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(soft music)

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(didgeridoo music)

(voice on radio)

103?

No, I tell a lie.

It's 107, and the air conditioner's rooted.

Welcome to purgatory south.

I know it well.

Coke's cold anyway.

I have a picture here.

It's Ben, Benjamin Franklin.

That's Ben and that's me.

The real problem is, Mrs. Strella, we -

Strehlow, Ms. Strehlow.

We don't do this.

We're not the people to help you.

I mean, our equipment here is meant for -

Registering footsteps?

Well, yes, but- Footsteps could make the needle jump?

My Ben, he's out there in the tunnel,

in the darkness.

And you've got the equipment to find him.

A coke, mein capitan. Okay?

Yeah, it's cold.

Madam.

Perhaps you would show

this young man the photo.

Well, thank you, madam.

I haven't been called young, in a long time.

She's lost her dog.

Really?

That picture's four years o Id. Four?

So, when Mr. Franklin,

God rest his soul,

brought me the 2 puppies,

he said, "Which do you prefer, Lucy or Ben?"

I, without a moment's hesitation,

I said, "The little brown one."

Oh, he was so cute and funny.

It's true, our instruments are very sensitive,

they can pick up the tiniest movement,

footsteps, anything,

but they'd have to occur

right next to the measurement probe.

Then, you can find him.

It's possible,

but we'd have to bore probes in the whole mining area.

That'd mean at least 5,000 borings.

My Ben, he's lost out there in a tunnel, the darkness.

(didgeridoo music)

We're gonna be blasting again soon.

You've got to move.

Boom, boom, quick, quick.

Understand?

You've never been here before.

Why all of the sudden you're -

Just what are you doing here anyway, eh?

[foreign language]

We are keeping watch, this place.

(knock on door)

Come in.

Lot 252 ready to go, Mr. Hackett.

Beauty. Let's do it now, okay?

Right.

Anything wrong?

The boys would like to wish you luck.

Thanks, Lauri.

Like I mean, after all the trouble you had with the company,

getting approval to do the tests out here,

where you said, it's good to see it happen.

Come in, Cole. Over.

I'm here, mein commandant.

Get the boys back.

Tell them with any luck, they'll be campaign

in buckets for everyone tonight.

'Cause I'm laying 5 to 1, and I'm not a betting man,

that they go off their brains at headquarters,

when they see what we're sitting on out here. Okay?

(cheers)

Everything okay here. Waiting for the go-ahead. Over.

Signal. Test. On.

Running. 30 seconds.

[foreign language]

(sound of explosions)

Get out of there! Get out! Get back!

Get down [unintelligible] cable!

Get the bloody cable out!

What's happening out there? The impulse has gone dead.

What the fuck do you think's happening?

They cut the cable, and thank Christ they did.

Cut the cable?

Come on out! Some fucking bum's gone crazy!

What's going on here?

Can anyone tell me why someone ran into the middle of our test?

[foreign language]

What's he saying?

There will be no digging

and there'll be no blasting.

Oh, I see.

May I ever so politely ask why?

This is the place where the green ants dream.

Ants! Green ants, dreaming here!

Cole.

Why the fuck can't they dream somewhere else?

Cole, calm down!

Get someone to check the ignition cable.

I'll see if I can contact headquarters.

Calling headquarters, calling headquarters.

This is Mentabi Test 252.

Lance, is that you?

Nancy here.

Hello, kid. Look, is Ferguson there?

I've got to speak with him.

No, he's in Sydney with [unintelligible].

Tell him to contact the legal department.

Say, it's like what happened in Aurukun

when those blokes went berserk on that test site.

We're gonna need the best legal advice.

Hang on, hang on.

Tell him to come up here straightaway!

Lance? Lance answer me.

What's happening out there, Lance?

Cole! Cole, turn that off!

Back off, I'm taking care of this.

Turn it off or I'll fucking kill you.

Now, turn that off!

