Dear all,
I enjoyed reading the informative e-mail regarding Aboriginal land rights.
As an outsider, any information regarding potentially complicated subjects
such as this are of interest. However, I am generally reluctant to
unconditionally accept all evidence published on such sites, without good
reason to do so. I didn't find anything in Andrew Taylor's e-mail
problematic and his response to the reply from Hal Wotton was extremely
diplomatic. Referencing the source of the information as the Sydney Morning
Herald and adding a disclaimer to the effect of his memory possibly not
'serving him right' was extremely tactful. I certainly did not take anything
he said literally (particularly as it came from the press) and was looking
forward to hearing more.
I certainly don't want this e-mail to incite any further e-mail aggression,
or to drag out yet more non-birding-aus type discussion. But might I suggest
that, as Andrew Taylor was keen to do, all such responses are accompanied
with a more explicit source of reference. Hal Wotton may be known to birders
in Oz and perhaps is ideally experienced to provide clear and accurate
information on the subject of Aboriginal Land Rights. For the benefit of
those reading these messages from the other side of the world, it would be
useful to know this, or otherwise where his carefully researched dialogue
came from.
One final point. Birding Australia is a birding listserver. Everbody who
subscribes should welcome contributions on topics such as this, as they will
ultimately affect the conservation of Australian Wild Birds in some areas. I
haven't seen the previous e-mails on the subject of conservation of 'sacred
birding sites', however I am tempted to condone birding interest in this
matter. Aboriginals, like any other Australian Resident (and aboriginal
culture anywhere else in the world) will be expected to conserve their
environment - even if this is through 'managing' the land as they
traditionally have.
Listservers are sources of an enormous amount of speculation, but they can
also be extremely useful in identifying public opinion and enhancing
knowledge. The subjects of indigenous land rights and conservation are not
mutually exclusive. If anything, this is one area where we share a lot of
common ground and such knowledge can be used to achieve positive
environmental and sociological gain.
Regards,
Simon.
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