The protest by members of Pauline Hanson's One Nation outside Old Parliament House, Canberra, 12 March 1998
Background
For the last six years the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has stood on the lawns of Old Parliament House -- a couple of rusty tin shacks, a litter of signs and a few residents camping in tents under the trees. Like all protests, it is incongruous and out of place amongst the dignified formal landscape of the Parliamentary Triangle.
The protest site has been placed on the National Heritage register in recognition of its long use as a place of Aboriginal protest but remains public land. Many other protest groups have used the site to put forward a message during the many years that Parliament sat in the provisional Parliament House.
The protest expanded during the time of the Constitutional Convention in early February 1998. Around fifty residents joined the handful who had occupied the site on a permanent basis. When the government failed to provide toilet facilities, residents defecated on the steps of Old Parliament House in protest. Totalcare workers had to attend before dawn each day to clean the area before delegates and visitors arrived. Two portable toilets have since been provided at public expense.
For the last six weeks fires have been burning on the grass outside the tent embassy. Days of total fire ban have come and gone, but the fires have remained lit. Aboriginal spokesmen say that they are sacred fires, symbolising the need for warmth and cooking. The temperature has regularly been over 35° and occasionally over 40° during the hot dry Canberra summer.
A kitchen area has been established beneath the trees, complete with gas cooking facilities.
Since its inception in 1992, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has attracted adverse comment by its shabby appearance amongst the carefully maintained lawns and neat plantings of the National Rose Garden. Its permanence has also come in for criticism -- a parliamentary report notes that any protest that extends beyond three weeks loses its impact, as all Members of Parliament will have had the opportunity to view the protest and the media will have lost interest after the first few days.
The protest site is now essentially a free camping ground for the mainly interstate protestors, maintained at public expense in one of the most attractive pieces of real estate in the nation. Other people are not allowed to camp in the Parliamentary Triangle -- one protester was recently arrested by police for camping beside his "Trojan Horse" during the Constitutional Convention, whilst a few metres away residents of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy slept under the trees.
The burning of the "sacred fires" during times of total fire ban has also come in for strong public criticism. The community feels that this is going too far, and if open fires are permitted on grassland in the very heart of the national capital, then why should enclosed backyard barbecues be forbidden?
The general feeling is that the protest has gone on for too long and that it is an illustration of the way that there are different laws for different races. During the "Skyfire" fireworks on Sunday 8th March, a part of the Canberra Festival, a "sacred humpie" was knocked down and a fire extinguished by viewers. The finale of the Festival, planned for the evening of Canberra Day on Monday 16th March, was moved away from Old Parliament House in order to minimise the potential for conflict.
The protest
The Canberra branch of Pauline Hanson's One Nation raised this subject during the monthly branch meeting on 2nd March 1998, and the consensus was that a barbecue should be held on the lawns of Old Parliament House on a day of total fire ban for the purpose of demonstrating that laws are being applied on the basis of race. Names and contact numbers were taken in anticipation of the next total fire ban.
Chris Spence, branch president, commenced a media campaign, and was interviewed by local radio stations on Wednesday 11 March 1998. A total fire ban was announced that evening, and the weekly branch executive meeting resolved to hold the protest barbecue the following evening.
By six thirty pm a dozen One Nation members had arrived, with barbecue equipment, meat, onions, salads and beer. Media representatives had not shown up, so it was decided to begin without coverage.
A Weber kettle and a wood fire barbecue on a metal stand were erected and lit on the eastern side of the lawn area, ninety metres away from the nearest embassy structure. Sausages were set cooking and normal barbecue activities commenced.
A small group of obviously intoxicated Aboriginal Australians left the tent embassy and suggested that the party members either leave or ask permission. They then went off in the direction of Kingston.
Five minutes later a group of seven residents left the camping area and approached, bearing boomerangs, spears and a plastic container of water.
They extinguished the fires, picked up the barbecues, eskies and other equipment, throwing everything onto the roadway, spilling smouldering embers, smashing a bottle of beer and damaging some of the equipment.
No resistance was offered by members of One Nation, who were threatened with spears, and told that "This is Aboriginal land. You are not black, get off the land or we'll stab you." The Aboriginal residents were unaware of the identity of the party members -- presumably any non-Aboriginal Australians would be similarly confronted. One woman, who was taking pictures, was told to stop, and threatened with traditional law. "You put that photo away or we'll smash the camera."
Television crews arrived a few minutes later, filmed the broken equipment, and interviewed party members, who were standing on the footpath while residents shouted abuse from a few metres away.
The point was made by the residents that the land was a National Heritage site, and that it had been desecrated by the party bringing alcohol into the dry zone. As the Aborigines moved off, they stated that "The warriors had defended their land."
Police arrived at seven o'clock, were told what had happened, and moved down to get the Aboriginal side of the story. The media contingent, by now comprising three television crews and a print reporter, followed down to where the residents awaited in a stick and grass humpie behind their "sacred" fire.
The news crews were told to move away and were pushed away from the humpie, with cameramen and equipment threatened. There was some scuffling until the police intervened and requested that the media move back about twenty five metres.
Police reinforcements were called and arrived a few minutes later, but there was no further confrontation. Sergeant David Moore said that he would write a report on the incident, the latest of many that had required police attendance.
Members were interviewed and appeared on local news reports including Nine's national "Today" program. Chris Spence took on the task of spokesman and gave interviews for several outlets. An appearance on Graham Gilbert's 2CA talkback radio show the following morning was extremely successful, with 90% of the calls in support of the action taken by the party members.
ALP ACT Legislative Assembly candidate Jon Stanhope also appeared on the radio station, saying that the Aboriginal residents should not have attacked the One Nation protest and that it was time that there was "one law for all".