rel11
tact, Jnd the director ~!Op~ him again ;1I1d II'JIl1S to knoll' II'h,1I hlppened to the lill.: and wJshing in the Illorning etc.
He JUSt looh 31 the C.1I1 1<.:(;} lS though nothing .~epe rJ t es the firs t from the laner dialogues, be<.'ause th,lt if the II'a)' he
I'iews life Jnd lilm . eon~I;lntl)' changing in perspect i\'e and mood , opcncnded Jnd yet them,ltically whole ;\nd consistent.
(AId F CI't l' is a loving liTtle Icebndic cJper Jbout a gol f-minded )'OlIllS Jlplllesc exeCUTive who reluclJntly g;1'es Up his
holiday to HJII'aii in fal'our of a memorial Sl'f\';ce road journey thang in Iceland, where his PJr('nt~ died . Nic<.' weird lit ·
tie <.'oUn\ry that rock Iccland is, \I;th 01' llcohol and gOlT'S head5 and hot spas, \I;nt<.:( ice and SI1011' Jnd ~did you
knoll's- about the pbce. PedcC! pbce for J road movie thus. Jim Stark ( Mystrry Trni,, ) produccd Jnd J),pin worked with
kad ]\-bSJlOshi N;l~JSC, ;lnd director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson does 3 nic<.' job oveullwhich he will be 1'3 Iidatin g, at the
l-'estil'JI in person .
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Miracle Alley (d ir. Jorge FOilS)
Thi) illl<.'restingly interbeed slOr)' of litc in J [ower class
,\il- xicJn suburb (1I1Jt is, lower class in the American sen~e )
i\ " 'hole\ollle and drJI11Jtically ~llisl)·ing. Not some fuc k<.'d ·
Ill' ,pool' along the line\ of L.1 COCJracha . Sllma Ha)'ek
(.Ibove ) ~hines in thc IeJd role ofA11113 , Jnd h 3 CUI JbOl'C th3T
perlClflll.lIKe in J)rsPCl'ffrio, whirh Jlthoug,h brillilnt in its own
rig.ht (till' lilm, th:!t is) does nOl COllie do~e 10 3nythin g c.l lled seriOll~ drJIllJ . [t'~ bJsic.lllv the ~JlIle serie~ of cvents told Irom three dillerent angles Jl\d durJcll'~s . onc .1 I:'ther not llukins lny scruple~ Jbom his
JJTent scxtlJlity, Olll' arom his ~on 's per~pectivc lS he heads lor the Al1lcricn
border (which hover~ in Ihe bJck of their id('JiisTic ll1ind~ ) , and [here is
al,o The Mor), ar(Ull Alnu's poill! ofl'iew, young and scekin~ experience in
l world wherc there i\ only 11\,lrria!,;e and broken helf[\. Not offering lny
m'CT! llwrlli" il' IllC".lgC beyond ~il11ple tfJdition, Thi~ is 3 good explorJtion 01'3 culture we don'\ sc<.' in nl,iins tream isolation , and is ~;lIisfying .
AT THE PARAGON
SKIPARTY
• Thu 6June • 11 pm til dawn
• Snowboard Machine
• 2weekends at Jindabyne to be won
Thanks to •
BACARD I
Paragon Hotel - Cnr Alfred &loftus Sts, Circular Quay lel: 241 3522
GIVEAWAY - super early
screening of a new fi lm called HEAVY rur. by James
Mangold . sta rri ng D cbby H arry (a bove). Liv Tylcr
and Evan D ando (yes ... ) which won the Special
Jury prize at the Sundance Fest. Ten doubles
for June 16[h, Come on in ...
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T he Family
By Jil1 She.1 rer, Directed by e rispin T;lylor
9- 17 Ma)' Ensemble The.1 tre
According 10 the promotio nal matcrial TIlt Fnmily "has allthc dcmenlS of classic drama·
a nun yearn ing lor conlession, a betrayed I\~ fe, a murde red prost.itufe· 1 tragic family
ca ught up in the cultme of a bigger f.1mil y that allows no escapc. With the current NSW
Royal Commission inlO Policc Corruption, Sydney audiences should lind it a relevant ,
gripping slOry.- When I read this I found it l S enticing as w~t ching BaywJlch (or anything
on channel 10 except The Simpsolls). After seeing thc pia)' I think Ba)'wltch would hal'c
been thc bette r cho ice. The acting was better.
scenes
Simply, 71lt FnJllify is a palhetic attemp t al dealing II;th serious eonte nt porary Australian
issues. It is not insightful or entertaining· unless it was a drama hiding behind the cloak of
comedy. The actin g was bland . The rapport between the 3ClOTS was non · existent. The
aClOrs were u lking It , but no t 10, cach othcr. Anempts at conversatio ns that cut across
eJch other, ye t seemed re Jlis(ic, lacked the del ivery device t.hat del·ices is supposed to
enhance. The light:ing and sound dl\:cts were good .
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The bmily ~ttelllplS to de;11 with the atmosphere of fear surrounding the Fitzgerald
Inquiry in Queensland . Sauh is 3 wom3n making her mark in the police force. When she
is promOled 10 int ern al affai rs shc discover!; possible links Octween her fa ther, Frank , a cop,
3nd thc dea th o f a prost itute in the 1950's. WIIlI is she to d o? Does she let hunting dogs
lie or does she te ~ r her fallli ly 3 p~n?
The predicabilit), of the slOTyline is thc Imill fault of TIlt Famify. For cxample, guess who
has known ~ Il alo ng about Frank's li3ison with Ann, the murdered prostitute? ( If ), OU
don't hal'c an)' idea it was thc mother.) Wh3! occupation do )'ou think SaTJh's husband
h3s? He is a cop and the two ncvcr spend time IOseth cr because the~' work. differcnt shifts.
This has causcd ten·
sions between the cou·
pie as has SaTah's pro·
motion· )'OU can ' t h3vc
the \\ifc bei ng ;l greater
b rcadwi nner than the
h usband .
I don't knoll' whether
it was the cliches within
thc pia)' or the clichc
thc was whcrc the. pia)'
was sho wn . ( It's J
Northsho re Iheatre alld
I was onc of the twO or
threc in the audience
Ihat wJsn 'l whitc ).
f,,·l3ybe it was the dra·
mat ic e nt ranco of
Ann's g host sillgin g
'Cry Mc Rh'Cr· . If
somconc asks you to to
sce TIlt Family lell
them yo u wo uld rathe r
read Blitz fro m cow r
to co\'er.
William Shakespeare
Acid The.n re Comp,111Y
The Acid Theatre comp31ly is a fundraisi ng project
tor ' Rq;cnerltion C ulture Incorpo ratcd' .
' Rege neratio n C ultu re Inc' arc a no n. protit group
o f perfo rm ers, artists, tra d espeople and profes·
sionals who arc Jt!emp ting 10 create a multi· pur·
pose an s centre from recycled materials \,;\.hin a
d erelict bui ld ing in Surrr Hills _
The compa ny is formed from ll1e l\l bers of
'Rege neratio n Cult llTe' J nd this, I think, i~
rcs ponsible for t he compan y's st ronge~t a)~et; thc
se nse of idemity and coml\lil111e1l1 the)' all displarcd during thc pedorma nce. Thi, feeling lI'a~
enhallced by the ve nue. The d ark r001ll, 11~ l h the
set ill onc half Jnd nu ybe tili y ch;lirs in the othcr, created the atmosphere of a soiree
mo re than that o f a thea trical prod uctio n, resu lting in a more personal involvement in
t he performance.
Wit h the recycli ng thi ng in mind, t he set was trul), extraordi nJ ry. Mounds of wi re, pip·
ing, sheet me tJ I, Jnd tJ ouresc":lII plast ic crelted the enviro nmen t o flh e pOM ' apncJ I),pIIC
socicty the direclOr had set thc pby in . I'l'e nel'er quit e seen the relevance of seni ng
Shakespeln; in l co nlCmporl ry ti me pcriod, nor in t hc future, b ill kcepinS in mind the
princi ple~ of'RegencrJlion C u hure ' I cxcused it .
So what 1\'3S the perlOrmJl\c,,: likc: LlJ~ically fifteen people hadng ~ good time. There
wcrc no r~~J I st,lrs in terms of aCli n!; abili t)', bllt t hey we re all eOlllmined and cnergetic,
J lld th l t fceling was transferred 10 th e J udicllcc_ Thc di recto r hld n' t lJken t he play 100
seriousl)" so the light scelles wcce clo wnis h lnd Ihe jokcs hCll'ily e1l1 p ha~ised, creating the
feeling. ofa 1l\elndrJ1l\a . The ..:nding, which 11IIIS1 be Ih..: most contrived Ofall)' of the
Comcdies, had mc in stitches.
