Two Aboriginal men have clashed over which clan had the right to hold a traditional Indigenous smoking ceremony at the opening of a major highway in Western Australia.
The incident comes as Australians prepare to vote on a national referendum on whether to change the country’s Constitution to include greater recognition of Aboriginal interests.
On July 9, during the opening of a freeway extension in the northern suburbs of Perth, a man of Indigenous appearance interrupted the proceedings saying the host did not have the right to conduct the smoking ceremony.
“I don’t think these people coming out here, thinking that you fellas could say this, say that, on this land,” a man in red can be seen saying in footage by 7 News.
The other man responded saying, “I don’t need permission from you or anybody else. This is my country too.”
An Aboriginal woman attempted to calm the man in red saying he was “included in this too.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like it—nobody told us nothing,” he responded.
It is unclear which Indigenous groups were involved and who the men represented.
The state’s Transport Minister, Rita Saffioti, was present during the dispute.
“It’s very interesting because obviously there’s a lot of different Aboriginal groups with history in this area,” she told 7 News.
When questioned whether the government had chosen the wrong group, Ms. Saffioti said, “No, I understand that was all handled by the department. So anyway, we’ll work through it.”
Lobby Groups Winning Out Over Communities
The incident comes as criticism regarding the proposed change to the Constitution to include the Indigenous Voice to Parliament questions how it can represent the over 300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders groups in the country.The Voice proposal includes a change to the preamble of the nation’s founding document and will also introduce a near-permanent advisory body dedicated to representing Indigenous interests—on top of the already numerous Indigenous lobby groups in Canberra.
This group will be elected by Indigenous people and will have the authority to make “representations” on issues deemed relevant to Aboriginal groups to the executive and Parliament.
Some advocates see this as another solution to ongoing problems in Indigenous communities, including alcoholism, domestic violence, and welfare dependency.
Yet Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has argued that such a body would only represent a small segment of the community.
Competing Indigenous Rights An Ongoing Issue
Meanwhile, the highway dispute comes just months after Australian authorities in the nation’s capital were forced to deal with a similar dispute over land rights between rival Indigenous groups.ACT authorities have, for the last two decades, recognised the Ngunnawal people as the traditional owners.
The ACT was forced to apologise to the Ngambari people, who argued their human rights had been breached.
In turn, the United Ngunnawal Elders Council responded, saying they felt “mental anguish” from the whole episode.
Meanwhile, in January, another incident played out where a local Indigenous community accused a lobby group of sidelining their interests after they successfully convinced the state government to ban tourists from a popular hiking trail.
Elizabeth Boyd, an Aboriginal elder of the Ngarakbal Githabul people, said her rights, along with those of the Yoocum Yoocum people, were being extinguished by the mysterious Wollumbin Consultative Group that claims to represent the Bundjalung people.
“The Ngarakbal Githabul women have not been included in any of the consultative process in regards to the management or closure of Mt. Warning,” she said.
“The state government’s administrative decision to permanently close Mt. Warning not only contravenes my customary law rights and women’s rights and human rights—but also my cultural responsibilities to the Gulgan memorial.”
