Membership open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people
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Community Unity Connection
Community Unity Connection
Become a member and help fund the Indigenous - Aboriginal Party of Australia (IAPA)
An Indigenous Party run by Indigenous people to tackle Indigenous issues
The IAPA is a national Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) registered political party that ran seven (7) candidates in the last federal election in 2022 and contested the Fadden By-election in July 2023 as well as backing independents in NSW and Victoria. We represent a diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and families around Australia, as well as concerned non-Indigenous people, who want Indigenous people to have a real say and real power in the parliaments of the country.
Membership is FREE and open to Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people (but candidates and executive MUST be Indigenous)
Our GOAL is to have a grassroots Indigenous voice IN Parliament and Government.
Our VISION is to break down institutional barriers and prejudice which stop Indigenous people thriving in their own country.
We stand for UNITY, regardless of how you identify.
Passionate Aboriginal community worker and advocate, Marnie Laree Davis, contested the July 15 By-election in the Federal Gold Coast Electorate of Fadden for the IAPA. A proud Darug woman raised on Quandamooka country, with strong ties to Minjerribah, Marnie relocated to the Gold Coast (Kombumerri country) to solely raise her daughter several years ago.
Marnie’s passion is working in partnership with community members and organisations, understanding that local challenges can only be resolved by local solutions. With a passion for good community outcomes, she has been working for several years on the Gold Coast in the Aboriginal family well-being and social health field as well as within domestic violence refuges, advocating for survivors of domestic family violence.
In a very tough contest against 12 other candidates in a very conservative electorate, Marnie received a very respectable 1 % of the vote, the same as prominent corruption exposing journalist, Belinda Jones, and more than the Australian Democrats, Sustainable Australia Party, the Citizen’s Party, the Australian Federation Party and two other independents, including well regarded local, Stewart Brooker, who had received more than 4% of the vote at the last federal general election but dropped to 0.91% at this By-election. By-elections have advantages for small parties but can also attract crowded fields which split the protest vote. So all things considered, Marnie ran a great campaign and achieved an admirable result while raising community awareness of the IAPA all over the Gold Coast.
A lot of the racist misinformation around the Referendum campaign was already working its way in to the less progressive parties and communities so this led to many unpleasant experiences on the booths. Interestingly the pattern we have observed on the Central Coast, and in Lismore, Grafton, & Brisbane that woman are more receptive to the IAPA, and the young more so than the older, did not seem to hold quite as true in Fadden. Some post Referendum commentary has suggested that progress on justice for the Mob relies mostly on ‘waiting for the old racists to die off’. From our experiences in Fadden it seems there are quite a lot of conservative young people and women with hard hearts towards people suffering from entrenched disadvantage. We will need to work hard to convince these people or concentrate on areas where the voters are more receptive. At the last federal election we received 0.8% of the Senate vote in Fadden so it can be seen that Marnie’s campaigning made a difference, increasing the vote by 25%, especially impressive when Marnie’s name was buried deep on the ballot paper in a field of 13.
While people voted Yes or No in the Referendum for a variety of reasons, the vote can be used as a very rough proxy for how supportive of Aboriginal people the non-Indigenous people in an electorate are. For instance Fadden voters voted 74% No, the highest No vote of the three Gold Coast Electorates and much higher than the Qld State average of 68% No and the Nationwide vote of 60% No. All this just adds to seeing how solid Marnie’s and the IAPA’s performance was in Fadden.
Mutawintji Cultural Festival held August every year Free for Wiimpatja
Visitors very welcome - Dance groups wanted for next year.
A voice IN parliament is more powerful than a voice TO parliament
A voice IN parliament is more powerful than a voice TO parliament
Indigenous-Aboriginal Party candidate
Marnie Laree Davis
Fadden By-election on the Gold Coast in July 2023
NSW STATE ELECTION
25 March 2023
The IAPA is not a registered political party at State level in NSW yet so we couldn’t run candidates with the IAPA name on the ballot papers. However, we had two fantastic Indigenous candidates who ran as Independents with IAPA backing.
Aunty Colleen Fuller
NSW Legislative Council - Upper House
Aunty Colleen is an Indigenous woman of the Darkinoong and Yuin Tribes.
