Critical Analysis of Australian Policy and Historical Events in Relation to Indigenous Australian Peoples

This paper critically analyzes Australian policy and historical events in relation to Indigenous Australian peoples, including their struggle for freedom and rights. It covers events before and after 1967, when Indigenous Australians regained their rights and freedom through tough resistance against British colonization.

Revolution of Australia Indigenous
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Institution
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Critical analysis of Australian policy and historical events in relation to Indigenous
Australian peoples
Before 1967, Indigenous Australian peoples were discriminated. Their resources were
taken by the British colonizers. This initiated events that took place in this period of time ware
federation of the constitution. Indigenous Australians were initiating the referendum meant to
fight for their rights and freedom. Several events took place in Australia that led to the freedom
of Aboriginal and the entire Indigenous Australian people. Aboriginal were indigenous
Australians who migrated from Africa and stayed in the country for decades. Their cultural
practice was semi-nomads and moved from one place to another to look for pasture (Broome &
Broome, 2010). The British took advantage of their cultural and forced them to move from the
wetland and moved to the semi-arid area (Hinton, 2012).
The spread of the Europeans increased due to their pastoral occupation leading to the rise
of industries. It made the visibility of indigenous lifeless visible since the indigenous were
marginalized and were denied any right in their own country by British colony (Gammage,
2014). In this paper, I will reflect on how social, historical forces explicated knowledge of others
and self. In this, I will extend my arguments on reflecting on Australian policy on basis of
Australian people. I will reflect on how indigenous Australian is related to their rational
approaches. Then lastly I will give the differences that exist between the non-indigenous
Australians and indigenous ones.
In 1901, the Australia constitution came into effect that denied the Aboriginal peoples any
right and classified them as second class people. Aboriginal peoples started a resistance against
British settlers who invaded their land and taken their recourses. In 1914, some 800 Aboriginal

armed themselves despite the resistance of some Indigenous Australian peoples working in the
army. This resistance led to the loss of life for many Europeans and visiting Indians after an
attack by Aboriginal peoples who were hunters and gatherers. It continued until the start of
Second World War (Hiatt, 2016). Post-1967, the recruitment of the indigenous into the military
weakened the resistance of the Aboriginal movement (Cohen, 2013).
The regulation restricted the Aboriginal movement; they became laborers who were not
free and were paid low wages as compared to another indigenous working in the military. The
Indigenous Australian peoples had no right to exercise their democratic right due to the
restriction by the Australia federal government until the 1940s when those who served in the
military were extended this right to vote in the national election but restricted other indigenous
including Aboriginal Australians. This right was entirely given to the Australian indigenous by
the Menzies government which included all indigenous in voting in the Commonwealth election.
After 1967, this period was marked by the breakthrough of Indigenous Australian
people discrimination and colonization since the state was granted full participation of
indigenous right to vote. In 1968, Australian referendum was held and passed with 90% votes
that allowed the indigenous to be included in the Commonwealth parliament, to make laws
(Samantha, 2012). As a result, Australia had become a no-one land when Europeans occupied
the area. It made the subject companies continue mining in the property belonging to Aboriginal,
indigenous people. The Aboriginal termed themselves as foreigners in their own country. There
is an unresolved relationship between the indigenous and non-indigenous.
The Anzac day policy is a national day for commemorations, but the non-indigenous
people do not want to include the aboriginal people killed by the white settlers. Torres Strait

