Thousands of people will join a peaceful march through the streets of central London to Downing Street on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May to oppose Theresa May’s plan to hold a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act if she wins the 8th June general election.

The ‘Make Hunting History’ march, which is expected to be the largest public protest of the entire General Election Campaign, aims to persuade May to abandon her deeply unpopular policy to bring back foxhunting, and to warn voters of the consequences to wildlife if she does not.

The march is being organised by an alliance of anti-hunt campaign groups and individuals. Speakers will include actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan and wildlife campaigner and writer, Dominic Dyer and Naturalist and TV presenter Anneka Svenska

“This protest march was planned a number of weeks ago and we have given careful consideration to continuing with the event, following the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena”, said Dominic Dyer, a co-organiser of the protest.

“However we have decided to go ahead with the march with the full support and co-operation of the police and security services, as we strongly believe that terrorists can never be allowed to stop us from exercising our right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, which is of even more importance during a General Election Campaign.

“In response to the fear and hatred of terrorism, we want to show the world that Britain is a caring and compassionate society and a beacon of light when it comes to wildlife protection and animal welfare.”

The Hunting Act must stay!

The march will see thousands of people come together from all walks of life ethnic groups and religions, he continued, “united in a common cause to prevent the repeal of the Hunting Act, which poses such a threat to foxes, hares and stags and leads to increasing levels of wildlife crime against badgers and other species.”

“The event will start with a minutes silence for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack, before we march on united in our resolve to make this world a better place for animals and people.”

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has also given his strong support to the protest march: “The ugly spectre of a legal return to fox hunting is an insult to democracy and a repugnant stain on the efforts of conservationists everywhere. We like life. We love life. All life.

“And we seek to protect and preserve it, we want as much of it to remain so our children can cherish it. The organised savagery that sees wild animals pursued and pulled to pieces by dogs is utterly incompatible with that.”

Packham added that foxhunting had nothing to do with managing wildlife populations, but only with the perverse enjoyment of participants in a cruel and archaic sport:

“This is not about animal management, about ecological balance, about ‘pest control'”, he said. “This is about killing for pleasure, killing for fun. Killing wildlife for fun is a dying business. Let’s lay it to rest … lets make foxhunting history!”

May’s big mistake must be challenged by voters

Speaking on an ITV Facebook Live event earlier this month, Theresa May sought to justify her decision to give MPs a vote on repealing the 2004 Hunting Act:

“I have always supported fox hunting, but clearly I’m not saying I’m going to bring it back. What I’m saying is we will have a free vote in Parliament so MPs will be able to make up their own mind on this issue.

“Some of the other forms of dealing with foxes can be cruel, so my view is it should be a free vote for Parliament so members of parliament individually should be able to exercise their view on this matter.”

Actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan, who will be speaking at the march, said that with Brexit, “We are about to take a major step regarding our nation’s future, I would like to think it was in better hands, than those who wish to take us backwards, to the most uncivilised, cruel and anachronistic pastimes.”

Beth Granter, Care2 Campaigner, said: “The fox hunt ban must be protected. There should be no vote on its repeal. Hundreds of thousands of Care2 members have signed multiple petitions demanding that foxes be left in peace and that Theresa May drop her calls for a hunting ban repeal vote.” 

The ‘Make Hunting History’ protest will leave Cavendish Square at 1.30pm on on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May, proceeding down Regents Street, Haymarket and around Trafalgar Square before entering Whitehall and finishing at Richmond Terrace opposite Downing Street at around 2.15pm.

Also on The Ecologist: ‘Tell Mrs May: Foxhunting must remain illegal!‘

Delegates at the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru have issued a powerful “statement from the heart“.

They called for the establishment of a “First Nations Voice” enshrined in the Australian Constitution, and a commission to progress treaty-making between governments and Indigenous people.

The Uluru statement reflects long-held Indigenous aspirations. But, in rejecting symbolic constitutional recognition, it puts pressure on Australia’s political leaders. Will they – and non-Indigenous Australians – listen?

The Uluru statement is not a unanimous view. Seven delegates walked out in protest on Thursday, concerned that any reform would lead to a loss of sovereignty. Not all returned.

However, the statement reflects a strong consensus position of Indigenous Australians. It is the culmination of three days of meetings at Uluru, which followed six months of regional dialogues held across Australia.

Grounded in their inherent right to sovereignty, the statement calls for constitutional reform to empower Indigenous people to take “a rightful place in our own country”. The delegates believe this can be achieved through:

• a national representative body with the power to advise parliament on laws that affect Indigenous people; and

• a ‘Makarrata Commission‘ to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations, and undertake a public truth-telling process.

Makarrata is a Yolngu word meaning ‘a coming together after a struggle’. These are long-held aspirations.

A rightful place in their own land – 80 years of demands ignored

Indigenous Australians have long fought for their rightful place in their own country.

In 1937, William Cooper, secretary of the Aboriginal Advancement League, gathered 1,814 signatures in a petition to King George V that called for Indigenous representation in the federal parliament. The petition was passed to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, but cabinet refused to forward it to the king.

