Uncle Wayne Wharton told 91自拍论坛 that the federal Coalition government are hypocrites for spending millions of dollars marking James Cook鈥檚 1770 landing on the east coast. He said First Nations communities are 鈥渢otally insulted鈥 by the millions of dollars being spent on the celebrations.
This is the 鈥渂iggest hypocrisy鈥, Wharton added, because the government is trying to 鈥渞esurrect and celebrate the falsehood of terra nullius鈥 鈥 the idea that Australia was an uninhabited land before British invasion.
Referring to the 1992 Mabo decision, Wharton said: 鈥淲e went to the highest court in the land to prove that terra nullius was a lie鈥 and now they鈥檙e trying to reverse that. 鈥淭he lies have got to stop.鈥
鈥淏efore we can talk about Treaty or reconciliation, the lies and deliberate deception about the history of this country needs to be addressed,鈥 Wharton said.
The Meanjin (Brisbane) on January 26 will be focused on 250 years of colonial destruction. Wharton made an impassioned plea for people to join the Invasion Day rally 鈥 to 鈥渟tand beside us鈥.
鈥淎boriginal people have asked for nothing more than what is rightfully theirs,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut when people like [author] Bruce Pascoe reveal the truth, they are maliciously attacked鈥 I鈥檝e never seen anything so inhumane and low than what was displayed in the last two weeks [in relation to Pascoe].鈥
This year鈥檚 rally, which is expected to be big, will begin at Queens Park in Brisbane (next to the Casino) and march to Musgrave Park. Organisers will be running a fundraiser to help fund travel to Sydney in April for the protests against the 1770 鈥渃elebrations鈥. Supporters are also being urged to help by bringing water, ice and other essentials to the park on the day, or the night before.