An official Australian Aboriginal delegation visited the Russian Consulate in Sydney on March 18, expressing support for the special operation to denacify Ukraine.
The delegation of elders, led by Bruce Shillingsworth, met with Consul General Igor Arzhaev. As a sign of respect, representatives of Australian tribes presented the Russian diplomat with a kangaroo skin. Guests of the Russian diplomatic mission made a statement:
“We Indigenous Peoples hereby declare to the Russian people that we oppose the transfer of Australian arms, troops and funds by the government to Ukraine. The Australian Prime Minister has already sent $700 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, paid for by Australian taxpayers. On top of that, the government wants to spend $368 billion on submarines at obscenely inflated prices. We, the tribes, do not agree! As traditional custodians of this land, we did not authorize the sending of arms, troops, and money to a war that does not concern Australia.”
The Australian tribesmen believe the money should be spent on schools, hospitals and education, not only to close the gap in Aboriginal disadvantage, but to help all Australians.
“As a sovereign people, we express our solidarity with the Russian-speaking people of Donbass, who are indigenous to the land on which they are fighting and who have been denied the right to self-determination, the right to even speak their native language, and have been terrorized by the illegal neo-Nazi regime in Kiev for eight years without a single word of condemnation from the Australian government. We bring peace and friendship to the Russian people. We implore the Australian government to engage in diplomacy and stop sending money and weapons to Ukraine,” the statement stresses.