Aborigines Sue UK Government, Get Cherie Blair
Five Aborigines suing the British government for damages have retained the services of a high-profile British lawyer and wife of former British Prime Minister, Cherie Booth Blair.
A spokesman for the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Neil Gillespie said the decision to retain Cherie Blair was quite deliberate as the group needed “somebody of high profile and someone that is as sharp as a samurai sword”, saying they could not get anyone better in the UK. Gillespie said he was confident from preliminary discussions with Blair that the claimants have a very good chance of succeeding in their claim which is being put through the UK courts. Last year an English court ruled that military personnel affected by nuclear tests conducted in South Australia’s outbacks in the 1950s and 60s were entitled to seek compensation from the UK Government. Mr Gillespie said the case of the five Aborigine claimants was similar to the ones by former defence force personnel seeking compensation on the grounds of exposure to nuclear testing. The claimants include relatives of people who have died since the nuclear testing at Maralinga.
The UK first tested nuclear weapons in the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia on 3 October 1952. Several tests followed before the British government formally requested a permanent test facility on 30 October 1953. Nuclear tests in the Maralinga area, home to the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal peoples were conducted between 1955 and 1963. Up to seven major nuclear tests were eventually performed in the area, yielding up to 27 kilotons of TNT equivalent. Hundreds of minor trials were also conducted, resulting in severe radioactive contamination. An initial cleanup attempted in 1967 was found to be insufficient. This was followed by another exercise concluded in 2000 at a cost of $108 million. Safety concerns were raised over the long-term health effects on the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land and former personnel of the test sites. Attempts to relocate the people of Maralinga to a new settlement at Yulata were often unsuccessful as the site, part of the Woomera Prohibited Area, in South Australia held great spiritual significance for the people.
In 1994, the Australian Government paid compensation amounting to $13.5 million to the local Maralinga Tjarutja people.
Prince William to Help Return Aborigine Remains
Prince William of Britain received a traditional welcome in January with a Smoking ceremony in the Redfern Area of Sydney at the beginning of a three-day visit to Australia. A smoking ceremony is a ceremonial custom of the indigenous people of Australia, during which they burn specific native plants, the smoke of which is believed to have the power to ward off evil spirits. An estimated crowd of 2000 people led by Aboriginal elders covered in body paint some dressed in possum skin and carrying smouldering leaves, a boomerang and a didgeridoo were on hand to greet the prince. The crowd held pictures of Princess Diana as they cheered and applauded the Prince.
The Prince was asked to help repatriate the remains of Aboriginal historical figures such as Pemulwuy, an indigenous leader who fought colonisation. Rob Welsh said on behalf of the Metropolitan Aboriginal Local Lands Council that there are over 50,000 remains of Aboriginal people that were stolen and sold overseas through the black market. “The theft of our people in our communities to us is astounding – that people could even stoop to that lowness,” he said. Many indigenous people believe that this action among others is necessary to enable the community to heal and move forward.
Aboriginal Australian Lewis Kelly expressed her joy that the Prince had decided to visit the Redfern area, saying to AFP “I was surprised when I heard it on the grapevine that he was coming here to see the indigenous people, the real Australians. I’m glad he came to Redfern” Redfern is a Sydney suburb that became notorious following the Redfern riots in 2004. The riots started after an Aborigine teenager TJ Hickey was chased to his death by police as he rode his bicycle, raising questions about the welfare of Aborigines. The area is named after William Redfern a surgeon who was granted 100 acres in 1817.
Australian Aborigines are people identified by Australian law as sharing a biological ancestry traced to the original occupants of the Australian continent. Aborigines are believed to be of black ancestry. In February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology to the Aborigines for the wrongs inflicted on them by white settlers. Australia’s Aboriginal population is now a mere 2% of the community and they are not represented in parliament. They live in the poorest communities, with high rates of unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide and low self-esteem. Aborigines also have a life expectancy of 17 years lower than that of non-indigenous Australians.
This visit was Prince Williams’ second visit to Australia. He first visited as a baby in the arms of his mother Diana Princess of Wales when he was just a baby in 1983. He left Australia on Thursday.