Good on 'cm!!
..:cclcs
Jacob
Rumours - a Far ce
New College
When I walk.ed into the makeshift performancc space at New College that was adaplCd for Neil Simo ns'
Rumours, I was e nth usiastic to sce how crcatively the piece would be dealt I\~ t.h . I was n't disJPpointed _Se!
in rh e lil'inS ro011l o f thc ~l3yor of Nc ll' York, the play begins "~ t.h Mr 3nd lI1rs Gorman , who arrived for J
dinnc r part y o nl y to discoI'er th3t the Ma yo r has been shot (in the car · assumed to be attempted suicide)
I\;th his wile h3ving left the premises. The [WO glleStS start to piece together their own account of what , how
and why th is occurred based on rU11l0u rs of the social elite from which they come. As othcr esteemed gue)ts
arril-c, Ihcy too tr y to calculate their own fabricJtlon based on rumours and at SOIllC points realise these very
same TUmOUr!; hal-e a I'cry rca l impact o n their own !i1'CS and eirCll11lSlJnCes, wi t h some foreseeing thc cyclic
danger. The plot thickens and rumo urs, innuendo 3nd d eceptio n SIlr! to blur the accollnts o f what re3IJ y ha p'
pened until 3 police investigatio n, whcrc an alias Charlie spon taneousl)' recre;ues th c 'supposed ' el-cnts o f that
el'ening leading to ml)'hem _ Rumours is a comedy at heart , with m311 )' del'ices 10 portr3), the col1lcdic ele·
ments; however, (he 1l1ecl13nistics of Ihc piece ha\'e J sharp reality which brings 10 !ig ht t he delctc.riolls and
rJmp31l1 na tu rc of rumours no manc r a[ what Icl'd_
Fro m a [echnical point , the p13)' was q uile clean altho ug h it was q uite distu rbing to sec t lut ligll1s werc unfo·
cussed downSt.l ge, so Ihat movemcnts and performances wcrc in da rk n es~ · a sh al11e since thcre wcre sOnle
pred o1l\inJ1II mo me nts SCt downsllge. Perfo rmancc were O\'ccall vcry good, it W3S d elightfUl to sce that Ihc
acto rs al13cked the piece with energ)" guSto and confide nce. So niC performances were qui te Jec\l~\Omed with
Ihe stage, a, WJ~ cvidcnt with their fluid movelllents and well·timcd deliverie~ . Of special no!c wcre Jc\~icJ
Demp\e\', Peter BUfch3tsk~' Jnd Rebecca I' rince .
lcssica De[\lp~ey (Chris (;orlll.lll ) brouSI\! to lile what cmlld ha\'( been a vcry dull play. Sad I)' though , ~hc II J~
o nc of the only acto rs who .ICIlI;III)' eng~ged wit h {he audience · J lIIain pitlall of many o ther per l(lTlller),
where li lies we re delil'ered to the tloor o r Ihe wings. Her charactcr d cvelopmcnt was cxceptional and rClC'
tions hpterical. Peter But chat)ky ~101e Ihe show II~ t h his perform3ncc .lS Lcnny Ganz. Peter utiliscd hi~ stage
time well, brimming with presencc Jnd his portrayal as Chariie WJS ind eed the highlight of the cI'Cning. I
mus t say Ihat I fal-ou red IkbeccJ Prince ( Claire Ga nz ) whose SJrcasm and deadpan ddil'ery Illd elemellls of
Judith Lue}'. For a collq;e pia}' I IllUSt ad m it it was of J m uch higher standard tha n I ever expected, even
t hough t here WJS Ihc tClllpt 3tio ll to milk 3 lew chcap la ughs. Congrltul3tiolls 10 311 invoked fo r such a high
cali b re st udent prod uct io n.
Mat Ewart
Sc:\:y theatrc and UNSW in the sa me scntence?
For J few wecks now U NSW Theatre & Film sllld ents have been sitting
in on reh":Jfuls t'Or the IJ I":SI PACf project directed by C hris R)'an
(Srdn C)' Front ). It's cllled 1I'O:;..u ,(o and it's a pb}' wri ttc n b}' a GeTTI\3n
chap, !lUchn..:r, who died ( tra gically) It 23 bcl'Ore linishing t he script. T he
young ge nius had dlc foresight to pre-empt twent}' century Ihellre lumi·
nary !lrecht :l1ld all his fJ ne)' theories l bout cpisodic Slf UCl'U re and ideo·
logicalthealre. \\'Q:I"'",u,(o was the fi rsl ex prcssio nistic pia)' and as if t hat isn't
good enough il has a sl1spe nscfulmurder t31e 3nd some witty social coni'
lIlentary th ;1I will remain rd ev,l1\t as long as inequali ty exists in so ciety.
C hris Ryan's production presenl.'i thc text and dissects it, d clil'cr!; il 3nd
'deconstfllcts' it. Thc 3ClOrs have been t h roug h a ri go ro us p h}'sical tuin·
ing system 10 gi,-e the m complele comrol o f t heir bod ies. T hcatre stu·
d ents from UNS' V h l \ 'C u ken the roles o f 3ssis13nt d irector, stage l11an ·
ager, drllll3turg lnd lig ht ing o pera to r ;Ind hl\'e bendi tted great ly from
working alo ngside an e ~ l3 bli s h ed tllent.
If you comc t o II'Q"'~({,(o y OIl will bc ex posed 10 the latest in contclllporar)'
thcalre pract ice and it \1;11 ~i \'e yo u so mc t hing 10 (hink about, issues like:
ho w automatiC is compH)ivn and how 'co nstructed'? when Cln lusl
fu nctio n and when does it h;II'e an o utle t lor e .~pression; ,Illd doe~ t he bel:.
ofoutlct inerelse the imell,ity of the II1,t: h ,ome de l!-ree of repression
or forbiddenness lleCl·ss.lr y tilr real lll~t to he produced? ! loll' should I
livc? The ~on) of que~ti(Jns that could get ,·ou thinkin!;. or lIIJrbc just
,0Jking up the l·i~1I.1l (red li~ht~ and mirrnr images), JIITal ( Irom Tricky
[I) Beeth()\'en ) .1I\d SetNlal e .~ periences the production on;:r~.
H'ti.r..cck h~) I'~rt nfit~ root' at this C,IIllPU', ;Ind it's going to bc onc of
the mmt cxcit ing and original pieces oftheJ\re to hit Sydney Ihi) \\;lIIcr.
It pla)'s June 6 ·29 at Sl'dllC}' SI. Theatre SpJce, cnr. Sydne\' SI. & ftIihn)'
I'de ., E""kincI·ille. Bookings o n 550 2744 .
TharunkJ ha~ th ree do uble passes to gil'e all'ay to the tir)1 three people
th rough Ihe do o r at l,OOpmT \lesd ay.
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scrolls
ALT: // LIT / CLASSIC
We Are Going
Kath Walker/Oodgeroo Noonuccal
When Oodgeroo Noonuccal (then known as K:lIh Walker) published We Are Cuill!] in
1964, she voiced the oppression, the discrimination, the displacement and the determination of generations of Aborigi nal experiences of colonisation in Auslralia_ The impact of
this book is indicated in the. story of an old Murri nll n, figh ting for rights and seniccs for
his community 3t council meetings. H e has nel'er been taught to read, but carries with him
el'erywhere a COP}' of the bible which he has learnt by heart through hearing it read aloud,
and articulal'es injustice and inhumanit), through quoting from it. In 1964 , the bible is
replaced by a copy of We Are Coil/g, Whilst Oodgeroo felt that poctf)' would be " the
breakthrough for the Aboriginal people because Ihq' were storytellers and songmakers",
the colonial literarr canon in Aust ralia refused to 3eeept Oodgeroo as a poet , onc critic SUI ing in 1964: "The authentic voice of lhe (Aboriginal ) song-nun using the English language
still remains to be he3td . ~ By implication, the o nly Aboriginall'oice that would be acce pted by the lit erar)' canon would be a male's, and t.he demand lor 'authenticity' negates and
denies an)' hybrid or COtJIempOr;lr)' Aboriginal experience which exists. ironiu ll)', as a result
of colonisation.
In I\'r Arc Coil/g, Oodgnoo wrOte in English - the langu3ge
of her colonisers. but also her fiTlit la nguage, after having had
her Aboriginal language "Ilogged out of me at school".
Oodgeroo appropriates the English language to express her
experience outside or ils white, patriarchal framework, and 10
reprcscm and write for those whom it silenced.
For
Oodgeroo, race was prioritised QI'er gender in fighting
oppression, alt hough Illany of her poems arc particularl)' concerned with the sintation of the Aborigi nal wOlllan - the
'doubl y colonised' figures represented in "'Dark Un married
Mothers", those for whom 'the [aw does not ru n'.
