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Gary Foley at the demo argued that the strength of their (Black peoples) case would lead to a people's movement for national reconciliation. Over the past ten years the Blacks' cause has lost ground, despite the strength of their case. This is because public opinion is controlled by the interests of capital. These interests have required an expansion of mining (on Black land) and cutbacks on government spending (including money spent on Blacks). Capitalist media and political parties (including the Labor party) have put the interests of big business before the moral cause of Blacks. The only way we can get national reconciliation is if we overthrow capital and only the working class have a consistent interest in doing that.
Another challenge to the Bicentenary which could be more significant has come from 15,000 Torres Strait Islanders. A mass meeting on Thursday Island (the administrative centre) voted unanimously for Independence from Australia. They also gave their leaders a mandate to negotiate with Papua New Guinea, the South Pacific Forum, the United Nations and the U.N. Special Committee on Decolonisation. They have the support of the organisation representing Islanders on the Mainland Magani Malu Kess. As its representative put it, "for too long the islands have been receiving crumbs...We don't even receive half a loaf of bread...Now we're lookingata full loaf of bread and the factory." According to the census, the population of the Torres Strait region is six thousand, of whom four thousand are ethnic islanders. There are fifteen thousand ethnic islanders living on the Australian mainland, many of whom live in the North Queensland cities of Cairns and Townsville. Many are on the mainland because of lack of employment and have indicated that on Independence they will move back.
The Islands were annexed by Queensland in 1872. They are internal colonies of Australia. The imperialists have reaped the benefits of super profits out of the resources and labour of the area. The Torres St. Islanders have been given crumbs. Their demands for self-determination and against imperialist exploitation are fully supportable. They must be backed up by working class action. Strikes and black bans in support of Torres Strait Islanders now!
By approaching the United Nations the islanders are going to the wrong address. The United Nations is a thieves picnic dedicated to maintaining imperialist control. It is up to us, the working class, to show the Islanders who their real allies are.
The Hawke government, of course, will not grant them independence. The Australian constitution prohibits alteration of State boundaries without both consent of the State government and a referendum within the State concerned. There is no way that the National Party Ahern government of Queensland will give its consent. No doubt the Hawke government, which is loyal to the Constitution, will cry tears of sympathy and throw out a few crumbs in order to placate the Islanders. But Hawke supporting any real change is not on the agenda. The Liberal Party is indeed aware of the strategic issues at stake. Their spokesman for defence warned that Lybia or the Soviet Union might set up a military base. The islands are indeed of importance for maintaining imperialist control of both Papua New Guinea and of Indonesia, which controls West Papua. The Torres Strait is of strategic importance for shipping and with islands so close to the border of both Papua New Guinea and Papua controlled by Indonesia, it is all the more convenient for sending in the troops, should Australia's interests be threatened. There is a war in West Papua. The OPM is fighting the Indonesian State for independence. Papua New Guinea and Australia have agreed to seal off the border against West Papuans crossing. An independent Torres Strait could weaken this reactionary alliance.
During the nineteen seventies there was a border dispute between Australia and Papua New Guinea. When in 1974 Australia's ALP P.M., Gough Whitlam, said that you could almost walk between Australia and Papua, he was slightly exaggerating. In reality a good swimmer could swim the distance. There is only a distance of three kilometres between Papua and the nearest island Davan. Gough Whitlam wanted to take the boundary question to the U.N. High Court. He assumed that a fair boundary would be approximately halfway between the coasts. His motives were partly one of fairness toward the newly independent Papua New Guinea, but also to stop "illegal" immigrants from crossing into Australia. This is a chauvinist perspective.
He was strongly opposed by Joh Bjelke Petersen, who pledged to fight 'tooth and nail' against this betrayal of Australia. Of course, he pointed out that any boundary change was unconstitutional. But he also enlisted the support of the Torres Strait Islanders. The Islanders were angry at the thought of being political pawns and having their islands divided in two for the sake of political expedience. The Islanders felt no affinity towards Papua New Guinea. Whilst they are also Melanesian, the only part of Papua which speaks the same language is the island of Daru. The Islanders formed The Border Not Change movement, which had overwhelming political support within the islands.
