Blue Mountains World Kangaroo Day Website

The Yuin Declaration for KANGAROOs

In October 2021, Yuin Elder, Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, declared the 24th October to be WORLD KANGAROO DAY
and produced the YUIN DECLARATION FOR KANGAROOS through the Back to Country organisation

The declaration contains seven articles that acknowledge the sentience, intelligence, and ancient history of kangaroos,
and the spiritual, cultural, and environmental connection that First Nations people have with kangaroos
– this is a connection that has continued for many thousands of years and is entwined in totemic lore.

Article 1: The kangaroo has inhabited the Australian continent for over 20 million years, living in peace and ecological harmony. The kangaroo co-exits today as they have for millenniums, in balance with the flora fauna and livings being of this land. This ancient iconic native animal, therefore claims sovereign rights above and beyond any human claims of dominion over them. Today we declare, from this day forward, all kangaroos shall be justly protected from all harms caused by human abuse and exploitation. We vow to hold governments and their citizenry accountable for any breaches of this sovereignty.

Article 2: Kangaroos are intelligent, sentient beings, living in family groups and have their own songlines, language, culture and dreaming. As they traverse their own dreaming tracks they continue to activate the earths songlines for the survival of all living things. We declare kangaroos have the right to live in safety, roam freely and travel uninterrupted through their ancient songlines.

Article 3: We recognize that kangaroos continue to be a sacred totem for First Nation People. From navigating as the geographical compass, food source, companion and friend, providing warmth and implements, kangaroo is central to ceremony. For over 80,000 years this sentient being continues to be entwined and interwoven with indigenous totemic lore. We declare that there exists a living ancestral relationship, uniquely bound between indigenous Australians and kangaroos, which shall be preserved historically, spiritually, culturally and environmentally for all times.

Article 4: Kangaroos have been acknowledged as the symbol for colonised Australia since 1773. They are observed on the Coat of Arms, and have become the central national icon. The kangaroos abounding power, majestic movement, and soft and gentle elegance has given this landscape its unique character. We recognise and honour the stately demeanor of the kangaroo, which embodies and represents the nations’ icon. We vow to revere and respect these profound qualities which enrich all lives with imagination, beauty and identity uniquely Australian.

Article 5: We are beholden to protect and care for our unique native kangaroos as part of the Australian Family of all living beings. Therefore we declare the kangaroo as one of our national treasures.

Article 6: We recognize that kangaroos are protected by law across both Federal and State jurisdictions. No exemptions to these laws are justified. Kangaroos shall not be sold or subjected to any inhumane, cruel or degrading treatment. Any harm to kangaroos shall be recognized as a criminal action and dealt with accordingly.

Article 7: As humane beings, sharing the kangaroos dreaming tracks and environment, we have a duty of care and obligation to canonize WORLD KANGAROO DAY for the kangaroo our Australian national treasure.

Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison. Yuin Elder. Date of Issue: 24/10/2021

The KANGAROO Documentary

The Filmmakers, Mick & Kate, who spent five years making the documentary movie about our kangaroos - Kangaroos A Love Hate Story,
initially formed Kangaroos Alive alongside Kangaroo Rescuers & Carers, Greg and Diane, who also appear in the film.

“See the Kangaroo Movie here - https://tubitv.com/movies/569707/kangaroo-a-love-hate-story.

The Yuin Elder, Uncle Max, who gave us the Yuin Declaration for Kangaroos, also appeared in that documentary movie.
In this film, Uncle Max said “Kangaroos have been here for 20 million years in total ecological and environmental harmony.
They are a keystone species essential to bush regeneration.
When you shine bright lights on, then put bullets into defenceless animals, that is not culling that is slaughter.”

Animal Justice Party 'Senator', Mark Pearson, and the NSW Upper House Inquiry into Kangaroos

While a senator in the NSW Legislative Council, Mark Pearson - from the Animal Justice Party - instigated the
NSW Upper House Inquiry into the Health and wellbeing of kangaroos and other macropods.

Over 400 submissions were received in that Inquiry.
The majority of those submissions expressed their sorry and shame
that the corporate greed of the KANGAROO KILLING INDUSTRY and corruption of government department and agencies
was allowed to continue uncontained at the expense of the lives of our national icon.

In early 2021, the Yuin Elder, Uncle Max, entered a written submission and gave a verbal testimony to that Inquiry

The pen-ultimate draft of the Upper House Inquiry report demanded ...
1. an immediate stoppage to the rentlentless slaughter of our kangaroos
2. a thorough investigation into...
a. kangaroo numbers,
b. habitats,
c. mob stability
d. joey slaughter code of (MAL)practise

After communicating with their parties; the majority of National, Liberal and Labour Senators voted to water down the report’s conclusions and recommendations.
Even so the DoPIE only accepted in theory, two of the 26 recommendations of the final report.

In summary, this relentless slaughter has been allowed to continue unabated in NSW.
Shooters have been regularly getting, as 'take', less than a quarter of the quotas set by government.
This 'take' is possible only because shooters kill every kangaroo they see.

The maximum breeding rate, in non stressful times, for kangaroos is 10%;
the quotas are set at 17% of the Government's greatly over estimated numbers of kangaroos.
Over the past 15-60 years, Kangaroo populations have become so depleted
there is no way even a fraction of these fictious 'quotas' can be found.

Joey slaughter and/or neglected deaths is not even thought about at all by government officials or this corrupt industry;
they are written off as collateral damage.

The experienced older & larger Kangaroos are killed first as they bring the killers more money.
This leaves the remaining mob members traumatised; and without elders to teach the mainly young kangaroos how to survive.

