Replies to post #449805 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

NOT unexpectedly far-right Bannon's Australian mate Antic is also opposed to the indigenous of Australia gaining a Voice in the constitution.

"When Right meets Right, it's all wrong: Alex Antic a poster boy for Australia's Trumpists"

Friday, March 3, 2023

Up to their usual Antics

By Amy Thunig


Liberal senator Alex Antic during Senate estimates, February 14, 2023. Image © Lukas Coch / AAP Images

Critics of the voice demand a “unity” from Indigenous people that is completely inappropriate

With this being the year of the referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, discussions are becoming increasingly heated. “Voice, Treaty, Truth .. https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/ ” as a movement has been building for years, but iterations .. https://theconversation.com/long-before-the-voice-vote-the-australian-aboriginal-progressive-association-called-for-parliamentary-representation-198064 .. of a voice have been called for by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples .. https://www.themandarin.com.au/213151-dodson-australia-glosses-over-who-controls-indigenous-lives/ .. for more than a century. Indigenous peoples are already witnessing a predictable uptick in racist rhetoric pushed by politicians and media alike. For non-Indigenous peoples of so-called Australia, the next few months will see them bombarded with information and disinformation, before finally the day will come where we will all have the opportunity to vote “Yes” or “No” on whether to enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament within the Constitution. As a Gomeroi / Gamilaroi / Kamilaroi person, and someone who has for years been openly supportive of the sequenced reform .. https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2018/july/1530367200/megan-davis/voice-treaty-truth .. process outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart .. https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/history/ , I have been waiting with discomfort to see which angle politicians and media on the “No” side will adopt in order to sway the broader population against this reform. Unsurprisingly, Liberal senator Alex Antic’s recent remarks made it clear that attacking the legitimacy of Indigenous identity via blood quantum and eugenics will feature on their agenda.

[INSERT: -- Related: The Voice is not an election, still with the guy bringing in blood and eugenics as mentioned above he does bring
to mind America's thank goodness almost dead On-drop test. So see -- In An Election Defined By Race, How Do We Define Race?
[...]
Donald Trump’s supporters, 90 percent of whom are white .. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/09/dissecting-donald-trumps-support/499739/ , have measurably less positive feelings about African-Americans .. https://thewpsa.wordpress.com/2016/05/16/trump-supporters-have-cooler-feelings-towards-many-groups-compared-to-supporters-of-other-candidates/ .. and several other groups than other Republicans or the public at large. But how many of his voters are “black,” not by our current categorization but under the “one-drop rule .. http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_mar14.htm ” saying that no matter how white they looked, anyone with a drop of black blood was categorized as such? Variations of the one-drop rule persisted in law until 1983 in Louisiana,...
[...]The 'One Drop Rule' is Destructive to African Americans

Yep, 2016 - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=126357309
Ignorant fuck.]

“What percentage does somebody have to be, of Aboriginal descent, to be deemed Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?” Senator Antic asked .. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2023/feb/14/australia-politics-live-vanuatu-anthony-albanese-peter-dutton-reconstruction-fund-reserve-bank-interest-rates-philip-lowe-cost-of-living-people-smugglers-protection-visas?page=with:block-63eaf4538f08393915cbe469#block-63eaf4538f08393915cbe469 .. the legal affairs committee, in relation to who would qualify to be part of the voice body should the “Yes” vote get up. It was almost as though he, a senator, was unaware that since 1978 .. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/standards/indigenous-status-standard/latest-release .. the federal cabinet has relied on what is known as the “Commonwealth definition” when it comes to being acknowledged and identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander within so-called Australia. This definition sets out that a person must be able to prove not only descent, but also community acceptance and outward self-identification. All three, all together, at all times. Blood percentage is neither a valid nor legal marker, rather it is a lie born from the legacy of weaponising eugenics and blood quantum against Indigenous peoples. This history is well documented .. https://indigenousx.com.au/10-questions-i-get-from-non-indigenous-students/ , and is linked to violent government policies such as “protection”, “assimilation” and “integration”, which by design sought to “breed out the black .. https://www.smh.com.au/national/caught-up-in-a-scientific-racism-designed-to-breed-out-the-black-20080214-gds108.html ” and led to the forcible child removals of the Stolen Generations .. https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/bringing-them-home-report-1997 . If Senator Antic’s question about “percentage” came from a genuine lack of knowledge of the history of the country he claims to serve, we might conclude he is not informed enough to be considered fit for his role. If his question came not from ignorance, but rather a desire to dog whistle and spread fear and misinformation ahead of the referendum, the conclusion of him being unfit is the same.

This is not the first attack on Indigeneity that we are seeing as we journey towards the referendum. Another trope is the demand for complete “unity” among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, under the guise of an assumed homogeneity. Activists, including Indigenous peoples who are active online, are being quoted against one another, with minimal contextualisation of their cultural identity or position. The argument attempting to be made here is that a lack of unity among us means that no progress is possible, and by extension that we should not be trusted with a role such as the voice to parliament. As though unity or homogeneity is ever demanded of Australian political parties, let alone across the entire population. It is politically advantageous for the Coalition to foment division because it can point to this perceived “division” among Indigenous peoples as a way of discrediting the voice proposal without needing to come out against the voice itself. It also, again, presents a disingenuous lack of knowledge of Australia and its histories.

This continent is home to hundreds of unique Countries .. https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia , each with their own languages, histories, cultures and leadership figures, many of whom came together to create the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Though today we often work together both locally and globally in our fight for kin, kith and Country, it is unreasonable and inappropriate to demand that hundreds of thousands of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples should all hold the same political views and perspectives. What is not okay is attempting to weaponise disagreement as a way to stall any progress on the pathway forward. Across the continent Indigenous peoples have been forcibly treated as a collective since invasion, with the unifying factor in our experiences being the violence of colonisation. While 80 per cent of Indigenous peoples polled .. https://www.9news.com.au/national/overwhelming-majority-of-first-nations-and-torres-strait-islander-people-support-inducting-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-study-suggests/c93bcf64-db71-4185-b716-725c53886a11 .. indicate that they support Voice, Treaty, Truth, this does not minimise the voices of those who do not support it. It’s important to note that, as Indigenous peoples, we have the right to disagree .. https://twitter.com/TurnbullVanessa/status/1629953845383266305 .. on the route we take, even as we agree on key shared aims such as the establishment of treaties. This is part of the complexity that we all – as Indigenous peoples and as settlers who call Australia home – must navigate. Our politicians have a duty to both respect and understand that complexity.

https://www.themonthly.com.au/the-politics/amy-thunig/2023/03/03/their-usual-antics