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THE SECRET COUNTRY Presenter: John Pilger A special report from 1985 by John Pilger of 'The Daily Mirror'. |
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The report examines the treatment of Aboriginal Australians from the time of white settlement to the mid-1980s, in the context of the lead up to the Australian Bicentennial Year, 1988. Uses archival and amateur moving and still images.
Includes footage of the 1938 re-enactment of Cook's landing in Sydney Cove (NSW); Moree (NSW) during the 1965 'Freedom Ride'; the lead up to and voting at the 1967 Referendum; the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra (ACT) in 1972; an interview with Freda Thornton in Alice Springs (NT) on the establishment and benefits of CAAMA for Aboriginal people, and footage of CAAMA broadcasters presenting radio in 'language' in the 1980s; 1980s footage of Bamyili (NT) and its school, which is the first Aboriginal community school in Australia to have qualified black school teachers; 1980s footage of Yeperenye School near Alice Springs (NT), where traditional Aboriginal culture and life-style is taught to the children; amateur footage of the Maralinga (SA) nuclear tests in 1953; 1933 newsreel footage of Aboriginal elder, Burraga; display of the Aboriginal flag at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane (Qld); opening of the Pine Gap 'Joint Defence Space Research Facility' near Alice Springs (NT) in the 1960s; and vision of Australian Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, with commentary on the effects of their and Malcolm Fraser's policies on Aboriginal Australians. Also includes commentary by Bobby Randall, Marcia Langton, Prof. Fred Hollows, Mario Fredericks, Vince Forrester, Margaret Tucker (in 'Lousy Little Sixpence') and Yami Lester.