Give me the keys!

Has everyone gone mad here today?

I could have taken care of this easily!

Nobody would have gotten more than a few scratches!

Everything that happens here henceforth,

I want you to know, you caused it!

Gentlemen, on behalf of Ayers Mining, I'd like to apologize.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

You all right then?

Dry off.

I'm sorry.

How are you?

How are you?

Gentlemen, my name's Ferguson, Baldwin Ferguson.

I'm executive vice president of Ayers Mining Company.

I don't need to introduce you, Lance.

Do you smoke?

Please, help yourselves.

I've been informed of the incident yesterday.

But, I'd like to hear from your side

what the background of the problem is.

[foreign language]

Who is your spokesman?

Our spokesman is Miliritbi. He's the keeper of the song.

I am a tribal elder.

So, you're a tribal elder?

Actually, they explained it to me yesterday.

We mustn't disturb the dreaming of the green ants.

We mustn't wake the green ants up.

I admit that from the side of Ayers Mining

no inquiries have been put forth.

Now, please allow me an explanation.

Until today, we've lacked a representative to contact,

or at least one legitimate person to address.

At the same time, may I remind you,

that it didn't seem necessary, because this is an area

which doesn't bear the official status of a reservation.

All of us, and that includes you,

are subject to the binding strictures

of the Land Rights Act of common wealth of Australia.

And we have countersigned and initialed all necessary

contracts and all permissions have been procured.

You tell me, what is this Land Right Act,

because we have been here for 40,000 years,

longer than you came.

If you can mining in this land,

you're going to destroy the land of green ants.

And green ants will come out and destroy the whole universe world.

What we're doing here is exploring an option.

Hackett, please explain the nature of our activities.

Uh, well, these are only preliminary tests.

We don't yet know much about the geological

substructure of the region.

Uh, look, let me put it this way.

If you have a tree trunk there in front of you,

well, you don't yet know much about how it looks inside,

so you tap it and listen and you can see if it's hollow or not.

We're listening to the earth's interior.

You have to shoot us first,

before you move in.

Well, that's an option

we've not considered, naturally.

But, you must absolutely understand

that we will take legal steps.

We wish very much, Mr. Hackett,

from your company, to come to talk to us and stay with us.

That seems sensible.

What do you say, Hackett? It's up to you.

Look, I'm only a geologist.

I'd rather think of you as an employee of Ayers Mining.

Yeah, so I am.

Gather round, fellows.

It was here.

It was here that he was last seen.

Yes, well the real problem is that

these northern tunnels here run into some natural caverns.

They haven't been explored thoroughly yet,

but we do know that they're pretty complicated.

Rock formations are stable, they won't fall in or anything,

but it's a real labyrinth,

all sort of levels.

Then we need ladders.

I don't think so.

Anyway, we'd need a ladder to get through,

he'd need a ladder to get through as well, if you take my meaning.

But, perhaps he fell down.

He could have fallen down.

He could have.

Poor Ben.

He pointed near the north tunnel, here.

[chatter]

(whistles) Here, boy. (whistles)

(whistles)

(tribal music)

(tribal music)

I've been authorized by the board of directors

to make the following proposals.

Ayers Mining is prepared to make a substantial

cash settlement.

The value of which would buy you

a new pumping station for your water,

a bus to take your children the 10 miles or so

into town for their schooling.

[foreign language]

He says, no.

I've been authorized as well

to make a further proposal

of a small percentage of the company's revenue

from the mine, if that mine proves productive,

which of course, remains to be seen.

No.

It's also been proposed that a center

for Aboriginal art be constructed in the town,

at the company's expense,

and be completely under your administration.

No, you don't understand.

You're right, I don't.

I'd like to.

Are you Christian?

Well, I was raised that way.

What would you do

if I bring bulldozer and pick up your church?

Is Mr. Arnold in?

No!

I want to talk to him.

No!

It's important!

I'm Lance Hackett, from Ayers Mining.

