Clinton Pryor walked nearly 6000km from Western Australia to Canberra. Upon arrival, he requested “sovereign to sovereign” meetings with the Governor-General and Prime Minister. He eventually got to meet with the G-G, PM and Opposition leader but all were held on their territory at Parliament House or Yarralumla, the G-G’s official residence. Not one ventured down the Aboriginal Tent Embassy where Mr Pryor was staying. At Yarralumla, he handed over a list of demands from elders to be sent to England, ie to our Head of State, in order to get some action on pressing problems afflicting our First Peoples. Check out this report and pictures from NITV. WfaAR hopes that more comes of this than previous letters sent by Indigenous leaders to the Australian monarch in England. Letters to the Queen promptly end up back on the G-G’s desk in Canberra – as a result of which they are never heard of again.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
