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Home > English > Advanced > Module C: Representation and Text > Elective 2: Powerplay > After Mabo

After Mabo

by John Hughes

This unit was prepared by Jenny McDonald, Shoalhaven High School

Context
Overview
Close examination of the text
Additional texts
Suggested activities

Context

In their responding and composing, students consider representations of and the interplay of types of power. They analyse portrayals of the powerful, consider how the depiction of particular relationships provides insight into the nature of politics and consider the extent to which power resides with the people.

(English Stage 6 Prescriptions, p21)

Overview

John Hughes’ documentary, After Mabo, appeared on the series Cutting Edge on SBS in 1997. The text provides insights into the way in which power can be defined through a range of contexts.

The basis for the text is the ongoing debate surrounding the concept of native title in Australia; its potent resurrection, exemplified by Eddie Mabo’s intensive struggle to assert land rights for the Murray Islanders during the last thirty years of the twentieth century, and its consequent reverberations throughout Aboriginal and non Aboriginal communities. Throughout the text the viewer becomes increasingly aware that this debate cannot be defined in simplistic terms; that its ramifications move beyond the political arena and encroach upon the social and cultural makeup of the nation.

Hughes uses his text as a mechanism to explore how power is represented by a range of significant groups, and individuals, within Australian society and then utilised through the interactive processes that occur as part of the negotiation, and assertion, of power.

Hughes’ particular examinations of power in this text focuses on:

• the developing power base of Aboriginal people aiming to redefine their sense of purpose, identity and culture in the late twentieth century

• the manipulative techniques connected to the establishment of political control, and the personal assertions of power that are perceived as aiding the evolution of each politician’s status, within their own party and also within the broader context of society

• the capacity of the media to influence the community generally by creating its own representation of social, political, historical and cultural events in particular through its manipulation of textual materials - visual text, written text and oral text

• the efforts of other groups such as the National Farmers’ Federation to promulgate their own interpretation of power through the use of particular strategies such as the dogma of tradition and the utilisation of the ‘victim’ complex.
  

Hughes’ text allows the viewer a rich and engaging insight into these representations of power. Through the use of an extensive range of visual images, songs and interviews, edited text from media responses to critical issues, and the filmed text of significant events that form the continuum of discussions and deliberations surrounding the land rights debate Hughes invites an observation of a powerplay scenario that is both illuminating and involving.

Close examination of the text

The opening sequence of water imagery is essentially metaphorical, echoing the historical context of After Mabo - a reminder of the arrival of white settlers and their impact on every aspect of indigenous life, and the life of Eddie Mabo as a Murray Islander - a man deeply attached to his environment, both land and sea. The significance of the water image also manifests later in the text when Aboriginal communities clearly reflect on their physical and spiritual connections with both the land and the water and observe their inextricable bond in relation to native title.

Hughes’ ensuing images, including excerpts from the Australian film Bitter Springs, made in 1951 and starring Chips Rafferty and Michael Pate, footage of Aboriginal children ‘adopted’ by a white family, white children studying from a history text in 1971, and Paul Keating’s watershed Redfern speech, from 1992, which reflected on ‘a recognition of the wrongs done’ to Aboriginal peoples Australia wide - are adroitly selected, in that they convey important contextual issues that help define the native title concept and assist in juxtaposing the critical issue of how power is explored and defined as the text evolves.

Bitter Springs is used as a recurring element within Hughes’ textual landscape, because its selected scenes create a sombre reminder of the social, cultural, political and personal suppressions endured by indigenous people from the earliest times of white settlement. The film’s representation of white attitudes from the past reminds the viewer of the prevalence of this invidious perception of Aboriginal people and the use of the racial supremacy theory to subsidise the accrual of power by white authority figures.

The view of Aboriginal people from the 1971 textbook is a stark reminder of pejorative stereotyping attached to the representation of indigenous people, even in the recent past; one of the catalysts for the Aboriginal search for justice in contemporary society. Keating’s speech has textual depth, not only because of its significant acknowledgment of rights of Aboriginal people, but also because of the way in which it demonstrates Keating’s use of a powerful concern in the political and social environment of late twentieth century Australia to make a personal impact on the history of race relations. The dual agenda implicit in Keating’s action is a reminder of the complexity implicit in any diagnosis of power and powerplay.

The function of the media is also critical to the development of Hughes’ text. The judicious interpolation of segments from SBS current affairs programs and the news is a reflection on the role of the media as a powerplayer in society. The media, in its various incarnations, documents those events and experiences that it regards as significant in society and can apply a discriminating grid to the reporting of actual occurrences. The capacity of the media to retell events or manipulate what has actually happened is a distinct acknowledgment of how the contemporary community’s knowledge of current affairs, and its history generally, is coloured and shaped by the media.

Hughes uses media segments to reflect crucial aspects of the native title debate since 1992 and also to reflect upon the media’s role in the interplay of power amongst individuals and groups in society. The use of footage regarding Pauline Hanson reminds the viewer of the polarising effects of her politics and of the powerplay connected to this phase of political history in the 1990s. Hanson’s ability to use controversy in an age of political correctness is a recognisable, if ironic, powerplay; she and the media use each other to gain maximum attention, the media through its sensational journalism, which attracts the attention of a potentially broad audience, and Hanson through the elevated political profile she gains via publicity.

The influence of the media on the individual’s perception of the world features as an important tool in the establishment of power bases in communities internationally, not just in Australia. That language can be readily utilised as an essential element of propaganda and the development of power through the media, particularly when linked to politics, is already established precedent - consider Saddam Hussein’s use of the media to control his people’s response to the USA, and the use of propagandist techniques in World War I.