I know who you are.

I want to talk to you about the local Aborigines.

You've studied them, you must know them.

I know nothing, nothing,

except one thing.

What?

You better get out of here'.

Go back where you came from

Your civilization destroys everything, including itself.

I heard all that at university.

You know how you seem to me?

Tell me.

You're like somebody on a train

that's heading for an abyss.

Up ahead a bridge is down

and the train is racing towards it.

And only you know the bridge is down

and the communication cord is not working.

And this train is going so fast towards its doom

that all you have time to do

is run through the train to the rear compartment.

G'day to you.

♪ (lyrics) I'm a new creation

And I'm a brand new man ♪

Yes, more, more, more.

♪ (lyrics) Old things are passed away

I'm born again

I'm more than conquerer

I'm all I am

I'm a new creation

I'm a brand new man ♪

Wonderful. Wonderful.

Have you come to see us?

Yes, I... I, uh...

Can I help you?

No, not exactly.

Thanks, anyway.

I've got what I wanted.

Well ladies and gentlemen,

now in your language [foreign language]

1, 2, 3.

♪ (lyrics) [foreign language] ♪

Excuse me.

I'm curious about something.

You got a complaint, mate, or what?

No, no, no. Come on, over here, over here.

It's all right. It's all right.

What's all that about?

Well, it's a sacred site.

There, beside the detergent?

It's where the one tree for miles around used to stand.

Then, we put up the shop and cut down the tree.

Didn't we?

They weren't too happy about that.

Yeah, I can imagine.

It's where their children are dreamed.

That's what they reckon.

First the fathers dream the children,

then the children are born.

That's the only place the children can be dreamed?

That's right.

We used to chuck them out of there,

but they kept on coming back.

And we sort of got used to them.

We put things around the shelves

that people don't buy much,

oil paint, boot polish.

I belated formed the opinion,

they're good for business.

More children, more customers.

(orchestra music)

I wish the world was this clear to me.

I studied rocks and geological strata.

I know that the earth is round

and that it moves,

but what shape the universe is, and where it's going,

I don't know.

Stars have been discovered rushing

with almost the speed of light away from us

to the borders of the universe.

And I can't rid myself of the feeling that,

one day, someone will prove

that the universe is like a snail shell,

coiling in on itself,

with an interior and no exterior.

And, that these same stars that are rushing away from us,

are in fact on a collision course with us.

There are mathematicians working on these theories.

They call it "curved space." (laughs)

It's like this.

A man hangs himself from a rope in a tree

and just dangles there on his rope.

Now how many ropes would he need

to be absolutely still,

how many points of reference

so that his position is fixed in a 3 dimensional space?

How many?

1, 1 additional rope would do it.

Then, he wouldn't move anymore.

But, how many ropes would we need?

How many ropes would the earth need

to be absolutely still in the universe?

Because, everything moves.

How could we become absolutely still?

And, what would these ropes be tied to?

You white men are lost.

You don't understand the land.

Too many silly questions.

Your presence on this earth will come to an end.

You have no sense, no purpose, no direction.

I'm not getting anywhere with the Aborigines.

Yeah, they've knocked back every proposal we put up.

Look, do us a favor, Nanc,

and send that telex to Sydney for me tonight, will you?

Well, that way they'll have it on their desks

first thing in the morning. Yeah.

Well, I know about the interim order, yeah.

What?

They're coming off of Australia?

Oh, no, I thought it would only be the Supreme Court.

Nanc, what are you doing tonight?

Oh, I'm in my mobile home with the air conditioning on,

all those erotic video cassettes that you'd really like

and a fridge full of stale cheese

and half empty bottles of Riesling.

How 'bout you?

With James, eh?

No, no. He's a nice bloke, for a South Australian.

I'm not melancholy.

I'm fine.

Yeah.

Well, have a good time, eh?

Good night.

Melancholy, I've got your melancholy,

or is it toothache?

