For any nation, children are the most precious resource - its future. In 1937 the eradication of Aboriginal nations became the explicit policy of Australian governments. The Australian state had tried armed warfare and dispossession in order to kill off indigenous nations, but the nations survived. So they turned to "ethnic cleansing".
For 60 years authorities have kidnapped indigenous children, suppressed their religion and language, physically and sexually abused them, and forced them into slavery on cattle stations or as domestic servants.
John Howard is lying when he claims that the kidnappers broke no laws. The 1948 Genocide Convention, enacted in response to the Nazi holocaust, declares that one definition of genocide is "forcibly transferring children of one group to another group." This despicable practice was outlawed in Australia in 1951, but was official policy in some states less than a decade ago. Under the cover of social welfare and child protection legislation, the kidnapping continues. That is why the Human Rights Commission concluded that generations of government officials have committed the crime of genocide.
White supremacist politicians are united in their aim of creating a backlash against indigenous peoples so that they can hand over huge areas of the continent to wealthy private landholders. At Howard's shoulder stands Pauline Hanson, whose One Nation Party is becoming an organizing vehicle for open fascists like National Action.
The hysteria over Wik is the smokescreen for a massive land grab. In the Wik Decision, the High Court declared that pastoral leases and indigenous land title are not necessarily incompatible. It did not grant one square metre of land to the indigenous nations. Howard's genocidal "10 Point Plan" is a 1990s version of the vicious South African apartheid land laws.
Working people have no option but to stand firmly with the indigenous nations of this continent. Our struggles are bound together. The wealthy pastoralists and miners who want to steal indigenous land are also attempting to break the unions and drive wages into the ground. A defeat for Howard will be a defeat for Hanson's virulent brand of anti-worker racism, sexism and homophobia.
Recognize Aboriginal sovereignty - down with Howard's land grab.

No more genocide!

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