Nathan Moran, CEO of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, kissed the envelope before opening the solidarity greetings letter from Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh TD south Kildare and her activists. It is hoped that this can forge bonds of friendship between our peoples, grounded in mutual respect and a shared commitment to justice and sovereignty.
I had the privilege of presenting the letter in English and Gaeilge during my time in Australia. The leagan Gaeilge den litir will be shared with an Irish speakers’ club in Sydney who support the Aboriginal struggle.
The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council is a significant organisation in Australia, they are the most recognised Aboriginal organisation in the Sydney Metropolitan Region. They make claims on vacant crown land in a fight for land rights and justice for the Indigenous First Nation People.
From the moment of British colonisation of Australia land was at the centre of the struggle between settlers and Aboriginal owners. The European myth that Australia was a wasteland and its Indigenous owners had no rights to land reigned supreme, until Aboriginal Murray Islanders made a fatal challenge to this notion. The 1990s Australia Labour government recognised this decision in legislation and commenced other initiatives to extend justice to Aboriginal people.
