Source : Perth Now news
When a community group posted a photo of Indigenous rangers standing in front of the Aboriginal flag on social media, it received abusive comments within minutes.
“There were racial comments about the colour of their skin,” Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance chair Nick Cameron said.
“Racial comments about the percentage of Aboriginal blood they must have.
“Comments that all Tasmanian Aboriginal people died so who are these fake people.
“Comments like ‘why are you standing behind an Aboriginal flag … why aren’t you standing behind an Australian flag?’.”
Mr Cameron said the abuse forced the page administrators to disable the comments.
He was among witnesses giving evidence in Hobart on Wednesday at a federal government inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The communities alliance, which has seven member organisations, has reported a rise in racism since the failed Indigenous voice to parliament referendum in 2023.
“There has been a significant level of culture wars in Australia,” Mr Cameron said.
“It has given people online, especially through social media, the ability to become more nasty and more divisive.”
Palawa elder Rodney Dillon said he was at a ‘yes’ campaign event when a car drove past and a man yelled “we should have shot all you black bastards when we had the opportunity”.
Mr Cameron wants Facebook’s owner Meta to boost moderation efforts and for politicians to be more vocal in calling out racism against Aboriginal people.
He also spoke about challenges dealing with the myth that Aboriginal people died out in Tasmania.
“The majority of the community, especially the older community … have this strong perception that Aboriginal people don’t exist or aren’t as strong because of the colour of our skin or the percentage of our blood,” Mr Cameron said.
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s Nala Mansell said racism wasn’t limited to name calling online or claims that people weren’t really Indigenous because of their skin colour.
“The greatest racism is from the government who continue to exercise power over Aboriginal people that would never be tolerated if applied to anyone else,” she said.
An example was proposed changes to state heritage laws that do not return Aboriginal heritage to Aboriginal ownership and control, she said.
Governments had also asserted authority over Aboriginal identity, she said, rather than allowing communities to decide who was best-placed to speak for them.
In a submission, the Tasmanian government acknowledged current data does not fully capture the prevalence of racism, hate and violence experienced by Aboriginal people.
Strengthening reporting and deepening shared decision making with Aboriginal communities were priorities, it said.
