Tasmanian Aboriginal elder Uncle Jim Everett says he’s ‘willing to go to jail’ to protect the environment

Jim Everett
First of all, this is the second time I have been accused in the forest. I was charged with trespassing in the Forest of Styx on March 19th of this year, with a court date of June 6th. I made it very clear that I would not go to the colonial court system because they had no jurisdiction over my land rights. Then I got caught driving up the east coast taking a random breath test and the cop found out I had an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court. Therefore, he released me on bail for another trial scheduled for September 23, which I did not attend. And then working with the Bob Brown Foundation, who are great supporters and help organize entry into the forest, because it’s not as easy as people might think. I went on my birthday or the day before to be there for my birthday. I believe this is a birthday gift to the forest to establish its law in the country while I was there to protect the native forests from ongoing logging.

Leon Compton
You have a law in the country. Tasmania has a law upheld by the courts and written by Parliament. Are you worried that this will end with you in jail?

Jim Everett
Not at all. I mean, if prison is the result, then so be it. What I mean is that if you want governments to stop doing this or that, you have to be willing to break laws, their laws, to get them to pay attention and fix the problem properly. I’m ready to go to jail if necessary. However, I think the most important thing is that the government sits back and begins to think with some common sense. We have never made any agreements, no Indigenous people in Australia have, in fact, ever made any agreements with governments to become citizens of this country. So it’s still a colony until an agreement is reached with us. And I think we will make this agreement for the benefit of everyone on this continent, and that is what I am trying to achieve.

Leon Compton
So, Uncle Jim Everett, for you this question is part of a larger test of your rights, your recognition or, as you say, non-recognition of their laws and your non-recognition of them on this earth.

Jim Everett
This is right. It is very important that we have a very high opinion of the law in the country, which is supposed to protect this country. So this forestry, you know, the ongoing deforestation of native forests is a really big threat to this island. This island is a wonderful place. And if we’re going to keep cutting down these forests, we’re destroying relational ecosystems, and eventually we won’t have these forests. We don’t want them to protect us from climate change and carbon emissions, and they are producers of good clean air. This doesn’t make sense. Forestry Tasmania, which trades under the name Sustainable Timber Tasmania, must move to move logging from native forests to plantation forests. There are many plantation forests there to meet the needs of loggers.

Leon Compton
Who then should decide if not the government, who do you think Uncle Jim Everett should decide who will do what with Tasmania’s native forestlands?

Jim Everett
This is where we come to talking about the agreement. You see, people talk about sovereignty. This is the crown. He doesn’t belong here. This is someone else’s claim on our country. Our law in the country. And if they are going to protect and take care of this country with us, then they need to understand that the law in the country is what we must observe, and not the sovereign, who has no rights here.

Leon Compton
Want to test this in court? Is it possible that you actually want your views and this issue to be brought before the Tasmanian court system for review?

Jim Everett
Absolutely. After all, the police are going to keep me in custody. I mean, I’m going to get arrested again in the woods. I will continue to do this until the police finally decide they can no longer release me on bail and take me to court. I will not file a case in the colonial court, I will challenge them on the citizenship issue and we will see what we make of it. The court is a means because it works according to the laws of the legislators in parliament. Therefore, I expect that my subpoena will result in the government either agreeing that we need to make an agreement, or, failing that, they will continue to insist on denying us the opportunity to achieve this agreement, and they will want to continue to be a colony. I don’t think people in this country want to remain a colony forever. And it is still a colony until I make an agreement with our people on a national level, especially here in Tasmania. And they can’t say they ever made an agreement with us because they claimed we’ve been extinct for 120-odd years.

Leon Compton
Are you talking about a contract?

Jim Everett
I refused to approve the terminology as it could be. I just want to call it an agreement. I am 82 years old. I want to get away from political action. I do it because no one else does it. And I’m ready for this. Whatever comes out of this, I hope it will be a conversation, a dialogue between our people and the government, especially here in Tasmania. And I hope that this will develop into a better dialogue with the federal government to start thinking about getting an agreement. I will leave it to Indigenous leaders across the country to work together and go to government and say, this is what we expect from this agreement. What I’m saying is that they need to make an agreement to end this colony and make it a nation of people that we all care about this country together. I want all white people and all Australians in general to stop trying to assimilate us into the colonial destruction of our lands, seas and waters and get on our way. We will show them how to take care of the country, and then they can find their identity in this country, not in Gallipoli.

Leon Compton
Have your views changed over time?

Jim Everett
They have it. They have it.

Leon Compton
I’m wondering, you know, you’ve always been a passionate advocate. I’m wondering if this is a question you’re exploring more aggressively or more passionately, and whether your views have changed over time.

Jim Everett
They have it. Old land rights are old school politics. And we were talking about land rights as if we were talking about land ownership. Nobody owns the land. According to our philosophy and history of tradition, we have never owned the land. We have always been part of the earth and our law is in the earth, so we take on the role of being part of these relational ecosystems and our role is to help maintain the balance. And I see this as a way of saying to the rest of Australia: “Look, we want to live here together, but we can’t live here together if you’re going to keep trashing this country and we’re constantly being trashed.” from discussing how we can take care of this.

Leon Compton
But this is one of the fundamental foundations of Western society: the right to own land, the security of that ownership, the ability to, you know, exchange and understand that the acquisition of land is something that will not be violated. How to reconcile these two systems?

Jim Everett
I’m not saying that people don’t have rights to land or shouldn’t have rights to land. I submit that it does not matter whether you have title to the land, whether you only have government land or whether it is just Crown land. Anyone in this country and everyone in this country should take care of this country and not destroy it. So it’s not about property titles. It’s not about anything like that. This suggests that all of us in this country learn to respect this country through the laws in the country. Let’s move into the future together, taking care of this place, because we have seen in all the other colonies of the British Empire how badly they destroyed them. We still have time to save this country, but we need to change soon.