GenerationOne spokesperson Tania Major speaking at a function last year. (AAP IMAGE/PAUL HARRIS)
NATIONAL: Back in the day, our popular Aboriginal artists were at the forefront of political debate. Now NICOLE WATSON* wants answers to why so many have signed up to GenerationOne.
Every child clings to at least one subjective truth which not only makes the world less threatening, but gives it meaning.
Some seek safety in the worship of an older sibling or the wisdom of a cherished grandparent. As a child, I sought security in the belief that every Aboriginal person has a political conscience.
My younger self assumed that the daily political debates in our household were commonplace.
Whenever I watched Aboriginal stories on television, I took it for granted that I would always see strong black people like Gary Foley and Michael Mansell, whose eloquence was matched by their fearlessness.
Recently something happened which shattered my subjective truth, and that something was the black entertainers who have lent their names – and their talent – to GenerationOne.
GenerationOne is the brainchild of mining magnate, Andrew Forrest.
It revolves around his pledge to create 50,000 jobs for unemployed Indigenous people.
Just over a year ago, GenerationOne was launched with enough glamour to rival a Hollywood shindig.
Andrew Forrest’s party in Circular Quay was attended by Australia’s most renowned actors, the Prime Minister and captains of industry.
What struck me however, were the smiling black faces in the crowd, including the cream of our artists and entertainers.
The likes of Casey Donovan, Christine Anu and Ernie Dingo gushed for the cameras.
They would go on to star in GenerationOne’s slick DVD production, Hands Across Australia.
I don’t know if any of the concerned artists will read this column, but if they do, I have a message for them – shame on you for joining forces with a man who rides roughshod over native title holders.
Six years ago, Forrest’s company, Fortescue Metals Group, signed an access agreement with representatives of the Nyiyaparli people to facilitate a $2 billion dollar iron ore project in the Pilbara.
Within twenty-four hours of signing the agreement, the Aboriginal signatories sought legal advice from the Pilbara Native Title Service.
They neither spoke English as a first language, nor did they understand the terms of the agreement. In an article published in The Age, the Nyiyaparli’s solicitor described the agreement as “one of the most blatant examples of unfair and unconscionable conduct by a mining company that I have seen in 15 years experience as a lawyer”.
More recently, a Four Corners report, Iron and Dust, examined Fortescue’s negotiations with the Yindjibarndi people over the proposed Solomon mine.
The present value of the iron ore in the Yindjibarndi’s land is a staggering $280 billion.
In spite of the likely windfall to Fortescue and the profound changes to the Yindjibarndi’s way of life, the compensation on offer is comparatively meagre – a maximum of $4 million per year and up to $6.5 million a year in staff housing, employment, training and business opportunities.
When questioned about the fairness of the negotiations, Forrest claimed to be acting in the best interest of the Yindjibarndi.
He said that he had been in the nearby township of Roebourne at night where young girls had offered themselves for “the cost of a cigarette”.
Forrest was adamant that his cash would not be used to encourage “that kind of behaviour”.
Forrest’s belief that money is ruinous for native title holders mirrors his dim view of the historic equal wages case.
In a 2008 interview published in The Age, Forrest made the outrageous claim that the introduction of equal wages for Aboriginal workers in the pastoral industry had been more destructive than the policies that gave rise to the Stolen Generations.
Reflecting on his childhood in the Pilbara, Forrest described Aboriginal workers who were “very proud, wonderful people”, broken by drink after the introduction of equal wages.
Forrest’s accounts of happiness and prosperity before wage equality differ markedly to those of historians.
In his book, It’s not the Money it’s the Land, Bill Bunbury describes the conditions that gave rise to a strike by Aboriginal pastoral workers in the Pilbara in 1946.
Not only were black workers routinely denied wages, but they were also forced to live in abject poverty.
Those who attempted to escape were captured by police and returned to their employers.
Much like his forebears who opposed equality for black workers, Forrest believes that native title holders should not be adequately compensated for the loss of their property rights.
Rather, they should live like the black characters of his childhood – without financial independence, without rights and apparently at their happiest when labouring for their white masters, or in Forrest’s case, ripping minerals from the earth.
As much as I disapprove of Forrest’s dealings, at least he is an enemy that I know.
