Australian Politics
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
My day
I have just got back from celebrating Australia day in the traditional manner -- with a family BBQ. My brother joined us. We had lamb chops, sausages, salad, various cheeses and Tasnmanian Pate. So the food was good.
We had most of the lunch under shade in the garden but adjourned to air conditioning for our Pavlova dessert
We discussed the ever-growing "Invasion Day" movement and wondered why they cannot have their day while we had ours. Each to his own, we said
But the motivation for the protests is actually clear. They smell money in it. It's an ever louder call for "reparations". They seem to think that can get yet more money from the government for people with any Aboriginal ancestry.
The fact that the governent already gives them various types of support that are not available to other Australians is ignored. Gratitude? You'd be joking. The existing payments have simply made them greedy for more.
They think that more noise will produce more money. But that is unlikely to happen. Whatever they got they would want more and that should be obvious to anyone. One of the reports below asked for a million dollars for each aborigine. The whole thing is just contemptible money grubbing -- JR
ABC kicks off Australia Day coverage with Aboriginal language national anthem - after it backed down on policy of calling Jan. 26 'Invasion Day'
The ABC has started their Australia Day coverage with a televised performance of the national anthem being sung in a local Aboriginal language - as the sails of the Opera House were lit up with indigenous art for the first time.
The WugulOra morning ceremony at Sydney's Barangaroo Reserve was broadcast live on the ABC on Tuesday, culminating in the singing of Advance Australia Fair.
The anthem was first sung in the Eora Sydney language by Aboriginal vocal performance group the KARI singers, which was followed by the English version.
Before dawn the sails of the Sydney Opera House had been lit up with an artwork from artist Frances Belle-Parker, a Yaegl woman from Maclean, northern NSW.
Her design was to represent the oldest living culture in the world.
Shortly after first light, the Aboriginal flag was also raised alongside the Australian flag just across the water from the spectacular artwork on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
As the country prepares for heatwave conditions for the day, marches are planned in many capital cities to advocate abolishing Australia Day and demand justice for First Nations people.
In Melbourne, an Invasion Day rally will go ahead despite the city's annual Australia Day parade being cancelled.
In Sydney, the NSW police minister has warned the thousands of people planning to march in protest that they face fines or imprisonment for violating COVID-19 public health orders.
Conservative lobby group Advance Australia said it planned to arrange for the words 'Aus Day' to be written in the sky above Sydney on Tuesday, to counter the 'Invasion Day rally'.
The country has again been embroiled in the annual debate about whether Australia Day's date should be changed or the name changed to Invasion Day.
As Australia woke up on January 26, the sun rose over the country's most famous building the Sydney Opera House spectacularly lit up with artwork in recognition of First Nations people
The wording of the Australian anthem was recently changed to replace 'for we are young and free' to 'for we are one and free' to take account of the long Aboriginal history on the continent.
The Eora Nation is the name given to the 29 Aboriginal clans that collectively make up the indigenous population of the Sydney Metropolitan Area. The word Eora means 'here' or 'from this place'.
WugulOra, meaning 'One Mob', was a ceremony on Australia Day to celebrate 'the world's oldest living culture through dance, music and language'.
The event honoured the traditional custodians of the land, the Gadigal people, and involved an ancient Smoking Ceremony, performances and talks from local Elders.
The ABC on Monday backed down on its policy of interchangeably using the terms 'Australia Day' and 'Invasion Day' after the government intervened,
The national broadcaster had published an online events guide using both terms to refer to the January 26 public holiday which commemorates the 1788 arrival in Sydney Cove of the First Fleet - a transportation of settlers, military, and convicts from Britain.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher attacked the use of the term by the taxpayer-funded national broadcaster. 'The ABC online article is incorrect about Australia Day,' he said on Monday.
'The name of our national day is well understood and supported, and for the ABC to suggest otherwise - that in some way Invasion Day is interchangeable with Australia Day - is clearly wrong.'
Hours later, the ABC issued a defensive statement regarding its policy.
'In light of some misreporting on this issue, to be abundantly clear: The ABC's policy is to use the term Australia Day, as it always has,' it said on Monday afternoon.
'As the editorial advice states, other terms can be used when they are appropriate in certain contexts. This does not mean they are used interchangeably.'
The ABC events guide on Sunday had described Australia Day as 'a contentious day for many' despite the national broadcaster's style guide recommending Australia Day as a 'default' terminology.
