Activists say they used their Aboriginal passports to re-enter Australia
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Version 0 of 1. Four sovereignty campaigners say they re-entered Australia following a trip to Canada using only their Aboriginal Provisional Government passports, documents not officially recognised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Callum Clayton-Dixon told Guardian Australia he and Boe Spearim were questioned by customs officials when they arrived at Brisbane airport on Tuesday after returning from a tour of the first nations of Canada. “We went up to the custom officers desk and presented our our Aboriginal passports and they asked if we had any other documentation,” he said. “We said to them, ‘These are our travel documents. We are Aboriginal people returning to our country, and these are our passports’.” He and Spearim did have Australian travel documents on them as back-up, he said. When they arrived in Canada they were not successful in using their Aboriginal passports and had to use their official passports. But they say they stood their ground in Australia and were eventually allowed through. “The photocopied our passports, handed them around to other customs officials and after some discussion, they came over to us and said although they did not meet department requirements they would let us through, but not to do it again,” Clayton-Dixon said. Two other people returning from the trip to Melbourne airport also successfully made it through customs using Aboriginal Provisional Government passports, he said. The passport has existed since 1987 and according to the Aboriginal Provisional Government website, Australia refuses to sanction them. “Aboriginal Passport and officials require the Australian passport or some other form of identification for smooth re-entry,” the website says. “This is political and may be illegal under Australian law. “While it is possible to travel overseas with the Aboriginal passport, the Australian passport should still be carried with you for backup.” Spearim said he and his fellow activists were encouraging young Aboriginal people to obtain the passports and use them while travelling. Since returning to Australia, he said there had been increased interest in the passports after others had heard their story. “I felt good to walk through customs and only show my Aboriginal passport, with a nationality that said ‘Aboriginal’,” he said. “I said to them, ‘We are Aboriginal people and we are returning to our home country’”. “We’ve been here for over 40,000 years, since the first sunlight and we still have a distinct connection to our country, our languages and a large number of people still populate those territories and areas around Australia. “We will keep using these passports, because to say we can’t be recognised as Aboriginal people in 2014 is a slap in a face to who we are.” Customs was not available for comment. |