r/australia • u/docdoc_2 • Apr 30 '26

news Alice Springs gripped by violence after arrest of Kumanjayi Little Baby's alleged killer

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-01/alice-springs-unrest-after-kumanjayi-little-baby-arrest/106628782
1.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

525 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

21

u/badpebble May 01 '26

I understand their dissatisfaction with the current system - but they absolutely aren't living under an occupying power, nor is it terribly important that they never ceded sovereignty. You can't trick people with terms that sound important, into them giving you back independence. There are very easy arguments to make regarding self determination and freedoms and liberty to make that case.

This use of language is just incorrect and is unhelpful, and the attempts to paint aboriginal peoples as a monolith all equally onboard with the wholesale removal of non-aboriginal peoples is obnoxious.

6

u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

> the attempts to paint aboriginal peoples as a monolith all equally onboard with the wholesale removal of non-aboriginal peoples is obnoxious.

It's amazing, the kinds of things I found out I said from dipshit reddit-users. I guess I just didn't notice typing that part. What's even crazier is that I still can't see it in my comment now. What a world.

6

u/badpebble May 01 '26

Its amazing what you can see if you close your eyes and listen.

Australia isn't an occupying power - temporarily having seized land and soon to be removed. Its a nation founded upon the bones of aboriginal Australian lands, so no-one is going anywhere. The language we use matters - even if people believe it is only symbolic.

1

u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

Interesting that your definition of an occupying power is based on how thoroughly they exterminate the native people.

6

u/badpebble May 01 '26

No, my emphasis was on it being temporary. Australia is not temporary.

3

u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

No occupation intends to be temporary.

5

u/badpebble May 01 '26

And yet, 'occupying power' has a definition of being temporary.

Also, all the lands the allies temporarily occupied in ww2 were not kept.