In 1963, the Yolngu people in eastern Arnhem Land sent a series of bark petitions to the parliament. In these they called for recognition of their land, resource and cultural rights, and their sovereignty.

The government had transferred their land to a bauxite mining company without consulting them. The Yolngu people explained that that land “has been hunting and food-gathering land for the Yirrkala tribes from time immemorial”, and the “places sacred to the Yirrkala people, as well as vital to their livelihood are in the excised land.”

They expressed their concern that “their needs and interests will be completely ignored as they have been ignored in the past.”

A few years later, in 1971, more than 1,000 Indigenous Australians signed a petition organised by the Larrakia people. They described themselves as “refugees in the country of our ancestors”, and called for land rights, a treaty, and political representation. Their voices went unheard.

In 1979, the National Aboriginal Conference, an elected Indigenous body advising government, passed a resolution calling for a ‘Makarrata‘. This resolution sparked talk of a treaty within the federal parliament.

Four years later, a Senate committee delivered a report on the idea of a treaty. It recommended constitutional change to implement a ‘compact’. That report was also ignored.

In 1998, the Barunga Statement called on the federal parliament to “negotiate with us a treaty recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty and affirming our human rights and freedom.”

Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised to negotiate such a treaty by 1990. But no treaty was forthcoming, and it dropped off the political agenda.

This week Indigenous leaders have again called for a voice in their country. The central concern is an oft-repeated one: that, as a small minority, dispersed across the continent of their ancestors, and continuing to resist the legacy of colonialism, Indigenous Australians have almost no say about legislation that affects them.

Treaty now?

A constitutionally enshrined national representative body is an important proposal, but the Makarrata Commission is more significant.

The statement records that a “Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda.” For Indigenous people, it “captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.”

Treaties are accepted globally as the means of reaching a settlement between Indigenous peoples and those who have colonised their lands. They are formal agreements, reached via respectful negotiation conducted in good faith, that recognise an inherent right to some level of sovereignty or self-government.

Treaties have been achieved in the US and New Zealand, and are still being negotiated in Canada. In contrast, no treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has ever been recognised.

Indigenous Australians are willing to negotiate. But are non-Indigenous Australians ready to enter into respectful negotiations? Or will they, once again, ignore the invitation?

Next steps

The Uluru summit was organised by the Referendum Council, a body set up by Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten to advise on the path toward a referendum.

Through the Uluru statement, Indigenous people have invited non-Indigenous Australians to walk together for a better future. The statement is the voice of Indigenous Australians.

Now is the time for non-Indigenous Australians to hear that voice. 

Harry Hobbs is PhD Candidate, Constitutional Law and Indigenous Rights, UNSW,

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Thousands of people will join a peaceful march through the streets of central London to Downing Street on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May to oppose Theresa May’s plan to hold a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act if she wins the 8th June general election.

The ‘Make Hunting History’ march, which is expected to be the largest public protest of the entire General Election Campaign, aims to persuade May to abandon her deeply unpopular policy to bring back foxhunting, and to warn voters of the consequences to wildlife if she does not.

The march is being organised by an alliance of anti-hunt campaign groups and individuals. Speakers will include actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan and wildlife campaigner and writer, Dominic Dyer and Naturalist and TV presenter Anneka Svenska

“This protest march was planned a number of weeks ago and we have given careful consideration to continuing with the event, following the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena”, said Dominic Dyer, a co-organiser of the protest.

“However we have decided to go ahead with the march with the full support and co-operation of the police and security services, as we strongly believe that terrorists can never be allowed to stop us from exercising our right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, which is of even more importance during a General Election Campaign.

“In response to the fear and hatred of terrorism, we want to show the world that Britain is a caring and compassionate society and a beacon of light when it comes to wildlife protection and animal welfare.”

The Hunting Act must stay!

The march will see thousands of people come together from all walks of life ethnic groups and religions, he continued, “united in a common cause to prevent the repeal of the Hunting Act, which poses such a threat to foxes, hares and stags and leads to increasing levels of wildlife crime against badgers and other species.”

“The event will start with a minutes silence for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack, before we march on united in our resolve to make this world a better place for animals and people.”

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has also given his strong support to the protest march: “The ugly spectre of a legal return to fox hunting is an insult to democracy and a repugnant stain on the efforts of conservationists everywhere. We like life. We love life. All life.

“And we seek to protect and preserve it, we want as much of it to remain so our children can cherish it. The organised savagery that sees wild animals pursued and pulled to pieces by dogs is utterly incompatible with that.”

Packham added that foxhunting had nothing to do with managing wildlife populations, but only with the perverse enjoyment of participants in a cruel and archaic sport:

“This is not about animal management, about ecological balance, about ‘pest control'”, he said. “This is about killing for pleasure, killing for fun. Killing wildlife for fun is a dying business. Let’s lay it to rest … lets make foxhunting history!”

