amsd_01267

Title: A message stick representing Aboriginal deaths in custody, carried to the Australian Senate by Senator Lidia Thorpe in 2020 and brought back to the senate in 2023

Description: On Tuesday 6 October 2020, new senator Lidia Thorpe carried a message stick to the senate with a 441 burnt lines, representing the 441 Aboriginal people who have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission. Curtis, Katina. 2020. "'I'm swearing allegiance to the coloniser': New senator says it's not easy." The Brisbane Times, 5 October 2020. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/i-m-swearing-allegiance-to-the-coloniser-new-senator-says-it-s-not-easy-20201005-p5621l.html. Knowles, Rachael. 2020. "Lidia Thorpe sworn in to Federal Parliament." National Indigenous Times. https://nit.com.au/lidia-thorpe-sworn-in-to-federal-parliament/. Kelly, Piers, and Wunyungar. 2020. "What are message sticks? Senator Lidia Thorpe continues a long and powerful diplomatic tradition." The Conversation, 8 October. https://theconversation.com/what-are-message-sticks-senator-lidia-thorpe-continues-a-long-and-powerful-diplomatic-tradition-147674. On 21 March 2023, Senator Thorpe brought the stick back again. Here is the relevant excerpt from Hansard for that day: "Senator THORPE (Victoria) (16:20): First Nations deaths in custody are a national crisis. In 1991 we had a royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, yet here we are, 32 years later, more than a generation later, and more and more of our people are dying in custody instead of there being an end to this crisis. When I first walked into this chamber, I carried this message stick, engraved with one line for each death in custody since the royal commission, which was supposed to put an end— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Senator Polley): Senator Thorpe, you know very well that we don't allow props to be used in the chamber. I would ask you— Senator THORPE: I was allowed to bring it in when I walked in to be sworn in— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: That was when you walked in. Senator THORPE: There were 441 deaths in custody when I walked into this place. [908] The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, I ask you to be seated. Senator Thorpe: Now we've got over 500. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Thorpe, are you going to continue? Senator Thorpe: Yes. Can I continue? The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: You can continue. Senator THORPE: That stick, when I walked in here, had 441 deaths in custody on it. Now we have over 540 deaths in custody. At least back in 1991 this got public attention—but not now. Nobody wants to know about it, even though Labor's own father of reconciliation, Senator Dodson, has called the government out about its inaction. In the last three decades, we have seen government after government letting us down, clearly showing that they don't care. You didn't care, and now you don't care. Each and every one of those lives matter to us and to many people. Some of those people whose lives you threw away were not even sentenced or held for even minor offences, as was the case with Tanya Day, who was arrested because she put her feet on the train seat. She died because she put her feet on the train seat! A whitefella wouldn't be arrested for that. Labor and the coalition are in a race to the bottom to be tough on crime. However, we all know that social factors are first and foremost in determining crime rates. Most of the recommendations of the royal commission were about social factors to make sure that our people are not being left behind. Every government comes up with new buzzwords on how they are going to deal with black people in this country—'closing the gap'—and they introduce advisory body after advisory body, yet there are no changes on the ground. More of our people are being incarcerated, more people are dying in custody and more of our people are taking their lives. I talk to blackfellas in prisons, and they tell me about the hanging points. They tell me exactly where the hanging points are in the prison cells. The recommendation talks about the hanging points in these cells, and these young men are telling me where they are and how they tell each other how to hang themselves! You can't blame them; what does their future look like in this country? The system knows about these hanging points, but nothing is being done; it isn't a problem if another one of us dies. Worst of all are the privately operated prisons—those operated by the criminal Serco, which the government loves having on board and paying. Serco are the real criminals here; they're the ones hurting and killing our people. All this is allowed because there is still wide- ranging systemic racism in this country. It's in all institutions, but first and foremost in the police. Police violence against First Nations people is off the chart in this country. All your voices to parliament and all your closing the gap gammon statements are all worth nothing, because you ain't saving our people's lives in this country. So do it! Get the 339 recommendations from the royal commission that this country paid for and implement them now. Black lives matter in this country! Stop killing us! (Time expired)" (909)

Date Created: 2020

Item type: message stick in a private collection

Subtype: replicative

Media copyright: Lidia Thorpe

Media Files:

Data Entry: Piers Kelly