The initial article, which has now been amended, was titled 'Australia Day/Invasion Day 2021 events for Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin'.
Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt, meanwhile, acknowledged January 26 was a painful date for many Australians, but argued the day was an opportunity to reflect on the nation's story of reconciliation.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia's decision to drop references to 'Australia Day' while promoting Big Bash League games also drew debate, with politicians and commentators weighing in.
Australia Day Arrests as police clash with Invasion Day protesters
Peaceful protests calling for a change to the January 26 Australia Day holiday turned ugly as police clashed with protesters and, on one occasion, a protester was forcefully removed by bikies.
Thousands gathered for Invasion Day protests in Australia’s capital cities and in regional centres.
After hours of speeches at the Domain in the Sydney CBD, where police told protesters they could gather but not march, a number of protesters were arrested.
In Canberra, a man wearing a Make America Great Again cap and waving an Australian flag was forcibly removed from an Invasion Day rally by three men in bikie colours.
As he drove away, the assembled crowd cheered.
In Melbourne, thousands marched from Parliament House down Bourke Street after a peaceful protest in which police refused to remove their hats, a stance in line with police procedure.
The clash between police and protesters at the Domain in Sydney followed a warning from police. “If you do the right thing, I’ll do the right thing,” an officer told an organiser as 3000 people gathered.
NSW Police said five people were arrested including an 18-year-old man who was not part of the gathering.
One man was charged with assaulting police and one woman was charged with hindering police in the execution of duty.
Two other men were each fined $1000 and released.
Earlier, in the Sydney suburb of Newtown, a fresh mural painted by acclaimed street artist Scott Marsh emerged at first light.
It shows Scott Morrison dressed as Captain James Cook next to two words, “Captain Cooked”, and the hashtag #ChangeTheDate.
A speaker at the Sydney event, Gwenda Stanley, told a crowd of more than 500 people that it was time Indigenous Australians were given proper reparations. “A million dollars for each black person,” she said.
“Don’t be fooled by the Uluru statement from the arse. Let’s do reparations before treaty. A million dollars for each black person and than we can talk treaty.”
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing yesterday warned officers would not hesitate to ensure crowd numbers stayed under 500. “Do not come in and be part of that public gathering. Find another way to express your views and opinions,” he said.
“We are all aware that these are sensitive issues and they are very important issues to a lot of people, but we are still in the middle of a global pandemic and we’re asking people to abide by those health orders.”
Police will be able to issue on-the-spot fines upwards of $1000 but the penalty for breaching public health orders comes with a fine up to $11,000 and a six-month jail term.
The coronavirus pandemic this year saw Victorians unable to gather for an Australia Day rally because it was deemed a public health risk by the state government. But Melbourne City Council did approve an Invasion Day Dawn Service.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the seated, 250-capacity service at Kings Domain was “a way of supporting an event that reflects that ancient Australian history”.
The January 26 public holiday has in recent years seen thousands of Australians take to the streets to protest against Australia’s national holiday.
Thousands have gathered outside Parliament House in Melbourne for a demonstration where a minute of silence was observed. Huge crowds are also peacefully protesting in Brisbane.
Organisers of the Sydney protest told news.com.au 3000 people turned up. “They allowed us to occupy the Domain and for the event to go ahead so long as there was a no marching so that wasn’t the compromise,” Ian Brown said.
Mr Brown, a Gomeroi man from Moree, said the Uluru Statement from the Heart which proposed a voice to parliament, was not the answer. “The statement doesn’t do enough. They have this idea the statement is a grassroots movement. There was no consultation done on my homelands.
The Invasion Day rallies call for, among other things, a changing of the date to reflect the fact that for some it represents more than the beginning of British colonialism when the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788.
They want it to be moved because that same date represents the “continued genocide of Aboriginal people”.
One of the key figures in the NSW Black Lives Matter movement has told news.com.au changing the date of Australia Day from January 26 will not be enough.
Paul Silva is the nephew of David Dungay Jr, a Dunghutti man from Kempsey, who died in prison custody in 2015.
“I’m here to demand the abolishment of Australia Day. It’s not significant to us as First Nations people. Over 250 years ago the First Fleet come in and murdered, raped and stole children of our ancestors.”
Mr Silva said the whole day needed to be abolished. “Changing the date is not going to make a difference in my view. “That we allow Australia to celebrate a day when murders and criminal activity took place is just appalling.”
