Cheers, jeers and gum leaves greet QueenNational Indigenous Times - Issue 100 - 09 Mar 2006 By Jamie Duncan, Shane Wright and Nick Lenaghan MELBOURNE, March 17, 2006: Two Aboriginal kids, each clutching gum leaves, helped bridge the gap between Australia's colonial past and the future of its Indigenous people when they welcomed the Queen to Melbourne on Wednesday. Cousins Allirah Dryden, 5, and Josh Halden, 9, met the Queen alongside dignitaries when the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the Royal Exhibition Building for a state luncheon. The Shepparton children, members of the Yorta Yorta people of northern Victoria, were plucked from a crowd of 500 protesters calling on the Queen to enter talks with Indigenous groups about a treaty with Aborigines.The Queen's retinue recognised the protesters by calling on the two children to greet her. As protesters nearby chanted land rights slogans, the Queen, wearing a pea green suit and matching hat, accepted the gum leaves with a smile. Josh said he was pleased to greet the monarch. "I said that I was proud to represent my people. I was shy a little bit," he said. His cousin Allirah interjected: "I wasn't shy." Wednesday's Aboriginal protests in Melbourne followed the Queen's pointed remark during a speech in Canberra on Tuesday night, saying: "For many Indigenous Australians, there remains much to be done." But the speech came after a refusal by the Queen to acknowledge traditional owners during her official duties, as is now the standard custom in Australia. Boos, jeers and chants of "shame" greeted Prime Minister John Howard when he arrived with his wife Janette for today's Melbourne lunch. But there were cheers for the Queen from several hundred monarchists - one holding aloft a large portrait of the monarch as she and Prince Philip pulled up in a Rolls Royce.>Also welcoming the Queen was an Aboriginal elder, Uncle Max Eulo, who wore a red loincloth and bodypaint as he held a traditional smoking ceremony nearby. Hosting the lunch, Mr Howard welcomed the Queen by focusing on Melbourne's proud sporting tradition and praising her attendance at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony. "Your presence, as always, adds a special lustre to a gathering," he said. Mr Howard paid tribute to Melbourne 2006 chairman Ron Walker and complimented the Victorian government for its handling of the event. Premier Steve Bracks said his government's ambition was to emulate Melbourne's 1956 Olympic Games, which was known as the Friendly Games despite tensions caused by the Cold War. "We want these Games to be just as friendly and to show the world how people of different backgrounds, different beliefs can form new communities," Mr Bracks said. The Queen highlighted the important role sport played in Melbourne and in Commonwealth nations. "In a city internationally acclaimed for its love of sport, the redeveloped (MCG) complex will no doubt continue to be at the centre of much of the city's sporting life," she said. Lunch guests dined on King George whiting, char-grilled fillet of beef and vanilla pod ice-cream with a choice of Victorian chardonnay or shiraz. Outside, protesters hoped to invite the Queen to attend a temporary campsite in Kings Domain for talks on a treaty with Aborigines. "This is the last opportunity the Queen will have to accept our invitation..." said spokesman Robbie Thorpe. "We'd be interested in her coming to have a cup of tea with us and sort this unfinished business out." The Queen did not accept, and protesters promised to deliver to Government House a summons to the International Criminal Court, alleging Aborigines have been the victims of genocide since white settlement. - AAP |