Aunty Colleen comes from a line of Stolen Generations. Born and raised in Sydney suburbs near Botany Bay in a working class family, Aunty Colleen struggled with learning in school and left at 14yrs and 9 months to work in a number of fields. Aunty Colleen was the first woman in Australia to qualify as a Panel Beater and Spray Painter.
As a victim of a hit and run Aunty Colleen spent 30 years in a wheelchair, but says, “ I never saw this as a disability. It gave me the ability to learn and teach others how nothing can stop us from achieving goals in life.”
Aunty Colleen does not label herself as an ‘activist’ but has strived to bring about change for all, including ‘locking on’ in the sacred Pilliga Forest to save it from coal seam gas extraction, camping on the roadside on the Central Coast for over two months to successfully save Bambara, part of Kariong Sacred Lands, standing up (or sitting down in Aunty Colleen’s case) against large mining companies in Calga NSW, and fighting to protect natural habitat and wildlife from unsustainable and destructive development in Kariong & Wadalba NSW.
Some of Aunty Colleen’s policies:
*SAVE KARIONG SACRED LANDS - endangered native habitat and wildlife and cultural site at risk of destruction for cut and fill housing development
*STOP THE CONTINUED STOLEN GENERATION - bring our kids home, support families
*THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL DIRECT ACTION - no fines or arrests.
*MORE ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLING - enable better pathways for opening and running schools for kids who are struggling with mainstream schooling
*AFFORDABLE HOMES AND RENTAL ACCOMMODATION - stop selling our public housing. Legislate rental price maximums.
BRETT DUROUX
CLARENCE NSW (Grafton, Casino, Yamba)
A proud Yaegl, Bundjalung and Gumbaynnggirr Brett is campaigning to give his community a voice and strong leadership, to promote respect for the land and encourage unity and equality.
A vote for Brett is a vote for:
*No coal seam gas exploration or mining in the Clarence Valley. Protect our waterways, bushland and farmland.
*Housing - no-one should be homeless in Australia
*FREE Education - make education accessible for all. Free healthy and hot lunches in all public schools. Every kid gets meal every day.
*Indigenous Youth mental health and on Country programs - mental health issues and suicide rates are tragically climbing in the Aboriginal community. No-one is unaffected. Provide more support for families and our young people. We need more programs to take kids out on Country, to support our strong elders to mentor and coach our young people.
UPDATE ON VICTORIAN REGISTRATION AT STATE LEVEL - 16/11/2022
We were unsuccessful in our attempts to become registered as a political party in Victoria with the VEC. We received 295 positive responses of the required 500. Thank you to those Victorians who responded to the VEC and thank you to the members who advised us they had moved out of state and so on. And a BIG thank you to Jono, our volunteer in Brisbane, who contacted over 600 Victorian members asking for their help.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? The more members we have the better for our next attempt at registration….which won’t be for at least 6 months due to regulations…..join this grassroots party…from little things big things grow. Also if you move or change other details please let us know at the same time as you change your enrolment details with the AEC (who manage the roll for themselves and all the state electoral commissions).
Membership is free, open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Aussies and you can pull out at any time.
The IAPA believe a 'Voice TO parliament' could be useful if properly constituted, but the only way we can have a say, that can't be diluted or ignored, is if we have a ‘A Voice IN in parliament’ with elected IAPA representatives answering only to other Indigenous people.
We were not registered in Victoria; however, the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia backed three Indigenous candidates who ran as Independents.
INDIGENOUS-ABORIGINAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA (IAPA) BACKED INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES in VICTORIA.
LAYLAH ALSAIMARY
Laylah is a young proud Barkindji woman who grew up in Mildura in regional Victoria and has just turned 18 years old.
Laylah stood for the Lower House District of Melbourne as an Independent with the full support of the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia.
Laylah wants a voice for Indigenous Youth
Laylah has been spurred onto run in the election for the same reason we became a political party.
“There needs to be a change of the way we do things in Australia......education, detention, foster care......”
Laylah is what is referred to as a 'school refuser' and her personal experiences place Laylah in the perfect place to speak about issues affecting more and more of our young people in Australia.
A school refuser is a young person who does not fit into our mainstream schooling system, so they drop out of school, resulting in a loss of all the social and empowering aspects school can bring.......school refusers are pushed to the fringes and are vulnerable to getting lost in isolation, mental illness issues, crime and drug use.
