On Thursday 20th of
December 2013, ITV and its Scottish sister channel STV aired a documentary film
by Australian investigative journalist John Pilger. Anyone familiar with
Pilger’s work will be aware of the truly shocking nature of previous
documentaries such as: War on Democracy, Death of a Nation and Stealing a
Nation. However, despite the fact that his previous work has created a ‘nothing
shocks me anymore’ mind set, the setting of this latest documentary and given
it was filmed only last year (2012), has perhaps hit those viewing it in the UK
harder than many of the older documentaries.
Australia is a country with close
ties to the UK. It is a country that still shares the royal family, and
displays a Union Jack in the top left hand corner of the national flag. Many of
the people are descended from British settlers many generations ago and there
are a large number of British people living in the country having moved
recently. It is perhaps this connection which we feel to Australia that makes
John Pilger’s documentary as hard hitting as it was. There is no doubt that had
this particular situation come to light in any country it would have been
equally as shocking, but through decades of inaccurate media coverage the
people of Britain have come to believe that Apartheid is a thing of the past,
and exclusive to under developed countries with despotic governments.
Firstly, it is important to state
that Australia is a country with some wonderful features, friendly people and
vast natural beauty. It is none the less important to ask questions of the
image that most people have of the Island continent. Racism is something that
leaves an ugly scar on a countries image but Australia still has an open wound.
The aborigine population have been subjected to slavery, genocide, rape and
robbery in a country that seems to forget about its original people. War
memorials speak of Australia’s heroes in the WW’s with intense detail, but they
seem to forget the first war that the country experienced; that of the
aborigines against the British invaders. The only place the aborigine people
are represented at this particular museum is in stone carvings on the wall
alongside Animals such as Lizards and Birds. This rejection of the true history
of Australia’s past mixed with the dehumanising effect of the stone carvings
leaves the viewer in disbelief. Surely a country as developed and as modernised
as Australia would not lack the ability to see how offensive and racist it is
to display such things?
From the lack of truth about
Australia’s oppressive history, which includes a former concentration camp
turned luxury island resort with no mention of the islands previous use, to
modern day apartheid. The aborigine population see none of Australia’s wealth
trickle down to them. 1 in 3 of the native people die before the age of 45 and
the incarceration rate in northern Australia for Black Australians is 10 times
higher than Apartheid South Africa. Specific cases of police brutality and lack
of care resulting in deaths of aborigine men, with no convictions, puts faces
to the statistics. 2 of the men interviewed during the program died during the
filming. Living conditions no doubt played a major role. Shacks with a mattress
on the dirt floor reminded the viewers of sub Saharan Africa and the poverty
that exists there. Keeping in mind Australia is one of the richest countries in
the world, this fact is even more inexcusable.
John Pilger at one point during
the documentary set out to interview citizens of Australia in Canberra who were
celebrating ‘Australia Day’, a day that celebrates the history and formation of
the country. Asking questions about how the native people will feel on such a
day, Pilger received mixed responses ranging from confusion to right out racist
ignorance. One man had the audacity to say if they come to this country they
should learn to live our way. Obviously the fact that these people he refers to
were there first escaped this gentleman.
This statement however summed up nicely the very attitude that has
plagued this earth allowing such racism and intolerance to exist.
It is a refusal to accept other cultures
and differences that have caused great divisions in the world since people started
moving freely across it. Schools promote homogeneity, capitalism excludes
anybody and any group of people that it does not see as value producing and
nationalism is thrown around to keep people supporting profit making, illegal
wars such as the Afghan war. The above statement from the Australian gentleman
on the streets of Canberra is the very attitude which allows the oppression and
murder of whole groups of people based on their race, religion and/or culture.
The aborigine people do not ask that the white people that inhabit Australia
leave and return to their ancestral homes in Europe. All they ask is that they
get the opportunity to live in dignity, and to be allowed to celebrate their
ancient culture which has survived oppression and genocide. They are more than
happy to live side by side with their white Australian brothers and sister in
doing so.
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