In 1978 a treaty was finally signed between Australia and Papua New Guinea. It was a treaty highly in favour of Australia in terms of strategic control of the Torres Strait, control of fishing (75% Australia, 25% PNG) and resources such as oil and minerals. It was agreed that no oil drilling would begin for another ten years. Papua New Guinea does get some consultative powers, but that's all. It is no wonder that Bjelke Petersen found the treaty to be satisfactory. The Fishing Agreement meant that local off-shore fishermen had the right to fish for their own tribal consumption. Australia controlled commercial fishing. After the treaty was signed those who had recently migrated from Papua were rounded up and shipped home. This included those on otherwise uninhabited islands. The Torres St. Islanders realised that Bjelke Petersen was only using them as pawns to keep control of mining interests and to preserve Australia's security. They formed the Torres Uniting Party, which demanded Independence.
The History of Torres Strait is one of imperialist conquest and exploitation. In 1865, after it was discovered that pearling luggers were utilising the islands, the Queensland government sent a police constable to mainta n law and order. Queensland annexed the islands in 1872.
It was aware of the unconventional nature of the border line. It rationalised this in terms of defence against German imperialism which was getting a foothold in New Guinea. As the pearling, Trochus shell and beche-de-mer (a sea slug which is a delicacy in Japan) industries, the islanders were utilised for their labour. They were super exploited. Pearl diving is an extremely hazardous operation. Often it leads to premature death. In 1936 islanders were technically paid f3/6/- a month ($6.60). However, most of it went to the government. In reality, island labourers received $2 from private owners and no cash for those working for the government as their employer. These workers only received credit at the government store. This led to a six month general strike against the government throughout the Islands. The workers wanted cash.
The Torres Strait Islanders fought for Australia during the Second World War. They were paid 4/4 (43 cents) a day as opposed to 6/6 (65 cents) paid to ordinary Australian soldiers. After the war, as a reward for patriotic loyalty, the Islanders received 50% of Australia's basic wage. They were also allowed to leave the Islands and live on the mainland. Also, with some financial assistance, a few of them bought their own luggers and took the place of Japanese who were involved in the industry before the war. Since the Second World War the pearlinq industry has collapsed. Pearl shell, previously used in buttons, has been replaced by plastic. During the sixties an oil tanker crashed and there was much oil spillage. The result was not just physical destruction of the pearl oyster but also promotion of a disease which devastated the rest of them. The result has been mass unemployment, which has forced Islanders out of Torres Strait. The population of the Torres Strait is now predominantly female. The Torres Strait Islands remain as they were last century - an Australian colony and the Islanders fodder for capitalist exploitation, only to be tossed on the scrap heap when not needed for profit. The Islanders still live in poverty and are still subject to the racist Queensland Torres Strait Islanders Act.
The Torres Strait Islanders' claim for self-determination has now received quite a bit of publicity. But what support has come from the Australian Left? - virtually none! Tribune had an article in its magazine section on page eight. This contained some useful information, but no indication that either Tribune or the Communist Party are prepared to do anything about it. 'But for vested and powerful interests the Islands are of strategic importance', Tribune tells us. The point is to challenge these and this the CPA dare not. All Tribune has to offer is for the Islanders to await the good grace of the High Court, in order to carry out 'steps towards' independence. Australasian Spartacist has said nothing about the Torres Strait Islands. According to one of their leaders, N. Florimell, the S.L oppose their self-determination. Perhaps the S.L. find the Torres Strait Islanis a bit too small to qualify for their criteria of what a nation should be. The Torres Strait Islands could have a strong independent economy. There are also states with a smaller population. An independent Torres Strait is indeed a feasible possibility. But also it would be a major blow to Australia's imperialist control of both Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. The Spartacist League are giving Australian imperialism covert support. The Australian Left is fond of proclaiming anti-imperialist solidarity with struggles thousands of kilometres away on other continents. Even with these struggles their solidarity is flawed. The Left, especially the SWP, believe in public opinion rather than fighting for a class conscious working class. But when it comes to supporting an independence struggle, which challenges the Australian Constitution, the Left offers little better than silence. There have been no demos and no working class action. The trendy sham radicals who pose as revolutionaries are a disgrace to the tradition of Communism. Unfortunately, these fakers use rhetoric which sound Communist in order to confuse militants. A real Communist stands up against imperialist exploitation. Their failure to stand up for the Torres Strait Islanders has exposed the fake left in this country.
SELF DETERMINATION FOR THE TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS!
DIRECT WORKERS ACTION IN SOLIDARITY NOW!