Last month, CBD revealed that mining giant Rio Tinto was bankrolling the Mabo Centre at the University of Melbourne, an initiative to support traditional owners and First Nations youth that is named after renowned Indigenous land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo, whose High Court case ended the doctrine of terra nullius.
A 1990 photo of Eddie Mabo. Credit: Jim McEwan
For the company, funding the centre is the next step in a campaign to repair its relationship with First Nations Australians, which was tainted by its destruction of 46,000-year-old Indigenous rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in 2020. The incident brought Rio worldwide opprobrium and led to the resignation of its chief executive, Jean-Sébastien Jacques.
Despite efforts to buy back goodwill with Indigenous communities – the company donated millions to the Yes campaign in the 2023 Voice referendum – not everyone has forgotten Rio’s recent past. This week, six of Mabo’s grandchildren signed a scathing statement condemning the company’s backing of the Mabo Centre, which the statement accuses of betraying the late Eddie Mabo’s vision.
“We are mortified that the Mabo name is tied to something so hypocritical,” says the statement, written by artist Neta-Rie Mabo, and co-signed by her cousins Mahalia, Maria, Hannah, Cathryn and Peta.
“We cannot reconcile our family’s name being tied to a centre funded by the very forces our grandfather fought against. A centre in his name now accepts money from Rio Tinto, a corporation that has desecrated sacred sites and disregarded Indigenous sovereignty. He would be appalled.”
The statement exposes a division among Mabo’s descendants. His daughter Gail Mabo and grandson Kaleb Mabo both attended the centre’s launch. Gail, a prominent artist, was also featured in an article in The Australian about the centre.
The six Mabo grandchildren who signed the statement want the centre to cut all ties with Rio Tinto.
“Anything less is a betrayal. Our grandfather’s name deserves better. His legacy is not for sale,” they say.
The centre’s advisory board issued a statement on Wednesday night saying it was aware of the criticisms but noting the centre’s name was “gifted by senior members of the Mabo family following extensive engagement with them”.
It said those senior family members were aware of the Rio Tinto investment before deciding whether to gift the name and added that the money did not come with a governance role for the mining giant at the centre. The company declined to comment.
What’s in a name?
Kingston local council has stood down councillor Jane Agirtan after she appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday over allegations she breached a personal safety intervention order taken out against her.
This winding tale dates back to October’s fever-pitched council elections, when an anonymous Reddit user posted, according to material heard in court, the following: “Jane Agirtan (bully, transphobe, anti-vaxxer) elected to Kingston council.”
Agirtan, having identified the poster’s real name, then shared it with her 4000 Facebook followers – along with their workplace, a prominent Melbourne legal firm. She urged her followers to “collectively help” the lawyer “overcome her Auntie Jane derangement syndrome”.
Jane Agirtan.Credit: janeagirtan.com
An online pile-on allegedly followed, prompting the court to grant the lawyer a personal safety intervention order against Agirtan. Charge sheets show Agirtan, a former Liberal Party member turned independent, was subsequently charged with breaching that order by failing to remove the post within 24 hours.
While the post was later edited to replace the lawyer’s name with “a pitiful and pathologically obsessed individual who has harassed me for years”, it still names her workplace – and her identity remains discoverable via Facebook’s edit history. Agirtan contests the charge.
In a remarkable moment on Tuesday, the Reddit user’s legal representative – whom The Age has chosen not to name – refused to state her name in open court, citing fear of being doxxed by Agirtan as well.
“Given the conduct of the offender, repeatedly doxxing people with whom she doesn’t agree, I seek that my name is not stated in open court,” the unnamed lawyer told the court.
Readers might recall Agirtan launched defamation action against feminist commentator Clementine Ford, after Ford allegedly called her a “racist transphobic” who should be “forcibly removed from society in a padded van and taken to a mental asylum”. That case is pending in the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, City of Kingston chief executive Peter Bean confirmed Agirtan had been stood down from her role on the council until her Magistrates’ Court case concludes. The matter returns to court in June. Agirtan did not respond to a request for comment, but on Instagram on Wednesday told her followers to “rest assured that I won’t be going anywhere”.
Albo hits another safe seat
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needs no help winning in inner Sydney.
Perhaps it was a sign of Labor hubris after Peter Dutton’s crummy start to the election campaign that the prime minister’s travelling circus stopped off on Wednesday at the opening of Hay St, the newly refurbished food precinct at Sydney’s Paddy’s Markets.
Anthony Albanese at Paddy’s Markets in Sydney on Wednesday.Credit: Steven Siewert
It’s right in the heart of the electorate held by Environment Minister and Albo’s great mate Tanya Plibersek, who introduced the PM on Wednesday morning. A real coup for businessman Paul Signorelli, executive chair of Doltone Hospitality Group, whose venues are a go-to for extravagant weddings and Liberal fundraisers and which is now in charge of the upgraded Paddy’s Market.
Plibersek introduced the PM, who was joined by Premier Chris Minns, NSW Sports Minister Steve Kamper and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, whose million-year reign over the Harbour City must give the Labor types pangs of jealousy.
A few Liberal types even made it, but mainly sat shyly in the corner. The blue contingent included NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, kept company by close friends and fellow moderate comrades Sutherland Shire Councillor Haris Strangas and Bayside Councillor Jerome Boutelet. They seemed to be enjoying the outing, despite being well and truly outnumbered by the Labor faithful.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.