NI 554 - Indigenous sovereignty in Australia - March, 2025

NI 554 - March, 2025

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Indigenous sovereignty in Australia

A note from the editor

Zoe Holman

Always Was, Always Will Be

In her poem, ‘Ngurambang yali - Country Speaks’, Wiradjuri writer Jeanine Leane gives a voice to the land:

‘Balandha—dhuraay Bumal-ayi-nya Wumbay abuny (yaboing)’
— History does not have the first claim. Nor the last word.

Nghindhi yarra dhalanbul ngiyanhi gin.gu
- ‘You can speak us now!’

Since colonization, the spurious voice of the white man has attempted to define the history of Australia. In politics, education, the sciences and almost all realms of public discourse, stories have been told about the land and its First Peoples – claims that have often been as violent as the genocide that enabled the founding of the Australian nation. It is well beyond time for other voices to speak and be heard.

There is no single story of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are the original occupants of the continent and who never ceded sovereignty. They form one of the oldest civilizations on earth, of some 250 nations and 800 dialects. The countless stories there are are not for the colonizer to tell. The articles in this Big Story are instead an incomplete attempt to let some of them tell themselves. Most of all, they are an invitation to readers: a fleeting glimpse into ideas, realities and histories, many of which may be unfamiliar, and a call to continue listening.

In this magazine, we are launching a new campaign to support a special edition of New Internationalist dedicated to resisting the far right. Visit newint.org/give to find out more.

Zoe Holman for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Gunditjmara, Waddawurrung & Arrernte man Jordan Edwards in the state Legislative Council Chamber, Melbourne, during the first sitting of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria in July 2023. Photo: Tamati Smith/Getty Images

Gunditjmara, Waddawurrung & Arrernte man Jordan Edwards in the state Legislative Council Chamber, Melbourne, during the first sitting of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria in July 2023.

Photo: Tamati Smith/Getty Images

Indigenous Sovereignty in Australia

This is not your land. After the defeat of a 2023 referendum on the inclusion of a First Nations Voice in parliament, Zoe Holman traces the claims to self-determination made by Indigenous peoples in Australia, culminating in today’s rallying call for Treaty.

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The Big Story

Photos: National Library of Australia (NLA); State Library of Queensland; Aiatsis; Mitchell Library/State Library of New South Wales/Search Foundation; IBID; Dan Peled/Alamy; Chris Dorney/Alamy; Andrew Sheargold/Reuters; Richard Milnes/Alamy; Wallace Media Network/Alamy

Timeline

From the First Fleet’s arrival to today’s fight for recognition, we trace the turbulent history of Aboriginal Australians—a journey of dispossession, resistance, and resilience.

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A vocal supporter of Palestine, Thorpe speaks at a rally against the genocide in Gaza in Melbourne in November 2023.Photo: Jay Kogler/Alamy Live

Truth-telling in the Stolen Country

Senator Lidia Thorpe talks to Zoe Holman about power, Treaty and Australia’s identity crisis.

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A 21-year-old Gary Foley.Photo: Bettmann

A History of Black Power

Veteran activist, academic and actor Gary Foley talks to Zoe Holman about the past and future of Aboriginal resistance.

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Larrakia elder Erik Fejo at Nightcliff Beach, Darwin, January 2025.Photo: Helen Orr

Another golden age for gas

State and corporate interests across Northern Australia are steamrolling the rights and aspirations of Indigenous peoples in pursuit of economic largesse, Ben Abbatangelo writes.

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A young Tracker catching a fish on Croker Island off the coast of the Northern Territory.Photo: Lois Bartram Collection

Tracker

Alexis Wright gives an epic account of the life and work of a man who took the campaign for Aboriginal rights to the highest levels in her award-winning biography of renowned activist, Tracker Tilmouth.

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A still from the forthcoming 2025 documentary 'Our Warrior - The Story of Robbie Thorpe'.Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi

A bloody oath, mate

Dario Vacirca examines efforts to prosecute ongoing crimes against Australia’s First Nations.

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A statue of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad – the father of Bashar al-Assad – is seen destroyed in Dayr Atiyah, Syria, on 5 January 2025.Photo: Leo Correa/Associated Press/Alamy

The war isn’t over

After the celebrated fall of the Assad regime, questions remain over Syria’s future. As Turkey increases violence in the country’s Kurdish-majority north, Matt Broomfield reports on people’s hopes and fears.

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 An old coal train in Ny-Ålesund on the island of Spitsbergen, Svalbard.Photo: Travel4Pictures/Alamy

Svalbard’s green gamble

As Norway’s isolated islands leave coal mining behind, Huw Paige asks if it is realistic for them to become a green exemplar for the Arctic.

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A radio signal tower stands behind bullet-riddled houses in Omdurman, Sudan’s second most populous city, on 27 August 2024.Photo: Mudathir Hameed/DPA/Alamy Live News

Revolutionary aid

Once at the forefront of the 2018 revolution, Sudan’s social movements are now providing vital humanitarian aid throughout a devastating civil war. How have they kept their pro-democracy politics alive and adapted to a changing landscape? Eiad Husham reports.