Here in Laylah’s own words:
"We need alternative schools that cater to kids who don't fit into mainstream schooling. Our Indigenous controlled schools would welcome any school refuser with our alternative curriculum focusing on health, art, sport, cooking and Indigenous culture as well as reading and writing.
School refusers, of which I am one, are basically ignored. We are the group most likely to be jailed, especially if you are a boy.
I would like to see the bush have the same level of mental health and drug and alcohol rehab services as Melbourne. I am only 18 but I know young people who would go to youth rehab centers if they were available.
I would like to see Indigenous homework and drop in centres in every town in this state. These centres could be a haven for struggling and lost kids and provide fresh fruit as well as help with reading, writing and homework. They would need to be Indigenous controlled, so Indigenous kids would feel welcome there."
The voters of Melbourne were very taken with Laylah’s story and her detailed practical policy proposals, giving her a remarkable 7.1 % of the vote at the Queen Victoria Voting Centre where IAPA volunteers were able to give out how-to-vote cards and advocate all day.
Storm Hellmuth
Storm, a proud Darkinoong man now living and working in Geelong, stood in the Western Victorian Region of the Legislative Council (Upper House) as an independent with the full support of the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia.
Storm is a family man and owns his own successful concreting business after working his way up through brick-laying and concreting from an early age.
Storm wants to improve rights for Indigenous Australians. No matter what happens in this election Storm says he will continue to raise awareness and fight for the need for a systematic change for the “way things are done” when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.
Storm is well thought of and connected in his Geelong community, easily finding 50 people happy to nominate him as an IAPA backed candidate in the hurried lead up to the November, 2022 Victorian State Election.
Storm is keen to have another go at registering the IAPA at State level in Victoria so if you think you could help him realise that vision please email the Party and we can connect you up.
If you have any questions please contact
Uncle Owen Whyman:
0499 342 340
Latest News
Indigenous Party Enrollment Form + AEC Enrollment Form
Hey Mob and Allies,
Here are the 2 forms you may need to fill in to join the Indigenous Party of Australia.
Online Enrolment form - to join our party
2. If you are not on the electoral roll, or are not sure, go to : https://check.aec.gov.au. If you’re not enrolled or need to change some details, go to : https://www.aec.gov.au/enrol . If you don’t have I.D. or a permanent address or don’t like computers or the internet there are ways to get enrolled anyway. If you need help feel free to email us on indigenouspartyofaustralia@gmail.com. (For instance someone without I.D. can be vouched for by someone else who is already enrolled.) If you would prefer enrolling via paper there is a link to the form via the button below:
Uncle Owen Whyman
Convenor
Indigenous Party of Australia
If you are having trouble with the online form to join the IAPA, please print out the form below, fill, scan and send it to us at: indigenouspartyofaustralia@gmail.com or just write the required information on a piece of paper, sign and post to: Owen Whyman, C/o Wilcannia PO, NSW. 2836.
The Wilcannia Mob: Next Generation - 'River Down'
Desert Pea Media is very proud to announce our latest release 'River Down' - straight out of the community of Wilcannia – the cultural heart of Paakantji Country in Western NSW.
The song was created in May 2017 as part of a 2 Week Desert Pea Media (DPM) storytelling workshop in partnership with Far West Local Health District ‘Quit for New Life’ Project.
It stars one of the original members of 'The Wilcannia Mob', Lyndall King, and a group of community members including vocalist Owen Whyman Snr and Maureen King aka 'Radio Mor'.
DPM was invited to Wilcannia to facilitate a conversation about important issues facing the community around healthy choices and to create some works that would inspire and educate.
This production was co-written by DPM staff Toby Finlayson, Michael Graham, Jared Melrose, Nicky Akehurst and Josh Nicholas.Music produced by Sydney - based music producer Josh ‘Hazy’ Nicholas, and mixed by his father, David Nicholas.
