91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳

By Marcus Greville A public rally is being organised by the Aboriginal History Committee (AHC) on March 9 to protest against the planned demolition of the historically significant Cyprus-Hellene Club building, the site of the 1938 Day of Mourning protest. This follows information that the NSW minister for planning, Craig Knowles, is to reject an application for a permanent conservation order on the site. Held during the sesquicentenary celebrations on January 26, 1938, the Day of Mourning was the first national gathering of Aboriginal civil rights activists and has become known as the birthplace of contemporary Aboriginal political consciousness. This demonstration demanded full citizen status and equality for Aboriginal people and paved the way for the 1967 referendum giving Aboriginal people the right to vote. The club, once known as Australia Hall, has been earmarked for demolition to clear the site for a multi-storey apartment block. This is despite an application by the AHC for a conservation order and recognition of the site as a heritage item by the Australian Heritage Commission, the National Trust of NSW and the Sydney City Council. The AHC wants the building to house an Aboriginal History Centre in commemoration of the extreme hardship that the Day of Mourning organisers went through in convening the meeting; all risked severe penalties. Such use is in accord with Recommendation 56 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which recognises the need to "record and make known ... the history, traditions and contemporary culture of Aboriginal society". However, Knowles has proposed other options to clear the way for development of the site. These include keeping the facade only, dedicating a memorial exhibition or mounting a commemorative plaque. They were rejected by a meeting of the AHC as "demeaning and belittling". Over the past 18 months numerous requests for a meeting with Premier Carr and members of his government to discuss the future of the building have been ignored, while more than 200 letters from Aboriginal communities across Australia have appealed for the conservation order. The application is believed to be the first bid to protect a site significant to the Aboriginal people; there are more than 600 permanent conservation orders on sites of importance to white Australia.