The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra has existed intermittently since 1972.

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is a controversial semi-permanent assemblage claiming to represent the political rights of Australian Aborigines. It is made of a large group of activists, signs, and tents that reside on the lawn of Old Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital. It is not considered an official embassy by the Australian government. Tent Embassy The copyright status of this work is difficult or impossible to determine. ... Tent Embassy The copyright status of this work is difficult or impossible to determine. ...     Canberra is the capital city of Australia and with a population of just over 323,000 is Australias largest inland city. ... A controversy is a contentious dispute, a disagreement over which parties are actively arguing. ... Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ... The original parliament house of Australia, now referred to as Old Parliament House, or OPH, served as the official Parliament House of the Commonwealth of Australia from 1927 to 1988. ...     Canberra is the capital city of Australia and with a population of just over 323,000 is Australias largest inland city. ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ...

History

On Australia Day 1972, the Tent Embassy was established in response to the McMahon Coalition Government's refusal to recognise Aboriginal land rights. The embassy has existed intermittently since then, and permanently since 1992. Australia Day is Australias official national day, January 26. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. ... Rt Hon William McMahon Sir William McMahon (February 23, 1908 – March 31, 1988), Australian politician and 20th Prime Minister of Australia, was born in Sydney, New South Wales, where his father was a lawyer. ... Real property is a legal term encompassing real estate and ownership interests in real estate (immovable property). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

In February 1972 the Aboriginal Tent Embassy presented a list of demands to Parliament: 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. ...

• Control of the Northern Territory as a State within the Commonwealth of Australia; the parliament in the Northern Territory to be predominantly Aboriginal with title and mining rights to all land within the Territory.

• Legal title and mining rights to all other presently existing reserve lands and settlements throughout Australia.

• The preservation of all sacred sites throughout Australia.

• Legal title and mining rights to areas in and around all Australian capital cities.

• Compensation monies for lands not returnable to take the form of a down-payment of six billion dollars and an annual percentage of the gross national income.

The demands were rejected, and in July 1972, following an amendment to the relevant ordinance, police moved in, removed the tents, and arrested eight people. Motto: None Nickname: ? Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ... Look up July in Wiktionary, the free dictionary July is the seventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. ...

In October 1973, around 70 Aboriginal protesters staged a sit-in on the steps of Parliament House and the Tent Embassy was re-established. The sit-in ended when Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam agreed to meet with protesters. Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more persons nonviolently occupying an area for protest, often political, social, or economic change. ... The office of Prime Minister is in practice the most powerful political office in the Commonwealth of Australia. ... Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (born 11 July 1916), Australian politician and 21st Prime Minister of Australia, was the only Australian Prime Minister to be dismissed by the Governor-General. ...

In May 1974 the embassy was destroyed in a storm, but was re-established in October. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In February 1975 Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins negotiated the "temporary" removal of the embassy with the Government, pending Government action on land rights. 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Charles Nelson Perkins (born June 16, 1936 in Alice Springs, died October 19, 2000) was an Australian Aboriginal activist. ...

In March 1976 the Aboriginal Embassy was established in a house in the nearby Canberra suburb of Red Hill, however this closed in 1977. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...     Canberra is the capital city of Australia and with a population of just over 323,000 is Australias largest inland city. ... Categories: Suburbs of Canberra (incomplete) | Suburbs of Canberra ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...

For a short period in 1979, the embassy was re-established as the "National Aboriginal Government" on Capital Hill, site of the proposed new Parliament House. This page refers to the year 1979. ... Capital Hill (postcode: 2600) is the location of Parliament House, Canberra, at the south apex of the land axis of the Parliamentary Triangle. ... Parliament House Canberra: The main entrance and the flag Parliament House is the name given to two purpose-built buildings in Canberra, the capital of Australia, where the Parliament of Australia has met since 1927. ...

On the twentieth anniversary of its founding, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was re-established on the lawns of Old Parliament House. Despite being a continual source of controversy and many calls for its removal, it has existed on the site since that time. The original parliament house of Australia, now referred to as Old Parliament House, or OPH, served as the official Parliament House of the Commonwealth of Australia from 1927 to 1988. ...

As well as political pressure, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has also been under attack from the general public, having been fire bombed on a number of occasions.

Many local aboriginal Ngunnawal people have also called for the eviction of residents of the tent embassy. Ngunnawal people or Ngunnawal tribe were the first residents of the area which is now occupied by the city of Canberra, Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. ...

Despite this, in 1995 the site of the Tent Embassy was added to the Australian Register of the National Estate as the only Aboriginal site in Australia that is recognised nationally as a site representing political struggle for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.[1] 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

When the 2000 Olympic Games came to Sydney, Aborigines set up a second Tent Embassy on the Olympic grounds. This article is about the year 2000. ... For months before the Olympic Games, runners relay the Olympic Flame from Olympia to the opening ceremony. ... Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and with a population of over four million people is the most populous city in Australia. ...

A tent embassy has also operated intermittently in Victoria Park, Sydney in recent years.

A symbol at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is the so-called Sacred fire which represents peace, justice and sovereignty. The Sacred fire is said to have been kept alight since 1998.

Issues

The Tent Embassy promotes Australian Aboriginal Sovereignty. Their demands included land rights and mineral rights to Aboriginal lands, legal and political control of certain sacred sites, and compensation for land that they claim was stolen. Their demands have been consistently rebuffed by past and current governments. Australian Aboriginal Sovereignty is a political movement amongst Australian aborigines in the 20th century, demanding control of parts of Australia by native peoples. ... Real property is a legal term encompassing real estate and ownership interests in real estate (immovable property). ...

It has also been used as a site for protesting against other isses, such as against uranium mining at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory during the 90s. Currently Elders such as Uncle Neville Williams, from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy are working to protect traditional Wiradjuri land in Western N.S.W at Lake Cowal which is in the process of being mined for gold. General Name, Symbol, Number uranium, U, 92 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery gray metallic; corrodes to a spalling black oxide coat in air Atomic mass 238. ... Jabiluka is a proposed uranium mine in Australia that was to have been built on land belonging to the Mirrar Aboriginal people which was surrounded by the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park. ... The Wiradjuri, or Wiradhuri, are an indigenous people of Australia, who speak the Aboriginal language of that name. ... Lake Cowal is the largest inland lake in New South Wales, Australia. ...

The group describes itself as an embassy, a designation the Australian government objects to. The group claims to represent a displaced nation of peoples, unjustly occupied by the Australian government. The subject remains controversial in Australian politics. A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ...

The future of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

In August 2005 the Federal Government announced a review into Canberra's Aboriginal tent embassy consulting with Aboriginal communities around Australia to determine what shape the tent embassy should take in future.[2] The group was headed by Minister Jim Lloyd and contained a number of Aboriginal Elders from around Australia, and was called Mutual Mediations. They reached a decision on the Embassy's future early in December 2005.

Jim Lloyd released a media statement in December 2005 stating that the Embassy will have no residents and shall be replaced with a more permanent structure. A sign stating "No Camping" has been erected at the Embassy, although Minister Lloyd has stated that no residents will be removed against their will.

The Embassy remains intact and plans for the annual Corroboree for Sovereignty are still going ahead. Corroborree for Soverignty is always held on the 26th of January, which is Australia day, known to some Indigenous Australians and their supporters as invasion day.

External links

• The Koori History Website
• Aboriginal Tent Embassy: Icon or Eyesore?