Oodgeroo has an indicatil'cly ambig\lous response to the
assimilltionist policies which she was writing within. In
"Then and Now" she longs for a rent rn to an id)'lIic pre-invasion past instead of the I'alues which colonisation has brought
to Aboriginal people:
MY
PEOPLE
.....-
. .,.,..
.'
....... ~CI\"~" . '" ••• "
Noll' I lmvr dress, n Oli' I harr shoeJ:
'IStI 't sbe IlIcky to l}al'e a good job?'
Bttur wht/j I 'llId 01lly a dil/ybilg,
Better wlJm 1 /llId nothi"g bllt /llIppi"us.
Yet in " Integration - Yes!", Oodgeroo appears to be perpetuating the discourse of her colonisers - the doctri ne of assimilation espoused by a racist
national government who represented themselves as 'cil'ilisinS the natives':
Crnufidly we Itilnl fro", YOII,
11,e ildl'llllUd rnu,
YOII with ctlltJlrirs of lore br"ind yOIt.
We who were /tllst rlllitlll 101lD brfore
YOII 11'110 CII/II e ycsurdllY,
Engrr/y wc Ill/lit Imrll to dmllge,
These seeming[y contradictory sentimellls highlight the ditlicult)' Oodgeroo
faced as onc of the fi rs t Aboriginals to express the e .~pe rien ee o f her people in writing_ The
oniy words and cOJl\'entions she had were those of her colonisers, and her belief in what is
now termed ' reconcili:ttion' could only be expressed in their terms. Yel the appropriation
and 'ul)l'ersion of the En)!lish bnguage li:lr which Oodgeroo's work was a nujor caul)'M is
embodied in the ti tle poem, " Wc Arc Going~, Thi~ poem tells of thl- displacernem and Ihe
dest ruction of Aborigin,ll cult ure by colonisation , acting n, n warning and a challen~e to
non-Aboriginal Australbns 10 uke respon'ibility filr the hi~to r y of their count ry_ "Wc Arc
Going" is nllt a P(~ m ofdesriwtion and bck of hope, bur the indication of ongoing change
- Ihe tudiliol131 cuhu re is going, but il is certainl), not gone. Aboriginal cul ture is not ~1Jg.­
tu m, bm ;1 dyna mic pro cc.~s ernbod)'ing pa~ t and present experience.
IndicJting bot h the resonance ~ nd timekss ne~s ofOodgeroo's words and the n cism and
discrimination which is still Aboriginal reality, "A Song of I-lope" could hal'e been written
loda)':
Look lip, my people,
711e dllH'11 is Urmkillg,
111t 1I'0rld is wllki'l!J
To" bright Iltll' day,
Wbm IIOI/( defamc Ill,
N o rutrictiO/I till/it Ill,
Nor w/our S/}lIm e Ill,
Nur mur di$IIIi1Y...
To ollr filth"!' fatbers
711( pll ill, tile sorrow';
To Ollr chi/drm 'r chi/drm
7111' gln d tomorrow'.
The Contine ntal Philosophy Reader
Edited by Ri chard Kearney and Maria Rainwater
(Roudedge)
A mammOln t3sk indeed. The continental philosophical trad ition has, as th e editors
state in their introduction, a reputation of being dillicult. Far from the Francophone
tendency IQwards obnoxious bellJdour and obscurit y, this is rypically bccJuse the sub ject matter is essentially anti-inlUitil·c. The continental tradition has alw3)'s been diametrically opposed to the typically common sense (read American ) world views of
defe rminism, posililism Jnd mind/body dualism, and has thus been puised for its fore sight and clarity b)' sonle parties and dismissed as irrelel'ant bullshit and rambling intellectualist jargon by others. I 'm imlllediately reminded of the fourt h year Psych lecl\)rer who dismissed the existentialisl / posHnooern (his combination not mine) tradition
as stupid because it denied the I'llidity of Psychology's claims to Truth (at the same
lime as encompassing FOlleaul t's work as ~Foucau lt was a J:rench theorist who knew
nothing about prisons who died in 1984 of AIDS"), not to mention rlm old chestnut
Dal'id WilIiamson and the play Drnd Wbiu Malt! ....it.h its bli ndly ignorant handling of
any t.heor y ot.her than that otl"r old chestnut Rene Descartes (dlOugh not 10 assu1l1e
that the two arc el'en closely linked in terms ofintellecrual ability ) .. _
But what of lhe texI itself! At lirst glancc it looks very good, roll c3ll suggests few
absences from the CJnon and nun y seminal anicles are included . Howel'er, once onc
takes a closer look t.hings become a linle more problematic and the holes Start to
appear, There arc notable absences; Bataille. Kcisslowski, Breton, Cixous, Le Deouff,
Baudrillard and many other lesser known but nonetheless influential theorists miss OU!
on a guernsq'; typically, it seems, because they don't fit inlQ the parame ters that hal'e
been sel b~' tne editOrs in the three section headings ( From Pheno me nology to
Hermeneurics, From t.brxiSl11 to Critical Theory and From Structuralism 10
Deconstruction ) The articles and extracts thelllsell-es ra nge from the groundbreaking
(lhe ImroduClion 10 the Second Sex by Ik aul'oir) to lhe irrdel'ant ( Ddeuze's Whal is
Philosophy would hal'e becn much ocn er replaced by Capit! lism and Schizophrenia)
:Hld el'erylhi nJ:; in between. That said howel'er, there will
alw3)'s be room for criticisms as to the inclusion of Jny
work (it is sometimes nOt who }'OU include but who !eal'e
out that is the imporunt thing) and lhough fl awed
slislu lr, the Reader does prese nt incredibly good value
the
and J reasonabl}' good O\'er\'iew of the subject Ill.Htef,
Though onc warning must be made; readers who me reContinental ly want to drop a fell' names ol'er di nner and discourse in
I he pomo I'ernacular should probably stick to beginners
Philosophy guides; without sounding condescending, this is thc real
stuff and much of it is heav}' going; in ule words of old
J.acques "the bracket" Derrida (in a semi ra ndom sclcc~
Reader
lion ) "The ontology of presence is the ontology of
beings and beingness" U?!?! )- Read on in radical aherity.. -
Angina Dentata
Pacific Highway Boo-Blooz: Country Poems
Mudrooroo
UQP $16.95
The tide of this boo k ofpoetr)' embodies thc ambiguous Aboriginal experience of AustuliJn place and identity. In this teX! Mudrooroo explores
his position as a ' N yoongah lil'ing in J white world' on 3 much more personal Jnd emotil'e level than in his previous fi ctional and critical works.
The irony and reSOllallee of'i';"ific Highwa y Boo-Bloo:r,; Country Poel11s'
conjures up imagc:s of rural and urbJn. nature and human-made. indigenous and non-indigenous throughout the text. The highwJy is the means
oftr;lI'eI from o nc pi.!ce to another, leading to the bush, the outback, blll
also to the city. The perpetuJI journeying of Mudrooroo 's poetry focused
on the I'JCilic Highway conjurc:s lip J sc:n~e of ongoinf. displacement , tra\'elling along
a symbol of the 'cil-ilisation' which colonised his people_ The Boo, 1\1001, can be read
in Mudrooroo's lexl as the blues of a melancholy sad ness/ the police/ the boo' boos
or Ihe boo-nons of his life/ boo7e. The pcr~ona Mudrooroo adopts in his poetry \ral"
ds the eOltntr)' - the lami-cape :lI1d i.lI1dmJrh a 11leIJphor for his l'Xpcriences , per~{)n ,
al 3nd l'oliticJI.
~ThJnk the Lord f(lr S urtCr~' wllc:n plU 're ~Wcatillg on a hundred acrn
And the womJn'.\ jll~t gone
And lhe dJm's gone dry
And the Ianrar]J keeps on cll,lrgins
And another dCJth in cuslOd)'
AlmOM brings me to my knees
I knell' the bloke, you knoll'
Saved, il'S time for a run up 10 Hrisb3ne
Which rh)'mes wi th p3il1 and forlorn loss
1~111 paradise is a spa and a long-legged woman
And Ions-necked bottle casing aWl)' the pain and sorrow,"
This is a collection of poetr y, but it is more a series of in terse Cling texIS - poems which
arc ol'erlappings and rewrilings of silUations and experiences in different fram es of
mind. Wrinen in a colloquial Slream of consciousness, these lexts explore and evoke
Australian , and , within that , Aboriginal idemit)· and p[aee .
................................................................................................................................. ....................................................
sounds
........................................................... .......................................................................