(sound of talk radio in foreign language)

I said it once and I'll say it again,

fucking dirty bludging bums, look at them.

All they're good for is getting drunk.

What talent, what an example to the world!

Get that out of here.

Bloody bums.

I wish I had never bloody come here.

Bludgers.

I'd like to show you the likes of the city

from my office tonight. (sound of alarm)

It's on the 19th floor.

It's a most marvelous view.

Having a bit of trouble there.

I can't figure this out.

How do you turn this thing off?

Have you got the instructions there, James?

Even though we're opponents in this lawsuit

we thought we'd invite you as our guest,

so you can see our point of view.

There's a great view from up here.

Here we are, number 19.

I don't know what's going on.

We seem to be stuck.

Obviously.

The 20th century should be called of for lack of interest.

Don't be funny, Hackett.

This is preposterous.

My time's valuable.

I beg your pardon, gentlemen.

I'm sure your time's valuable too.

We're stuck.

Here's the alarm. (sound of alarm)

I think we could be here for hours.

Nothing like this has ever happened before.

What we take out of the ground

was meant for everyone.

There's electricity for light, heat, refrigeration,

anything you want.

Uranium is such dense matter

that in comparison, lead or gold are as light as this cork.

♪(lyrics) [foreign language] ♪

♪ (lyrics) [foreign language] ♪

What's he singing about?

He's singing about the happy song

that the cook gave us food and drink.

You know what's just occurred to me?

We're not really at this table at all.

We're still stuck in that damn lift.

We wanted so badly to be out of it

that we fantasized all this.

This is just a figment of our imagination.

We're still stuck in the lift. (laughs)

Still up, Pat.

Still up. Up till midnight.

Did you have a good evening?

Yes. Very good, thank you.

Well, it's getting quite late,

but the lights of the city are on all night.

Again.

I'll call you from Sydney.

All right.

Safe journey, it'll be a long haul.

Yeah, thanks.

Well, I'd like to say goodbye and a safe journey.

Where's Dayipu?

Is anything wrong?

Can we be of help to you?

[foreign language]

What's he saying?

What does he want?

You can tell us whatever it is.

What does he want?

He want that airplane.

Oh, really?

Why?

We want that airplane in Mentabi.

But, there's no airfield in Mantabi.

Well, of course the airplane doesn't

belong to us.

It belongs to the Air Force.

But, um...

Well, under certain circumstances we might

be able to arrange for you to have it.

But, you wouldn't be able to use it in Mentabi.

There's no runway.

We will build the airfield.

Gentlemen, if I might make a suggestion.

Perhaps you could watch my pilot take off and land,

so to show you what facilities you'd need at Mentabi.

But, um, look, just give me a little time with my board of directors,

my tribal elders.

But, I think we might be able to come to some

mutual agreement with certain safeguards.

(tribal music)

Good morning.

Why didn't you knock?

How long have you been here?

For a little long while.

10 minutes?

Yes.

An hour?

Yes.

Over night, since yesterday evening?

Yes, since yesterday evening,

since sun went down.

What's going on?

The runaway is finished.

Finished?

(laughs) That's impossible!

[unintelligible voices]

(laughs)

No, no, no, no, no.

Look, a caribou, a plane needs at least a half a mile

of completely level ground.

I'll have to get ahold to the firm.

We haven't taken this seriously enough.

Look, I can supply some earth moving equipment,

but you blokes will have to help. Okay?

Yes, we'll help.

Good.

(tribal music)

What is it now?

Black bastards.

I mean, after lunch half of them piss off.

That's all right, they're like that, our black brothers.

But, listen to this, my Caterpillar doesn't run anymore.

Do you know why?

I have no idea.

Because during the lunch break

some of the younger ones knocked off

the transmission fluid.

Now, they're out in the scrub in the bush,

lying about sniffing the fumes.

My Caterpillar, bludging bastards.

Bastards!

My Caterpillar doesn't run anymore.

