29 January 1992
The Hon Paul Keating Prime Minister Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Mr Keating,
Your government's message in forcefully evicting and arresting the
peaceful Aboriginal protesters who occupied the former Parliament
House is exactly the wrong one in a decade dedicated to a process
of reconciliation.
The Royal Comission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and other
competent inquiries, has demonstrated that it is an irresponsible
act to unnessarily place Aboriginal people into the hands of the
police. This is especially so in cases which involve peaceful and
symbolic protest.
Institutionalised racism towards Aboriginal people in Australia is
not restricted to the police force. It runs through the fabric of
the Anglo-Australian state and stems from the White Australian
Constitution of 1901.
The everyday people of Australia look to their elected leaders
for signs of guidance in relation to the complex question of
Aboriginal-European relationships. Your actions confirm the
validity, in the minds of everyday Australians, of a genocidal
pattern of behaviour which would be best reversed.
As an Australian citizen, I request you to release and to dismiss
any charges against those arrested.
The Aboriginal people should also readmitted into the unused
building until such times as they feel their grievance has been
properly debated.
Yours truly,
(signed)
Bruce Reyburn
cc Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs