Beloved Gamilaroi presenter Tony Armstrong has signalled his support for non-Indigenous Australians to begin making voluntary reparations to First Nations people.
Taking to Instagram, the TV personality reposted a story promoting the #WealthBack campaign, which calls for the dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be rectified through reparations.
The post shared by Mr Armstrong included a quote from the original author saying it was "time everyone starts redistributing".
The campaign, run by First Nations Futures, calls on "all people that have benefited from the ongoing colonisation of First Nations lands" to make the voluntary donations on either a one-off or on-going basis.
"It is time for all people to move beyond empty gestures and address the truth that this country is formed from the theft of First Nations lands and wages," the website reads.
"Our campaign offers a tangible and meaningful way for all people to participate in collective movement towards justice."
First Nations Futures partners with Blak community organisations around the country, and aims to raise $400,000 dollars to donate to them.
Post comes amid campaign of vitriol in lead up to January 26
Armstrong's post in support of the campaign came amidst a barrage of social media vitriol which began last week.
While such abuse is not uncommon for the star to receive, the lead up to January 26 events often see an uptick in the attacks faced by First Nations people, especially those in the public eye.
No stranger to such vilificaiton, the Gamilaroi man dismissed it.
“I love living rent free in these losers’ heads,” he posted to Instagram, accompanying screenshots of the comments.
Armstrong has often been the target of racial attacks since he rose to prominence as an ABC presenter in 2020.
Last year, the ABC released a report into racism faced by its staff.
In the same week, the broadcaster ran a story relating to Armstrong's voice-over work for an insurance commercial, in apparent contradiction of ABC policy.
A predictable increase in the torrent of abuse directed at Armstrong followed.
ABC news director Justin Stevens said in a statement he was dismayed that within 24 hours of the Listen Loudly, Act Strongly report being released he was publicly calling out more racist abuse directed at one of the ABC’s highly valued staff members.
"Tony Armstrong is one of the ABC’s best and most talented presenters," Stevens said.
"This week he has again been targeted on social media and in public comments on news websites in a despicable way."
Stevens said the ABC stood beside Armstrong and had lodged a complaint about the abusive social media comments.