May’s big mistake must be challenged by voters

Speaking on an ITV Facebook Live event earlier this month, Theresa May sought to justify her decision to give MPs a vote on repealing the 2004 Hunting Act:

“I have always supported fox hunting, but clearly I’m not saying I’m going to bring it back. What I’m saying is we will have a free vote in Parliament so MPs will be able to make up their own mind on this issue.

“Some of the other forms of dealing with foxes can be cruel, so my view is it should be a free vote for Parliament so members of parliament individually should be able to exercise their view on this matter.”

Actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan, who will be speaking at the march, said that with Brexit, “We are about to take a major step regarding our nation’s future, I would like to think it was in better hands, than those who wish to take us backwards, to the most uncivilised, cruel and anachronistic pastimes.”

Beth Granter, Care2 Campaigner, said: “The fox hunt ban must be protected. There should be no vote on its repeal. Hundreds of thousands of Care2 members have signed multiple petitions demanding that foxes be left in peace and that Theresa May drop her calls for a hunting ban repeal vote.” 

The ‘Make Hunting History’ protest will leave Cavendish Square at 1.30pm on on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May, proceeding down Regents Street, Haymarket and around Trafalgar Square before entering Whitehall and finishing at Richmond Terrace opposite Downing Street at around 2.15pm.

Also on The Ecologist: ‘Tell Mrs May: Foxhunting must remain illegal!‘

Since February (2017), under the name Operation Sola Stella, Sea Shepherd has been assisting the government of Liberia to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker was deployed as a civilian offshore patrol vessel operating in Liberian waters, under the direction of the Liberian Ministry of National Defense.

Prior to the arrival of the Bob Barker in Liberia, fishermen from Harper, a Liberian town on the border with Cote d’Ivoire, complained of daily incursions by foreign industrial fishing vessels running over artisanal nets and plundering fish from a 6-nautical mile inshore exclusion zone (IEZ) reserved for traditional fishermen.

Approximately 33,000 Liberians depend on small-scale artisanal fisheries for their livelihood. The local fishermen of Harper pled for assistance from the resourced-stretched Liberian Coast Guard.

Days after the deployment of the Bob Barker, on 13th March, the Liberian Coast Guard launched lightning-style raids from the Sea Shepherd vessel, making their first arrests in waters that had not been patrolled for decades.

A target in sight

By the time the vessel that would later be identified as the Star Shrimper XXV was detected on the radar of the Bob Barker entering Liberian waters from Cote d’Ivoire, Operation Sola Stella had already netted three arrests.

A Liberian Coast Guard boarding team quickly mobilized on board the Bob Barker and proceeded to the slow-moving target by small boat, where the vessel was discovered actively fishing with its trawling gear in the water.

The nets of the Star Shrimper XXV dragged through Liberian waters, less than 6-nautical miles from the coast, when the Nigerian captain sighted the Sea Shepherd small boat and tried to make a run back for Ivorian waters. The Liberian Coast Guard scrambled aboard and took control of the bridge.

The captain was ordered to stop the vessel and to bring his trawling gear back aboard. As the net came out of the water, the illegally-caught shrimp and fish was released back into the sea.

With the net finally on deck, it was clear that there was no turtle excluder device (TED) attached to the trawl net. TEDs are grates attached to the mouths of shrimp trawl nets that keep sea turtles and other marine life out of the nets.

The Liberian Coast Guard arrested the vessel and ordered it to proceed to the port of Monrovia. Three Liberian Coast Guard sailors remained on board as it made the passage to the Liberian capital.

A ‘Friend of the Sea’

The Star Shrimper XXV is part of a massive fleet of 70 fishing vessels owned by Atlantic Shrimpers Ltd that is certified by the US Department of State to export shrimp to the United States because of the use of measures to reduce by-catch including turtles.

Known as the ‘Section 609’ certification process, this program extends TED requirements to vessels of nations importing shrimp to the United States. Given that the United States is the world’s largest single importer of shrimp, the Section 609 program serves as a critical tool in the protection of sea turtles (and other marine life) around the world.

The fleet is currently certified under ‘Friend of the Sea‘ criteria for sustainable fishing of Black Tiger Prawns, however the guidelines require vessels to comply with legal requirements including valid fishing permits.

On board the Star Shrimper XXV, some of shrimp was discovered already boxed up and ready for shipment – labelled for import to Greece. Shrimp from the Star Shrimper XXV is exported worldwide by Primstar B.V., a company in The Netherlands, which in turn is owned by Dutch fishing giant Cornelis Vrolijk.

The European connection

Cornelis Vrolijk is a name well-known to British fishermen because the flagship supertrawler that bears the company name catches 23% percent of the fish in British waters. The fishing vessel Corelis Vrolijk has a long history of fishing in West Africa.

Two years ago, the British Royal Navy’s Fisheries Protection Squadron caught a sister ship, or more accurately sister-supertrawler, to the fishing vessel Cornelis Vrolijk, with an incredible 632,000 kilograms of mackerel on board that had been caught in a protected area off Cornwall. The vessel was fined in the British courts.

