Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Taxpayers fork out millions to repair a public asset, only for the government to hand over control based entirely on race. If a community centre or sports ground restricted by DNA sounds profoundly unjust, that’s because it is. Where does this end?
Giving property to people for free based on their racial or ancestral background is a deeply troubling practice. I would go further and say it’s almost morally indefensible.
Just imagine that 100 years ago, your great-grandfather invested his life savings in a new commercial fishing boat that was vital for his livelihood. But because he was fishing in waters my great-grandfather claimed as his own, my ancestor came along in the dead of night, set it on fire, and sank it. At the time, the police could not solve the crime, and as your great-grandfather didn’t have insurance—which was common for the era—he lost his livelihood.
Now, imagine that in 2026, due to advances in forensic technology, they prove beyond a doubt that the person who destroyed the vessel was my great-grandfather. And then suppose a new law is introduced in Australia that allows inherited civil liability, where descendants can be held financially responsible. I am held liable for the century-old act and ordered to pay, say, ten million dollars for the modern value and a century of lost earnings from a crime I didn’t commit, ultimately sending me bankrupt.
That would be ludicrous. People would be justifiably outraged.
It’s deeply embedded in Australian law that a person must have personally committed, aided, or abetted a criminal act to be held responsible for it. However, when it comes to issues of Indigenous reparations, suddenly we change the rules and allow intergenerational guilt and inherited liability.
Just as my hypothetical scenario sounds profoundly unjust, the idea that modern Australians are responsible for historical crimes against Aboriginal people is a total rejection of modern justice.
And this is playing out all around us. Take, for instance, the case of Boomanulla Oval in Canberra.
In 2019, the Canberra Times ran a piece bluntly titled: “Boomanulla Oval is Aboriginal land and we want it back.” Well, they might be getting their wish soon. The ABC recently declared: “‘Very special’ oval that hosts footy, weddings set for First Nations control.”
It goes without saying that a public sports ground exclusively reserved for Caucasian people would be rightly condemned. Imagine the uproar if a taxpayer-funded public swimming pool was restricted solely to people of Indian descent.
Yet, here we are, handing over control of public assets based entirely on race.
To understand how we got here, look at the oval’s history. Established in 1984, its lease was the first asset handed over to the Indigenous community in the ACT. However, after federal funding was cut in 2011, the managing Indigenous corporation fell into financial difficulties, and the oval fell into total disrepair. The facility was returned to the ACT Government in 2015, which has since spent taxpayer dollars rehabilitating the ground.
And now, a decade later, the government is preparing to hand control right back to where it started.
This is Kim Davison, the co-chair of the new committee overseeing the transition. She recalled how devastating it was when the community lost control, telling the ABC:
“It’s more than an oval, it’s a cultural and sporting centre. It was marked as the first asset actually handed over to the Aboriginal community in the ACT. Losing control of Boomanulla was heartbreaking. I was so distraught and so were a number of our community people … we just want Boomanulla’s future to be shaped by the people it belongs to.”
Clearly, it doesn’t belong to you unless you are of the right ancestry.
They also interviewed Ngunnawal Elder Caroline Hughes, who is part of the committee. She said:
“Boomanulla Oval has always been a place of deep significance for Ngunnawal people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. When I think of Boomanulla Oval, I think of community, sitting with elders, listening to their stories and making sure they felt respected, valued and part of mob.”
But don’t worry, the committee has promised it will consult the public and honour existing sporting commitments as it works towards the transfer in 2027.
So there you go. As a member of the Canberra public, you won’t own the ground, you may or may not be allowed to use it, but one thing is absolutely certain: you will be the one funding it.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
Taxpayers fork out millions to repair a public asset, only for the government to hand over control based entirely on race. If a community centre or sports ground restricted by DNA sounds profoundly unjust, that’s because it is. Where does this end?
Giving property to people for free based on their racial or ancestral background is a deeply troubling practice. I would go further and say it’s almost morally indefensible.
Just imagine that 100 years ago, your great-grandfather invested his life savings in a new commercial fishing boat that was vital for his livelihood. But because he was fishing in waters my great-grandfather claimed as his own, my ancestor came along in the dead of night, set it on fire, and sank it. At the time, the police could not solve the crime, and as your great-grandfather didn’t have insurance—which was common for the era—he lost his livelihood.
Now, imagine that in 2026, due to advances in forensic technology, they prove beyond a doubt that the person who destroyed the vessel was my great-grandfather. And then suppose a new law is introduced in Australia that allows inherited civil liability, where descendants can be held financially responsible. I am held liable for the century-old act and ordered to pay, say, ten million dollars for the modern value and a century of lost earnings from a crime I didn’t commit, ultimately sending me bankrupt.
That would be ludicrous. People would be justifiably outraged.
It’s deeply embedded in Australian law that a person must have personally committed, aided, or abetted a criminal act to be held responsible for it. However, when it comes to issues of Indigenous reparations, suddenly we change the rules and allow intergenerational guilt and inherited liability.
Just as my hypothetical scenario sounds profoundly unjust, the idea that modern Australians are responsible for historical crimes against Aboriginal people is a total rejection of modern justice.
And this is playing out all around us. Take, for instance, the case of Boomanulla Oval in Canberra.
In 2019, the Canberra Times ran a piece bluntly titled: “Boomanulla Oval is Aboriginal land and we want it back.” Well, they might be getting their wish soon. The ABC recently declared: “‘Very special’ oval that hosts footy, weddings set for First Nations control.”
It goes without saying that a public sports ground exclusively reserved for Caucasian people would be rightly condemned. Imagine the uproar if a taxpayer-funded public swimming pool was restricted solely to people of Indian descent.
Yet, here we are, handing over control of public assets based entirely on race.
To understand how we got here, look at the oval’s history. Established in 1984, its lease was the first asset handed over to the Indigenous community in the ACT. However, after federal funding was cut in 2011, the managing Indigenous corporation fell into financial difficulties, and the oval fell into total disrepair. The facility was returned to the ACT Government in 2015, which has since spent taxpayer dollars rehabilitating the ground.
And now, a decade later, the government is preparing to hand control right back to where it started.
This is Kim Davison, the co-chair of the new committee overseeing the transition. She recalled how devastating it was when the community lost control, telling the ABC:
“It’s more than an oval, it’s a cultural and sporting centre. It was marked as the first asset actually handed over to the Aboriginal community in the ACT. Losing control of Boomanulla was heartbreaking. I was so distraught and so were a number of our community people … we just want Boomanulla’s future to be shaped by the people it belongs to.”
Clearly, it doesn’t belong to you unless you are of the right ancestry.
They also interviewed Ngunnawal Elder Caroline Hughes, who is part of the committee. She said:
“Boomanulla Oval has always been a place of deep significance for Ngunnawal people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. When I think of Boomanulla Oval, I think of community, sitting with elders, listening to their stories and making sure they felt respected, valued and part of mob.”
But don’t worry, the committee has promised it will consult the public and honour existing sporting commitments as it works towards the transfer in 2027.
So there you go. As a member of the Canberra public, you won’t own the ground, you may or may not be allowed to use it, but one thing is absolutely certain: you will be the one funding it.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