Islanders and Aboriginals do not receive equal rights as the non-indigenous do and they end up
marching to call for equal rights and to end Australian day not included in the celebrations
(Childs, J& Delgado-P, 2013). The non-indigenous are positioned as superiors while the
indigenous are inferiors who should follow the decisions made by the non-indigenous.
The indigenous viewpoint is that commemoration is equally valid to both non-indigenous
and indigenous and the aboriginal killed in the frontier wars should be included in the Anzac Day
commemorations. The non-indigenous readers may take the idea of changing the Anzac day
policy as involving ideological wars in the sacred day. In 1971, after the referendum, the Yolngu
people living in Northern Australia where Nabalco a mining company was situated. It sorts an
injunction to stop the company from mining in their national land. The order was overruled
since the area was said to have no ownership before the Europe settlement since was no
existence of title of property existed. It led to the Woodward commission which lived 1973-1974
with the purpose of finding ways of recognizing land rights to Aboriginal land rights in northern
Australia.
In 1975, the Whitlam government drafted Aboriginal land right, that aimed at restoring
the indigenous land to their indigenous people (Moses, 2011). This act was later reduced from
ownership to freehold title by Malcolm Fraser of the coalition government. In 1987, the
Aboriginal was settled to their ancestral land by the federal government since they had settled in
government, Non-Aboriginal Township as they were nomads by culture. In 1992, the court
invalidated the Tera Nullius and this legalized ownership of land before British settlement.
In 1998, the Sorry Day was held to recognize the stolen children by the federal
government and church mission from indigenous Australian who was taken from their families

in 1905 and 1967 (Foley, 2016). The children belonged to no ethnic group since they were from
the mixed race. The day was to acknowledge the atrocity done to the Indigenous families by the
Australian government policy. The 1999 referendum asked 2 questions. The first was whether
Australia should become a republic, and the second was whether a preamble should be inserted
into the constitution to acknowledge Indigenous Australians. This was not really to change the
law, but more a written statement of acknowledgment.
In 2005, your voice political party advocated for the recognition of conflict of the
eighteenth century between Aboriginal and colonials is recognized as war and receive the same
attention as of other Australian wars (Hall, Basarin, & Lockstone-Binney, 2010). It was to
change the history of the Aborigine since they fought by defending their land from the colonials.
Many aborigines lost their lives in this fight. The indigenous viewpoint is that commemoration is
equally valid to both non-indigenous and indigenous and the aboriginal killed in the frontier wars
should be included in the Anzac day policy commemorations (Unikoski, 2018). The indigenous
also calls for equal rights showing that they need to be respected. Their perspective contradicts
the idea that the fellow aboriginals killed in frontier wars should be not be included in the
commemorations on Anzac day. They do not support the idea that the Victorian government is
tearing down their values and they fight against it.
The goals and strategies for Indigenous Australians were to fight against the British colony
so as to gain the freedom. For them to regain their freedom they had to consecutively fight,
demonstration and advocating for their right of liberty and power of their indigenous land
ownership from the settlers. Indigenous peoples’ cultural practices and beliefs were significantly
connection to their land, animal, and water. It is through their culture and beliefs that they were
able to adapt to the environment, gain survival skills in the area. Despite the plan of Europeans

to infect Indigenous by disease, they used their cultural practices to overcome the sickness
(Gibson, 2014). Later, the British colony made close friends with some indigenous people who
helped them to trace ways through they could deal with others. This was just a plan to eliminate
other Indigenous.
The difference between indigenous and non-indigenous Australian comes through the
influence of racialism; the Aboriginal peoples managed to strike and united against the colonial
fighting for their rights to be given right to vote. It ensured this saw them make laws for their
ethnic groups to prevent biases. As a result right to equal wages was implemented, the
Aboriginal ceased to be discriminated by the Colonials’ settlers (Hiatt, 1996). Lack of a system
of control in Australia encouraged the settlers to occupy land belonging to the indigenous people.
As a result the indigenous were a force to live in arid areas; some were forced to hard labor and
were denied right to their properties.
The Australian indigenous was treated as second class people and could not participate
in the decision making. Their struggle to retain power never came easily since it was gradual.
The right to vote was not in their control until a motion was passed to allow them to participate
in the federal elections. This went on until all the indigenous got the freedom to make their laws
which saw many of the indigenous gains their freedom back and the right to ownership of their
resources. This paper has looked on what happened before 1967 as well as events that took place
after 1967. Before 1967 it has been a clear indication that Indigenous Australian peoples were
under colonization and their right taken by the British colony. Past 1967, they regained their
rights and freedom through fighting back for the same. It took them tough resistance for them to
get what they had lost from the British colonizers.

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