Upon news of the arrest of the Star Shrimper XXV, Director of Atlantic Shrimpers Limited Stewart Harper told Follow the Money, “Yes, the message is correct, we regret the situation very much. It seems that one of our captains, a Ghanaian (sic), has gone beyond the pale. I can add that this goes against every company instruction.”

This is however not the first time that the company has had problems with illegal fishing, having been previously arrested in Cameroon, which Harper also confirmed, “Yes, this is the second problem we have with illegal fishing”, he told Follow the Money.

Justice for the small-scale fishers of Harper, Liberia

Operation Sola Stella continued for another two months after the arrest of the Star Shrimper XXV. During that time, not a single incursion occurred from the border of Cote d’Ivoire. Word had spread among dubious fishing operators that Liberian waters were under control.

All in all, Operation Sola Stella led to the arrest of four vessels involved in IUU fishing, as well as a refrigerated cargo vessel for identity fraud and IUU fishing. The refrigerated cargo vessel was arrested for transmitting a false identity to the Liberian port authorities where it was planning to offload 460 tons of undocumented fish cargo.

After spending 26 days in custody in Monrovia, the Star Shrimper XXV was released from detention at the Liberian Coast Guard base upon payment of a substantial fine for fishing without a license. It passed the town of Harper on the long road back to Nigeria, but its fishing gear remained secured to the deck.

Sea Shepherd Global has just formally requested the US Department of State to investigate the entire Atlantic Shrimpers Fleet, calling the arrest of the Star Shrimper XXV an “ominous red flag” that calls the entire sustainable-certification program into question.

Meanwhile, the Bob Barker continues to patrol waters off West Africa on the hunt for illegal fishing vessels, as the crew pore over their radars looking for the next Star Shrimper.

Peter Hammarstedt is the Director of Campaigns for Sea Shepherd Global (www.seashepherdglobal.org) and heads the IUU Task Force for Africa. He can be followed on Facebook @captainbobbarker

peter@seashepherd.org.au

+46 (0)76 064 82 92

Delegates at the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru have issued a powerful “statement from the heart“.

They called for the establishment of a “First Nations Voice” enshrined in the Australian Constitution, and a commission to progress treaty-making between governments and Indigenous people.

The Uluru statement reflects long-held Indigenous aspirations. But, in rejecting symbolic constitutional recognition, it puts pressure on Australia’s political leaders. Will they – and non-Indigenous Australians – listen?

The Uluru statement is not a unanimous view. Seven delegates walked out in protest on Thursday, concerned that any reform would lead to a loss of sovereignty. Not all returned.

However, the statement reflects a strong consensus position of Indigenous Australians. It is the culmination of three days of meetings at Uluru, which followed six months of regional dialogues held across Australia.

Grounded in their inherent right to sovereignty, the statement calls for constitutional reform to empower Indigenous people to take “a rightful place in our own country”. The delegates believe this can be achieved through:

• a national representative body with the power to advise parliament on laws that affect Indigenous people; and

• a ‘Makarrata Commission‘ to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations, and undertake a public truth-telling process.

Makarrata is a Yolngu word meaning ‘a coming together after a struggle’. These are long-held aspirations.

A rightful place in their own land – 80 years of demands ignored

Indigenous Australians have long fought for their rightful place in their own country.

In 1937, William Cooper, secretary of the Aboriginal Advancement League, gathered 1,814 signatures in a petition to King George V that called for Indigenous representation in the federal parliament. The petition was passed to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, but cabinet refused to forward it to the king.

In 1963, the Yolngu people in eastern Arnhem Land sent a series of bark petitions to the parliament. In these they called for recognition of their land, resource and cultural rights, and their sovereignty.

The government had transferred their land to a bauxite mining company without consulting them. The Yolngu people explained that that land “has been hunting and food-gathering land for the Yirrkala tribes from time immemorial”, and the “places sacred to the Yirrkala people, as well as vital to their livelihood are in the excised land.”

They expressed their concern that “their needs and interests will be completely ignored as they have been ignored in the past.”

A few years later, in 1971, more than 1,000 Indigenous Australians signed a petition organised by the Larrakia people. They described themselves as “refugees in the country of our ancestors”, and called for land rights, a treaty, and political representation. Their voices went unheard.

In 1979, the National Aboriginal Conference, an elected Indigenous body advising government, passed a resolution calling for a ‘Makarrata‘. This resolution sparked talk of a treaty within the federal parliament.

Four years later, a Senate committee delivered a report on the idea of a treaty. It recommended constitutional change to implement a ‘compact’. That report was also ignored.

In 1998, the Barunga Statement called on the federal parliament to “negotiate with us a treaty recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty and affirming our human rights and freedom.”

Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised to negotiate such a treaty by 1990. But no treaty was forthcoming, and it dropped off the political agenda.

This week Indigenous leaders have again called for a voice in their country. The central concern is an oft-repeated one: that, as a small minority, dispersed across the continent of their ancestors, and continuing to resist the legacy of colonialism, Indigenous Australians have almost no say about legislation that affects them.

Treaty now?

A constitutionally enshrined national representative body is an important proposal, but the Makarrata Commission is more significant.