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Comment

View from India

View from India

The women dividend, by Nilanjana Bhowmick.

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View from Africa

View from Africa

Mozambique and the crisis of illegitimacy, by Rosebell Kagumire.

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View from Brazil

View from Brazil

What Lula can learn from Trump, by Leonardo Sakamoto.

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Democrats including Cori Bush, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Barbara Lee, demanding a ceasefire after a vote in the House of Representatives, 8 November 2023.Photo: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA/Alamy

No resistance without Palestine

Without a reckoning over their support for Israeli genocide, the US Democrats are doomed to fail, argues Decca Muldowney.

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Currents

Workers remove dead mangroves during the clean-up of Bodo, a village in the Niger Delta devasted by oil spills from ruptured Shell-owned pipelines in 2008 and 2009.Photo: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters

Big oil's big con

Communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta are rising up against Big Oil’s retreat, as decades of environmental devastation and government neglect leave them exposed. Obiora Ikoku reports.

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Health up for grabs

Health up for grabs

Framed by a deadly act of retribution against corporate greed, Nick Dowson examines how a Trump presidency and fringe healthcare policies could upend both US and global health systems.

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Coca’s comeback

Coca’s comeback

Seventy-five years after efforts to suppress coca chewing, Mattha Busby examines how a landmark WHO review could redefine a sacred Andean tradition and challenge decades of anti-drug stigma.

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A new occupation

A new occupation

As Syria reels from the fall of Assad, Israel’s half-century-first incursion into the Golan Heights has plunged local communities into siege and uncertainty. John McAulay reports.

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At this year’s Kumbh Mela, the transgender spiritual group Kinnar Akhara will walk alongside other holy leaders for the first time.Photo: Shivalika Puri

Spiritual acceptance

At India’s largest Hindu festival, transgender spiritual leaders step into the spotlight for the first time, but Shivalika Puri reveals that their journey for equality is far from over.

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More than two million people have fled war-torn Sudan into bordering countries like Chad (pictured) and Egypt, where they face an increasingly hostile reception from authorities.Photo: Le Pictorium/Alamy Live News

Hostile transit

Egypt’s new law puts asylum-seekers at risk as Sisi’s regime clamps down on dissent. Lara Gibson investigates.

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Illustration: Emma Peer

Introducing... Ahmed al-Sharaa

From global terrorist to de facto leader, Richard Swift explores Ahmed al-Sharaa’s tumultuous transformation and the uncertain future he now charts for Syria.

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Briefly

Briefly

Yoon Can’t Hide; Wiki Wars; Ceasefire Now?; Parental Justice; Rights Rollback.

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Regulars

Letters

Letters

Praise, blame and all points in between? Give us your feedback.

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Illustration: Sarah John

Saying goodbye to Addis

In the first letter of a new series, Maya Misikir writes about the loss of her citys soul to a new development project thats ripping communities apart.

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Illustration: Tjeerd Royaards

Open Window

'Climate change in 4D' by Tjeerd Royaards (Netherlands).

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Cartoon History: The Suffragettes

Polyp tells the story of the movement that shook up civil rights in Britain – and refused the limitations of respectable politics.

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Country Profile: Sierra Leone

Country Profile: Sierra Leone

The photos, facts, and politics of Sierra Leone.

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Photo: Carolina Navas

Southern Exposure: Carolina Navas

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.

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Photo: Collectif Antigone

The Interview: Jacob Pirro

‘People are very angry’. Canadian climate activist Jacob Pirro meets Paula Lacey to discuss being locked up for taking direct action, and what motivates him.

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Illustration: P J Polyp

Big Bad World

Live from Mars, by P J Polyp.

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Illustration: Kate Evans

Thoughts from a Broad

The L.A. fires have nothing to do with climate change, illustrated by Kate Evans.

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Land in Barbuda has become increasingly privatized. This photo was taken in May 2023 at Coco Point. The beaches are public up to the high water mark, which is usually up to the vegetation line in front of the sign.Photo: Global Legal Action Network

Temperature Check

The case for the defence (of nature). Words – Danny Chivers.

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Illustration: Marc Roberts

Only Planet

New administration, by Marc Roberts.

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Agony Uncle: Landlordism

Agony Uncle: Landlordism

Struggling with an ethical dilemma? New Internationalist’s Agony Uncle can help you find answers in our troubled political times.

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Film, Book & Music Reviews

Mixed Media: Books

Mixed Media: Books

In Defence of Barbarism; Disaster Nationalism; The Parlour Wife; Pink Witch.

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Mixed Media: Film

Mixed Media: Film

To a Land Unknown; The Fire Inside.

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Mixed Media: Music

Mixed Media: Music

Inner Spaces; Entre Tus Flores.

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Books Essay: Magic carpets made of steel

Books Essay: Magic carpets made of steel

Could the iron road lead the way to climate justice? By Monisha Rajesh.

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Courtesy of SMAC Gallery.Photo: Mary Sibande

Spotlight: Mary Sibande

Sculptor, textile and installation artist.

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