Media, Machines and Might: Reproducing Western Australia's Violent State of Aboriginal Protection

Abstract

This paper addresses the prevalence of state violence directed at Aboriginal people. It examines how violence has been reproduced in recent years in the space of Western Australia through mutually-reinforcing relations of financial interest, and how the function of private capital accumulationin state violence against sovereign Aboriginal peoplehas remained hidden in white sight. This paper argues that state violence is legitimized through a discourse of Aboriginal protection. After outlining how this discourse and violence have operated in Western Australia, the paper provides a substantive narrative challenging the routine reproduction of state violence against Aboriginal bodies through a close reading of public and media texts. These texts relate to state violence against a blockade preventing land-clearing machines from entering Aboriginal country in mid 2011; state violence against the Nyoongar Tent Embassy in early 2012; and, the government's announcement in May 2011 that it would amend the Aboriginal Heritage Act. Through this analysis, lines are drawn between media, machines and might for the purpose of enabling white sight to see private capital accumulation functioning within the reproduction of state violence against Aboriginal people.

Native title and the politics of rejection: beyond the post‐political binary of consensus and dissensus in urban Aboriginal activism

“…Negotiations were with the conservative Liberal government under the leadership of Colin Barnett, who was simultaneously planning to close up to 150 remote Aboriginal communities and weaken the protection of Aboriginal heritage in the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) by constraining public participation. This was not a consultative government, and from the start, it prioritised private investment (Herriman, ; Kerr & Cox, ). During that period, opposing voices in the Nyoongar community emerged to publicly contest State‐SWALSC negotiations.…”

Kalla yarning at Matagarup: Televised legitimation and the limits of heritage-making in the city

“…After extending its 6pm news to one hour in early 2014, Nine Network claims that it has come to dominate 'the all important 6-7pm timeslot' by 'delivering Australians world class and local News and Current Affairs content' (Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings 2014, 11). The composition of this holding company suggests that Nine Network serves broader investment interests than the majority shareholder for Perth's dominant news provider, 7 News, whose main source of income comes from the supply of heavy equipment for mining and other industries (Kerr & Cox 2016). In light of these sets of corporate interests, it could be argued that Nine News was relatively less constrained in authorising Aboriginal voices and recognising the performance of Aboriginal heritage at Matagarup in its news reports in 2015.…”

“…This paper is part of a broader project that began in 2012 when the Nyoongar Tent Embassy invited Curtin University to investigate how its gatherings at Matagarup (Heirisson Island) in Perth were being criminalized in popular news reports. Through this project, the authors along with other partners have produced a book on the systemic criminalization of the tent embassy by popular media organizations (Kerr & Cox 2013), an exhibition disrupting the criminal image of Aboriginal activists in Perth (Creagh, Ryder, Cox & Kerr 2013) and a paper demonstrating that Western Australia's largest commercial media organisation, Seven West Media, acts in the interest of its holding company in undermining the legitimacy of Aboriginal heritage claims through its news reporting and editorial publication (Kerr & Cox 2016;Thomson, Bennett, Johnston and Mason 2015). In this paper, we turn our attention to a noticeable shift in the reporting of Aboriginal gatherings at Matagarup by Nine News, which claims the greatest share of national television evening news audience ratings (Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings 2014, 11).…”