You need a holiday, Cole.

Relax.

Relax'. You're telling me to relax when my Caterpillar doesn't run!

What are you talking about?

[inaudible voices]

(soft music)

Why am I here?

Well, it's not visible, but there's nowhere else

in Australia where the earth's magnetic field

is so abnormally distorted.

And you've measured that?

Yes, yes, of course.

And because the green ant is the only

living creature on earth with a sensory organ

attuned to magnetic fields,

like a small green living compass,

I drive them crazy by beaming in

additional magnetic fields.

Our little friends here are capable

of transforming whole landscapes.

In less than a day, they can build 6 foot termite hills

as hard as a rock.

They always align themselves North-South.

They dig immense tunnel systems under the earth.

They feed on wood.

They gobble up everything.

They can even chew through lead reinforced roofing

to get at the wood beneath.

They're not provided with a fully

digestive system of their own.

And so they live symbiotically with one cell bacteria sites

in their intestinal tracts.

Biologically speaking, the green ant

does not at all belong to the ant class.

They only look that way.

They're actually a kind of termite

and belong more properly to the family of cockroaches.

If you get me.

What about the Aborigines?

I mean, why is it that they always -

Yeah, the Abos, the blood fellows.

They must have observed that our tiny friends

are like weather vanes before a storm.

Like whole armies, they align themselves north.

Then, they stop in the middle of their tracks.

That's when they're said to be dreaming.

They dream of the dream time, of the origins of the world.

Well then, what I actually wanted to know-

Yes, the ants are sexless.

I hope you know what I mean.

Only once a year they grow wings

and fly east over the mountains in mammoth swarms.

Only 2 individuals of that gigantic swarm

assume sexual differentiation and mate.

The female becomes the queen

and the male, the courting prince.

Now do you get me?

Mm-hmm.

The female lays 40,000 eggs a day.

Many times more than her own weight.

She is immobilized in the heart of the structure.

She grows to 100 times her original size.

She'll grow to the size of almost 2 inches.

And the male remains tiny,

but fertilizes the eggs.

He often seeks refuge under the queen.

He's easily frightened.

When the queen-

I hope you can follow me. Yes.

When the queen becomes sterile,

the whole colony begins to die off.

Warriors come,

multitudes, to lick the queen until she's licked to death.

Then, the new generation prepares

to fly east over the mountain.

[inaudible voices]

[inaudible voices]

Mr. Hackett.

Right. Okay. See.

How are you? That's Philip Adams.

How do you do? Good to see you.

Nice to meet you. You're welcome.

A week from today, we'll meet each other

in court, but Ayers Mining hopes that

this will be seen as a sign of mutual consideration

and mutual respect.

Mr. Miliritbi or Mr. Dayipu.

Lance, come over here, you must be in the photo.

How do you do, I just need one of you gentlemen

to sign the receipt for this plane.

I would like to add too,

how pleased we are that you see

the value of compromise.

Mr. Dayipu, just sign here.

Well, this is great.

It's great to see [unintelligible].

There it is.

Can you get a photo over here, please?

Good luck. Good luck on the caribou.

It's all yours.

Now, the signing.

If I can get one of you gentlemen to sign this document.

It's just a release form.

it's a formality, but we do need it.

Mr. Mili, Miliritbi. I'm sorry.

Please, I do need a signature.

Mr. Dayipu, perhaps you can sign for me.

It's just a formality.

I'm sorry, but I do need a signature from someone.

[foreign language]

Mr. Dayipu, please, I do need someone.

I'm sorry, you can't go aboard.

[foreign language]

Come out. Don't worry.

Hackett, come over here.

What are we going to do?

We need to get this man's signature.

Forget it. Don't worry about it. No, no.

They've got their plane. They've got their plane, that's all they want.

Philip, Philip, come out here.

We've got- Hackett, come here.

It's absurd.

No, no, look.

We must, for insurance purposes ask that someone sign.