Jamie Fie ldin g
Extinlct
(Dr. J;m/Shock)
Bad Re ligion
Th e Gray Race
(Atlantic)
III the
\·~st
cross section
l1lu sic~ 1
Tastes wc COlllC into
contle! with in Auslralia's society of today, il is, more often
thall 1101 , possible to Illlke a
distinction between Illusic-writing t:llem Jnd musical
talent. T he former, being the lbilit)' to play :I musical
instrument , does not always guaranto.!c a credible musi cal score, 3S Joc $alriani has shown us in some of his
,nons. But if the music is well written, the instrumcn131 comple ment could comprise of an empty skull and
cllpping sticks, recorded du rin g ;1 morning after drinking binge .
In the pas t thefe h3\·' been inn umerable 'Social
Conscience' bands thal ha n: risen there heads around
the globe for varying periods of time. Each band has a
cerui!) poim of \'lcW to gel across, mosl o f which arc
riddled with an anti-esrablish mem mcssage. Con\"eyi ng
Ihal point of\"iew almost invariably comes at the cost of
fluency and musical grammar. So succinctl y d ocs the
band watll to cOEwey Iheir poinl of view they come
close to sim ply dicta ting an article of prose over some
distorted o r 'pslledo-plagia riscd' riff, or fast drumming
and MrtlllHllillg ut" ~i'"I![Y u ninspiring mu~il:, ~tccring
clear o f nny uses of English e\'en a bab)' could compre·
hend. The increasing division between classes, the \'io·
knce in society, lhe drug situation, the political regimcs
in power, the ge neration ga p and the dying planet wc
live on, arc all easy urge ts for a music wriler ....;th a chip
on his shoulder and fuck all imagination.
Gi\·cn Ihal this band has su bscribed to almost all of
t hese short comings I am going to pass m)' judgelllem
o n Uld Religion's latest offering '17Jr Gray Rna' and
unless you arc a pent up 14 year o ld boy with a shaven
hend,\\it h a well placed tear in hi.s jeans, a self righteous
attitude and a pair of GP boots on rour feel; TOIal Shit.
Nigga
The Cra nbe rrie s
To the Faithful
De ported
(Island)
There's ~o methjng so innntdy
annoym g
about
the
C.ranberries thnt the), just keep
you coming bl(k lor more. "fo tbe FnithJII1Drpnrtrd is
JUSt ns grum ·, gro,lll - nnd gasp-packed (all done in an
Irish accent of course) as the last two albums, and every
bit as wonderful. Don'l be pllt oO-by "'Salvation~; it's
JUSt Do lores hal·ing a bl d hair day. The rcst of the
ll bu m is I'ery sJl isl)'ing: the fb,·our is unmistakenly
Cranberries, and altho ugh it may sound a rad like the
IJSI album, the Cran berries have refined their sound,
Jnd Oolores has a new haircut, or a new hair colour at
lny rate, so all is forgiven. Oolo res yelps and. warblC.'l
her \\'a)' th ro ugh 15 ulcks of beauliful melodies and
grating beats Ihe way only Dolores can, and between
pri mal growls, manages to inform us abouI politics, war,
po\·erty, life,death, lo\'e, the lack of it, and a multimde
of other topics to make a wonderfully eclectic sound
that will ha\'e you humming all the wa)' to the coneer!
in a couple of weeks. Noel, Mike and Fergal do a great
job of nmching her passion and fury, and yes, they anuall)' do have names. The o nly question that remains is
who the hell is who, whnt do they look like again, and
wh)' is it t hal el'er},lime I If )' to visualise the rest of the
band imlges of Dolores' leeth flash through my head?
M~ry k e
Starting with incredible
logue dcla)'s and screams in a
wash of feedback 3nd noise Jnd
never looking back, Extinkr
docu ll1ellls jusI a small part
the work of Jamie Fielding, elect.ronic musician, mul ti
instrument alist and member of the old school of noisc
musicians alongside such folks as Shane Fahcy, John
Murph}' and Michacl Sheridan. Colllaining both lil"(:
performa nces :lnd swdio collaborations, £:o::ri,,/.:r is more
of a docu ment lhan an album as such; the sound quali ty WJ\·ers, {he perforn13nees arc sometimes a little dodgy
( \\~UleSS Ihe particularly off-key \·ocals in 'Here lnd
Ueyond Sensitili ty' ) and stylisticall y a great deal of
ground is covered, from the seminal begi nnings o f
cyberpunk to ambient electroniCJ to 3\·a11l noisc to free
jn..: and aU t.he way in between. Simply because of
sound quality concerns t he swdio ttJcks aTe far more
e njoyable (panicularly the intensel)' visceral microscop(:
tha t is 'Slubbcring t he Gig') and far mo re palatJble, but
Ihe pure and simple flct that the live tracks were record ed at t.he now journo palace that is the E\'ening Sta r
Hotel and were recorded at a time in which Ihere was a
room thal WlS \\i lling to book avan t garde performers is
significanl.
Use t.he program function and sce t.he predecessor (both
chronologicalt)' and 5Onically) of the new WJ\"e ofelce ·
Ironiea of artists such as the Aphe x Twin, Autechre and
Atom Henrl.
Angi na Denuta
Kriss·Kross
Young Rich and Dangerous
(Sony)
The boyz arc back - t hose prepubeseents \\;t.h dreadlocks lnd
pJntS o n backwards who
broug ht us th e smash hit
"'Jump" some years back ret urn
\\~th t heir second album e ntitled 'Young, Rich and
Dangerous"'(w hich so modestly refers to t hemselves).
FealUring Ihe usual blend of hip hop lnd rJp, t his album
itwoh·cs collaboration 1\;1.h So So Defproductions, nmk
di\'J Da nUt (who rJps on TOIwg /<i(1J mId DnllgtrlJllf
nllli Uve allll Dir. For Hip Hop) and the "fOllia's rIm
Nigbt rellli .~ Icalures mentors of the likes of Or Dre and
Snoop. Lenny and the ot.her guy arc now older, more
malUre U) and their \"oices Im·e tinall y broken th.:
res ults arc smoother \"ocals and J 111e.llolI"er sound, but
1\~ l h a lOugher edge -tlte music of gang,~1:l wannnbes
not tOO hard , tha nk goodness. The nlbum get.~ munot o nous ntier:l while but hey, JtleJSt il's only 32 n1inUles
long. All in all, this de~er\'es more than the Jack o t·hyp.:
it gOI; it's smooth like chocobte- good ;n small doses,
but sicken ing if you hnve 100 much.
T-DVYN I
MC Ren
The Villain in Block
(Ep;cl Ruthless)
t-,' WA we re ... and Ihal 's the
whole point. They arc past
lense, no lo nger do they exist,
t.hey're dead (and in terms
Eazy-E t hat's lilen l). And r Ci
MC Ren niU persists in silting through the remains o f
onc of t he freshest and coolcst hip-hop/ rap groups to
have ever existed . Sampling lechnolob'Y (3nd lhe
tu rn table ) has meant that T3p has always sifted through
remains; re·used , re - appropri~ t ed and CUI-Up, pulled
apart and gene rally fucked around with the past, but th is
is generJlly charJcterised by a non-sentimental, cold and
ironic altitude, and all the beller for it. Firing in the
face of the e\·eryda y ( and thus doing thl.' do \\~ I h the
mainsHellll) Ren sa mples Ihe chorus of'Ifit Ain't Ruff'
from SrrniglJl QI/lln COli/plO" in the firsl track Bitrh
Ma dr Ni.!.fgn Killa; neither cleve r nor particularl)' laste·
fi.Ll, sentimental and a liuk past tense That, and the
!let t h,l( Ren gets blown away by the rh Yllles tha t Cold
IS7un1and J. Roee la)' d own in Ihe odd Irl(k signals the
cnd of the cousin of the I:lt.hers of g Jn gsta rap. Ice
Cube and 10 :l lesser extent Eny- E progrcssed from
their past nnd wem o n to cooler IhinSS, all Re n succeeds
in doing is drowning in n vnt of the te:lrs of the past.
Though , to be tair, there arc some redeeming features;
the sinister Mad Scient ist wilh a bass line th at keeps
coming back and o nc of the most e motivc speech samples I\'e heard b)' KJl:llid '\·l uhanHl13d in the track.
' Mul13!1llllad Spea ks' make the whole shamoozle jusl a
link bit worthwhile, but only JUSt 3 little bit.
AnginJ
Dental~ .
Newsboys
Take M e To Your Leader
(S"e Song)
You might almost be fooled
into
thinking
that
the
Newsboys are a slightly bad
take on Co[lecth·e Soul, but
,"
atl.cr:l bil of~ close lislen yo u'll
find that instead of being
sen·ed sex on a plnner, the Bible is the main course
instead, steaming in all its nutritional \'J[ue. There's lots
of pr:li~ing Ihe Lo rd, happy \·ocals, prnisi ng t he Lord,
h~ppy melodies, and praising the Lo rd ; be warned: Ihe
urge to \l'a\·e your hnnds in th e ai r and embark on an
intensc soul sea rching mission \\~ll be very hnrd to conu in.
