I would like to preface this THREAD by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which I live, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded, and that Australia always was, and always will be Aboriginal land. (1/13) https://twitter.com/chanquixote/status/1266375542476992514

White Australians need to recognise that we must be allies to Indigenous people. Their communities are thrown crumbs and bandaids from successive governments, and left to rot. Most of the half-measures implemented are with the intent to put a bandaid over a gaping wound. (2/13)

Rather than speaking over them (and please feel free to call me out if I do so), we need to speak with them. We need to acknowledge these communities, and their struggles. We need to speak to community leaders, and hear their concerns, and what their community needs. (3/13)

A lot of issues in the Indigenous community are widespread. Overrepresentation in the prison system (despite making up 2% of the general population, Indigenous people make up around a quarter od prison pop), health issues, lack of access to formal education, (4/13)

Lack of access to quality healthcare, lack of access to necessary services, lack of political representation, lower life quality and expectancy, lack of land rights and a lot more I can't remember right now. These are things we in White Australia take to be natural rights. (5/13)

Of course, not all Indigenous communities share the same issues, the same wants and needs, the same access or lack thereof to services. But there are a core set of issues that all want heard. In this regard, some governments are better than others, (6/13)

And I would like to commend those governments for actually implementing measures with regards to, and taking steps towards reconciliation, and Treaty, with their Indigenous peoples. But, we can not do little and say our work is done. We have to stand in solidarity with our (7/13)

Indigenous comrades, and fight alongside them as allies, so they have their voices heard. This week, Minister for Indigenous Affairs Ken Wyatt, himself an Indigenous man, authorised the destruction of ancient Indigenous sites in the Pilbara Desert by Rio Tinto, (8/13)

A mining company. The fact that such flagrant destruction of an ancient Indigenous cultural site happens in Reconciliation Week shows that we have a long way to go in the way of reconciliation. Our work as comrades and allies is only just beginning. (9/13)

I am not going to tell you what to do in the name of advocacy. That isn't my place, and if anybody knows any funds, petitions, or organisations that could use the help of allies, let me know and I will add them to this thread. (10/13)

I also apologise for cluttering many timelines through the uprising in Minneapolis, which I stand in solidarity with, but we in Australia must also take heed that there are glaring injustices happening in our own backyard, and this week, in fact, all weeks, (11/13)

are when these injustices should be highlighted, brought into the spotlight, and corrected. This, and all weeks, I offer my deepest respects and support to Indigenous comrades. Australia always was, and always will be stolen land, and if we do anything at all, (12/13)

We should be supporting Indigenous people, as allies, as supporters, as advocates. #BlackLivesMatter means all black lives, and that means Indigenous lives too. Solidarity forever. (13/13)