Rabbit-proof Fence

Overview

Relating Rabbit proof fence to the real situation of Aborigines in Australia. Considering the Legislation and Policies of Australia and the Methods used to exercise them. Comparing the terminology used in the movie to real life Australia.

History

1600's

1606- The Dutch were the first to discover the land of 'Australia'. A Dutchman named Willem Janszoon sailed into Australia and landed up at Duyfken (Little Dove). He is known to be the first to have ever dealt with the Aborigines. Louis Vaez de Torres, another Dutch captain visited Australia later that year through the Torres Strait, which is named after him.
1642- Abel Tasman was another Dutch explorer, who reached Australia and concluded that Australia is made of four coasts: East, West, North and South. The state of Tasmania is named after him.

By this time, the Dutch, French and the English had known of Australia, but no plans were made to make any sorts of settlements.

1700's

1770- The British Royal Navy planned an expedition called Endeavour and prepared Captain James Cook for Australia. On April 29, Captain James Cook landed on the East Coast of Australia, Sydney in particular, at Botany Bay. He claimed the East Coastline and named it New South Wales, which is still a state today. Since he was British, his claim of the land led to British Settlements.
1778- On January 26th Captain Arthur Phillip created a penal colony in New South Wales. With the arrival of the first fleet of ships, this was the first settlement in Australia.

1800's

1829- The British claimed the western part of Australia and named it Swan River Colony, later known as Western Australia. Initially The British mainly used the land of Australia for convicts and prisoners. Australia being completely sea locked was safe for prisoners, as there was no chance for them to escape. Many prisoners were later even used for labor due to shortage.
1836-63 - New South Wales was further divided up into various provinces of South Australia, New Zealand, Victoria, Queensland and Northern Territory.

As more and more colonies were set up, development became a must. British prisoners weren't the only one's working as labor. Aborigines were forced to work too. The Indigenous Australians had a very distinctive life style, which was far too complex for the European Explorers to understand. As development picked up speed, the Aborigines were pushed around to neighboring states. If the Aborigine way of life was strange for the Europeans, so was European lifestyle for the Aborigines. When the Europeans came to Australia, they brought along with them diseases, which the Aborigines couldn't bare and many died.

- Gold Rush

Various Massacres
- Myall Creek Massacre
- Battle Mountain
- Massacre at Coniston

Concept of "Vanity of the Philosophers"
- Helping the Natives by "breeding out" the "Black" in them.

Stolen Generations = Genocide
- "breeding out the colour" would lead to Aborigines being "forgotten" = similar to views of Nazi Germany
- Debate over the existence of the Stolen Generation by Andrew Bolt

CURRENT DAY

26 May 1998 - "National Sorry Day" introduced

2004 - John Howard's refusal to apologize to the Aborigines
- Saw no need

2008 - Rudd's Apology to the Aborigines

Apology text

- At 9:30am on February 13, 2008, Rudd presented the apology to Indigenous Australians as a motion to be voted on by the house. The form of the apology was as follows:[68][69]

“ Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.we say sorryBold text

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, .

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Terminology

Half Castes

Stolen Generation

Full blood (aborigines/white)

White Status (advancement)

Bred out/Die out

"Helping the Native"

Providing "Protection"

'crossbreeds', 'quadroons' and 'octoroons'

Legislation

Immigration Act of 1901
- one of the first pieces of legislation passed under Australian Federation
- restricted non-European immigration to Australia

White Australia Policy
- term used to describe eugenic legislation passed from 1901 to 1973

Reversal of White Australia
- Whitlam Labor government passed series of admendments in 1973
- Migrants able to obtain citizenship
- Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 outlawed the use of racial criteria for any offical purpose

Aboriginal Policies in Western Australia
- Aboriginal Act of 1905 - established 'Chief Protector' who was the legal guardian of every aboriginal or half-caste child under 16, removed children from parent's care, marriages between aboriginals and others had to be approved
- Aborgines Protection Policy 1909 - aborigine children could be removed to a mission at any time
- Native Administration Amendment Act 1941 - aborigines not allowed to travel from north to south across the 20th latitude line

Methods of "Breeding out"

The Law and Policies encouraging the "breeding out" of the Aborigine blood out of the Aborigines were mainly implemented between the years 1869-1969. However, there are policies which were in practice even before 1869, and some that remained after 1971.

Forced Sexual intercourse by White men on Aborigine Women
- Continuity can "breed out" the Aborigine blood

Child removal (Aboriginal Protection Act 1869)
- "forcible removal",
- "removal under threat or duress",
- "official deception",
- "uninformed voluntary release", and
- "voluntary release".

Half castes institutions
- Moore River Native Settlement in Western Australia,
- Doomadgee Aboriginal Mission in Queensland,
- Ebenezer Mission in Victoria and
- Wellington Valley Mission in New South Wales.

1930's - Statement by Dr. Cecil Cook, (Protector of Natives, Northern Territory)

"Generally by the fifth and invariably by the sixth generation, all native characteristics of the Australian Aborigine are eradicated. The problem of our half-castes will quickly be eliminated by the complete disappearance of the black race, and the swift submergence of their progeny in the white."

1930 -Statement by AO Neville (Chief Protector of the Aborigines, Western Australia)

“ Eliminate the full-blood and permit the white admixture to half-castes and eventually the race will become white.”

Real life cases:
- Molly, Daisy and Gracie (Rabbit proof fence)

- Cubillo and Gunner
- Bruce Trevorrow
  - Awarded $775,000 by the government

Life of the Girls

Molly Craig
- Taken to the Moore River Settlement again in the 1940s with her two daughters. She escaped in 1941.
- Older daughter, Doris, was reunited with her mother, and published 'Rabbit-proof Fence'
- Molly's other daughter, Annabelle, was taken away from her in 1943. They were never reunited.
- Molly died in her sleep in 2004, believed to be 87.