Australian Aboriginal sovereignty

Sovereignty sign at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

Australian Aboriginal sovereignty is both a concept and a political movement in the 20th and 21st centuries, seeking varying levels of recognition of ownership and/or control of parts of Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Aboriginal sovereignty is not recognised in the Australian Constitution or Australian law, and calls have been made for constitutional amendments both recognise First Nations sovereignty of the land and to provide an Indigenous voice to parliament. The recognition of prior occupation and ownership of Australia means accepting sovereignty by the First Peoples, and also paves the way for a treaty between the First Peoples and the Government of Australia.

Background[]

It is now well documented that Aboriginal peoples occupied mainland Australia since at least 65,000 years ago,^[1] whereas colonisation of Australia by the British only began in 1788 with the arrival of Governor Phillip and the First Fleet. No treaty was signed with the Aboriginal peoples of Port Jackson at the time,^[2] and sovereignty of the land has never been ceded by any First Nations people since. Notably, the Letters Patent establishing the Province of South Australia of 1836 (unlike the South Australia Act 1834, which it amended), included recognition of the rights of the Aboriginal peoples of South Australia.^[3][4]

A treaty between the Australian government and the country's First Peoples could provide at least symbolic recognition of prior occupation of the land, and thus Indigenous sovereignty.^[5] Various treaty processes have begun in the states and territories of Australia. After the colonisation of Australia, the British afforded very little recognition of Aboriginal customs and laws in the various Australian colonies. In 1840, all Governors in Australia and New Zealand were directed that all Aboriginal customary law was to be superseded by British law.^[6]

20th century activism[]

In 1972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the steps of Old Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital, to demand sovereignty for the Aboriginal Australian peoples.^[7] Demands of the Tent Embassy have included land rights and mineral rights to Aboriginal lands, legal and political control of the Northern Territory, and compensation for land stolen.^[8]

In 1988, the Australian Bicentenary, the "Aboriginal Sovereign Treaty '88 Campaign" called for recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty and for a treaty to be enacted between the Commonwealth of Australia and Aboriginal nations.^[9]

21st century debate[]

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy, still in place as of 2020, remains a symbol of Aboriginal protest relating to various Indigenous issues. Protests have been held there against Aboriginal deaths in custody, the Howard government’s 2007 Northern Territory Intervention, and cuts to services. In 2020, its most prominent issues are Aboriginal sovereignty and an acknowledgement of Indigenous right to self-determination.^[8] In 2012, there were seven tent embassies dotted around the nation.^[10]

In February 2012, barrister and 2009 Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson AM FASSA, addressed Parliament on the subject of "Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians". He raised three issues: an acknowledgement in the Constitution that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were in Australia first and also in possession of the country, when the British Crown asserted its sovereignty over the whole continent, and it follows that the land was taken without consent; the second was about issues of Aboriginal identity being respected and protected within the Constitution and Australian law; and the third element related to equal citizenship under law.^[11]

Related issues[]

Treaties and constitutional recognition[]

A treaty is a legal document defining the relationship between two sovereign entities. As of 2020 there are no treaties between the Australian Government and Indigenous peoples of Australia;^[12] Australia is the only Commonwealth country to lack a treaty between its government and its First Peoples.^[13] There are ongoing negotiations in some states and territories of Australia on the possible crafting of treaties between Indigenous peoples and governments.

There have also been moves towards Constitutional changes both to recognise prior occupation and ownership (and thus sovereignty), and an Indigenous voice to parliament enshrined in the Constitution.

Symbolic recognition of land ownership[]

Many public events in Australia, including ceremonies, speeches, conferences and festivals, begin with a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country, intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to a particular Aboriginal clan or language group. They are often made by elders of the nation on whose traditional lands each event is taking place. Since 2008, a Welcome to Country has been incorporated into the ceremonial opening of the Parliament of Australia, an event which occurs after each federal election.^[14]

See also[]

• Aboriginal land rights in Australia
• Australian Aboriginal languages § Survival
• Barunga Statement
• Camp Sovereignty
• Native title in Australia
• Sovereign Yidindji Government (2014-since)
• Terra nullius § Australia
• Murrawarri Republic (2013-since)
• Uluru Statement from the Heart

References[]

Further reading[]

• "Aboriginal sovereignty—never ceded". Australian Historical Studies. 23 (91): 1–2. 1988. doi:10.1080/10314618808595786. Manifesto of the Treaty '88 campaign.
• "For the record: Sovereignty Never Ceded". - Sovereign Union: First Nations Asserting Sovereignty. 1 January 2010.
• Harris, Bede (2013). A New Constitution for Australia. Routledge. p. 174. ISBN 978-1135315931.
• Dodson, Mick (February 2012). "Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians". Home – Parliament of Australia. Papers on Parliament No. 57.
• Hannah, Mark; Macfarlane, Ingereth, eds. (December 2007). Transgressions: Critical Australian Indigenous histories. ANU Press. Aboriginal History Monographs 16. doi:10.22459/T.12.2007. ISBN 9781921313431.
• Langton, Marcia (8 July 2019). "Australia's moral legitimacy depends on recognising Indigenous sovereignty". ABC Religion & Ethics.
• Moreton-Robinson, Aileen (2015) The White Possessive: Property, Power, and Indigenous Sovereignty. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-8597-3629-6.
• Otto, Dianne (1995). "A Question of Law or Politics - Indigenous Claims to Sovereignty in Australia". Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce. 21 (65) – via Heinlein.
• Prokhovnik, Raia (June 2015). "From sovereignty in Australia to Australian sovereignty" (PDF). Political Science. 63 (2): 412–430. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.699.5961. doi:10.1111/1467-9248.12069. S2CID 143104153.

External links[]

• "About 'Sovereign Union'". Sovereign Union: First Nations Asserting Sovereignty. Official website of the Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples in Australia, formed at Mt Kaputar in NSW in June 1999, formalised in May 2012 at the Kuradji Tent Embassy, near Wollongong.