The Passing of Pip Starr - Australian Activist Videographer

What a tragic waste of life.

Oh no, dear God. What a shock. This guy was on a highway of diamonds to quote Bob Dylan. 

Anyone who saw Pip in action in 1998 will know what a mercurial campaigner he was.

In the next few days I will pull out his arrest record at Jabiluka if I can find it. He recorded my lock out from Jabiru court house by Senior Sergeant Hales, the police prosecutor - and I was a defence lawyer to appear in the court! Which the copper knew. He didn't want me to learn anything from the Yvonne Margarula trespass case about to commence. Only one out of 100 plus failed to get bail. Talk about cowboy legal system out in the boon docks.

We need all our people, we can't afford to lose anyone. Especially such a great person as Pip.

He was in the APEC protest project last Sept in 2007 being harrassed for simply trying to make a film record.

Always dignified, so effective.

I don't mind saying I had/am having a good bawl about this harsh news. He must be honoured according to his work.

Love your work Pip, will miss you x

Read Pip's article on podcasting published posthumously

Attack of the pod people - A queer look at podcasting 

Published in Melbourne's Gay newspaper, Melbourne Community Voice (MCV) on
Wednesday, 30 January 2008

I had a look at the legal data base. It's in disk form for a tabulated programme that probably went out with the dinosaurs for a Mac or PC circa 1995. It has about 650 file/page entries on it which gives some indication of the mammoth task over 3 weeks. The text is a bit mish mash on a modern excel format.

Pip (aka Stuart Hill) is mentioned in several witness statements for the 118 arrestees 14 July 1998. What is noticeable is the utter faith these activists had in his presence and his role recording the reality of those protest actions. That's my memory of him too.

Reading back over the witness statements it's clear how rough the NT police and ERA security were under the Liberal Country Party of Shane Stone at that time, on instructions from John Howard to push the uranium mine. Removal of water bottles in tropical heat, sweltering paddy vans (a man died of heat stroke last week in WA gives you the reality), cruel denial of medical help for concussion, one of sexual molesting, one of dislocated shoulder, constricted circulation by handcuffs etc.

So Pip's work on the ground was not theoretical, his camera was helping people survive, and feel safer, and bring a risk of accountability and discipline on the security, a long way from the big city in a cowboy frontier style of governance. We loved him being there doing that work.

(How amazing to see former chief minister Shane Stone seek redemption earlier this week by supporting a formal government apology for the govt abuse of Indigenous People, and with some measure of sincerity one hopes. There is little doubt those 97-99 protests fed into loss of the NT Statehood referendum then loss of govt in 2000-2001 for big Shane.)

In my 14 page report dated 19/7/98 typed up in the Jabiru demountable, to Jacqui Katona for the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation, and as representative for Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula, range of other senior organisers of the campaign, I note at page 7:

"Query hearing date for Stuart Hill (Pip) who is a film maker apprehended with video camera."

I was concerned to data base all our people so they got fair legal help and this report became the 650 page data base mentioned above over the next 2 weeks at NT Environment Centre in Darwin. But there is a good reason Pip would not have his own entry in the protest legal database namely his Indigenous heritage meant he qualified for free Northern Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (NALAS) help.

Indeed the NALAS lawyer was at Jabiru and very helpful when the NT Legal Aid for whitefellas conveniently didn't make it for that sitting week - thus avoiding a clash with the NT govt. Cute. But they did lift their game later on.

Here is what I can say about Pip's approach to Ciaron's protesting, who is never far from controversy: The people who shaped and informed the protocols of the protest action were Yvonne and Jacqui as Traditonal Owners. There is no doubt Pip would have been working within that framework. Not least their wishes to keep the protest strictly othordox Gandhi style while the TO leadership ran multiple legal and political agendas to dovetail with that. They didn't need alternative leadership from us visitors/supporters. They were strong smart proud people and they ran the show.