I take comfort from the fact that our ancestors outlived his ilk and my generation will do the same.
What I cannot fathom however, are the black artists and entertainers who are collaborating with Forrest.
Not only have they lost their political antennae, but they have also lost their sense of history.
Once upon a time, black artists were at the forefront of the struggle.
The late Bob Maza once said that, “(if) you’re a blackfella in this country you’re political from the word go”.
Maza was not only one of Australia’s greatest actors, but he is also celebrated for taking political theatre to the grassroots.
One can only imagine what his generation would think of today’s black entertainers who are the public faces of GenerationOne.
* Nicole Watson is a Murri lawyer and researcher with the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is a monthly columnist for Tracker.
13 Comments
So GenerationOne isn’t a good cause to support?
Why not appraoch all these artists to put pressure on Twiggy – they are now in a position, through his “generosity” to bring him in line or to effectively expose him and his hypocrisy… the paradoxes of creation are working in our favour – turn their lies into our gains…. the Pilbara situation and his stand there makes any denial of his “slight of hand” impossible.
I feel that Mining in general is the devil that all Australians have to dance with. There is no right anywhere in Australia to say no to mining. The industry’s marketing of its profile has become so seductive to the Australian psyc. ‘Generation One’ and http://www.thisisourstory.com.au portrays the industry as critical to not only Australia’s economic needs but to our social gearing as well. Government has relinquised its responsibility to Aboriginal determination and development to a small group of people who chase more and more money. Why isn’t $1m enough for a person? Why isn’t $10m enough for a person? $100m? $1b? $10b.
When ‘Generation One’ commenced with the 50,000 jobs covenant, we were all amazed at the development let alone the promised investment. The flash of hope did blind some of us. We had the apology, then we had 50,000 jobs. Then the cracks starting to form. Only 3,000 jobs had been achieved then Andrew Forrest showed his true cards. What an arsehole! After weighing up the situation, I ended my support for Generation One on the social networks.
Nicole’s article did make me think about the disconnect there is between our communities’ generations particularly in context to our political work. The mob from the 60s and 70s contributed some amazing work to Aboriginal advancement and the recognition of rights and that time in space continues to inspire today. When young people look around to see and seek lessons from the 60s/70s mob, what they get that mob now split across the political divides of socialism or liberalism, the right or the left, the good, the bad and the ugly depending on your reality.
Where back then, Aboriginal people and communities shared similiar experiences of disspossession, poverty and fringedwelling to form and the communicate ‘the struggle’. Young people today have a unbelievable amount of individual, family and community experiences that they have to somehow weave together to form their generation’s position and movement. They have to find their own collective self, it is their job to do it. Us older ones and our Elders still have the job to share our stories with them. I’m happy for them to make mistakes and take responsibility, and sometimes punishment, for their mistakes as long as they don’t repeat the mistakes our older generations have made.
Radicalism and engagement are both effective tools and when both movements are in balance a community can achieve some deadly outcomes. With so many influences and lessons from our previous political reality up against a more sophiscated awareness and understanding from today’s broader society including the mining industry and the explosive information revolution, our younger people have the increasingly difficult job of determining and guiding their own collective towards their vision of the future of the oldest cultures on earth. My only advice is that at the end of the day, us Aboriginal people can only rely on ourselves. Stay deadly!
I agree totally with Nicole and Damien, I believe that there is no place for us as land holders or any control over the monies, I agree there is some people who are comming to the rise for better conditions also. But at the moment this area a bit hazy. For example there is a strong movement with our group with the CEO person who seems to be in control of everything of the corporation. ORIC who are the office who monitors and the trustee is slow to move on complaints and it frustrates the members.On the other hand there is the CEO who I beleive, manipulates the elders who have little reading and writing skills. I’m sure there is some other ways of dealing with this, this is the same old story over and over. The more money we receive as a group the harder things get to receive benifits. Some of the membersa have written to ORIC in the last couple of weeks, we will see what’s going to happen.
You speak the truth Nicole, the new generation of so called spokespersons for the Y Generation sound like the bully boys. It’s our way or the highway, your with us or against us, just more of the same old same old. I have observerd one of these people in action at a employment expo, and was sorely disappointed by the youth representative. The whole approach was all about them and what they had achieved, get out there and do it! The uniform added the touch of macho to the presentation, I think it was to impress?
