The long walk to Canberra

Well, glad to hear it perked you up, MsOlga!

Thanks, k.

And now, on this beautiful sunny afternoon, I'm going out to do some shopping.

Cheers!

Enjoy!

I checked out Google News, clicked on Australia for the top stories. I got nothing, even that way, on Michael Long.

What I love about this (and I haven't finished reading the thread) is that this is a prominent Aboriginal MAN speaking out about violence and alcoholism - has he commented about sexual abuse?

For too long it has been the women speaking out and trying to do something, about these things - while prominent men, like Michael Clarke, have, to say the least, not been helpful exemplars to Aboriginal men.

(Not but that lots of Aboriginal women are very violent, too - phew!!!!!! Oh man! The experience of violence in many Aboriginal communities is unspeakable, and woman on woman violence is terribly common - but the blokes tend to do a lot more physical harm, and the problem of child sexual abuse is huge.)

Lol!!!!! So true!!!!!

Dammit - makes me wish I was off to Canberra instead of Alice Springs and Uluru!

Here is a relevant thread, which nobody picked up on - more about Atsic and Aboriginal Affairs:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=38727

Deb

This is so moving. Sad & hopeful at the same time.
I wish, I wish that something good, positive does come from it. Good for him! I hope he DEMANDS to see Howard! I hope he makes things bloody difficult in Canberra. I hope he gets to say his bit.
But, of course, it's the process of doing the walk, the feelings that inspired it in the first place that matter. My heart goes north, along with him & his little group.

Letters to the editor/the AGE, this morning:

Long march to Canberra

Old as I am, I for one will be there to join Michael Long when he reaches the final stage of his long walk to Canberra to see John Howard. Long's message to the Prime Minister that Aboriginal people are dying before their time and living hopeless, lost lives is confirmed by the shocking statistics that reveal 45 per cent of indigenous men and 34 per cent of indigenous women die before they are 45, and three times as many indigenous babies die as other Australian babies. If Mr Howard is really going to govern for all of us, he must open his door wide and listen carefully to Michael Long when he arrives.

Keith McEwan, Banks, ACT


Forgiveness

If I were John Howard, I'd certainly meet Michael Long, who might just have the credibility and legitimacy to be the Aboriginal leader this nation needs. And that's coming from a Melbourne supporter who has taken four years to find closure over Long's controversial role in the 2000 grand final

Bruce Brown, Camberwell

Funerals spark Long crusade
By John Garnaut
November 24, 2004

The boxing champion Anthony Mundine is considering joining the former Australian rules star Michael Long in a walk from Melbourne to Parliament House in Canberra, saying Mr Long represents much needed regeneration of Aboriginal leadership.

Mr Long, the indigenous ambassador for the Australian Football League since retiring from league club Essendon, walked out of Melbourne on Sunday afternoon, after becoming distressed at regularly attending funerals for young Aboriginal friends and relatives.

He has requested a meeting with the Prime Minister, John Howard, in Canberra late next week to discuss Aboriginal welfare and the void he says has been left by the recent abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Commission.

Mr Mundine said the journey - dubbed the Long Walk - would promote Aboriginal leadership and self-help. "I'd love to try and get down there to visit him," he said. "We need to get together all the positive people, Aboriginal people, to try and make something happen."

Mr Long invited all Australians to join the walk. "I'm sick of going to bloody funerals," he said, while treading the old Hume Highway near Seymour yesterday. "This is not about sport or footy, this is about our people."

Mr Long said there were too many Aboriginal people dying of suicide, drugs and endemic health problems.

The Long march - a message to Canberra
By Larry Schwartz
November 25, 2004/the AGE




Michael Long, left, and his supporters walk the Old Hume Highway a few kilometres out of Seymour yesterday. "We don't want to make war," says Long. "We want love."

"Solvitur ambulando." (It is solved by walking)
- St Augustine

Farmland to the right is on the traditional land of Taungurung, to the left is Djadjawurung country.

"We're doing it the blackfella way," Michael Long says on a country road during his 650-kilometre walk from Melbourne to Canberra to meet the Prime Minister.

"What do you reckon we did before these were here?" - he gestures towards vehicles accompanying the walk that he hopes will start to put an end to the conditions that cause indigenous people to die 20 or more years younger than most other Australians.

Now 35, the celebrated former Essendon footballer passes on his bottle of mineral water in the dry heat, and insists you finish it.

He says he wants a peaceful meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, not confrontation. "We don't want to make war, we want love," he says.

Though he walks with a slight limp, he says he is feeling quite good. "I mean, a bit sore in the feet," he agrees.

Blue denim pants barely cover the brace on a reconstructed right knee, legacy of the injuries that plagued him until he retired from the game in 2001.

But he talks of another kind of hurt. "Have you ever heard of a person dying of a broken heart," says the softly spoken Darwin-raised father of three, whose parents were removed from their families and placed on a Catholic Mission on the Tiwi Islands.

