Zombie garden film clip
April 11th, 2010 by systemaddict
Oppression of the Alphington Zombies
March 13th, 2010 by systemaddictAustralia has been one of the world leaders on human rights since the end of WWII. Australia was once dubbed a model nation by the United Nations and was a major part of writing the UN charter for human rights. But despite this, Australia is the one western nation without its own bill of rights. The Australian constitution has no laws to protect the civil liberties of Australian citizens. But why would a first world nation with such a high standard of living, neglect to place laws to protect the basic human rights of it’s citizens?
Opposition to introducing such a bill of rights say, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. They see the institutions of Australian constitutional law to be functioning effectively as they are. They believe that the rights of Australian citizens are sufficiently protected by the existing system. But how can these rights be recognized in Australian courts, when there is no written legislation outlining the basic human rights of Australian citizens?
One such right to be unrecognized in Australian law is the freedom of expression. The freedom for all citizens express themselves in any way they desire. Through speech, art, song, dance and writing. To feel free to express oneself without persecution. Unfortunately, in Australia we do not have this liberty.
“I disapprove of what you say. But I will defend to the death your right to say itâ€.
-Voltaire
The freedom of expression also means that one will not agree with everything that every one has to say. But this is what creates the amazing multicultural society that we now enjoy. Vast varieties of food, music, art and literature are created in this country by individuals with the desire to express themselves, and share that expression with their fellow Australians. Sure not everybody is going to like everything. But without the freedom of expression, We would be living in a bland, monotonous and oppressed society, resembling that of Stalin’s Russia or Orwell’s 1984.
One of my own personal expressions of art has been forcibly removed by the city of Yarra, despite being on my own property. What was this expression of art that caused such an uproar to be removed under threat of certain eviction?
A zombie garden… I painted some old mannequin parts to look like zombies and displayed them coming out of the ground on my front lawn. Sure, it’s not to everybody’s taste. But neither is a bloodied crucifix or a statue of a naked child or an ugly garden gnome. So is my artistic expression less legitimate than that of my neighbor?
A bill of rights in Australia would create a safety barrier for all Australian citizens to have their basic human rights protected by constitutional law. Be it the freedom of expression, freedom from torture and slavery, freedom of religion or any other of the basic human freedoms outlined in the United Nations human rights charter. Without the introduction of a bill of rights in this country, as recommended by the UN, violations of human rights will continue to happen without the legal framework to oppose them.
‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’… Well I think it’s ‘broke’.
Nathan Hennequin (Musician/Artist/Chef/Activist)
See for your self…. photos of the now defunct Alphington Zombie garden
http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k48/ashnod69/Alphington%20Zombies/
Or see my band, ‘The Resignators’ playing a song about zombies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB89YLWXwEo
