by Binoy Kampmark

It’s the sort of stuff that should have been sorted years ago in Australia: a murderous, frontier society ill disposed to the indigenous populace; the creation of a convict colony that was itself an act of invasion rather than settlement; the theft of land and its rapacious plunder.   

Even some of the rough colonists were not oblivious to such a crude record.  Henry Parkes, in planning the Centenary celebrations as New South Wales premier in 1888, was asked by a fellow politician what he would be doing for the poor and needy for the occasion.  Wealthy landed citizens had been promised a banquet of much quaffing and gorging.  As a gesture, Parkes considered the distribution of food parcels.  “Then we ought to do something for the Aborigines,” came the response.  The answer from the premier was coldly revealing: “And remind them that we have robbed them?”

Read more: Cowardly History: Australia Day and Invasion

                               SYDNEY PROTEST               MELBOURNE PROTEST

                                       MONDAY FEB 8, 12.30PM            MONDAY FEB 8, 12 NOON

                               outside Sth Korean Consulate          outside Philippine Consulate              

                                    44 Market St, Sydney                    257 Collins St, Melbourne

On December 30, 2020, at around 4am-5am, 9 Tumandok Indigenoous leaders were first tortured and then shot dead in their homes, and another 16 were arrested in a joint police and military operation in the villages of Tapaz, Capiz and Calinog on Panay Island, in the central part of the Philippines. Some were over 70 years old.

Today on Panay, the families and friends of the victims are marking the 40th day since their deaths. Our protest today is an act of solidarity with these communities.

According to the families of those killed, the victims were sleeping and unarmed when the police and military raided their homes. Most were members of TAMUNDOK an alliance of 17 villages opposed to the construction of the Jalaur Mega dam.

The 16 arrested - 10 men and 6 women - were taken from their homes, where firearms and explosives were planted. They were then charged with these non-bailable offences.

Read more: Support the Tumandok People's Protest