Dear Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, The Sovereign Yidindji Government writes this letter in response to the remarks made in Parliament by the Australian Dennis Jensen MP. The Sovereign Yidindji Government is the representative body for the Yidindji Nation and has been requested to bring this matter to your attention on behalf of the Nation. To be labelled “Noble Savage” could not be further from the truth and is offensive to the original continuing nations on this continent. His derogatory comments are in keeping with the comments with some of the earlier Australians, notably Isaac Isaacs and H B Higgins and other “white” Australians which has led to the current situation that the Commonwealth of Australia finds itself in; as you stated on the 14th of December 2015, “A mistake when our constitution was framed over a century ago, ... of the Aboriginal history, of Australia. There was no acknowledgement of 40,000 years of occupation.” To be classified again as “primitive” by “Ignorant Australian Supremacism”, people who, at the expense of the very peoples he is referring to, people who have led a very great life by utilising the resources of the tribal nations without their free, prior and informed consent, nor the payment for those resources, somewhat akin to theft or unjust enrichment, is just rubbing more salt into the gaping wounds of the past. A reminder that he is still living on stolen land and deriving income from stolen property. Who is the “savage”? In light of recent comments by Alan Jones, Piers Ackerman and other personalities as well as members of the Australian political landscape, there is a lack of awareness of the situation that the Commonwealth of Australia finds itself in. This “Ignorant Australian Supremacism” is only going to worsen the situation and must be corrected. A show of direction, and leadership from you to your Australian citizens is required at this present times. The Sovereign Yidindji Government has held out its hand in Good Faith to the Commonwealth of Australia to settle the past and secure the future last year with a “Memorandum of Understanding for Treaty Negotiations between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Sovereign Yidindji Government”. To date there has been only signs of “Bad faith”, including this latest comment.
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