I'::::;;::::il::.....iii
1ilh Me To «lIIr undrr, the Newsboys' 61h Jlbum, is
dclina td y an c.~se ntiJI ndditio n to the C D f3c k of all the
hudcore CBS membcrs amou ng liS. Here's a rid bit
from MRealil)," JUSt to get your 1110uth watering: "In
realit)'/ d l3l comes fro m above/
God is calling!
there's no bigger lo\"e/ It's his realil)' Ihal welcomes us
back/ T r usl and obey/ there is no other way.- I suggest pb~'in!:i it It the next SJcrilicll offering so that cns
can
sway
together
III
time.
Check
ou t
the
Newsboys
on
the
net:
hl ll':// www.newslXl).li .co m Mar}·ke
PEEL at Iron Duke Hotel
15/5/96.
The Iron Duke HOld in AlexJndria has proven to be
onc oflhe better newer I'enues that hJI·e cropped up in
Sydne~' o\"er t he bSI couple of ye,l rs, booking a I\;dc
l':lriClY of bands fJngins from h3rdcorc punk to acoustic
pop. O n oiler on this r.1irl)' laid -back Wednesda y night
were 3·piecc bnnd Pcel, who ,1re t:1irly well established
now Jnd known to some Uni 3udiences, Jnd in suppon
:l bJnd called Plunge.
Onc hastens to )ay tha t onc was nOt amused by Plunge.
Sounding Ut her like J jukebos of Triple M crud or 3
band dut plays the ji ngles on a host of crassl)' commer·
cial lV ads attempting "hipness M, Ihey had an lll1Jzing
capacity 10 ind ucc nausea . With lines like "a Im ofpeople thi nk wc look the IkatlC.'l-, as the leJd singer intro·
duced said band's song " Money" as the last onc ofthc
sel, onc \\~s hcs that Plunge wo uld do something 10 li\·c
up to their na me, prefeTJbly frOIll a great heigh t.
Ped, thankfu lly, arc a \'ery d ifferen t bos of frogs.
Formed 2 YCl rs ago and known to Uni audienccs by
\'irme of their invol vc ment in Band Comps, they
describe thei r sound as "origina l aggressive noisc". Thcy
cile thei r main influences as t he Breede rs, I'J Han·cy, X
(the Mel bourne \'ariely), Husker Du, Throwing MuSC$
as well as j3ZZ and African dru mming. Howe\'er, these
names should nOt be used for the purpose of pigeonholing. Chord -driven , hard -edged noise-po p, with
more than a touch o f vocnl nngst, this is what Peel is
Jbout.
........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Despite onc or twO " not-quite -t.here" notes early on,
J1f\'e on bass and \'onls shows th;tt she's gOt something
when it comes to delivering the \'oice, Experienced guitarist Brad givcs us the aforementioned chords, \1.'ithout
deh'inS into wan ky lead-breaks. And t hen therc is the
stick-wield ins o f Melissa, onc of Peel's strongest fea lUres. She hits the ski ns hard and brings a noteworthy
vibrancy to hcr playing,
Tonight's gig progressed \'ery well, considering t hat the
sizeable crowd (30·40 punn:rs on a Wednesday) largely,
and seemingl y rudely, dispe rsed OUt the door o r into the
beer ga rden atier seeing Plunge, leaving a bunch or
e mpt y ta bles at the rrom 10 inspire Peel. Onc reckons
that they might have mostly been rriends of said band ,
perhaps onc of whom was ha\'i ng a birthday. An yway,
o nc is sure 1I1 l1 Peel will hl\'e mon' punt ers than ctlairs
at other gigs.
By the way, Ped 11~1l be appearing on an as yet untitled
Tror Horse compilation , hopefully out in ful}'. Other
recording currently being worked on nu)' eventuate
into an El' laler on, who kn ows.
Les Gray
The Mavis's
but the feeli ng of dh'ersit}' is good for the whole count .
T he use of Llln for Ufo in the film was the beSt I ha\'e
ever seen it; Lou R.t:ed is included bec.ause he was o nc or
the archetypal too-burned-oUl ·to ·rock figures; New
Order and Blur and Primal Scream arc 111 on the re to fill
out the Insular num bers. But the real hero here is Igg),
Pop, with LUlt l nd NiglJtd,lbbillg, which 10 mc bonled
the feeli ng of the film . Thankfull}' the Choose Life message hasn 't corrupted the music here, but whether whaf
is given is enough to dispel the da)' 10 da y sickness ofthe
o rdi na ry way oflife is unclear. I mean you can ha\'e yo ur
Stooges but there arc other fhings hap pening in music,
and the times arc so nigh on nihilistic fhat it's going to
takc a bigger acid explosion than [he 60's to step out of
the rut even for a mi nute, The modern dance th~ng
does gel a nod on the album, but somehow the feeling
of where it's reall)' at isn't included , Popularity is the
greatest perceil'ed e\'il to an y kind of exclusive musical
culture, but. .. well , e\'cT)'thing has ifS place, and this
could ha\'c been onc of them. At least it's better than
telel'isio n - where 111)' conspiraC)' theory has Ihe same
ad \'ertising compJny nurkeling Night in Rotterdam
mId the Techno Sucks album (or rral music), Now if
you CJn figure where t hat's at then rou must be on
drugs. It's a pity that only the junkies aren'l swayed by
modern society.
Venus Return ing
White/Mushroom
Step I : l'oim forefinger in Ihe
direction (,f the horizon, \\~th
thumb ~t lhe perpendicular and
the Ihree uther iil1!,:ers poinring
in the opposite direction .
Step 2: Insert tin).:er in l he Clltest dimple in the face of
your ehoire (101' hy);iene purp()Se~ 1his should prdcrably
be ~'Ollr own )
Step 3: twi~t tinp,er in ~ rot;UiOll of approximately I SO
dep.rees.
Step 4: bob he3d lI'ith 3 shiteJtin,!; \'apid smile as
though ~OIneo n e ha, lak~'n your brain nUl for a thorHugh clellt ..
Why thi~ b" ll1~trJdc of silliness! Well if you don'l havc
the d;!nee then you' rc never gonn" get into girlie pop,
and tlul , IIntOrTUn31e1y, is wh3t halfVenlls Returning is
Imde up of. Songs like 'Do you h3"e a brOlher' and
'Lust' ~ink into Ihe quagmire of poxy harmonics, major
chords and inelq;aIU culesy posturinp.. Hu! like the girl
\Iith Ihl' curl in her hair of the mother goose rh yme
when 1I1e)"!'e SHod they're \'er~' I'ef}' good. Infectious
sonf.s thai, like unirll'ited gUCSIS, JUSt won't leave your
head and eominue to p,lrt ~' on e\'en after \'o ur consciou~ne~s has celsed to lind them userul.
Delicious
chord progre~sions Ihat o nl y hint at a darker underbel ly, eJSlern instnllnenution Ihat provides a perfect offset
to J patriarchy' of guiurs and two vocals that arc as
idiosyncratic as elch ocher · the remale breath)' and inscCllfe, t he mate brash nnd punky in a wo nderfully o rt ho·
dox gender split. .. H(lll'c,'er YOII sec it Ihough , the
"'b\'is's hal'e produced J mall y textured lnd multi byered piece th~t is ,IS imprcssil'e as lny Auslr3liJn release
Ihls )'ea r...
I
r\ nd th,t(, 111)' triCrtds is whlt !i:lrgi\'es th\: Ma\'is's [sic ! an
almost unl{)rbil'abJc p.ramm,uic,ll error. High praise
indeed, ch what!
· pltriJrchy is Ihc collective noun lor
AnginJ
g uifar~
])l~ntatJ
Tralnspottlng
(EM I)
Well the papers have taken to
the British thing likc money 10
SuperlcJbue recruit ~, but the
point is bei ng m b~ed . OK, so
ma ybe I do like reading rhr ,
M flro to St3}' in touch 11;lh this
gre,lt hu); of a planel of ours, and afler all , culture is
what you read about. And since the ad is also on the
back ofbusses, the sound track must be good.
The music on this disc is, like British music, eclectic.
Some of the songs ma y be from that fast fading WJve,
Ma,.ion
Th e Sleep f p
YeI'. it's another whining, melancholy.
glamour Brit -pop band to add 10 your
alread)' ex pan .~ive collection of whining,
melancholy, glamour Brit -pop types.
Pop l his onc in to wad\: in rront man
Jamic 1-l3rding's pri\·;)t\: angst and para noia . Quit e a good cure for that dn::adful amicI ion of thinking thal lire is worth
living, and a good listcn when cTOuching
behind Ihe kill;hen sink ror your \\'el'kly
contemplation session on how your lire is
worth less th:an tlt:at cockroach you JUSt
sm:ashl-d .