What? They've got their plane. Just forget about it.

Are you working for me or not?

Of course I'm working for you,

but they've got it.

Oh my God, they're setting the aircraft on fire.

No, it's only a campfire on the floor there.

I tell you what, we'll have to drain the fuel out of the wings

and after that it should be okay.

Alright then.

(tribal music)

Now listen.

I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna tell you one thing.

I was the only pilot, black pilot in the Air Force.

My captain, he said to me,

"Watson, you got class."

(lyrics) ♪ My baby does the hanky panky ♪

No worries. There's still a half a tank of gas left here.

(lyrics) ♪ My baby does the hanky panky ♪

Silence, silence.

All stand, please, and remain standing.

All persons having business before this honorable court

are commanded to give their attendance

and they shall be heard.

God save the queen.

Be seated, please.

I open the proceedings

in the matter of Dayipu and other plaintiffs

verses the 2 defendants, Ayers Mining Company

and the Commonwealth of Australia,

which is represented by the Solicitor General.

I feel it's important to say at the outset

that this case before this high court

is not merely one of Aborigines dispossessed

of their ancestral land by the white man.

Finding in the activities of Ayers Mining Company

a final assault on their beliefs.

It's also a case that raises fundamental moral questions of great complexity.

We must here discover whether the Aboriginal plaintiffs

hold, in fact, in common law,

a land rights title, valued before 1788,

to territories annexed by Governor Philip.

Who, by hoisting the flag, claimed all of this

vast continent for the British crown.

At this point, Your Honor,

it might assist the court

if I could quote from Professor Ant's

discussion of the [foreign language].

In this, he describes a claim to certain land.

A claim, which goes back to unthinkably ancient times,

what they call their dream time.

He also explains their clan relationship.

Which he identifies as a [foreign word] combination.

Professor Ants, even speaks of a [foreign word] pair.

The clan is essentially a patrilineal descent group,

which is strictly exogamous.

In other words,

each member of the clan

may marry only into the other half

of the [foreign word] combination.

This brings us to the concept

of the so-called [foreign word]

and I must stress

that this area of anthropological theory

is still highly speculative.

Not to say, controversial.

There are certain aspects of it indeed, that,

lie within the realms of, as yet,

unexplained mysteries.

Objection, Your Honor.

The Solicitor General.

The witness is putting forward, as expert evidence, what are clearly

presumptions and theories.

He should be asked to confine himself to proven facts.

Objection overruled.

The court is competent to reach its own conclusions.

Thank you, Mr. Coulthard.

The witness will continue.

[foreign language]

We're gonna tell you about the land,

so court can recognize the land that we are living on.

If the mining company coming

and digging the earth or destroy the land,

that mean they destroy the people.

[foreign language]

That mining company come and destroy the land

and the feeling of the people

and for their dreaming, green ant dreaming.

[foreign language]

If you're gonna destroy the land,

which is sacred land,

especially area dreaming land for green ants,

if you're gonna drill,

that means you're gonna destroy the people,

the green ant, ant can never come back again.

(sound of alarm)

Will the council for the plaintiff

please explain what is meant by that.

In answer to a specific question relating

to the precise limits of his territory,

your witness answered with this gesture.

Now, can you translate that into English?

Please, Your Honor.

Order.

I call the Solicitor General to order.

And, on the question

of the exact expanse of the tribal territory,

I hear, a little long way.

Now, what I'd like to know-

Mr. Coulthard, will you please restrain

your boundless gift for irony.

With your indulgence, Your Honor,

I'm very angry that evidence of this order

should be admitted by the court,

as well as repeated statements

which are clearly hearsay, by the Aboriginal witnesses.

I order that the transcript of these proceedings

be so written as to include indications

of descriptive gestures by the plaintiffs.

And I assure Mr. Coulthard that this court will decide,

in this case and in all others before it,

what is and what is not admissible evidence.

Your Honor, I do not withdraw my objection.

