The senate has announced it will support a Bermagui man’s fight to return artefacts belonging to the Gweagal people to Australia.
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On Tuesday, the Australian Senate passed a motion recognising the Gweagal people and their descendants as the lawful owners of a shield and spears held in the British Museum and the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
The senate also supported extending diplomatic assistance to Rodney Kelly when he is in England seeking the return of these artefacts.
“I just didn’t believe it, I wasn’t expecting it to pass,” Mr Kelly said on Wednesday.
“It means so much to me.
“I’ve put so much hard work into the campaign; all the driving, meetings and time away from my family.
“I can’t believe one person could actually do this.”
Australian Greens’ Senator Rachel Siewert introduced the motion to the senate and said it was core to Indigenous Australian beliefs that artefacts be kept on the country they came from.
In responding to the motion, the Liberals’ Senator James McGrath said Australian law recognised the legal title of the British and Cambridge Museums to the artefacts.
“Therefore, the government cannot agree to the motion's assertion that the Gweagal people are the legal owners of the artefacts,” he said.
Mr Kelly said hearing that “put me down”, but despite those comments the motion was passed unanimously.
He said the decision to release the artefacts was up to the British Museum trustees as by law the museum was not allowed to relinquish any of its collection, but had done once before to people from Nigeria.
The Bega-born man leaves for Europe on Saturday for about seven weeks and plans to hold meetings with the museums and public talks as part of his campaign to return the shield and spears.
As a result of the motion, Mr Kelly is in talks with what diplomatic assistance the government can offer to him and will get letters showing the government’s support to take to the British Museum.
“So I can show them it’s not just me, it’s Australia,” he said.
He had recently learnt there is a Gweagal spear in Sweden and hoped to start talks with the museum that holds it.
He said this spear is uncut – significant as some British-held spears were made smaller to fit in storage.