Blak Matters: How Do We Compare To The Rest Of The World?

When it comes to the treatment of Indigenous Peoples, how does Australia compare to the rest of the world? Would a Voice to Parliament improve the situation for First Nations People?

From treaties to independent parliaments, in this episode of Blak Matters, Teela Reid and MC discuss what other countries have done to give power to their Indigenous Peoples.

Listen to Episode 4 now:

Teela describes Australia as an “anomaly”, and well behind other jurisdictions in the world when it comes to acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of their land.

She says when it actually comes to comparing Australia to other nations, it’s reasonably hard to as there was one distinct and overpowering difference when colonisers made it to land.

“I think distinct in the process of colonisation, an invasion, a first contact, it’s not useful to always compare this country to others because one of the things that happened at first contact on other continents was [recognition of] Indigenous peoples that occupied the land,” Teela explains.

“In Australia that didn’t happen. Cook ignored his own order to seek the consent of the natives and what we know now in Australia is there never has been an attempt to recognise this land was preoccupied.

“I think we’re still trying to grapple with that. For example, what you can see in other countries like New Zealand or Canada, when the colonisers invaded, they attempted to make a settlement and that meant there was an attempt to negotiate treaties.

We did not have that same approach here.

Join Teela and MC in the latest epsiode of Blak Matters as they break down the differences between Australia and other nations, and just what we need to do to catch up and recognise our First Nations People.

Blak Matters provides an inclusive, authentic exploration of First Nations issues from a First Nations perspective. Delivered as an honest but positive conversation between friends, MC & Teela Reid, in under 20 minutes. Listen now on the Listnr app.