Anyone with even a partially functioning brain should be able to workout that this is not sustainable
and will end up in the extinction of kangaroo and macropods all over Australia

.

STOP THE GREEDY AND CRUEL KANGAROO KILLING INDUSTRY & its CORRUPT GOVERNMENT LACKEYS NOW.

Opening Ceremony of WORLD KANGAROO DAY - KANGAROOS ALIVE

“Yuin elder and co-founder of Back to Country, Uncle Max and the Yuin community, acknowledged World Kangaroo Day 2021
with a Kangaroo Declaration stating that kangaroos shall be recognised and treated as a ‘national treasure’.
The declaration was unveiled at a special ceremony on Yuin land at the Wild2Free kangaroo sanctuary in southern NSW.
Uncle Max presented the declaration to NSW AJP Senator Mark Pearson and asked him to take it to the NSW parliament.
The declaration makes it clear that kangaroos need to be protected to roam freely and travel uninterrupted through their ancient songlines".

"The growing consensus among experts worldwide is that our health and the health of our natural world are inextricably connected.
Kangaroos have co-evolved with Australian flora and fauna and as native herbivores,
they play a crucial role as ecosystem engineers."

Kangaroos Alive has selected the overall aim for World Kangaroo Day 2024 to be COEXISTENCE

Opening Ceremony of WORLD KANGAROO DAY - MP Mark Pearson Animal Justice Party

“Last month on World Kangaroo Day, October 24 (2021), I was honoured to attend a Yuin Ceremony, at Wild2Free Inc Kangaroo Sanctuary,
celebrating the gorgeous, gentle creature that is the kangaroo.

The event was organised by Yuin Elder Uncle Max, kangaroo carer Rae Harvey, and charity Kangaroos Alive,
all of whom gave incredible evidence at the recent NSW kangaroo inquiry.

Uncle Max welcomed us to Yuin Country for the beautiful occasion,
and in turn, every guest had their hand painted in three white dots of ochre, representing body, mind, and spirit,
and then walked through gentle plumes of smoke, welcoming us to Country.

We then watched and listened to ancient Yuin songs and dances, including one that celebrated the life and social culture of kangaroos,
and looked on as nine holes were dug, watered, and filled with soft, new grass for kangaroos – a gentle, thoughtful act of environmental stewardship.

It was a privilege to join Uncle Max and his family on Yuin Country on this extraordinary day,
and an honour to receive a message stick passed from Uncle Max’s hands to mine: the Yuin Declaration for Kangaroos.
Upon being handed the message stick, I vowed to take it back to Gadigal Country,
where NSW Parliament House now stands, and hold a dedicated ceremony to impress upon the NSW Environment Minister the importance of this sacred decree.

This will take place in the new year, and I look forward to sharing with you all more details of what will be a poignant, historical day of international significance.”

Three years on, NSW and indeed Australia is continuing the senseless and cruel slaughter of our awesome KANGAROOs

Since European colonisation, 230 years ago, our magnificent and unique kangaroo has been the target of the most inhumane mass slaughter
and this travesty is by colonial bigots, for corporate profit and/or to cover up the unsustainable farming practises of colonial egocentric farmers.

The Kangaroo is treated like a pest in the country that it has been living in and regenerating for past 25 millon years.

Ironically the species, who is calling the Kangaroo a pest, is in actual fact the biggest pest on this planet today, i.e. US - European colonial subspecies of human beings.
We destroy everything we touch. We have polluted the air, the land and the water. We have in the last few decades bought this planet to the brink of armageddon.

At the same time the image of a kangaroo is used on our coat of arms and to proudly represent Australia overseas.

Kangaroos are being exterminated from the Australian landscape in the following ways…

1. the Commercial Kangaroo KILLING industry, with the help and support of the administrative arm and agencies of the government, are
slaughtering every adult kangaroo that the shooters see and leaving the joeys and the 40% wounded kangaroos to die slowly and painfully.

2. the Colonial egocentric farmers, with the help and support of the administrative arm and agencies of the government, are
getting licences from NPWS to kill any kangaroo that dares come onto their land. They are using the false claim that kangaroos damage the land to hide the fact of the unsustainable farming practises they use.

3. the Neandrathralls, who are so moronic and cowardly that they think it is recreation to kill a defenceless animal.

4. the Forestry industry and developers are decimating whole forests of native habitats without putting in wildlife corridors so our native animals can get to other native bush pockets.
They are meant to generate truthful Enviromental Impact Statements but like all corporations who are concerned only about profit, they buy an EIS that allows them to do what they want with no accountability.

5. the Trucking industry and Roads department are building roads and setting excessive speed limits with no concern for wildlife.
Kangaroos and Wombats are killed on the roads and smaller wildlife get bulldozed into a mound at the side of the road.
Again no truthful Enviromental Impact Statements are generated to protect our wildlife.

6. the Official Wildlife Agencies are undermining rescuers and carers of kangaroos who are meant to be supported by them.
These Rescuers and Carers face the constant threat of being charged with animal cruelty if they dare to save a kangaroo's life.

7. the Official Wildlife Cruelty Investigation Agencies do not properly investigate reports of cruelty to Kangaroos when the cruelty is by Commercial or Landowner or Recreational Killers.

8. the preliferation of barbed wire fencing is killing many kangaroos and other wildlife every day.

9. the climate changes of excessive fires and regular flooding is killing many kangaroos all year round.

10.the stresses of human (lack of) civilisation encroaching on all Kangaroo habitats is constantly changing their environment, putting them in the path of feral animals and people/vehicles which is killing many kangaroos every day.