When was the tent embassy set up

It was originally a simple beach umbrella and tent that became a hub and meeting place for Aboriginal land rights and sovereignty activism. The Embassy took many forms over the years and continues to be a powerful symbol for Aboriginal rights to this day. A land rights issue In the lead up to the formation of the Tent Embassy, there were battles over Aboriginal land rights occurring all over the Country, with many different Mobs standing up to protect Country.

The land was taken from us by force We shouldn't have to lease it The demands were: Complete rights to the Northern Territory as a state within Australia and the installation of a primarily Aboriginal State Parliament. These rights would include all mining rights to the land. Ownership and mining rights of all other Aboriginal reserve lands in Australia. The preservation of all sacred sites in Australia.

Ownership of areas in major cities, including the mining rights. Aliens in our own land, so like other aliens, we needed an embassy — Gary Foley In March, the Embassy leaders addressed Australian National University students, asking for their support. Removal and re-establishment The Embassy was under a lot of pressure from authorities to move from the lawns of Parliament. Tent Embassy Documentary. In The Aboriginal Tent Embassy has been around for over 40 years now and still continues to be a hub and symbol for the fight for our rights and for the sovereignty of our people to be recognised.

There was a push for a uniform national landrights scheme, and talk of the embassy as representing an Aboriginal nation. Since that time, some directions and emphases in First Nations and decolonial politics in Australia have shifted. The advent and ambivalence of Native Title, and the work done by First Nations communities to reconnect members of the Stolen Generations with family and country have brought focus to languages, the many different Indigenous countries, and specific cultural identity.

The symbolism of the embassy has grown since its institution and it has taken on new meanings, but it has always provoked and insisted on genuine and respectful engagement with Aboriginal systems of laws and governance. In February — shortly after their arrival — the ambassadors presented the McMahon government with a list of diplomatic demands. In the ensuing months, the embassy grew — from one umbrella to a cluster of a dozen tents — and attracted a dynamic and articulate group of diplomatic staff, activists and supporters.

The Federal Opposition Leader, Gough Whitlam visited to meet with the diplomatic staff, and subsequently wrote and spoke in measured support of their landrights campaign. The Tent Embassy became a hub for activist conversations and political meetings. Its members included those who acted at the centre of First Nations political and community movements through the second half of the twentieth century; many met and practiced new ideas and modes of political engagement at the embassy.

For the McMahon government, the embassy was an embarrassment on an international scale. All such offers were refused. Having exhausted extant legal avenues for eviction, the government amended the Trespass on Commonwealth Lands Ordinance ACT to ban camping, squatting and the erection of tents on the Parliamentary lawns. On 20 July , by order of the government, Australian Federal Police evicted the diplomatic staff and pro-landrights protestors, arrested eight people and removed the Tent Embassy by force.

On 31 July more than people were present when the tents were re-erected and then removed by protesters in a peaceful demonstration. After Justice Blackburn found the legality of the ordinance giving police power to remove protesters was invalid, protesters again peacefully erected and removed the tents in a symbolic gesture.

The removal ordinance was then legally introduced in September, preventing any further establishment of embassy tents at Parliament House.

Demonstration march from the Tent Embassy. Between and the embassy was established at a succession of places across Canberra, including the site of the current Australian Parliament House. Focusing not only on land rights, protesters now encouraged action on a number of issues including funding for Aboriginal communities, the political representation of Indigenous Australians, self-determination and Aboriginal sovereignty of Australia.

In on the 20th anniversary of the original protests, the embassy was permanently re-established on its original site on the lawns outside Old Parliament House. Protesters once more sought to raise the profile of Indigenous issues, fearing that those in power were again forgetting Indigenous Australians. In the embassy itself was listed on the Register of the National Estate; the only site on therRegister noted as important due to its political significance to Indigenous Australians.

The embassy is still controversial. Many people have challenged its validity and a number of arson attacks have damaged buildings within the camp. The Tent Embassy is a symbol of Aboriginal protest against successive governments and their approach to Indigenous issues. Today, the most prominent issue being publicised by the embassy is Aboriginal sovereignty over the Australian continent and an acknowledgement of an Indigenous right to self-determination.

The National Museum of Australia acknowledges First Australians and recognises their continuous connection to country, community and culture. Defining Moments Aboriginal Tent Embassy. See our classroom resource. John Newfong, Identity , Land rights struggle Since European settlement, Indigenous Australians have been fighting to retain the rights to their traditional lands.

The list focused on land rights issues and demanded: Complete rights to the Northern Territory as a state within Australia and the installation of a primarily Aboriginal State Parliament.

Sign used at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Growing support Rapidly gathering support, the embassy grew by April to include at least eight tents. After Between and the embassy was established at a succession of places across Canberra, including the site of the current Australian Parliament House. Future of the Tent Embassy In on the 20th anniversary of the original protests, the embassy was permanently re-established on its original site on the lawns outside Old Parliament House.

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