Okay. Okay. I feel like my brain is going to explode because at first they claimed Terra Nullius (meaning our lands were unoccupied, even though we were here); then they tried to eradicate us because we were obviously here and they didn’t want us here; then they left us out of the constitution when Australia became a federation in 1901 because they couldn’t get rid of us, but they’d be damned if they counted us as human beings and/or citizens.
What else? Oh yeah, then they said all former British subjects were citizens (but we weren’t even classed as subjects or citizens), yet we still had to make an application to become an Australian citizen, and we could be a citizen, but only if we agreed to renounce our Aboriginality, family, and culture.
Then we were finally counted on the census as Australian citizens in 1967; but now, in 2019, we still aren’t mentioned in the Australian constitution, save for the section that allows the government to make laws that discriminate against us based on race.
And now, to top it all off, we can be deported from the country where we are the first peoples if we don’t have the citizenship they made so hard for us to get in the first place?
Right. You know what? I’m not surprised because the British Empire, Commonwealth, and the Australian government never wanted us here from the start. They’ve used their laws to discriminate and commit acts of genocide against us from the moment they stepped off the boats, and continue to do so today. Is it odd that I’m not surprised? I’m furious and sad and frustrated, but I am not even surprised. I guess I’ve always had the question ‘what could they possibly do next?’ in the back of my mind; here’s the answer to that. I am so tired. I just want to cry.
