Freedom riders face new battles

In 1965, Freedom Riders lead by Aboriginal activist Charlie Perkins traveled around rural NSW and confronted racism in every town from Walgett to Taree.

Thirty five years later a group of Indigenous solidarity activists from Newcastle, Wollongong and Sydney jumped on a rickety old red school bus and headed west – destination Alice Springs.

The aim was to witness the effects of three years of the federal Northern Territory intervention on Aboriginal communities and offer solidarity to people in their struggle to take back control of their communities.

While swimming pools are no longer segregated, and pubs and RSL clubs no longer so overtly apply a “colour bar”, the East Coast mob didn’t need travel all the way to the NT border to find people fighting for their survival.

First stop Cowra, 300 kilometres west of Sydney.

The bus was met by Wiradjuri elder Neville Williams who spoke about his decade long fight to stop Canadian multinational Barrick Gold from mining at Lake Cowall.

“It’s been really painful to see the destruction of our sacred site,” Mr Williams said.

Barrick uses a cyanide leaching process to extract gold and Mr Williams is worried the toxic chemical could pollute the Murray Darling basin that extends through most of New South Wales.

The cyanide is transported by rail and truck from Gladstone, Queensland to Sydney through the western suburbs, over the Blue Mountains and across to West Wyalong.

Mr Williams will take on Barrick once again in the Land and Environment Court again in Sydney on July 23.

“It’s a David verse Goliath battle,” he said.

Back on the bus, we headed across the red desert to Wilcannia.

We were hosted by the local Aboriginal land council and addressed by David Clarke, a Barkindji man who was born and raised in the town.

He left Wilcannia as a young man to escape the racism that was rife there, and returned six years ago full of enthusiasm to turn about the desperation that pervades this frontier town.

He has worked tirelessly to increase Aboriginal control of Wilcannia, starting an orchard to supply the town, a bargain priced dry goods store to counter the sky-high prices in the local non–Aboriginal owned store, and mentoring young people.

After a night camping out in Mutawintji National Park, we boarded the bus at first light to continue our journey to Alice Springs.