CREDITS:
Starring and co-written by:
Jamin Whyman
Maureen King
Lyndal King
Owen Whyman Jnr
Owen Whyman Snr
Toby Finlayson - Director/ Writer/ DOP/ Editor
Josh Nicholas - Music Producer/ Music Director
Jared Melrose - Co-Writer/ Co-Facilitator
Nicky Akehurst - Production Assistant/ 2nd Camera/ Photography
Roy Weiland - Colour Grading/Motion Graphics
David Nicholas - Audio Mixing & Mastering
Jules Lawson - Producer / DPM Business Manager
Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia ready for Election 2022 | The Point | NITV
The beginning. Uncle Owen Whyman, Uncle Derek Hardman and Uncle Lionel Henaway speaking.
We take donations for any amount to keep our Party going:
Bank: Westpac
Acct. Name: INDIGENOUS ABORIGINAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA
BSB:
032 816
Account Number:
317 621
Thanks for your donations, even $5 is great!
Email us for a tax receipt.
* For other ways to donate, including PayPal, Credit Card and via the Chuffed Crowdfunder, instructions for obtaining a receipt, and AEC compliance, please see DONATE in the site header.
Laylah’s Rap:
Laylah is a talented Barkindji song writer. For her and her sister song-writing and singing is joyful release from the troubles of adolescence. Flexible school structures and hours allow time for this sort of creativity. This year Laylah will be starting her nursing studies in Melbourne near where she stood for the IAPA in the CBD seat of Melbourne in November 2022, standing in the first election she was eligible to vote in, having just turned 18 years old.
Policy No 5: Indigenous controlled indigenous youth education.
Laylah Alsaimary is our youth representative in Victoria. She stood as an Independent in the Victorian Nov 2022 elections with IAPA backing. Below, when she was 16, Laylah spoke about her unhappy time at school. Many of our kids do not fit in to mainstream school resulting in poor attendance, self esteem and educational outcomes.
Laylah’s story highlights some common issues our kids are facing in schools toda
New T-shirtDesign
Amelia’s Design - 12 Years old from Wilcannia
Newsletter - 03/02/2021
Dear Members and Friends,
A big newsletter this month in 2 halves.
About 200 of you deadly members are not on the electoral roll and this has set back our registration by maybe 6 months. Everyone must be on the electoral roll. Please email us so we can fix it or you can go to aec.gov.au and follow the prompts to Enrol. You will need to sign but can be done with your finger on your phone. You may need ID such as a Driver Licence or Medicare number but there are ways around any of these obstacles such as another enrolled voter vouching for you. You can also go to the AEC office and fill out the form.
Secondly, Aunty Nerrie, Wiradjuri, needs our help! Sacred sites, near Blayney, are about to be blasted for a gold mine. If you can help, come to a demo, write a letter to the office now. Send a text to 0455 195 920. Auntie Nerrie is speaking below.
Our North Coast members had a fantastic Invasion Day/Australia day bbq in Grafton. They asked our members their views on changing the date of ‘Australia Day’. See below. They said results were mixed with some saying they did not care if the date was changed. See photos below.
Charlotte’s Story
Entering high school, I was selected for one out of the two "S classes". The title of these classes had the stigma of being the smartest classes in the year. Over time, I realised being in one of these classes put nothing but pressure on me. I was obviously smart enough to be in this class, but I never felt quite as good as the others around me.
As well as endless work, and tests and exams being thrown at you in every subject and class you sat down in, you were constantly being thrown assignments that were to be done at home with such a short period of time until their due date.
I then started to fall behind, not only with my grades but with my attendance. I just couldn't get myself to go to school some days. I would have packed my bag the night before with all of my books, but when I got up to get ready in the morning, the feeling of severe sickness and anxiety was just too much. Whenever I didn't turn up at school, which was sometimes consecutive days, I would constantly receive pressuring messages and phone calls from my group of friends who wanted me to be at school, this actually got to me. As well as this, I had issues at home.
It wasn't long before the home school liaison officer turned up at my home to talk to my Mum about me not attending school, which was such a scare for me and just made my anxiety worse.
My Mum and I began to think the problem could have been the school that I was at, so my Mum then moved me to another high school to begin fresh in Year 10. But the feeling continued for me, nothing changed, I lasted 4 days at that school before dropping out completely and giving up.
I decided to help my Mum and take on the issues we had at home, becoming a full time carer with her to look after my father figure, my Pop, who was only getting worse with dementia.