Mr. Coulthard, I trust I don't need

to remind you of the elaborate representations

by the plaintiff's attorney in the case

Nisga'a Indians verses the Dominion of Canada.

On the admissibility of evidence by the tribal witnesses

as long ago as 1871.

And as to your remark about hearsay,

I'd like to remind you of the decision

in the case Ango verses Antar

before the Privy council of the Gold Coast West Africa in 1916.

You are of course familiar with that decision?

No, Your Honor, I'm sorry, I'm not.

You're not?

Then, would you be so kind as to inform yourself on this case.

In Ango verses Antar,

the African indigenous reporting on tribal customs

gave evidence, essentially founded in hearsay,

and in such overwhelming frequency,

that these testimonies became so widely attested,

as to condense into a palpable truth

and the court had to take judicial notice of them,

and henceforth recognize hearsay

as admissible evidence.

In my view, the proceedings before this court today

form a close parallel with those proceedings

I have referred to.

Progress.

Here, you talk about progress over and over again.

Where does it leave the Aborigine?

It is progress into nothingness.

What have the last 200 years brought?

Extinction, and where that wasn't radical enough,

cultural extermination by the white civilization.

Simple outright murder was only part of it.

Order. This court is not a forum for political auditory.

Let me get back to the disputed numerical concept of the Aborigine.

Their relationship to quantities

is distinguished completely from ours.

It is not subject to abstract enumeration.

Therefore, in most tribal languages

there are only numbers from 1 through to 3.

Everything beyond that is called, many.

However, if a black cattleman

has a herd of 600 cows together,

enclosed in a corral,

he will know at a glance, without even counting

that 2 cows are missing.

We still have rudiments of visibility.

If, for example, a mother with 6 children

is loading suitcases on a train,

in a crowd at the station

and one of the children escapes to the milk bar,

that mother would know with a single glance,

without counting, that one is missing.

[foreign language]

Mr. Melilar, you were not called to the stand.

Mr. Miliritbi, could you please make this clear to Mr. Melilar?

Your Honor, I'm afraid

I cannot speak his language.

The plaintiff, Mr. Melilar,

was introduced to the court as mute

at the start of these proceedings.

I feel slightly confused.

Is there anyone among the plaintiffs

or witnesses, who can translate?

The situation, Your Honor,

is this man is the sacred custodian

to the secrets of his tribe.

And his tribe has died out.

He is the sole and final survivor of his people, his clan.

They call him the mute,

because there's nobody left on this earth

for him to speak with.

Mr. Miliritbi.

Your Honor, we come,

we want to show you most important sacred object.

Where we belong and for the land,

please, I want you to remove the people.

If they see the sacred object,

the world must destroy.

Motion accepted.

Ladies and gentlemen,

will you please leave the court.

Mr. Miliritbi, you are aware, however,

that for reasons concerning the very nature

of these proceedings,

the defendant as well as the court reporter

must be present.

This sacred object is very important.

This sacred object has been buried in the ground of 200 years.

And now, we come and show you

to prove what the land is belong

and belong to the land this.

Most important to our lives, to our feeling.

And how should I record this, Your Honor?

Wooden objects, carved, with markings.

The markings indecipherable.

The significance of the markings not plain to this court.

Silence, silence.

All stand and remain standing.

Be seated, please.

For all the reasons given

my decision must be for the defendants.

The claims of the plaintiffs,

for radical legal title to the territories in question

are rejected.

This title lies, as before, with the crown.

The claims of the Aborigines do not accord

with the provisions of English common law,

which, though imported,

is nonetheless, perhaps regrettably, the law of the land.

I am most grateful with the dignity and eloquence

with which all parties have argued this difficult case.

The action of the plaintiffs is dismissed.

The cost of the proceedings will be paid by the Commonwealth.

Land rights! Land rights, now!

(angry unintelligible voices)

Well, if you don't want my opinion,

don't bloody ask for it.

