Speech by Aboriginal activist at trade union conference

Vanguard May 2010 p. 5
Nick G

Karranjal John Hartley is well-known in South Australian trade union and Aboriginal circles as a tireless activist for workers’ rights and Aboriginal rights.

In the March edition of Vanguard, mention was made of John’s role in liaising between the unions and the Alyawarr people of Ampilatwatja in the course of constructing a house at their protest camp site.

SA Unions has identified Aboriginal people as one of its priority groups to work with in 2010 and recently appointed John to a 3-month project officer position. In that capacity, John spoke to union delegates at an SA Unions State Organising Conference on March 26, attended by ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence.
Vanguard has obtained a copy of the speech, which we reprint below:
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Brothers and Sisters of the Trade Union Movement. The current Rudd Labor government are spearheading one of the biggest social swindles and manipulations of Aboriginal Peoples of our recent time.

Putting aside the many breaches of human rights, one concern amongst the many in relation to this current social manipulation is the creation of a new underclass of worker and their introduction into the Australian industrial landscape. They are the BasicsCard workers.

BasicsCard workers labour without wages or conditions, little or no training, no overtime, no holidays, no sick leave, no super, no long-service. Though there is plenty of real work there are no real wages, no real entitlements. The BasicsCard workers are nothing more then a pool of slave labour who are forced to subsist on a social security ration half of which is quarantined into a plastic card where its use is conditional and dictated by the government for no other reason than being Aboriginal.

The BasicsCard workers do not have cash in their wallet or purse; there is no jingle of change in their pockets, their freedom to come and go where and as they please is severely hampered. Brothers and Sisters, big plans are afoot, this will not just remain an "Aboriginal problem" for much longer. What has come to us will soon be visited upon you. History informs us and to put it crudely Aboriginal Peoples are the lab rats of social policy and experimentation in this country.

Brothers and Sisters it is Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin’s plan through the suspension of any logic to roll out what is a racist and discriminatory policy upon further sections of society and that this will somehow make the racism and discrimination inherent within the policy null and void and remove it from being either discriminatory or racist because the racist and discriminatory aspects would then apply equally to all. Allow me to suggest that this would be akin to me going into a workplace to maintain safety and doing so by making everything unsafe; in ensuring everything is unsafe equally for everybody it is therefore uniformly safe for all. That this kind of "Hanson-like-logic" by Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin is given any credence at all is a national disgrace.

As a Trade Union Movement we should not forget that the working conditions, ration mentality and brutality endured by Aboriginal Peoples by the Vesteys and other so-called cattle barons was also actively supported by racist government social policies of earlier years. Upon becoming aware of the actions and brutality of governments and vested interests levelled at Aboriginal Peoples it was vehemently opposed by many sections of the trade union movement throughout this country. The collective action of the trade union movement at that time was pivotal. Let me assure you all, it is no-less vital, it is no-less needed now.

Brothers and Sisters neither should the Rudd Labor Government forget that the very same racist policies and social manipulations that are being forcibly repeated and enacted on my People eventually led to both the Pilbara walk off (on record as the longest strike in Australia) and the Gurindji walk off - a further act of self-determination that was instrumental in unifying and consolidating the Aboriginal land rights movement throughout Aboriginal country. I would suggest the Rudd Labor government reflect seriously upon this ‘evidence based’ fact and know too that as I speak our People are becoming organised.

Brothers and Sisters of the Trade Union Movement we have reached a cross roads in our time, and it is time that we deeply reflect upon the value of Aboriginal Peoples and our customs, it is time to truly ponder the deep richness, diversity and enrichment Aboriginal Peoples and customs bring not only to our personal daily life but collectively to the life of our nation.

My People, your Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters are now living daily under severe duress throughout much of this nation and due to the racist policies of the Rudd Labor government my People are paying an insoluble price.

The Australian Trade Union Movement has a vital role to play in demanding the immediate end to the intervention and the re-instatement of the RDA without conditions. The trade union movement have an absolute role to ensure that the true culture and stories of this country continues and that it is supported in its continuance so that it may flourish and grow according to our own Aboriginal ways.

Brothers and Sisters this is an industrial issue but it is also about the continuation of a way of life that goes back to the ancient, a way of life that brings meaning to the shapes and forms of the Australian landscape. When our People have been economically forced from their lands, their languages lost and the stories of our Elders have been made silent and their songs no longer vibrate, this land, our land will no longer speak to us, the colour and vibrancy of the landscape will fade, this land will be a dead land, an empty land, a land without a name, and then this land will be truly Terra Nullius.

Brothers and Sisters it is time for the Australian Trade Union Movement of our time to enter the fray and throw their full weight and support behind Aboriginal Peoples so that this sorry chapter of modern Australia that is the racist intervention of the Rudd Labor government comes to an end. Surely, when all is said and done, it is struggles such as this very struggle of my People to live, maintain and continue their way of life free of harm from which the Australian Trade Union Movement was born.