The Barunga Statement single work   non-fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1988... 1988 The Barunga Statement
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Barunga settlement was originally known as Beswick Creek and the Indigenous people living on this site were relocated from Tandangal in 1948. The Barunga Statement was written on bark and it outlined the rights of the Indigenous people of Australia that had been denied them since invasion in 1788. The statement was handed to the then Prime Minister R.J.L. (Bob) Hawke on the 12 June 1988 and called upon the Federal Government to negotiate a treaty with Indigenous people and pass laws that sought recognition of their rights and addressed their disadvantages.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1988
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature Nicholas Jose (editor), Kerryn Goldsworthy (editor), Anita Heiss (editor), David McCooey (editor), Peter Minter (editor), Nicole Moore (editor), Elizabeth Webby (editor), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009 Z1590615 2009 anthology correspondence diary drama essay extract poetry prose short story (taught in 23 units)

    'Some of the best, most significant writing produced in Australia over more than two centuries is gathered in this landmark anthology. Covering all genres - from fiction, poetry and drama to diaries, letters, essays and speeches - the anthology maps the development of one of the great literatures in English in all its energy and variety.

    'The writing reflects the diverse experiences of Australians in their encounter with their extraordinary environment and with themselves. This is literature of struggle, conflict and creative survival. It is literature of lives lived at the extremes, of frontiers between cultures, of new dimensions of experience, where imagination expands.

    'This rich, informative and entertaining collection charts the formation of an Australian voice that draws inventively on Indigenous words, migrant speech and slang, with a cheeky, subversive humour always to the fore. For the first time, Aboriginal writings are interleaved with other English-language writings throughout - from Bennelong's 1796 letter to the contemporary flowering of Indigenous fiction and poetry - setting up an exchange that reveals Australian history in stark new ways.

    'From vivid settler accounts to haunting gothic tales, from raw protest to feisty urban satire and playful literary experiment, from passionate love poetry to moving memoir, the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature reflects the creative eloquence of a society.

    'Chosen by a team of expert editors, who have provided illuminating essays about their selections, and with more than 500 works from over 300 authors, it is an authoritative survey and a rich world of reading to be enjoyed.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Allen and Unwin have a YouTube channel with a number of useful videos on the Anthology.

    Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009
    pg. 1147-1148

Works about this Work

form y separately published work icon The Barunga Statement Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies , Canberra : Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Department of Parliamentary Services , 2018 14132883 2018 website prose film/TV

'In 1988, the Jawoyn community in Barunga, Northern Territory, invited people from across Australia and the world to their annual Barunga Sport and Cultural Festival. Former Prime Minister the Hon. Bob Hawke along with Galarrwuy Yunupingu AM and Wenten Rubuntja AM, chairs of the Northern and Central Land Councils, accepted their invitation.

'At the festival, Yunupingu and Rubuntja presented Hawke with The Barunga Statement, a painted declaration that included the aspirations of ‘the Indigenous owners and occupiers of Australia’ and a request to the Australian Government and people to ‘recognise our rights’. The Statement was a product of extensive engagement between Aboriginal leaders in the Northern Territory and the Australian Government.'  (Introduction)

Bring Home the Barunga Statement 2014 single work column
— Appears in: Land Rights News : Northern Edition , July no. Edition 3 2014; (p. 10)

'Twenty-five years after the Barunga Statement was presented to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, NLC Chairman Sam Bush-Blanasi wants it returned from its repository in Parliament House, Canberra...'

Bring Home the Barunga Statement 2014 single work column
— Appears in: Land Rights News : Northern Edition , July no. Edition 3 2014; (p. 10)

'Twenty-five years after the Barunga Statement was presented to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, NLC Chairman Sam Bush-Blanasi wants it returned from its repository in Parliament House, Canberra...'

form y separately published work icon The Barunga Statement Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies , Canberra : Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Department of Parliamentary Services , 2018 14132883 2018 website prose film/TV

'In 1988, the Jawoyn community in Barunga, Northern Territory, invited people from across Australia and the world to their annual Barunga Sport and Cultural Festival. Former Prime Minister the Hon. Bob Hawke along with Galarrwuy Yunupingu AM and Wenten Rubuntja AM, chairs of the Northern and Central Land Councils, accepted their invitation.

'At the festival, Yunupingu and Rubuntja presented Hawke with The Barunga Statement, a painted declaration that included the aspirations of ‘the Indigenous owners and occupiers of Australia’ and a request to the Australian Government and people to ‘recognise our rights’. The Statement was a product of extensive engagement between Aboriginal leaders in the Northern Territory and the Australian Government.'  (Introduction)

Last amended 22 Sep 2009 09:59:06
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