The statement records that a “Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda.” For Indigenous people, it “captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.”

Treaties are accepted globally as the means of reaching a settlement between Indigenous peoples and those who have colonised their lands. They are formal agreements, reached via respectful negotiation conducted in good faith, that recognise an inherent right to some level of sovereignty or self-government.

Treaties have been achieved in the US and New Zealand, and are still being negotiated in Canada. In contrast, no treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has ever been recognised.

Indigenous Australians are willing to negotiate. But are non-Indigenous Australians ready to enter into respectful negotiations? Or will they, once again, ignore the invitation?

Next steps

The Uluru summit was organised by the Referendum Council, a body set up by Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten to advise on the path toward a referendum.

Through the Uluru statement, Indigenous people have invited non-Indigenous Australians to walk together for a better future. The statement is the voice of Indigenous Australians.

Now is the time for non-Indigenous Australians to hear that voice. 

Harry Hobbs is PhD Candidate, Constitutional Law and Indigenous Rights, UNSW,

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Thousands of people will join a peaceful march through the streets of central London to Downing Street on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May to oppose Theresa May’s plan to hold a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act if she wins the 8th June general election.

The ‘Make Hunting History’ march, which is expected to be the largest public protest of the entire General Election Campaign, aims to persuade May to abandon her deeply unpopular policy to bring back foxhunting, and to warn voters of the consequences to wildlife if she does not.

The march is being organised by an alliance of anti-hunt campaign groups and individuals. Speakers will include actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan and wildlife campaigner and writer, Dominic Dyer and Naturalist and TV presenter Anneka Svenska

“This protest march was planned a number of weeks ago and we have given careful consideration to continuing with the event, following the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena”, said Dominic Dyer, a co-organiser of the protest.

“However we have decided to go ahead with the march with the full support and co-operation of the police and security services, as we strongly believe that terrorists can never be allowed to stop us from exercising our right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, which is of even more importance during a General Election Campaign.

“In response to the fear and hatred of terrorism, we want to show the world that Britain is a caring and compassionate society and a beacon of light when it comes to wildlife protection and animal welfare.”

The Hunting Act must stay!

The march will see thousands of people come together from all walks of life ethnic groups and religions, he continued, “united in a common cause to prevent the repeal of the Hunting Act, which poses such a threat to foxes, hares and stags and leads to increasing levels of wildlife crime against badgers and other species.”

“The event will start with a minutes silence for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack, before we march on united in our resolve to make this world a better place for animals and people.”

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has also given his strong support to the protest march: “The ugly spectre of a legal return to fox hunting is an insult to democracy and a repugnant stain on the efforts of conservationists everywhere. We like life. We love life. All life.

“And we seek to protect and preserve it, we want as much of it to remain so our children can cherish it. The organised savagery that sees wild animals pursued and pulled to pieces by dogs is utterly incompatible with that.”

Packham added that foxhunting had nothing to do with managing wildlife populations, but only with the perverse enjoyment of participants in a cruel and archaic sport:

“This is not about animal management, about ecological balance, about ‘pest control'”, he said. “This is about killing for pleasure, killing for fun. Killing wildlife for fun is a dying business. Let’s lay it to rest … lets make foxhunting history!”

May’s big mistake must be challenged by voters

Speaking on an ITV Facebook Live event earlier this month, Theresa May sought to justify her decision to give MPs a vote on repealing the 2004 Hunting Act:

“I have always supported fox hunting, but clearly I’m not saying I’m going to bring it back. What I’m saying is we will have a free vote in Parliament so MPs will be able to make up their own mind on this issue.

“Some of the other forms of dealing with foxes can be cruel, so my view is it should be a free vote for Parliament so members of parliament individually should be able to exercise their view on this matter.”

Actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan, who will be speaking at the march, said that with Brexit, “We are about to take a major step regarding our nation’s future, I would like to think it was in better hands, than those who wish to take us backwards, to the most uncivilised, cruel and anachronistic pastimes.”

Beth Granter, Care2 Campaigner, said: “The fox hunt ban must be protected. There should be no vote on its repeal. Hundreds of thousands of Care2 members have signed multiple petitions demanding that foxes be left in peace and that Theresa May drop her calls for a hunting ban repeal vote.” 

The ‘Make Hunting History’ protest will leave Cavendish Square at 1.30pm on on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May, proceeding down Regents Street, Haymarket and around Trafalgar Square before entering Whitehall and finishing at Richmond Terrace opposite Downing Street at around 2.15pm.

Also on The Ecologist: ‘Tell Mrs May: Foxhunting must remain illegal!‘

Delegates at the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru have issued a powerful “statement from the heart“.

They called for the establishment of a “First Nations Voice” enshrined in the Australian Constitution, and a commission to progress treaty-making between governments and Indigenous people.

The Uluru statement reflects long-held Indigenous aspirations. But, in rejecting symbolic constitutional recognition, it puts pressure on Australia’s political leaders. Will they – and non-Indigenous Australians – listen?

