Aborigines ask Lib MP for help
By MONIKA BOOGS, Police Reporter
The Canberra Times
Aboriginal Tent Embassy members have appealed to federal Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan to help them get back the coat of arms on Old Parliament House.
The appeal was made when Senator Heffernan met members of the group yesterday afternoon.
He visited the embassy of his own accord, saying he had always found time in the past to meet and talk to members.
''I went down to have a yarn with them,'' he said yesterday.
Aboriginal elder Kevin Buzzacott said members had asked Senator Heffernan to return the bronze coat of arms featuring the kangaroo and emu.
Australian Federal Police retrieved a coat of arms from the embassy on Tuesday after it was allegedly taken from Old Parliament House at the weekend.
Embassy members have lodged a writ against the Federal Government over the use of images of the emu and kangaroo on publications and property.
The writ's grounds include that the kangaroo and emu and its graphical forms are of significance to the traditions and customs of the Aboriginal people and its use by the Australian Government is an act of genocide. Mr Buzzacott said the embassy members wanted to speak to the Indigenous Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock about the use of the kangaroo and the emu.
He said that meeting Senator Heffernan was a start.
''We start off talking and see what happens,'' Mr Buzzacott said.