Aboriginal Rights In Australia Essay

As Australians we are proud of our culture we deem fair and just. Yet we often forget the prosperity of Australia was in great part the result of dispossessing the Aboriginal people of their lands. The Aboriginals lived peacefully, their culture and society sacred and complex. The land, a fundamental component of their spirituality and identity. However with the arrival of the British, Australia was declared Terra Nullius, a land that belonged to no one. In the 1900s while white Australia enjoyed houses with water, power, food and a wide range of state benefits. Aboriginals continued to be the most disadvantaged group in Australia. Given only basic rights and freedoms, ineligible for state benefits, told where they could live and whom they …show more content…
The Queensland government states Oodgeroo “came to play an important role in gaining voting rights for Indigenous people. Kath went to Canberra to meet to the Prime Minister at the time. Because of their meeting, Australia had a referendum to give Indigenous people the right to citizenship.” This is evident in a letter personally sent to her by the Prime Minister: “You can be sure that the submission of the referendum proposal reflected out concern for the rights of Aborigines, and that we will be taking steps to follow this up with further action, now that the people have expressed their views in such convincing fashion”. Though it didn’t fully amend all wrong doings it indicated a positive shift in mainstream attitude to pave the way for future laws, programs and resources for Aboriginals. Yet it doesn’t end there. The Queensland University of Technology writes “Oodgeroo helped forge state and national networks and developed contacts with indigenous people in other countries” and finally in 1972: “Established the Noonuccal-Nughie Education and Cultural Centre, where she regularly conducts programs for groups of school students and