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<h1 id="gmail-skip-to-content-heading">Tasmanian Tarkine advocates release political video spoken in the language of the state's Aboriginal people</h1><div class="gmail-byline">
By Fiona Blackwood</div>
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Updated
<span class="gmail-timestamp"><time class="gmail-relative gmail-undefined" datetime="Sat Feb 03 2018 23:19:42 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)" title="Sat 3 Feb 2018, 11:19pm"><span class="gmail-noprint">Sat at 11:19pm</span><span class="gmail-print"></span></time></span>
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Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
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</div></div><div class="gmail-inline-content gmail-video gmail-full gmail-video-16x9"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-04/the-advertisement-in-the-tasmanian-aboriginal/9394712" class="gmail-inline-caption"><strong>Video:</strong> The political advertisement uses Tasmanian Aboriginal language to highlight Tarkine concerns
<span class="gmail-source">(ABC News)</span>
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<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-09/bid-to-reopen-tarkine-to-off-road-vehicles/8888506"><strong>Related Story:</strong>
Bid to reopen Tarkine four-wheel drive tracks stirs anger</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/aboriginal-criticism-at-labors-stance-on-tarkine-tracks/8954234"><strong>Related Story:</strong>
Aboriginal leader accuses Labor of vying for 'redneck vote' over Tarkine 4WD tracks</a></div>
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<p class="gmail-first">An advertisement featuring the language of the
Aboriginal people in Tasmania is being rolled out during the state
election campaign.</p><p>The video highlights concerns about a Liberal plan to re-open four-wheel drive tracks in the state's north-west.</p><p>The
Arthur Pieman Conservation Area on Tasmania's coast has been closed to
vehicles for five years, and the State Government's bid to re-open
tracks is still being considered by the Federal Environment Minister. </p><p>Now,
the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and the Wilderness Society have
produced an advertising campaign in the local Aboriginal language.</p><p>Tasmanian
Aboriginal Centre CEO Heather Sculthorpe said using the local
Indigenous language to defend Aboriginal heritage was a powerful tool.</p><p>The ad states that the Premier Will Hodgman talks reconciliation, "but he doesn't walk it".</p><blockquote class="gmail-quote--pullquote"><p>"He wants to cover our heritage with rubber mats and drive over it for fun."</p></blockquote><p>Ms
Sculthorpe said despite a pledge to reset the relationship with
Aboriginal people, Mr Hodgman had ignored Aboriginal opinions "to the
point where we were forced to go to the Federal Court to defend our
heritage".</p><p>"That's a hostile act that prioritises cheap, local
politics in far north-west Tasmania over his own moral pledge to lead
reconciliation in Tasmania," she said.</p><p>Ms Sculthorpe said she was proud of the ad and hoped it would resonate with a wide audience.</p><p>Wilderness
Society spokesman Vica Bayley said Aboriginal people had been horrified
by the Government's policy to expand four-wheel drive tracks across the
sensitive and sacred landscapes.</p><p>He said the tracks were closed
in 2012 based on advice they were doing irreparable damage to Aboriginal
heritage sites like middens, tool scatters and hut depressions.</p><h2>Liberals defend policy</h2><p>In a statement, the Hobart Liberal Government defended its promise to provide access to the Tarkine region.</p><p>"Unlike Labor and the Greens, we don't support locking up the Tarkine," a spokesman said.</p><p>"Already more than 50 per cent of Tasmania is in reserves.</p><p>"We
are currently working with the Federal Government to ensure that this
can be achieved in a way that minimises the impact on the environment
and upon Aboriginal heritage."</p><p>The statement said the Government had substantially delivered on its commitment to "reset" the relationship as promised.</p><p>This
included changing government policy to provide a more inclusive
definition of Aboriginality, as well as adding Aboriginal history to the
school curriculum</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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