The Uluru statement is not a unanimous view. Seven delegates walked out in protest on Thursday, concerned that any reform would lead to a loss of sovereignty. Not all returned.

However, the statement reflects a strong consensus position of Indigenous Australians. It is the culmination of three days of meetings at Uluru, which followed six months of regional dialogues held across Australia.

Grounded in their inherent right to sovereignty, the statement calls for constitutional reform to empower Indigenous people to take “a rightful place in our own country”. The delegates believe this can be achieved through:

• a national representative body with the power to advise parliament on laws that affect Indigenous people; and

• a ‘Makarrata Commission‘ to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations, and undertake a public truth-telling process.

Makarrata is a Yolngu word meaning ‘a coming together after a struggle’. These are long-held aspirations.

A rightful place in their own land – 80 years of demands ignored

Indigenous Australians have long fought for their rightful place in their own country.

In 1937, William Cooper, secretary of the Aboriginal Advancement League, gathered 1,814 signatures in a petition to King George V that called for Indigenous representation in the federal parliament. The petition was passed to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, but cabinet refused to forward it to the king.

In 1963, the Yolngu people in eastern Arnhem Land sent a series of bark petitions to the parliament. In these they called for recognition of their land, resource and cultural rights, and their sovereignty.

The government had transferred their land to a bauxite mining company without consulting them. The Yolngu people explained that that land “has been hunting and food-gathering land for the Yirrkala tribes from time immemorial”, and the “places sacred to the Yirrkala people, as well as vital to their livelihood are in the excised land.”

They expressed their concern that “their needs and interests will be completely ignored as they have been ignored in the past.”

A few years later, in 1971, more than 1,000 Indigenous Australians signed a petition organised by the Larrakia people. They described themselves as “refugees in the country of our ancestors”, and called for land rights, a treaty, and political representation. Their voices went unheard.

In 1979, the National Aboriginal Conference, an elected Indigenous body advising government, passed a resolution calling for a ‘Makarrata‘. This resolution sparked talk of a treaty within the federal parliament.

Four years later, a Senate committee delivered a report on the idea of a treaty. It recommended constitutional change to implement a ‘compact’. That report was also ignored.

In 1998, the Barunga Statement called on the federal parliament to “negotiate with us a treaty recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty and affirming our human rights and freedom.”

Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised to negotiate such a treaty by 1990. But no treaty was forthcoming, and it dropped off the political agenda.

This week Indigenous leaders have again called for a voice in their country. The central concern is an oft-repeated one: that, as a small minority, dispersed across the continent of their ancestors, and continuing to resist the legacy of colonialism, Indigenous Australians have almost no say about legislation that affects them.

Treaty now?

A constitutionally enshrined national representative body is an important proposal, but the Makarrata Commission is more significant.

The statement records that a “Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda.” For Indigenous people, it “captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.”

Treaties are accepted globally as the means of reaching a settlement between Indigenous peoples and those who have colonised their lands. They are formal agreements, reached via respectful negotiation conducted in good faith, that recognise an inherent right to some level of sovereignty or self-government.

Treaties have been achieved in the US and New Zealand, and are still being negotiated in Canada. In contrast, no treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has ever been recognised.

Indigenous Australians are willing to negotiate. But are non-Indigenous Australians ready to enter into respectful negotiations? Or will they, once again, ignore the invitation?

Next steps

The Uluru summit was organised by the Referendum Council, a body set up by Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten to advise on the path toward a referendum.

Through the Uluru statement, Indigenous people have invited non-Indigenous Australians to walk together for a better future. The statement is the voice of Indigenous Australians.

Now is the time for non-Indigenous Australians to hear that voice. 

Harry Hobbs is PhD Candidate, Constitutional Law and Indigenous Rights, UNSW,

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Thousands of people will join a peaceful march through the streets of central London to Downing Street on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May to oppose Theresa May’s plan to hold a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act if she wins the 8th June general election.

The ‘Make Hunting History’ march, which is expected to be the largest public protest of the entire General Election Campaign, aims to persuade May to abandon her deeply unpopular policy to bring back foxhunting, and to warn voters of the consequences to wildlife if she does not.

The march is being organised by an alliance of anti-hunt campaign groups and individuals. Speakers will include actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan and wildlife campaigner and writer, Dominic Dyer and Naturalist and TV presenter Anneka Svenska

“This protest march was planned a number of weeks ago and we have given careful consideration to continuing with the event, following the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena”, said Dominic Dyer, a co-organiser of the protest.

“However we have decided to go ahead with the march with the full support and co-operation of the police and security services, as we strongly believe that terrorists can never be allowed to stop us from exercising our right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, which is of even more importance during a General Election Campaign.

“In response to the fear and hatred of terrorism, we want to show the world that Britain is a caring and compassionate society and a beacon of light when it comes to wildlife protection and animal welfare.”

The Hunting Act must stay!

The march will see thousands of people come together from all walks of life ethnic groups and religions, he continued, “united in a common cause to prevent the repeal of the Hunting Act, which poses such a threat to foxes, hares and stags and leads to increasing levels of wildlife crime against badgers and other species.”