The growing power base of Aboriginal people in the community also serves to encourage recognition of the ability of a minority group to overcome the repressive, destructive past and aim for a more positive and assertive movement into the future.

Throughout the text of After Mabo a range of high profile Aboriginal individuals express their views of the land rights situation in Australia and create important contextual scenarios that help develop the audience’s understanding of the native title debate. The presence of these individuals in Hughes’ text gives voice to the premise that all people are capable of attaining power through the assertion of their beliefs and their willingness to pursue their goals. Lois (now Lowitja) O’Donoughue comments, during the early stage of the text, that the enactment of the Mabo legislation ensures that:

‘...a new political voice has emerged in this country that will have to be listened to.’

This highlights the capacity of individuals like Lowitja, Noel Pearson, Peter Yu, the Dodson brothers, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Richard Frankland, who was also involved in the actual production of Hughes’ text, to promote the native title cause and eventually establish a significant profile in the community, through significant linkages with the media and the political arena.

Throughout the documentary the role of these individuals is strongly interlinked with significant groups. The role of the Mirimbiak people in After Mabo is notable because of their accrual of status through the ongoing political negotiations over the Mabo legislation. There are important indicators relating to this development of power; the establishment of the Mirimbiak Nations Aboriginal Corporation as a formal body and its high profile in the native title debate. The role of this group, and that of the National Indigenous Working Group which possesses an even more potent role in the negotiation of native title issues, firmly reminds us that powerplays can operate on a range of levels and are not simply the domain of those technically in recognisable positions of power - government ministers, media magnates and so forth.

Hughes creates an important representation of these Aboriginal individuals and groups, in relation to the use and development of power. Throughout the text Hughes utilises images which enhances our understanding of powerplay. The use of written text on the screen to summarise the range of legislation linked to the Mabo debate, for example the amendments instituted by the Coalition government eroding indigenous rights to negotiate over mining developments on native title land, serve to underpin the impact of the traditional mechanisms of power exemplified by political forces in the community.

The capacity of Aboriginal individuals and groups to respond to these challenges publicly, especially through formalised media gatherings, provides an interesting contrast with a past which is embedded with the repression of indigenous peoples. Hughes creates a continuum of images which embody the drive of indigenous people to instigate positive, active changes in the contemporary world - the courtroom scenarios, the meetings with the Senate Committee investigating native title and the ritual and well publicised burning of the controversial Ten Point Plan.

Although some of the scenarios are highly suggestive of the desire of political forces to exert control over the native title debate and maintain existing power structures - Nick Minchin’s meetings with indigenous groups to examine Aboriginal community structures and the reasoning behind native title claims and the delayed meeting with the Prime Minister John Howard, at Parliament House in Canberra (‘After 10 months in office the P.M meets the N.I.W.G for the first time’) - the commentary provided by various Aboriginal individuals shows the ability of a previously beleaguered minority to assert their right to challenge political decisions and define their culture and ways of life for society generally - an important powerplay in the contemporary world.

The integration of indigenous music into the main text - ‘Treaty’ and ‘Long Tall Ships’ - add perspective to development of indigenous power. Each lyric symbolises the reality of growing Aboriginal assertiveness about the future and what it holds for Aboriginal peoples, as well as a consciousness of the past. Music becomes a significant element in the expression of Aboriginal power and its steady development in Hughes’ text.

The concept of powerplay is chiefly embodied by the footage at the Reconciliation Conference, where the key players are finally placed in a situation where their viewpoints are publicly aired. Significantly, there is no descent into direct argument. The clash of the traditional powerbase, represented by John Howard, and the rising influence of Aboriginal leadership, represented by individuals such as Noel Pearson is conducted via the medium of formal speeches which are laced occasionally with passionate rhetoric. The intensity of the native title debate reverberates through the audience, which is clearly affected by the speeches. Howard’s intransigence in relation to the debate is poorly received, and the audience engages in its own significant powerplay by utilising a traditional Aboriginal rebuttal - turning their back on the speaker.

Hughes’ text After Mabo provides a comprehensive and fascinating insight into the concept of powerplay. The audience is reminded that power can never be defined easily, remaining a complex, multilayered force operating within the structure of society. This documentary incorporates an array of images and text (both spoken and written) that assist us in recognising the significance of powerplays in our world.

Additional texts

The web sites on Mabo provide an excellent opportunity for research into the history of the native title debate. Other interesting texts include Henry Reynolds’ ‘Why Weren’t We Told?’, which provides sensitive perspective on a range of important Aboriginal issues, including Mabo and Wik, and Trevor Graham’s documentary Mabo - Life Of An Island Man, which gives context to Eddie Mabo’s groundbreaking struggle for land rights for his people.

Suggested activities

1. Imagine that you have been asked to interview John Hughes about his film, for an HSC student magazine. Your brief is to question Hughes about issues of power in his text. Write down the text of your interview, including your questions.

Criteria:

• Students will evaluate and show understanding of the relationship between representation and meaning.

• Students will organise, develop and express ideas using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form.

Syllabus Outcomes: 1, 2A, 4, 6

2. ‘Power can be manifested in variety of ways and After Mabo provides a significant insight into powerplays in Australian society.’
   
   Discuss how effectively Hughes represents the concept of powerplay in his text, After Mabo.

Criteria: as above

Syllabus Outcomes:1, 2, 6, 7, 8

Back to Elective 2: Powerplay