C I13 rm in g stufT, rCllly.
Maryke
Xsca pe
Off th e
Hoo k
(Sony)
Leave lhe phone ofT the hook and dim
the lights ... l he scnsual bcat of this :album
gets you into a romantic mood (for some
sweet lo\'in' , maybe~ ) . These sou l sisTas
show talen t and great voells. Xscape to
the realm of your !lnt~sies via these sexy
slow j3mms .
T-nWN2
Keb'Mo'
(O Keh/ Epic)
Th is isn't ~ blues album , It's l secret
expc rimellt to sce holl' m ~ny times
Keb'Mo' call repeat himself and say yeah ,
baby or baby yeah or baby or yeah or
yea h yeah yeah on one :album ~ nd get
:away with it. It must h:l\'e ocen tlt:a! last
"I I(we the way you lov( mc. I IO\'C the
way you co'o-o ·omb your l1;1ir. Yeeelh,
I lo-o -o -O\'e I he way you love !Il('. baby.
I lo\'e the way YOII, yeceeah come rour
hair, baby yeah yeah.~ that did it,
bee:allse yeah, baby, he's been sprung.
Maryke
th e Auteu,.s
After Murde,. Pork
(Hut)
I like this band. T here is defi ·
natdy 3 songwrite r at' work
here. I sce him readinS the
SundJY papers over breakfast in
bed. Some kid's been mur,
dered , li"ed down the road . nig
ol d han go\'er icing away at his built ". Don't think that
the J)'rics havc any specitic or clear meaning, tJIC)' arc
just thcre 10 fle sh out the interesti ng song StruCtures
and progressions, which nel'er lower themselves to
I'erse/chorus/verse s\:1lldard. And lhey arc good StruCtur es. If you reall), like the sou nd of those 11/ Utero
drums then )'ou'lI reJII~' likc Ste\'e Albini 's name on lite
production . That's probJbly all the re is 10 like about the
man. Anyll'a)', dIe music l13s poise and striki ng original ~
ity. If I claimed 10 be J songwriter m)'self I might look
to this gu)' for the word un what 10 do and who's who.
Evcn though Luke Haines does have two or three
albums under his belt, he'd probably tell me d,at e\'eryIhi ng begins and end~ \\;Ih Mf. Oa\'id B o\\~ e · but that
can be all right ifit isn-I 1110 cloud)' outside.
Alter Jbout six or seven w ng~ )'ou might get the feel ing
that the plfticular l1J zine~s of the lyrics can be a bit tiro
ing, or yo u might not hear an)' singles, but the sounds
arc ston b enollsh dlrou p;ho\lt W WJnt a repeat listening
at the cnd , BUlth ese ,Irl' weak words ... and things more
import,lllt ,Ire dr,1\\;n b their own parallels with the
mu,ie . Th;U1k god fi)f t he inten';el\; ng skills of Don
Burke hi, r,lplUrou, tete-a·tete with Kamahl had me
lon~in !! for the !!olon' d,Iys of OM M(m I{i" tr all over
,IS,Iin. 1k.1[~ Ihe lIe't of lley lie)" :1I1d Ra}' on Midd3Y.
Adio' .
K ing Billy
Cokebottle
(Sony)
Kin~ Bill~' i ~ 3 non -Indi);!inous
pen;on who irnrc rsonJt e~ an
Aborigirul mJrt and b,I,e ~ hi,
comedy
purely
upon
Abori~i nal i,stles. Hh humour
is simple Jnd old , I'm ,ure mO~1 Pl'opk ha\'C already
heard h,llfoflite n1.1lcriJI ( which I lm con fid ent is not
his own ). I·k milk, IJ II);hter from his unwiny, try· hard
r\boribinal Jcce11l which i, neid,er l CCUrate or fun ny.
King Hilly tor J white fell,I ~' ou arc l \'err bral'e nun 10
be mJkin b 3 livin~ trom )'our olTensh'e ml}'teriaJ. I bet
you nel'er sce an~' Kooris in your audiellce . no matter
how symp,uhising )'(Il! believe you Jre , No wonder you
arc still doing dlc ro un d~ in TownsviiJe pubs,
GIVEAWAY
courtesy of Sony Music we have five
copies of Keb' Mo's debut album
reviewed on these pages to the first
people here on Thursday the 6th
who can tell us what Keb' Mo's real
name is hint: Kevin M_o _e .
LOOKATHIS
the bad news is that because of a dire
lack of space we couldn't include the
fabulous article on the band The
Paradise Motel that we had
planned, the good news, however, is
that we've published it with some
cool piccies on the web page
http://www/real.com.au/tharunka
•••
1
•
Cuhural Week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander cultu re at UNSW and is always held week I of sessio n
2. It replaces wha t wc used to call NA ID OC at UNSW.
NAlDOC, which is the national celebration of Indigenous cultu re throughout Australia, actually falls in our recess. Instead,
UNSW have adopted Cu ltural Week as their official week of
celebration, which has been historically significant and considered an important event hosted by the university. In the past
C ultural Week has not gone by without its littk dramas:
Like the year when Peter Garret and Stall Grant wcre invited
to the flag raising ceremony ;and in lheir haste raised the flag
upside down; or in 1994 when an an exhibition, held in the
library foye r, was host to a patron who took a liking to o nc or
the pieces and attempted to walk out with it, needlc,~s to say
be was promptly crash t'acklcd to the ground by the manager
\. If the person behind you is exceptionally good-looking, pay their
toll.
2... If the person behind you is exceptionally ugly, tell the toil-colle ctor the person behind will be paying for you.
::'. Slap the toll collector's outstretched palm and say, "give me five ,
brother".
4. Ask for directions to Aye rs rock in an obnoxious American
acce nt ..
5. Redirect your windscreen sprayers to the side_.
h. Hand the toll colle ctor a squeegee with $2 and say "check the oi l
while you're at it.
7. Take some ecstacy. Give the toll collector a big hug a nd tell him
he's doing a wonderful job.
g.Use your car's cigarette lighter to heat up the coins.
3. Get your partner to perform oral sex on you as you search for
money, then hand the t oll-collector a $100 note ..
'O.Get really stoned. Pretend you're at a drive thru and order a Big
MAc and some fries.
•
•
••
•
•
•••
••
Ion 2
of the library in :1 mo\'e that would have made Glen Lazarus
proud (o r at least his mum ... ); or the creeping suspicion that
someone in Campus Services continually attempts to under·
mine Cultural Week activities on the lawn by pulling the plug
on lunchtime entenainment, leaving pe rforme rs without
amplification and humming and strumm ing in the breeze.
This year's C u ltural Week ('vems hopefully won't include any
mishaps, but we dare definitely including Hag raising and lowering ceremonies, lunchtime entertainment all the library lawn
throughout the week , Aboriginal stalls, bush tucker, debates,
music, an, dance and story telling. This is a ch:lIlce for all of
the Universit), population to enjoy, participate and join the
Indigenous community in celebrating the richness and diversi I)' o f their cll ltul"I.' .
.~
• 4
Other times
Week 14
Week 13
CASOC MEETING #7 Thursday June 6
BEER AND PIZZA
ACTIVTIES C OLLECTIVES Ever won-
6pm Squarcholisc Terrace . All Clubs :lIld societies
should be represented .
Friday wk 14 - June 14 Western Campus Bldg 100
free Food and Drink
CHILDCARE The Honey Pot Child Ca re
S5 Game players members
57 non -membe rs stans 6.00
dcred how to gct involved in activites on campus
and not known bow: Join thl' Activit ies collective !!! No poli t il".\ No Bullsbit. Your kq' to a fun
and enlightcning fur ure ... C:om.lcr Hart or ChJd at
the Stulknt Gu ild.
Cent re
provides
quality
part
! illle
and
occasional/casual for c hndrcll 3months 10 5 years
of UN$W Students and Staff. 22 HOlan y SI
It.1ndwick Ph 3851230.
KINO SCREENINGS
Arro\\'
June 7BrokcI1
plll .~
M~'l1lbl.'rs
Speed Science Theatre, 7pm. S5 Kino
S8 1l{111 -members
PURl'LE NOISE I' REE C H OCOLATE
GIVEAWAY WC will be giving an assortment of
C:1l1bury Choco late bars [(lour members MOll
3rd Jun.; - Wed 5th June Library bwn 12-2
Wcd 5th Junc WC:: 101 6-8
SOCRATIC SOCIETY Is
So c r ~Hc~ \)u r
H em: Thursday 1·2, MB 211
VEGETARIAN CLUB
REDCROSS BLOOD BANK
VISITING Please Give Blood.
