Canberra's Kim Sattler and the Australia Day fracas

EvanJames said :

cranky said :

Is’nt ‘inciting a riot” a crime any more?

Evidently more so than actually being IN a riot. Why is everyone running around blaming Abbott, Sattler, the PM staffer who resigned… what about the bloody rioters? Why can’t Abbott suggest nuking the “embassy” from orbit without being attacked by a mob? Why are we accepting that it’s OK for these people to riot because “someone upset them”?

Bingo. That.

mareva said :

A guy (dunno who) said on Friday at the press conference, “Recognise Aboriginal sovereignty, or p*ss off out of our country.”

God bless this gentleman and all of those with enough knowledge of Australia’s illegal acquisition to recognise the truth in his statement.

Several things may be said about this piece of glib nonsense. First off, there are about twenty million Australians who are going to follow neither suggested course of action. Second, there is no court that could possibly enforce either. The High Court is as high as it gets in Australia, and they don’t follow the Aboriginal sovereignty line. In Mabo, they recognised that native title pre-existed European settlement, but was specifically extinguished by government action. In other words, the actions of the crown in taking Aboriginal land were legal.

No United Nations court of appeal is going to find that ultimate ownership and dominion over the land resides anywhere but in the Commonwealth of Australia, a respected member of the UN and one of the oldest nations on the planet. (And here I use the word “nation” to mean a state recognised by the UN, whether member or not. Switzerland, for example. Not a micronation such as the Hutt River Province or an indigenous tribal entity.)

Thirdly, this declaration of ownership of “our country” needs examination. Given that no person now alive was living at the time Great Britain claimed the land, how did such “ownership” of an entire nation occur? Was there some sort of transfer at death? Does the fact of being born in Australia confer ownership in part, and if so, wouldn’t that give equal parts to everyone born here, not just those claiming Aboriginality? Is there some genetic mechanism?

Likewise sovereignty. Assuming that sovereignty resided in the inhabitants prior to European settlement, then how was it transferred to people who were not alive at that point?

The answer is that ultimate ownership of the land (i.e. sovereignty) must rest in some organised group whose existence transcends the lifespan of individuals, and transfer only occurs through specific acts, such as the establishment of the Commonwealth or through invasion and conquest such as that occurring in 1066 when the Normans assumed the national government of England.

I ask, where is this organised group that maintained indigenous government of Australia from 1788 to the present day, albeit pushed back by the invading Europeans? Clearly it is not the group calling itself the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, which is only 40 years old.

I note that the indigenous government of the Torres Strait Islands is an example of such a group. Low key, to be sure, but clearly identifiable as controlling the organisation of the people and the identification and ownership of the land through boundary cairns marking where the farm of one family ends and that of another begins. But they never claimed or controlled the entire continental landmass. There is no equivalent identifiable Aboriginal government or confederation of governments.

The chap at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy claiming ownership of Australia is speaking nonsense.

mareva said :

Why are we even talking about this. This is what’s wrong with this country. That we get sidetracked by these small pot-shot level issues, ignoring the great big fat elephant in the room – Aboriginal sovereignty. Kim Sattler, unions, Tony Abbott, tip-offs, WHO CARES. This is completely irrelevant to the future of this country.

A guy (dunno who) said on Friday at the press conference, “Recognise Aboriginal sovereignty, or p*ss off out of our country.”

God bless this gentleman and all of those with enough knowledge of Australia’s illegal acquisition to recognise the truth in his statement.

You might wish to clarify what you mean by Aboriginal sovereignty because as I understand it, a sovereign state is a singular, absolute state such as Australia. In other words, if Aboriginals wish to have a sovereign state they will have to find somewhere else because I don’t think 99% of Australians would be happy to hand it over to them. A better solution would be for the few Aboriginals that are fanatical about this lost cause to “p*ss off out of our country” and forget this notion that Australia was illegally acquired because it was going to be discovered and settled eventually and we all should count our blessings that the British got here first.

Why are we even talking about this. This is what’s wrong with this country. That we get sidetracked by these small pot-shot level issues, ignoring the great big fat elephant in the room – Aboriginal sovereignty. Kim Sattler, unions, Tony Abbott, tip-offs, WHO CARES. This is completely irrelevant to the future of this country.

A guy (dunno who) said on Friday at the press conference, “Recognise Aboriginal sovereignty, or p*ss off out of our country.”

God bless this gentleman and all of those with enough knowledge of Australia’s illegal acquisition to recognise the truth in his statement.

BrassRazoo said :

BTW, where do we stand with a full report into the Grech Affair?

Nice try, Kevin.

BTW, where do we stand with a full report into the Grech Affair?

EvanJames said :

Why can’t Abbott suggest nuking the “embassy” from orbit?

Steady on there. You’ll get the Yanks all excited.

Besides, who would notice the difference?

cranky said :

Is’nt ‘inciting a riot” a crime any more?

Evidently more so than actually being IN a riot. Why is everyone running around blaming Abbott, Sattler, the PM staffer who resigned… what about the bloody rioters? Why can’t Abbott suggest nuking the “embassy” from orbit without being attacked by a mob? Why are we accepting that it’s OK for these people to riot because “someone upset them”?

For those interested in what Tony Abbott said after the still unidentified reporter ambushed him, the link is here http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-27/abbotts-embassy-comments/3796304

Abbott’s response was very gracious and there was nothing in it remotely suggesting the tent embassy should be dispensed with. ABC 666 this morning accepted a phone call unchallenged from a female who said it was Abbott’s remarks that started the trouble. Clearly both that caller and the host on ABC 666 haven’t heard Abbott’s response or if they have they are compounding an untruth about what actually was said. It is a very shamefull act to slime someone this way.

Deref said :

Otherwise known as Sattler’s Battlers.

Given the revelation of Ms Sattler’s role, her public comments immediately after the demiriot are illuminating:

“I was present at this incident. A very peaceful event was going on next door when word arrived that Abbott had called for the dismantling if the Tent Embassy! What a provocative and dangerous statement to make on such a day! The PM was not in danger from the crowd – they were angry with TonyAbbott. The police decided to move Gillard and Abbott out of the venue together! Tony Abbott put the PM in danger!”

Given that we know that Ms Sattler was the messenger, we thus have her message: “Abbott had called for the dismantling of the Tent Embassy!”

Well, no. He didn’t say that at all. His actual remarks, as would have been reported to Julia Gillard and Tony Hodge, were relatively mild. Gillard must have known what Abbot had actually said, and she didn’t see the situation, a few metres from the tent embassy, as dangerous. Nor did Tony Hodge advise her of the match he’d just flicked into the petrol.

“What a provocative and dangerous statement to make on such a day!” Mrs Sattler happily continues. Indeed.