Mr Silva also hit out at Prime Minister Scott Morrison who last week stoked controversy by suggesting that those who arrived on the First Fleet didn’t have a “flash day” either. “Him making comments like that is just appalling. He basically condones what happened when the First Fleet come here.”
Lidia Thorpe, the first Indigenous woman in Victorian parliament, is using her platform to call for change. On Twitter, she wrote: “Too many Australians still think January 26 is a day of celebration, but for Aboriginal people across this country, it’s a Day of Mourning.
“That’s why I’m inviting communities, councils and organisations to fly the Aboriginal flag at half-mast on #InvasionDay.”
Invasion Day protests have been planned for Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, Newcastle, Rockhampton, Lismore, Albury and Lithgow
Trade bully tactics fail as Australia's exports to China SURGE by 21 per cent in just one month - with wheat exports soaring to a record high despite tariffs
They can't do without our iron ore
Australia's exports to China surged by 21 per cent in just one month despite the nasty trade war with its biggest trading partner.
In December alone, almost $35billion worth of Australian goods and services were sent overseas, as the Communist power bought substantially more iron ore to make steel for its Covid recovery.
China's 80 per cent tariffs on barley have also done nothing to dent the agricultural sector, with other markets buying Australian cereals.
Last month, barley exports tripled while wheat exports surged to a record high as Russia battled a drought.
The China trade spat has clearly failed with Australian exports to China surging by 21 per cent in December to $13.3billion.
China bought 38 per cent of Australia's $34.9billion worth of exports
The monthly trade surplus of $8.956billion was the fourth highest on record
Chinese demand for iron ore saw exports of this commodity surge 21 per cent
Wheat exports hit a record high as Russia drought boosted demand from Saudi Arabia
China bought 38.2 per cent of Australia's overall exports of $34.9billion - which rose by 16.3 per cent, Australian Bureau of Statistics trade data showed.
Australia's monthly trade surplus also stood at $8.956billion - the fourth highest on record - as the value of imports fell nine per cent to $25.971billion.
'Exports of metalliferous ores and cereals are the strongest in history, resulting in the fourth highest goods trade surplus on record,' the ABS's head of international statistics Katie Hutt said.
China's insatiable demand for iron ore, the commodity from Western Australia used to make steel, soared by $2.2billion, or 21 per cent, in December to $12.5billion as Brazil continued to struggle with production.
Even more bizarrely, barley exports last month rose by $182 million, or 254 per cent, despite China in May imposing 80 per cent tariffs on the cereal in retaliation at Prime Minister Scott Morrison's April call for an inquiry into the origins of Covid.
That first round of trade intimidation sparked a December complaint to the World Health Organisation from former trade minister Simon Birmingham.
Saudi Arabia last month bought 42 per cent of Australia's barley exports as Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, suffered from a drought.
Australian wheat exports surged 423 per cent in December.
'December exports of cereals was the largest on record,' the ABS said.
'Favourable growing conditions in Australia, coupled with less favourable conditions in other wheat growing regions such as Russia has driven demand for Australian wheat to record highs.'
Despite the good news, Oxford Economics senior economist Sean Langcake said more Australian exports were vulnerable to more trade sanctions from China.
'Given these disputes are far from resolved, trade barriers could be in place for quite some time and may broaden to include other goods,' he said.
Oxford Economics concluded that while resources exports had a low vulnerability score, more rural exporters could be in danger if China could source them from other markets.
'A particular export is more vulnerable if China is a relatively important market (for Australia and globally) and/or if Australia is a relatively small supplier (to China and globally), which would allow China to substitute to supply from elsewhere,' Mr Langcake said.
Mr Morrison on Monday said he was prepared to meet President Xi Jinping to resolve the trade dispute provided China didn't demand concessions.
'We will remain absolutely open and available to meet, to discuss, any of the issues that have been identified,' he said.
'But those discussions won't take place on the base of any sort of preemptive concessions on Australia's part on those matters.'
Even before the Covid pandemic, China was upset with Australia over its decision in August 2018 to ban Huawei from installing 5G mobile networks.
In February 2019, Chinese customs authorities delayed shipments of Australian coal at its Dalian port to send a message. Similar tactics were tried in 2020 with Australian coal shipments.
China has also stymied Australian exports of timber, lobster, lamb and cotton as part of its intimidation tactics despite in 2015 signing the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement eliminating tariffs and trade barriers.
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