It was not so long after that 14 page report - a few weeks maybe - that the Gundjehmi decided to shut down the very big protest camp in favour of the next phase of the campaign, and probably seasonal reasons (it was the cool dry in July). Maybe my report of nasty dramas also meant they wanted to make sure it didn't spin out of media or political control while they ran their other tactics. They also suggested at times the local Indigenous felt a little swamped by their southern friends/supporters, like western artwork in the landscape (e.g. anthills sculpture) all very innocent and enthusiastic but not local culture and not welcome. Such are the lessons of cross cultural liaison. I got the imrpession as mothers and kind hearted people they didn't want anyone to be hurt anymore either. And then there were the activist(s) on their own path beyond their influence.

It's a matter of history that the TO's won after a long struggle. So there's no point gainsaying their judgement now. And Pip was part of that famous win.

When he died I trust a Great Spirit held him and carried him to the next place.

The Traditional Owner cultural/political complex is indeed a hierarchical negotiation based on ... oh about 40,000 years continued occupation by them ... you know a small thing like that ...!

You know I'm real proud of my Irish and even Catholic ancestry, and I know you Ciaron one way or another, like I know my own People, but we only go about 5 or 10,000 years on the green Isle at most. I don't doubt you were sincere just as I don't doubt Pip was following his duty.

On the other hand if it was up to me I would not have censored you. I would have met your moral case, which I fully concede is deep, intelligent and sophisticated.

Also on this emotional thread there is no 'right' way to grieve the loss of a peer and a colleague, so that's cool. Here is my credentials, its a longish read

editor
Tom McLoughlin

ecology action

Peter Garrett would be so pleased with your careerist sledge if it were true that I was a maaate. In fact in 1995 I could have worked for the ALP and be rich and successful. But I'm not as naive or egotistical as Garrett and I never have worked for his Party. I am such an outsider it's amusing, perhaps that my writing skills are improving.

What you don't know is, until I stood up that first time in Jabiru Court I had no official authorisation. My air ticket was paid for by Frank Atcheson a life member of TWS on his own initiative, not the organistion. I had to get the support of the ECNT who also weren't too sure. Then the activists who just needed the help. And certainly the campaign leaders who could never keep me under a thumb in Sydney or anywhere.

In my favour was that I'd met Yvonne and Jacqui on their first arrival in Sydney in 97. Before anyone even heard of Jabiluka. Ginni Stein of ABC then did the first interview in English ever if memory serves. ran on tv, at the FoE Sydney office which itself was badly offside with FoE head office most of the time and me with both (see how really funny this all is), and that English language interview had one word - Yvonne saying "no" to the mine. It was her third or fourth language after all.

So actually we are far more alike than different so I just have chuckle.

You can't be across all this detail Cairon. It's a big big big world, too big even for an expert activist like you. And me, that's for sure.

I drop in here every so often but I have my own gig on my own alternative news website (nice 20K pageviews per month now) and poverty is never far from me, or controversy either. So I see you and raise you ....

In my brief furiously busy time at or near Jabiluka there was only one person I was greatly fearful for in terms of self harm due to abuse by the authorities in fact. As best I know s/he is trucking along still according to the partner. Another, Dyno Dave has sadly died of cancer over a year ago. I have his giant Aboriginal flag that he flew up there, rescued from the landlord's dumpster after he died. Priceless activist heritage. Out of such a large group I expect there is an attrition but who is to say it's a normal rate or not.

With respect etc

I only just today found out about Pip's passing. His death fills me with sadness -- doubly so when I learned he took his own life. I met Pip when he traveled to Madison, Wisconsin in the United States with Bill Runting to film a documentary about coffee several years ago. Pip made a lasting impression, not only on me, but on my wife and son, for his talent, energy, humor and compassion.

Pip screened several short pieces at a microcinema I ran in Madison. Pip's work was a source of great inspiration and admiration for our audiences and fellow filmmakers. What a tragic waste of life. At least he left behind a powerful legacy. We can only wonder what more he might have accomplished.

Damn and blast is the most intelligent thing I can say about his death. Damn and blast.