Assimilation & Oppression

Copy of Sovereign Union Letter (and document) delivered to the United Nations in New York to the Secretary General of the United Nations by Ghillar, Michael Anderson on 16 June 2016. The summary of the 40 page attached document named 'Dare to be wise: Decolonisation underpins the Sovereign Treaties processes in contrast to 'Recognise' which fosters assimilation' is included here along with a link to a pdf copy of the entire document.

For millennia there existed, settled laws and customs and ancient social practices have stood the test of time on the continent named 'Australia' by the invaders ... This, under international law, confirms our ability as Aboriginal Nations and Peoples to argue the Act of State doctrine, which is now vehemently expressed when dealing with sovereign inherent rights to govern. Mabo confirms this assertion by us as First Nations Peoples, because as the majority judgement says that Aboriginal Peoples' rights to property have survived the British sovereignty assertion.

In the two days of the Gathering of Nations the 150 participants, delegates and observers from all over Australia, were presented with research and information in respect to the key issues facing First Nations Peoples today and the progress to date in the assertion of First Nations sovereignty at a national level. We very clearly articulated the internationally accepted process for assertion of sovereignty by Nations and Peoples subjugated by a foreign power and expanded on the need for decolonisation.

If we truly want to establish a process of asserting our sovereignty then we must cast aside personalities and differences. This is not about gaining personal notoriety or fame because not one person has all the answers, but many minds can locate the true pathway. For of all we need to recognise flaws in our own personal makeup. Do we truly understand what colonised minds look like? We must first look at ourselves as oppressed people because oppressed people must understand that they are themselves their own examples of oppression and unfortunately when we go through the education and enculturation processes of the colonial States, we miss so much of our own ancient teachings and in doing so lose our self-awareness of who we truly are.

They are ramping up the 'R' campaign amongst our people at the grassroots. We need to tell the Australian public that we don't accept inequality; we don't want the government to make laws for us; the only thing we want is our sovereignty recognised, our Law and culture recognised; and by having each Nation map their own country and then negotiating their own Treaty packages will we be able to gain a type of satisfaction in this war of attrition against the colonialists. It is so wrong for non-Aboriginal people to be making choices and setting time frames for our Peoples.

This Recognise campaign is about securing the head of power to govern over Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. It is not about securing our rights or freeing us from racial discrimination. Ghillar Anderson responds to mainstream media referring to PM Tony Abbott's suggestion he would deal with any right wing opposition to First Natiions peoples in the Constitution 'with love' – a Mandella type moment. Instead Anderson calls PM Tony Abbott's Summit on Constitutional recognition with 40 Indigenous 'leaders' a Pinochet or Hitler type moment for Aboriginal Peoples.

On 6 July 2015 Tony Abbott, Bill Shorten and the selected 40 government-appointed 'Indigenous Leaders' will be meeting together at Darling Harbour Sydney to discuss advancing the referendum proposal, but the exact time and location has not been released by the organisers. "Now the Australian government realises that the objective to wipe out Aboriginal Nations and Peoples has failed and breeding the colour out did not work either, for our Aboriginality has remained a driving force within the spirit of the people". Ghillar Anderson said in a Media Release.

There are warning bells ringing across the continent regarding this week's proposed Assembly of First Nations establishment meeting in Port Douglas at the National Native Title conference hosted by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Participants to the exclusive meeting to establish an Assembly of First Nations were invited by the Australian Human Rights Commission, under the auspices of the AIATSIS National Native Title Conference as late as 3 June 2015. It appears to be a very subtle way of diverting attention away from the real sovereignty of our Peoples.

A discussion paper Decolonisation: To be or not to be included in the Constitution puts in perspective the issue of where we choose to place ourselves as First Nations and Peoples within or outside the Australian Constitution. When the Sovereign Union argues that we have never ceded nor acquiesced our pre-existing and inherent sovereign rights, we find that the Recognise campaign is promoting acquiescence and consenting to be ruled by the colonising power from Britain, the Crown. This will be the case if there is no statement in writing to the contrary of clear and plain intent in the proposed wording of the referendum.

'Telling his own people to move on from the traumas of the past, makes it very obvious why he is not accepted in many Aboriginal communities.' Ghillar Michael Anderson says, and 'It is untrue that all of the European holocaust victims have moved on and forgotten the past. Throughout Germany and other places there are memorials for those who suffered and died at the hands of tyrannical leaders and murderers, but there is only one monument to the Aboriginal dead, who were killed en masse through white farmer vigilantes and government approved killings'.