Aboriginal Sign Stolen On Australia Day Eve

Aboriginal Sign Stolen On Australia Day Eve

by TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL CENTRE, 26 Jan 2006

This sign (‘AUSTRALIA DAY Yes, let’s celebrate: MURDER, INVASION, RAPE, THEFT’) was removed yesterday within hours of its installation on the Launceston Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre premises, by people who believe there is only one Australia Day message, and one only - glorifying the history of the white invasion.

The reason the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre will continue to replace the sign is the obvious need to expose the myth, as expressed in the national anthem, that Australia is a free and fair country.

The damage to this sign is equivalent to the burning of the Australian flag by a protestor in the rec! ent Cronulla riots. He was sentenced to three months prison. Those who attack the symbols of white people get severe punishment. Aborigines ask, what will white society do about its members who did this, attempting to destroy not just a symbol but a truth.

This is another instance of the continuing trend in Tasmania of racist attacks on both people and property by extreme elements of white society who don't like the truth, who don't like Aborigines and other races. In recent weeks we have also seen the local attack on Sudanese family and the defacing of the ancient Aboriginal petroglyphs in the north west.

As with the racial attacks on middle Eastern people in Sydney, these Tasmanian incidents show how Australia under the Howard government is becoming more openly xenophobic.

We could submit to these racist elements by leaving the sign down and staying silent, but that would legitimize their racist attacks. We must continue to expose racism in all its ! forms and if a simple sign telling the truth about the foundation of the Australian nation is hard for these extremists to swallow, then so be it!

Michael Mansell
Legal Advisor

See also:
http://www.tasmanianaboriginal.com.au/

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