A reflection on the first thirty days of the Embassy

It was in the first four weeks of the 1972 Aboriginal Embassy protest that a small group of Aboriginal activists rapidly improvised and transformed an opportunistic accident into an effective protest that captured world attention and brought significant historical and political change in Australia. ¹ What had begun as a simple knee-jerk reaction to an Australia Day statement on land rights by the Australian Prime Minister resulted in the accidental discovery that there was no law in Canberra that prevented the activists from staging a protest camp on the lawns of Parliament. The swift action of the activists to take advantage of this situation enabled them to gain political advantage over the McMahon Government in the propaganda war and political battle that would take place over the next six months.