"Imagine grieving for the rest of your life because someone took your child away."

He has apologised for having called Mr Howard a "cold-hearted prick" after the Prime Minister suggested in 2000 that the stolen generation was a myth - but says Mr Howard's comments hurt many people.

Long's organisers hope he will reach Canberra late next week. They say they have been in touch with the Prime Minister's office, but cannot comment on the discussions.

"I think we need to be back on the agenda in Australia," says Long.

He says black and white Australians should work together for urgent improvement to health, education and other conditions. "We need action," he says. "We can't wait. People are dying."

About 20 walkers and others joined the march yesterday, including one man who flew in from Brisbane to walk a few kilometres.

They plan to set out this morning from Euroa, 130 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, and reach Violet Town or Benalla tonight.

Long set out from a service station in Moonee Ponds on Sunday.

`

What a beautiful backdrop!

Yes, the countryside in Victoria (my home state) is beautiful right now, k. Lots of spring rain! I don't know whether it's broken the back of the 8 year drought, though ....

"Solvitur ambulando." (It is solved by walking)
- St Augustine

I like that! So apt.

Thhis is a damned interesting story and Im thankful that youre posting us on his progress Margo. The last person to do that in US was Dr King.

pssst, farmerman. It's Olga here, not margo! You get all us cat women of Oz confused. (Furthermore I'm the Ukrainian/Oz cat woman! :wink: )

Here's a short video clip from the AGE newspaper of the walk. Hope it works. (& sorry about the Optus ad at the start!)


http://media.theage.com.au/?category=&site=age&rid=15143&rate=34&sy=age&source=int15143f&player=wm7&ie=1

Hey it worked!
(Partly. I couldn't get sound, but I think it's a problem with my computer.)

On the road with a champion of his people
By Tony Stephens
November 27, 2004/SMH


"Life and death" ... Michael Long on his long walk from Melbourne to Canberra.
Photo: Joe Armao


The big kangaroo leapt across Michael Long's path. One, two, three bounds and into the bush.

"I would have caught him, except for my blistered feet," laughed his friend, Paul Briggs.

Cockatoos whirled overhead, screeching at the sun. A goanna scuttled southwards. "He's going the wrong way," Mr Briggs said. "We're walking to Canberra."

Mr Long, Mr Briggs and the other indigenous Australians who have joined "The Long Walk" from Melbourne to Canberra are at home here, among the gum trees. Their ancestors have walked the land for 40,000 years or so.

Mr Long knows the continent from the Arafura Sea to the Great Southern Ocean. His people, the Anmatyerre and Warlpiri, were taken from their parents in the red centre to a mission on the faraway Tiwi Islands. Michael Long made his name in Melbourne, playing football famously for Essendon.

Now 35 and retired from the game*, he works "on the other side of the football fence" among his Aboriginal people. Much of what he sees saddens him.

He has been to too many funerals - of black people dying too young and old black people dying heartbroken because there is no one from their next generation to whom they can pass the wisdom of their culture.

Last week Mr Long went to one funeral too many. He decided to walk from Melbourne to Sydney to see the Prime Minister about his people's problems. He set out on Sunday with his cousin, John Cusack, walking 30 kilometres to Wallan. They sat down and had a think on Monday.

They called Mr Briggs, a Yorta Yorta elder, and other friends, black and white. The Australian Workers' Union sent a support vehicle. Sharon Gibbard, a nurse and organiser, joined. A website, thelongwalk.com was set up and soon attracted messages from around the world.

A core of about 20 sympathisers walked about 70 kilometres along secondary roads to Seymour on Tuesday, with locals joining in for an hour or two, and about 55 kilometres to beyond Euroa on Wednesday.

They slowed as the temperature rose on Thursday but covered about 31 kilometres to north of Violet Town, bathing blistered and swollen feet in ice and taking advice from John Quinn, the Essendon trainer. They walked nearly 40 kilometres yesterday, to north of Benalla, often led by Bunj-l Lovett, 11, who looked ready to run to Canberra.

John Howard has said he would be happy to see Mr Long. Peter Costello, the Treasurer and Essendon's* No.1 supporter, was happy to make introductions. The walkers were waiting for an appointment but ready to finish the 700-kilometre journey.

Critics say Mr Long's walk is symbolic and the plight of many Aborigines is beyond symbolism and in need of practical measures.

He said: "This walk is about the life and death of our people."

Linda Burney, the NSW MP who is helping to organise the route in NSW, said: "We have all been to too many funerals. This is a solid, humble act which fires the imagination. It's a ray of inspiration at a time when we really need it."

The football champion whose people once owned the country wants to say to the Prime Minister: "We just want to be a part of this country, Mr Howard."

`

* the game = Australian Rules football

* Essendon Football Club is a Melbourne team in the AFL (Australian Football Association. Michael Long was a celebrated player with Essendon.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/11/26/1101219751769.html