Tuesday June 11
Wednesday June
Th ursday Junc 13
ETHNIC AFFAIRS COMMlTTEE &
C OLLECTIVE ConrributioJ1)<o in tbe lorm of
9.45 -3.45
12 9.30-3.45
9.30 -3.30
SOCRATI C SOCIETY PhiloSllphy sllbje..:ts
- opcn discussion, Thllrs<l:Jy 1-2pm M B 2 11.
PSYCHOLOGY SOCIETY Scmi Formal
Friday Junc 14. Ikcr Wine Soft drink Horsc
D oo\'crs 535 Furama Hotd ( Oppo Sitl'
Emcrtainment Centre Tickct.\ 1·2 pm Library
Lawn & 1\01:11 10 10 otha timcs
FREE SELF D EFENCE CLASSES
FOR WOM EN Mondays 1·2 in room 100 1
oppmitc the Studelll Guild - Qu.lll ranglc Building,
F..l~t Wing, F ir~1 rioo r. Wear Comi)' Clothcs
N S W TRAVELLI NG ART S C HOL A.RSHIP 1996 establi s hed in 1901 a nd is
Tucsday.~ 12A5pm
Sam Cracknell Pa\·ilion. All Welcome . Lunch 54
and alwa),s worth the walk .
va lued at 5 25,000 C losing date for subm iss io ns
22 Ju ly 1996
SYDNEY MARXISM GROUP will meet
Wedncl<od .. y lune 5, 6 -N pm 361 Kent Street,
Sydney 1:loor 4 the spl' :lker will bc Debe .~h
Hatl.h:h:lrya, Associ:llc P r()les.~or of Eco nom ics,
Sydney University. What Future for tllc Lefl in
1!Hli:l. CUIlI,ICt Stevc Cooper 799 9261 lilr dct:lils
arti ..: k~, l-l<ol<o,I~'S, poetry, photo.\ , :lrtwork, et c .Ire
wckomc liw .\uhll1i~.,ion lilr the in,lUgural annual
pu bli(,lI ion e,lrly in Sl·.\SiOIl 2. Dl'adl ille lilr subm i·
.~ison~ i.\ Frid.1Y JUlle 14. All ":olltribuliull.' will be
\\'ekOllll'~t. Elhluirie~ l<ohould be direCl .,.'d to the
E/\ C of thl' Student Guild - lbh::on~' Level of
Qu.\(lr.mgk Huildi ng.
WOM E N 'S CO LL EC TI VE NOW
SELL I NG CHOCOLATE IN A
HUG E WAY - gc t your box of maltesers or
Saturday June 8
Only $99
[~'Dntact David 416 161
ctive
M& M 's (both kinds) for ;1 paltry 5 3 now!! Lose
Mo ney, E,lrll We ig h t" for w inte r!! ! All for a
good ca use sending wome n to Ihe The annua l
Co nference of National O r ga ni s:H ion of
\ Vomen Smden lS A ustralia in Perth_
the Media
•
the C ltP<tall
Bar Bring~ •
UNI G YM SUX fo r info on setting up a
s tud e nl own ed , s tud cnt run fitne ss facil ity,
ph o ne D:w id Galea (Vo ice mail 38 5 8888 cx t
9 1042
.
" .~:~.:~;::~~
bits tooll there',
• be
I 6736 for
CLASSTI!"1BDS
ALL-DOCUMENT CREATIONS If you need any word process ing,
NIKE DI SCOUNT TO ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF !les'
Dcsktop publishing, Prescntations, Sprcads hccts, Essays, Repo rts, Resumes
do re in a hurry at affordable ra tes ( Laser printe r o r colour. Dot matrix
printc r, scanner al so available. I c.·m make your next document look the
best), Phone Anna on (02») 665 1245 or fax (02) 665 1246
A-GRADE HOME TUITION AJI Subjects, Al l Suburbs_ Tertiary,
Secondary and Primary P lus Computer Trainin g, Plus Musical Instruments
ph 386 0877
BADGER SECRETARIAL SERVICES Typing, Lase r Printing and
Binding of essays, rhcses, repons, ere. Excel lent layout, reasonable rates. We'll
meet your deadli ne! Ph u..annc: 360 5829/365 4903
ESSAYjTHESIS EDITING Profc.~~io nal service includes proofreading,
advicc Oil English, rderences, bibliography , .m ucturc . Ph Uruce : 566 41 63
HIGH QUALITY WP, grant applicarions, resumes, thc.~es . h ec pick-up
and ddive ry fro m campus. Hard and floppy copies supplied . AL~o per.~()nalised
computer training on-site compu ter installations, upgrades. Ph 5 16 1219
price ill Sydlll'Y . 2l<) Anzac P;lr;lde KClll<oillgtllll , ne;lr N ltMA .
KENSO SPORT 663 1714
OPAL TYPING SERVICE hl<o.I )"S, RCHlllle .\ , Re ports , t hcses.
P rofc.~siollal prompt .~cr.'k e !;U;U;lllIeed . $N per pagc usin g word lor windows 6 .
Ph 39<) HOO I alier 5 .30pm \Vil hin walking dil<ot.m..:e (If Universi ty_
TYPING / WP / SEC RETARlAL Al l 'yo ur uni ve rs ity ass ig nmcnt"s,
essays, resumcs, theses, etc, pro duced using latest w indows software/ 1:lscr
printcd. For quality prcscntati on , accuracy and dlicient sen 'ice, phonc/ fax
589· 1009
SINGING LESSONS 521 / -l5 mill. IlLlr Town H.III , Cit)". COlllcrnpor;u)'
sty les· Pop, Rock & Jan.
Anthon), Wintcr 264 2215
Editor: Mi c h ael Wappe n
UNS W SPO rt s A ssociati o n
Syd n ey
2052
Ph, 395 4880 F" 662 1671
s p o rt. ass n@un s w. cd ll.nll
The UNSW Sports Association's next meeting is June 12th at 6.00pm in the Sam Cracknell Pavillion
I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY
CALL IT THE BLUES (dinner) •••
TIle twelfth Annual Dinner of the Sports Association saw
the presentation of Blues Awards to ten of the
University's best sports people. The University sporting
Blue is the highest award a student can achieve and
recognises excellence while coml't!ling (or the University.
The award winners were:
Christopher l o nes - Athletics: C hris is a middle distance runner who won gold in the 800m at last year's
Australian UniverSity Games in Darwin. I-Ie bettered
the Blues standard on more than four occasions including t m 49.05 (or tht: 800m and 3m 51. Is for the 1500m.
Christophcr has been a Ben Lt:xcen Scholar since t 995 .
George Sidis - Athletics: George is the most successful
shot putter in the Club's recent history, having put the
shot over 14m twice during his University sporting
career. George won 11 Bronze Medal ,It the 1994
National Under 20 compet ition and backed this up with
a Bronze at the Austmlian University Games last ye:lr.
Anthony Tzannes • Athletics: Anthony is only the
second javelin thrower to be m."'llrdC(1a Univen;ity Blue after
suong penonll.. .lIlce mme intcrclub and interv..lrsity level.
Anthony won the Imerdistrict A G rade Final for me javelin
throwing 6 1.6601 at Homebush &'IY AthletiCS Stadium.
Anthony ....,on a Silver Medal at ~lSt year's Uni Games.
Merrick Kingston - Australian Football: Merrick has
been a regular member o( the First Gracle club since 1992
and has developed into one of the League's leading goal
scorers. Merrick kicked 43 majors in 1994 and 42 in 1995
which helped win the club's St.'Cond consecUlive First
Grade Premiership. Merrick WdS selected in the AustrJlian
Green and Gold team at last year's University G ames.
Shayne McKenzie Australian Rules: Shayne com·
menced with the Club in 1987 and has p la ~'<"d First Gracle
for nine consecutive years, capHlining the side in 1989 and
1994. He has twice been sek-cted in the Sydl)ey Football
Association's representative sides, being selected as captain
in 1994. A tough defender, Shayne also wdSselected in the
Green and Gold T Ciml ill last ye-Jr's University Games.
#
ATttLETIC SUPPORTER
Cry for Cross Country
The A ustra lian University C hampionships for Cross
Country Skiing is bei ng held Ihis year at Mount Buller
during Week 1 of Sccond Session. This is four weeks
earlier than in past years and means the C lub needs to
organise a team to represent the University. If you are H
keen cross country skier (male or female) or would like
to train to become competitive call T OIlYAbrahams on
Ph 398 53 12 or Jo;.mna Bourke on Ph 211 5428
Orienteering Silver Medal
T he UNSW Men 's team fini shed second overall in the
1996 Australian University O rienteering C hampionships
near Mullion Creek, north o(Ornnge in April. 16
U niversities from throughout Austr'dlia entered teams in
Timothy Munro • Canoeing: Since Tim enrolled il
was obvious he would add his na me to the Blues
Honour Roll, having represented Australia at the t 987.
