| reconciliation and social justice news |
| Commissioner calls on all Australians to embrace the Declaration 1 April 2010 - AHRC _ Media Release -Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda, has called on all Australians to get behind the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and use it to improve programs, policy and legislative development in Australia. |
Police transport of juveniles dangerous |
Uproar over new prison contract |
UN investigates Australia rights |
| Direct talk and honest dealing 1 August 2009 - Galarrwuy Yunupingu - IT'S a system designed to profit non-Aborigines. THIS week the Northern Territory and commonwealth governments confessed the key program in the Closing the Gap strategy was out of control and that, yet again, money was being diverted from the needy into the pockets of government treasuries and non-Aboriginal companies. |
| Indigenous health must be treated as a priority in health reform 28 July 2009 - The Close the Gap Campaign has welcomed release of the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC) Report and its recognition of Indigenous health as a priority issue. |
| Ian Thorpe: Australia’s dirty little secret 23 July 2009 - In a speech given at the “Beyond Sport Summit” in London on Thursday July 9, 2009, Australian Olympic legend Ian Thorpe dove head first into Australia’s failure to address the problems in its indigenous communities. |
| Debunker of myths 11 July 2009 - PETER Sutton has been immersed in grief. Recently he returned to his adopted Aurukun community on Cape York to attend a "housing opening" ceremony for a "sweet woman" allegedly slain by her boyfriend. |
Roadblock on remote housing as progress stalls on indigenous response |
| Gap dividing Aborigines growing 2 July 2009 - BBC - A national report on Aboriginal social and economic trends in Australia has shown their condition has deteriorated. In particular it showed that the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens has grown wider in areas like child abuse and domestic violence. |
A Totally Avoidable Tragedy |
| Indigenous prisoners over-represented and overlooked: ANCD 25 June 2009 - A new report being released by the Australian National Council on Drugs has found that Indigenous people are over-represented in the prison system, but their drug and alcohol problems are not being treated effectively. The report recommends greater support to keep young Indigenous people in school and better access to diversion programs. |
| 'Bad luck' NT court decision: white defendant, black victim 24 June 2009 - The plight of the Aboriginal person in the Northern Territory legal system is truly awful. That goes not only for Aboriginal people facing criminal charges, but those who are victims of crime as well. |
Man 'cooked' to death in Australian prison van |
| How a series of failures led to a tragedy in the outback heat 16 May 2009 - He literally cooked to death. Trapped in a prison van for four hours, suffocated by temperatures that climbed to more than 50C, the Aboriginal elder had no way to communicate with security officers sitting just a metre away, in the airconditioned cab. |
| Children left to play in deadly asbestos tip 4 May 2009 - DANGEROUS quantities of asbestos remained littered throughout an Aboriginal town on the far South Coast even though the State Government and the Eurobodalla Shire Council knew about the health risks at least two years ago. |
| Reports show way forward for new partnership between government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 30 April 2009 -AHRC - The federal government should take six major steps over the next 18 months to better protect the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to progress a new agenda for Indigenous affairs, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma has said in the Social Justice Report 2008 tabled today. |
A golden moment as highest award bestowed |
| The Anchorage Declaration 24 April 2009 - The Anchorage Declaration - From 20-24 April, 2009, Indigenous representatives from the Arctic, North America, Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Caribbean and Russia met in Anchorage, Alaska for the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change. |
| Australia's dirty little colonial wars 19 April 2009 - The Independent UK - The Australian War Memorial, an imposing building on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, honours the dead of two world wars as well as other conflicts, including Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. But the bloody and prolonged battles that accompanied white settlement of Australia, and claimed at least 20,000 Aboriginal lives, rate barely a mention. |
| A champion of the underdog 15 April 2009 - Tony Fitzgerald, 1952-2009 - TONY FITZGERALD was a combative lawyer who made his opinions clear, particularly in defence of minority groups and the underdog. |
| Bligh's callous land grab 11 April 2009 - Marcia Langton - ON Friday last week, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh effectively announced the gazettal of 13 rivers in Cape York Peninsula under the Wild Rivers Act, restricting the opportunity for local Aborigines to develop river areas for purposes such as farming and tourism, although claiming publicly that only three had been gazetted. |
| United we stand - Support for United Nations Indigenous Rights Declaration a watershed moment for Australia 3 April 2009 - AHRC - This morning’s formal support from the Australian Government for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is likely to go down in history as a watershed moment in Australia’s relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today. |
| To really give rights to Indigenous people we must first Close the Gap 2 April 2009 - AHRC - The historic formal statement of support from the federal government for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples occurring this Friday should be backed immediately with a comprehensive national action plan to Close the Gap in health equality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today. |
| UN still smarting from Howard's bullying on black affairs 11 February 2009 - On 23 and 24 March this year Australia will front the 95th session of the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) at New York. Under the reporting mechanisms of the UNHRC, Australia is required to submit a Periodic Report on its compliance with the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) every five years. |
| Rudd must act if race complaint upheld 10 February 2009 - There is little in the eyes of the international community more serious than a nation being found to have racist laws and policies. This was the claim made last week against Australia by 20 Aborigines. |
