Supporting Indigenous Australians by John Foss Chairman National Board Surfrider Foundation Sept 1998

"Australia is a very racist country. Its often hidden, denied or disguised. The Aboriginal people have been subjected to such a continuously cruel and devastatingly destructive onslaught by the European invasion of this country that it's a credit to their strength of will and endurance that they have survived at all. The Aboriginal people are such a unique and talented race." Wayne Lynch, surfer 1996.

The Surfrider Foundation is a community based environmental organisation dedicated to the protection and preservation of our coastal and marine environments.

The Surfrider Foundation believes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a special relationship with the land and a unique understanding of how it works. Aboriginal people have been protecting and preserving the land and the coasts for over 3,000 generations. We feel that by supporting native title we are supporting the environment and playing a key role in the reconciliation process.

Since 1995 the Surfrider Foundation has endorsed in principle a Policy for Racial Harmony which recognises that Aboriginal people are the traditional custodians of the land.

During the last three years Surfrider Branches and Chapters around the country have worked hard to develop close relationships with Indigenous communities as we work together to preserve and protect our coastal and marine environments.

In Victoria the Surfrider Foundation has just received funding to run a series of Cross-Cultural awareness workshops for coastal user groups. These workshops will be run in conjunction with Aboriginal communities along Victoria's coasts. Surfers have also been active working with the Gunai/Kurnai of Gippsland teaching young Koories how to make surfboards.

In 1995 a number of surfers including world famous Victorian surfer Wayne Lynch organised for a group of Koorie surfers to go to Hawaii for the World's first Indigenous Surf contest and since 1995 surf company BILLABONG has been sponsoring a series of Indigenous Surf Contests around Australia which have generated a huge amount of interest and goodwill in the surfing community.

In May 1997 the Surfrider Foundation in conjunction with Surfing Australia held a Press Conference in Sydney where we announced our support for the native title rights of Indigenous Australians. At this event former Pro surfer Mark Warren represented Surfing Australia in speaking strongly about the need to support the rights of Indigenous people.

In 1997 I spoke at the Aboriginal Reconciliation Convention in Melbourne about the role Surfrider is playing in building bridges around Australia with Indigenous communities.

I am proud to say that surfers around the country have been working with and supporting the rights of Indigenous people for a long time.

Australians share a special relationship with our beach and marine environments. We also share a special relationship with our Indigenous communities.

Now is a time for co-existence and certainty, not dispossession and discrimination.

John Foss
Surfrider Foundation