1990 and 1991 World Championships and the 1987.
1991 pre O l)'mpic regattas. An elite paddler in sprint
kayaking Tim has won Gold for the University a\ the
Aust ralian University Rowing C hampionsh ips on many
occasions. Tim was a Lexcen Scholar in 1993 and is
currently a Sam Cr.tcknell Spons Scholar.
Matthew Phelps - Cricket: Matthew achieved his
Blue with sizzling form in First Grade that Sll W him break
several C lub records. Matmew scored 874 nms at an average of 54.63 in the G rade competition and 349 nms at an
average of 87. 25 in the One D.IY competition. Matthew
was rewarded with selection in the NSW Second Xl.
Manhew won a G old Medal with the UNSW C ricket
Team's win at the 1995 Ausmllian University Games.
winning selection in the Green and Gold Team. Matthew
WdS a Ben Lexcen Scholar in 1994 and 1995.
Bridge t Mclntosh - Gymnastics: Bridgel has dominated the Rhythm ic Gymnastics event at Ihe AusU<lli;m
Universit y C hampionships over the last two years, finishing first oventll in both 1994 and 1995. Bridget has
won Gold in the 80 11, Freehand, C lubs, Rope and Hoop
disciplines as well as -a silver in the Ribbon. Bridget "~JS
also a part of the Gold Medal winning UNSW Netball
Team at last year's University Games.
Jodi Murphy SoftbaU: Jooi has easily surp.'lS-SCCI the
#
Blues standard for softba ll over the last two rear's with bmting perfommnces that have been responsible for keeping
the club competitive in the A Grade compet ition. Jooi hit
0.405 in 1994 and 0.4 16 in 1995 to easily sur-pa$ the Blue;
standard of 0.300. Jooi was rewarded for her performance;
with selection in the S~-dney So(tball Association's represemativc team for the State Championships last year.
Three dub stalwarts were also honoured with Sports
Recognit ion Awards for their tireless work over the last
15-20 years as players, coaches, umpires and club
administm tors. They were Robert Long o( the
&'lSeooIVSoftba ll C lub and Peter Brown and Murali
Nagamjan of the Hockey Club.
the competition with three UNSW members fini shing in
the lop 20 of the individual component. Peter Lowndes
was the best placing 10th, with David Shepherd (1 4th)
and Paul Heiskanen (17th ) support ing strongly.
In a League of Their Own
The UNSW BaseballlSoftball Club has hit the halfv.-a y
nl<lrk of Lhe season and aTe in the strongest C lub position in
recent history. All four baseball teams are on line (or the
Semi Finals ....im First G rade in fift h position. Second Grade
are coming fifth. Third Grade third aOO Founh gmde just
OUt o( the top five. TIle women, not to be outdone, are playi ngju~t as powern.llly, with A GroKlc stonning to will in five
out of their six games. A Reserve are twOfrom four and B
Gmde are winless despite seveml close games. Both Baseball
and Softball are holding trials for the Eastern Q,n(erence
Games in July. For more in(ommtion leave your details on
me C lub lnfoline on Ph 385 8888cxtension 90210.
RUGBY NAMED 1995 CLUB
OF THE YEAR
TIle UNSW Rugby Cluu Wd~ dt:d.lI'c.;\ 1995 Sports
Association Club of the Year at the Spons Associat ion's
Annual Dinner held on Friday May 24th at the
ROlmdhouse. The Rugby C lub had a f.mtastic 1995 both
on and off the playing field. UNSW St.'C ured Gr.1nd Final
spots in First and Second Grade and won the CoilS
Premiership on their ....~.1 y to securing the C lub
C hampionship for the fl m time in the club's history. They
also flekled .....o men's rugby te-dms for the first time. TIle
club also had succes.'l maki ng the final four at the
Australian University Games held in Darwin's stifling heat.
On the administrative front , the club had similllT successes.
b'<lini ng fi nancial backing fro m several community businesses incllldi ng the llinca~te r Hotel in Ken~i ngtO n. TIle
Rugby Club b'<lintxl notoriety for their public.at ion of match
day booklets for t"dch home game. TIle Rugb)' Club's
biggest success of the y<'';Ir though m;'IYbe St.'Cn as the North
American Rugby tour they organiSl.'C1for their members in
November and December. 32 club members enjoyed success on lhe 25 day toUTand extracts from thc tour diary are
reproduced (or me home game match publication.
The Sports Association congrallllatcs the UNSW Rugby
Club .....ho have iSSlll..'(1the challenge to other sports du~ to
"catch lIS if rou can".
Late Bre:lking News ....
The UNSW Fencing C lub has had more success wit h
Cameron Smith winni ng a G old Medal in the 1996
President's Cup in the Men's Open Sabre. C lub
President, Ste(an Faulkner picked up the Bronze defeat·
ing a long time nemesis.
IMPORTANT AUmlPV INFORMATION
Meme{)I
Mints with
so
Mrs D &lne{ Me
Il""ly fI"u
rM (i. ioM' 'I (I.,
YO U THINK YOU'RE A FULLTIME STUDENT ...
IF YOU'RE ALSO RECEIVING AUSTUDY, YOU BETTER LOOK AGAINI
/f'MOM.w /.~,.tl Tk1'"""#" 0
The weather is getting colder. and its time to pull out those
winte r ....oollies. Uh oh. You pact::ed them """,ay dirty didn't
you? Full of last winters smol;;ey damp smell. Pooh. can't wear
that ou t now can you? Not t o .... orry I::ids, I have an easy and
simple solut ion to your problem. No\'! its not very hard to do.
and it won't take you all day long. Once again we're going to
use my oid favourite. borax.
You ca n only re ce i v~ Austudy if you arc a full -time student.
Sounds straight forward but it's not. The catch is that what the
university classi fi es as full -time does not correlate wi th what
DEET classi fies as full -time.
DEET is th e Depar tment of Employment, Edcation and Trnining
which administers Austudy.
f3",ax, Ihe IICfsalile age"l.
Mix SOgms of borax. with a jug (s ize is up to you) of hot
.... ater. Pour this solution into about 5 litres of water and your
regular environmentally friendly washing powder. Pop your
woollens into the mi xture and let t hem soak for as long as
you lil::::e, (Probably about three pots of tea worth. and maybe
a whole pacl::et of those yummy scotch finger bickies.> For
added strength add a dash of vinegar. When you've finished
your tea. take your woollens and wring t he water out . Pull
them bad:: into shape and d ry on a flat surface. And hey
presto. your woollies are as g ood as new.
god's blessings you all.
You're OK if: You are receivin g Ausrudy and your HECS loading
is above 0.375 cach session, as DEET conside rs this to be full timc.
You're in deep shit if: YOll arc reccving Austudy and your HECS
loading is below 0 .375 for any sessio n, as DEET considers this to
be part-time. (U nlcss YOll arc receiving the concessionaJ rate.)
WHY? As far as DEET is concerned, the HECS loading for each
se mester indicates whether you are full -time or part-time, 'regardless of the stn·tlts the University has prinred on y011-1" HEGS Notices.
It is your respo nsibility to check that each session your load is
above 0.375.
Sell
Take special care if you drop subjects at any time during the session, as Austudy will check on your HECS loading and if they
find a discrepancy you Illay end up with a debt.
T here are exceptions to this rule where by yOll can be paid the
Conccssional Rate of Ausrudy, but your load must not be below
0.332 per session. For morc information about these exceptions
contact the Student Advocacy Officer at the Student Guild o n
6630461.
So what if you're a Part-time student and can't get Austudy?
COs
Student Guild
Second Hand
Bookshop
Ground Floor, Blockhouse
Hours: Mon - Thurs 1Dam - 5pm
Ph: 313 7345
You m.1Y be eligible for Job Search or Newstart Allowance, if you
are studying part-time and looking for full -time work.
However take care, as t he definition of "part-time" is also
unclear. The Department of Social Security's definition of parttime study can be determined by a range of Factors; the contact
hours and private study done by the student, their committment
to seeking paid work and their desire to undertake fi.I..Il ~ time work
and give up study if work is offerred.
GOLDE.N RULE #1 - When speaking to Austudy or DSS staff on t11~' pbone
always get their name, make a 110te ofwhaf was 5.'lid and the date o r the call.
GOLDEN RULE #2 - If you arc given ad\'ke over the phone, ask the persoo
to give you the number of the regulation they arc quorjng, and if they can
send you a copy. This is nOt an un reasonable requeSt, given tbat most
problems students have with Austudy arise rrom being given the wronS information .
Brought to you the Research Officer of the Student Guild.
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