Most of the youth who were in the crowd would have had a poor education, just because of where they come from, not like the presenter who went away for their education, and fully funded all the way to University. This does not apply to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth only the selected few.
Good for you for saying this Nicole. So true. This evil is not exposed, and a lot of well-intentioned non-Indigenous people (and sadly a lot of our younger people) really think Generation One is this edifying, fantastic space of opportunity…and maybe for some it is, but it does so at the cost of all of us. Very sad. I have mates who work with them on various projects, and I don’t always know the circumstances by which they made this decision, but I can only speak for myself and say that as a researcher who is required to chase money, I’d rather never get funding again than take money from or work with these people. It’s just wrong for me to contribute to a destruction of people and culture and this is a deliberate ‘straw man’.
Thanks again for your contribution, Nicole.
Nicole, good on you for having the guts to tell it like it is. More power to you. The sellouts in the community need to be exposed.
I did wonder. I am an Irish woman who spent some time in Arnhem land and was horrified by the racism I found there. (Incidentally as a kid I held the assumption that no Irish person could be racist after what we as a people had experienced – chronic naivety!) When I returned last year to Australia after many years back in Ireland it was even more startling to hear about the Intervention and the draconian measures implemented – had things gotten worse? I heard about GenerationOne and looked into it. But straight away it smacked of paternalism and “assimilate or be damned” – I was confused by so many aboriginals advocating what appeared to me to be simply telling young people to turn their backs on traditional ways, go work in the city, “Be One Of Us!” Conform to mainstream measures of success. Turns out my gut reaction was right. It is more of the same.
Have a read of Arundhati Roy’s latest essay, Capitalism: a ghost story http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29917. She puts her finger on what is wrong and rotten about the Andrew Forrest style of philanthropy
Hi Nicole
I heartily agree. Forrest and his ilk show by their utterances and actions that they have no regard or respect for Australia’s indigenous people or for the wider population.
They use all sorts of tricks to cheat Aboriginal people of their land, they scream blue murder if they are expected to pay the same level of tax as ordinary Australians or if they are asked to show more responsibility for the OHS&W of workers involved in mining or for cleaning up the damage and pollution to the environment that they cause.
True Australians who believe in justice for Aboriginal people should shun the high cost events organised by these people because it is money stolen from the rest of us.
These people have got away with their disgusting behaviour for far too long – thanks to conservative politicians who act as their willing stooges.
We must all give strong support for Aboriginal people when dealing with these people and demand that governments institute stronger monitoring agencies to ensure that their activities are controlled more effectively.
I spoke with one of the so called trainers for the Mining/Gas industry not so long back. He told me the story that ‘none of them want work, they are too used to sitting on their back sides’; that they were not trainable in the normal training time taken with non indigenous workers. “They” of course are indigenous job applicants. When I suggested that it was customary to spend more time to bring someone up to work ready when not employed for a long time, his response was that ‘they can’t even read, don’t know where NOT to smoke etc’. And he is a trainer….Yes, some of the younger generation may be capable of meeting this man’s criteria but we also need to have employment for the 20-45 year population at a minimum. Probably all too hard.
Twiggy forrest is an evil man he ripped off his aboriginal unkles, (yes he has blak family… all the rich pastorilists do) for the princely sum of $3 thousand for the leasehold of land at Murrin Murrin, to start his nickel mine known as ANACONDA mining… he wishes that we could go back to the good old days when aboriginal folk was slaves on his fathers property that his grt granfathers stole from other blak family’s… history needs to show how his family have treated blak folk since they arrived here on a boat from Scotland.
Congratulations Nicole on a fearless piece of journalism. What you say has needed to be said for some time. All power to you. Interesting isn’t it that the inheritors and custodians of the longest living surviving civilisation in the world are now at this stage of our history being offered jobs in industries that destroy the very land and ecologies that we have nurtured and depended on for thousands of years? Interesting too that there is no economic value on sustainability of relationships, of people, of land, of the natural world. It is true that those of us who understand culture, who understand this as guaranteeing a future for the earth and all who live here, continue to resist. Those who rape the land offer us crumbs from their table. Best wishes Vicki