“The event will start with a minutes silence for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack, before we march on united in our resolve to make this world a better place for animals and people.”

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has also given his strong support to the protest march: “The ugly spectre of a legal return to fox hunting is an insult to democracy and a repugnant stain on the efforts of conservationists everywhere. We like life. We love life. All life.

“And we seek to protect and preserve it, we want as much of it to remain so our children can cherish it. The organised savagery that sees wild animals pursued and pulled to pieces by dogs is utterly incompatible with that.”

Packham added that foxhunting had nothing to do with managing wildlife populations, but only with the perverse enjoyment of participants in a cruel and archaic sport:

“This is not about animal management, about ecological balance, about ‘pest control'”, he said. “This is about killing for pleasure, killing for fun. Killing wildlife for fun is a dying business. Let’s lay it to rest … lets make foxhunting history!”

May’s big mistake must be challenged by voters

Speaking on an ITV Facebook Live event earlier this month, Theresa May sought to justify her decision to give MPs a vote on repealing the 2004 Hunting Act:

“I have always supported fox hunting, but clearly I’m not saying I’m going to bring it back. What I’m saying is we will have a free vote in Parliament so MPs will be able to make up their own mind on this issue.

“Some of the other forms of dealing with foxes can be cruel, so my view is it should be a free vote for Parliament so members of parliament individually should be able to exercise their view on this matter.”

Actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan, who will be speaking at the march, said that with Brexit, “We are about to take a major step regarding our nation’s future, I would like to think it was in better hands, than those who wish to take us backwards, to the most uncivilised, cruel and anachronistic pastimes.”

Beth Granter, Care2 Campaigner, said: “The fox hunt ban must be protected. There should be no vote on its repeal. Hundreds of thousands of Care2 members have signed multiple petitions demanding that foxes be left in peace and that Theresa May drop her calls for a hunting ban repeal vote.” 

The ‘Make Hunting History’ protest will leave Cavendish Square at 1.30pm on on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May, proceeding down Regents Street, Haymarket and around Trafalgar Square before entering Whitehall and finishing at Richmond Terrace opposite Downing Street at around 2.15pm.

Also on The Ecologist: ‘Tell Mrs May: Foxhunting must remain illegal!‘

Delegates at the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru have issued a powerful “statement from the heart“.

They called for the establishment of a “First Nations Voice” enshrined in the Australian Constitution, and a commission to progress treaty-making between governments and Indigenous people.

The Uluru statement reflects long-held Indigenous aspirations. But, in rejecting symbolic constitutional recognition, it puts pressure on Australia’s political leaders. Will they – and non-Indigenous Australians – listen?

The Uluru statement is not a unanimous view. Seven delegates walked out in protest on Thursday, concerned that any reform would lead to a loss of sovereignty. Not all returned.

However, the statement reflects a strong consensus position of Indigenous Australians. It is the culmination of three days of meetings at Uluru, which followed six months of regional dialogues held across Australia.

Grounded in their inherent right to sovereignty, the statement calls for constitutional reform to empower Indigenous people to take “a rightful place in our own country”. The delegates believe this can be achieved through:

• a national representative body with the power to advise parliament on laws that affect Indigenous people; and

• a ‘Makarrata Commission‘ to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations, and undertake a public truth-telling process.

Makarrata is a Yolngu word meaning ‘a coming together after a struggle’. These are long-held aspirations.

A rightful place in their own land – 80 years of demands ignored

Indigenous Australians have long fought for their rightful place in their own country.

In 1937, William Cooper, secretary of the Aboriginal Advancement League, gathered 1,814 signatures in a petition to King George V that called for Indigenous representation in the federal parliament. The petition was passed to Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, but cabinet refused to forward it to the king.

In 1963, the Yolngu people in eastern Arnhem Land sent a series of bark petitions to the parliament. In these they called for recognition of their land, resource and cultural rights, and their sovereignty.

The government had transferred their land to a bauxite mining company without consulting them. The Yolngu people explained that that land “has been hunting and food-gathering land for the Yirrkala tribes from time immemorial”, and the “places sacred to the Yirrkala people, as well as vital to their livelihood are in the excised land.”

They expressed their concern that “their needs and interests will be completely ignored as they have been ignored in the past.”

A few years later, in 1971, more than 1,000 Indigenous Australians signed a petition organised by the Larrakia people. They described themselves as “refugees in the country of our ancestors”, and called for land rights, a treaty, and political representation. Their voices went unheard.

In 1979, the National Aboriginal Conference, an elected Indigenous body advising government, passed a resolution calling for a ‘Makarrata‘. This resolution sparked talk of a treaty within the federal parliament.

Four years later, a Senate committee delivered a report on the idea of a treaty. It recommended constitutional change to implement a ‘compact’. That report was also ignored.

In 1998, the Barunga Statement called on the federal parliament to “negotiate with us a treaty recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty and affirming our human rights and freedom.”

Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised to negotiate such a treaty by 1990. But no treaty was forthcoming, and it dropped off the political agenda.