At this point I didn't care about education, I thought to myself my mental health comes first before anything. Finally realising I needed help, I ended up seeing a psychologist and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and with what who would've thought it was an actual thing, I was also diagnosed with "school phobia".
Slowly on the mend, my Mum saw an ad in the paper for an alternative school. As soon as she mentioned it to me I freaked out, just the thought of any school frightened me, but fortunately she forced me into at least going to check it out.
So I went to an alternative school where half of the staff, including the people in charge, were Indigenous. This school worked for me because everyone was on the same level with how they felt about schooling, therefore it was judgment free and friendly. It also worked for me in the way that it focused more on attendance, just to motivate yourself to get up out of bed and do something and to be a part of something, rather than the pressure you would have each day of attending a mainstream school. There was never an overload of learning and the classes were never anything too intense, which is what I think is all that's needed. To make this school even more special, it was Indigenous friendly. This was my happy place.
Zaneb’s Story and Shirt Design
My name is Zaneb. I am 12 yrs old. I designed the T shirt for the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia. I live in Mildura in Victoria and I am Barkindji
I live with my mum and sisters and I love them to pieces. I like Art which is why I did the T shirt. I hope people like it. A number of them will be free.
I go to school but I am never happy there. My mum and her friends tried to start an Indigenous friendly school in Mildura. We had to do piles of paperwork and we rented a great building for our school.
But the answer was " No". We had to go to the VRQA [Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority] but their attitude towards my mum was just terrible. They refused to allow her to even speak. Shame job!
The education authorities in every state seem to be really against Indigenous peoples.
I have my fingers crossed for the Indigenous Party of Australia. I really hope we get registered.
Love from Zaneb.
Uncle Owen Whyman and Lawrence Brooke from the National Executive meet and greet supporters of the IAPA on the Central Coast. It was terrible weather but everyone had a good time and had plenty of opportunity to ask Uncle Owen and Lawrence more questions about the Indigenous - Aboriginal Party of Australia.
February 2022 Newsletter
Click on button below
Advice from Aden Ridgeway for the Indigenous Party of Australia
Hi Aden
Hope you do not mind my asking the following:
" If you had one piece of important advice to give us, what would that be?"
Hi again Gab!
I guess my response to your question really relates to the political party (in this case, the IAPA), your policies and campaign messages, and how to make these relevant to a wider support base.
A good example here, is to think of the environmental movement in the 1980s and how they needed to make the issue of environmental conservation, management, protection and biodiversity, a mainstream issue that the population becomes more aware of, understands its importance, and leads to mainstream political parties (as well as big business and society) forming policy responses, etc.
Achieving the desired outcome can often take time but sometimes they can be fast-tracked if the right moment in time and opportunity arises … for example, last year's catastrophic bushfires, etc.
The last thing I would also say is to have a clear vision and strategy about what your party is seeking to achieve, where and how? For example, while I can see that the IAPA is taking a national focus, getting registered is one thing but it also comes back to building up your support base (who are they? what are their thoughts/opinions? How are they like the IAPA and vice-versa? How would they see themselves getting a voice through IAPA, etc.?) So I guess my message here, is more around building the support base and having a clear understanding of the IAPA’s political focus … the Australian Democrats, for example, built a support base aroundthe idea of 'Keeping the Bastards Honest' which then meant developing a focus which was not about becoming an alternative government or even another opposition but a focus which strategised our role to stop the excesses of whoever was elected in government by concentrating our efforts in the Senate. This was further supported by having candidates run in every state and territory election, as well as local government elections, Australia-wide.Aden Ridgeway
Lambie's approach is pretty much the same as the Aus Dems, that is holding
the balance of power in the Senate, which means a senate strategy approach.
The key here is understanding how the Senate vote on election day works … here's
a link which might be helpful:https://www.aph.gov.au/Help/FAQs/Senate
The Senate voting system of 'proportional representation' means that you have to
achieve a quota in each state in order to be elected. So for large populated states
like NSW and VIC, it is far more difficult, whereas the smaller populated states like
Tasmania, it is a whole lot easier to get elected as compared to the larger states.
So I'll leave it at that and wish you well in your political journey .. regards,
Aden
In regard to our competition to design a t-shirt for Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia (also known as Indigenous Party of Australia) we received some fantastic entries. Pls see below!