ABORIGINAL WALKOUT

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33158, 23 February 1973, Page 9

ABORIGINAL WALKOUT

. (N.Z.P. A.-Reuter —Copyright) MELBOURNE, Feb. 22. A group of Aborigines I stormed out of the Interna-1 itional Eucharistic Congress I I last night, describing it as I “the biggest sell-out of the Aboriginal people since Captain Cook supposedly discovered us.” ; The group of about 30. ‘supported by some white i delegates, said that they were | protesting against the failure ]of a special congress workshop group studying Aboriginal problems to listen to Aborigines themselves. At a press conference jcalled later to put their ‘ views, a spokesman for the Aborigines told reporters: “The tribal people were I brought to the congress as exhibition niggers . . . Nondelegates were admitted to the Roman Catholic study j : group, but some Aborigines were excluded. “Recommendations against discrimination in the Roman ■ Catholic Church were eliminated. We thought that the. (white hierarchy of the' i Church would listen to us, | but we were disappointed. ; We thought they would re-; cognise that racialism and ' bigotry exist in the Church, t only to find that this was s just a token gesture.” ? An official of the study / group said later: “They were I angry because they didn’t get i their own way, and they were , troublemakers.”