This week Indigenous leaders have again called for a voice in their country. The central concern is an oft-repeated one: that, as a small minority, dispersed across the continent of their ancestors, and continuing to resist the legacy of colonialism, Indigenous Australians have almost no say about legislation that affects them.

Treaty now?

A constitutionally enshrined national representative body is an important proposal, but the Makarrata Commission is more significant.

The statement records that a “Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda.” For Indigenous people, it “captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.”

Treaties are accepted globally as the means of reaching a settlement between Indigenous peoples and those who have colonised their lands. They are formal agreements, reached via respectful negotiation conducted in good faith, that recognise an inherent right to some level of sovereignty or self-government.

Treaties have been achieved in the US and New Zealand, and are still being negotiated in Canada. In contrast, no treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has ever been recognised.

Indigenous Australians are willing to negotiate. But are non-Indigenous Australians ready to enter into respectful negotiations? Or will they, once again, ignore the invitation?

Next steps

The Uluru summit was organised by the Referendum Council, a body set up by Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten to advise on the path toward a referendum.

Through the Uluru statement, Indigenous people have invited non-Indigenous Australians to walk together for a better future. The statement is the voice of Indigenous Australians.

Now is the time for non-Indigenous Australians to hear that voice. 

Harry Hobbs is PhD Candidate, Constitutional Law and Indigenous Rights, UNSW,

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Thousands of people will join a peaceful march through the streets of central London to Downing Street on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May to oppose Theresa May’s plan to hold a free vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act if she wins the 8th June general election.

The ‘Make Hunting History’ march, which is expected to be the largest public protest of the entire General Election Campaign, aims to persuade May to abandon her deeply unpopular policy to bring back foxhunting, and to warn voters of the consequences to wildlife if she does not.

The march is being organised by an alliance of anti-hunt campaign groups and individuals. Speakers will include actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan and wildlife campaigner and writer, Dominic Dyer and Naturalist and TV presenter Anneka Svenska

“This protest march was planned a number of weeks ago and we have given careful consideration to continuing with the event, following the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena”, said Dominic Dyer, a co-organiser of the protest.

“However we have decided to go ahead with the march with the full support and co-operation of the police and security services, as we strongly believe that terrorists can never be allowed to stop us from exercising our right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, which is of even more importance during a General Election Campaign.

“In response to the fear and hatred of terrorism, we want to show the world that Britain is a caring and compassionate society and a beacon of light when it comes to wildlife protection and animal welfare.”

The Hunting Act must stay!

The march will see thousands of people come together from all walks of life ethnic groups and religions, he continued, “united in a common cause to prevent the repeal of the Hunting Act, which poses such a threat to foxes, hares and stags and leads to increasing levels of wildlife crime against badgers and other species.”

“The event will start with a minutes silence for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack, before we march on united in our resolve to make this world a better place for animals and people.”

Naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham has also given his strong support to the protest march: “The ugly spectre of a legal return to fox hunting is an insult to democracy and a repugnant stain on the efforts of conservationists everywhere. We like life. We love life. All life.

“And we seek to protect and preserve it, we want as much of it to remain so our children can cherish it. The organised savagery that sees wild animals pursued and pulled to pieces by dogs is utterly incompatible with that.”

Packham added that foxhunting had nothing to do with managing wildlife populations, but only with the perverse enjoyment of participants in a cruel and archaic sport:

“This is not about animal management, about ecological balance, about ‘pest control'”, he said. “This is about killing for pleasure, killing for fun. Killing wildlife for fun is a dying business. Let’s lay it to rest … lets make foxhunting history!”

May’s big mistake must be challenged by voters

Speaking on an ITV Facebook Live event earlier this month, Theresa May sought to justify her decision to give MPs a vote on repealing the 2004 Hunting Act:

“I have always supported fox hunting, but clearly I’m not saying I’m going to bring it back. What I’m saying is we will have a free vote in Parliament so MPs will be able to make up their own mind on this issue.

“Some of the other forms of dealing with foxes can be cruel, so my view is it should be a free vote for Parliament so members of parliament individually should be able to exercise their view on this matter.”

Actor and animal rights activist Peter Egan, who will be speaking at the march, said that with Brexit, “We are about to take a major step regarding our nation’s future, I would like to think it was in better hands, than those who wish to take us backwards, to the most uncivilised, cruel and anachronistic pastimes.”

Beth Granter, Care2 Campaigner, said: “The fox hunt ban must be protected. There should be no vote on its repeal. Hundreds of thousands of Care2 members have signed multiple petitions demanding that foxes be left in peace and that Theresa May drop her calls for a hunting ban repeal vote.” 

The ‘Make Hunting History’ protest will leave Cavendish Square at 1.30pm on on Bank Holiday Monday 29 May, proceeding down Regents Street, Haymarket and around Trafalgar Square before entering Whitehall and finishing at Richmond Terrace opposite Downing Street at around 2.15pm.

Also on The Ecologist: ‘Tell Mrs May: Foxhunting must remain illegal!‘