What's got into you, Hackett?

Look, you're talking about a settlement out of copper.

What have they got to negotiate with?

They've got nothing left.

Wonderful job, Eric.

My profound congratulations.

We destroyed the bastards.

Now look, no court in the world

can pass judgement on 200 years of history.

What do you eat for breakfast, eh?

Raisin Bran?

How do you sleep? Do you sleep well with the air conditioning on?

How are your thoroughbreds?

What's wrong with you? Who's side are you on?

I'm sorry, sir.

Do you want me to have a talk with him?

(music)

Hello there.

I brought you some food.

Can I ask you a question?

Yes.

Tell me, why is it you sometimes

and Dayipu pretty well all the time

just sit here looking East?

Because in the East is the spirit land

and special area

that the green ant had been disappeared,

never come back.

So that's your dreaming land?

Yes.

I see.

I'll roll you a smoke.

I've never done this before.

(soft music)

I used to be fullback on the squadron rugby team.

"Watson," the captain used to say to me,

"You can play fullback."

And could I fly?

I bet I was even better than that captain.

So, you flew a plane, a real plane?

Of course I did, I flew.

I tell you, one day we had [unintelligible] out here, full up.

And that captain said to me,

"I can't get this big fat bugger off this ground."

I said, "Captain, just let me handle it."

I just gave it that throttle.

Hey, I got that plane off the ground.

The captain couldn't.

I don't believe it.

I'll show you.

♪ (lyrics) My baby does the hanky panky

♪ My baby does the hanky panky

My baby does the hanky panky ♪ (sound of engine starting)

Hackett, I think we've got a problem.

You know your black fellows?

Hackett, they've taken the plane!

What?

They've taken the plane!

Is Ferguson there? I've got to talk to him

You can't. You can't speak with him.

I've got to talk to him

Sorry, he's unavailable.

He's out of town.

(soft music)

I've been having this dream lately,

everyone in the world is running away

and all carrying little packages,

as big as lunch boxes, of their most precious things.

Thousands of them, running and stumbling.

I can't run with them.

I've got to go to school

and it's a Catholic school.

A nun comes up to me and grabs me by the arm

and drags me into a circle of other nuns and school kids.

They all shout at me, "Where's your lunchbox?"

And I can't answer.

I get frightened and I piss my pants.

The piss just keeps coming and coming

and it runs in a little stream out along the ground.

First the nuns and then the school kids

open a pathway to let it trickle on through.

They keep staring at me.

It's never really happened to me.

It's never really bothered me, but,

I feel I'm in that.

I'm in that situation.

♪ (lyrics) [foreign language] ♪

♪ (lyrics) [foreign language] ♪

A5 is negative, B5 is negative,

C5 is negative and fucking D5 is negative.

The plane had only enough fuel for 40 minutes.

Yeah, it's a puzzle, isn't it?

There are enough ravines in those mountains for him to go down in.

It looks as though we're going to have to

start this whole shit fight all over again.

Some tribal Aborigines arrived yesterday

from up in the mountains.

Maybe they've got something to say.

They just sit there saying nothing.

You know the way they do?

Yeah, you find out what you can

from those black bastards.

They seem to like to want to speak with you.

I'll do that.

They can ride bicycles

and they can drive motorcars.

Now, they think they can fly fucking airplanes.

A while ago, they spoke

you listen for yourself.

♪ (lyrics) [foreign language] ♪

They have heard the green ants

with the big wing.

You know, Mr. Hackett, there's a little green ant,

a drop on the ground,

and these people, they found it, on the mountain,

big, big wings.

They found a wing?

Yeah.

They found the plane?

(sounds of explosions)

(soft music)

(sound of strong winds)

(foreign language, talk radio)

Well, what's the news?

They found the plane, up near [foreign word].

Indeed.

This is nice.

Are these easy to come by?

There's my old water tank still out there.

Thanks.

(sounds of explosions)