| QC to help WA man in Dubai jail 7 February 2009 - Prominent Perth QC Mark Trowell has taken on the case of a Geraldton man held without being charged in a Dubai maximum-security prison since October. |
| La ONU apuesta por reforzar su lucha indígena 6 February 2009 - Los tres mecanismos indígenas de Naciones Unidas unifican sus estrategias en una mini cumbre en Madrid- "Los pueblos indígenas tienen derecho a las tierras, territorios y recursos que han poseído". Adelfo Región, líder del pueblo mixe de México, empuña el artículo 26 de la Declaración de los Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos Indígenas de la ONU como si fuese un precepto bíblico. Devasish Roy, príncipe chakma de Bangladesh, se queda con el artículo 3: "los pueblos indígenas tienen derecho a la libre determinación". |
Suicide "emergency" still needs funding: Oxfam |
Kirby's last dissent: my fellow judges racially biased |
| UN 'to examine' Australia's intervention 2 February 2009 - Aboriginal people from the town camps of Alice Springs and nearby communities are preparing to take their fight against the federal intervention to the United Nations. |
| We have a dream: an Australia Day we can all celebrate 21 January 2009 - MARTIN Luther King jnr's famous "I Have a Dream" speech pivots on the images of the sons of former slaves and former slave owners sitting together at the table of brotherhood and little black girls and boys joining hands with little white girls and boys as brothers and sisters. |
Heatstroke van death may lead to charges |
| Obama inspires young Aborigines 12 January 2009 - From Australia's remote western desert to the heart of American power, an Aboriginal law student is heading to Washington to for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th, and first black, U-S President on January 20th. |
| NT intervention "crude, racist" policy: Dodson 13 November 2008 - The winner of this year's Sydney Peace Prize, Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson, has labelled the commonwealth intervention in the Northern Territory a "crude, racist and poorly considered policy". |
| Govt urged to revive Indigenous representative body 12 November 2008 - 'Stop start': Mr Calma says Australia must act with haste to lift the voice of Indigenous Australians. |
| Calls for national indigenous languages policy 1 October 2008 - The Alice Springs-based group who created Ngapartji Ngapartji (a play which has sold out to national audiences and is a 2008 nominee for a prestigious Deadly Award), are calling on the Federal Government to urgently introduce a National Indigenous Languages policy. |
It's time for a state intervention |
| Noel Pearson seeks ideas from London's East End 10 September 2008 - WHAT do the gritty streets of London's East End and remote indigenous Australia have in common, despite being almost literally poles apart? |
| Now locals can paddle their own canoe 8 September 2008 - FOR five years, the Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer has been drawn back to the stories of a remote Arnhem Land community. |
WA jailing too many Aborigines, says sociologist |
| HREOC will now be known as the Australian Human Rights Commission 4 September 2008 - AHRC Media Release - From today, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) will be known as the Australian Human Rights Commission. |
| Books improve life outcomes for Indigenous Australians 3 September 2008 -AHRC - Every effort should be made to improve poor literacy standards and overcome the educational disadvantage faced by Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today on Indigenous Literacy Day. |
| US indigenous business model to be tried here 26 July 2008 - A 35-YEAR-OLD US model for developing African-American and Native American businesses is being considered by the Federal Government as an answer to the economic disadvantage of indigenous Australians. |
| The History made among the stringybarks 24 July 2008 - Federal cabinet met in an indigenous community for the first time yesterday,deep in the heart of Arnhem Land. As a dog wandered past barefoot children in an open shelter surrounded by stringybark forest, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and 15 of his ministers listened to the concerns of the Northern Territory's Yolngu people. |
| Pope praises 'courageous' apology 17 July 2008 - POPE Benedict XVI has praised the Rudd Government's apology to Aborigines during his first public address in Sydney to celebrate World Youth Day. |
| A National Indigenous Representative Body 12 July 2008 - HREOC - The Australian Government has indicated that it intends to establish a new National Indigenous Representative Body. This page provides a range of materials addressing the key issues to be faced in establishing such a body. |
| Territory elders to lead WYD youth 9 July 2008 - Aboriginal elders will chaperone young Territorians welcoming the Pope to Australia. |
| The lives sent down the drain 5 July 2008 - Remote Aboriginal communities are still suffering from the almost incomprehensible neglect and incompetence of government. |
| ABS statisics hide true disadvantage in remote communities 3 July 2008 - Aboriginal disadvantage is massively understated and the federal government is basing policy on statistics that hide true conditions in the bush, a conference has heard. |
| Torres Strait museum takes out top reconciliation award 26 June 2008 - The 2008 Queensland Reconciliation Awards for Business were announced in Brisbane recently, with a unique business that promotes the contribution of Torres Strait Islanders to the war effort during WWII taking out the top prize. |
| Indigenous leaders call for constitutional recognition 8 June 2008 - Aboriginal leaders at the Barunga Festival in the Northern Territory have urged the Federal Government to have Indigenous people recognised in the constitution. |
| This Is Our Country Too 5 June 2008 - Australian Times UK - From the makers of With or Without Fidel, Blood Diamonds and Bang Bang In Da Manor comes a brave new documentary that delves beyond Australia’s reputation of sun, surf and sand to reveal a racial divide and contested history. |
| Sustainable options for Australia’s new national Indigenous representative body 4 June 2008 - Speech by Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, HREOC - I begin by paying my respects to the Noongar peoples, the traditional owners of the land where we gather today. I pay my respects to your elders, to the ancestors and to those who have come before us. |
| Indigenous heroes honoured in Melbourne 31 May 2008 - A commemorative service honouring Indigenous Australians who have served since World War I was held at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance on Saturday. |
| Maori-style treaty 'could benefit all Australians' 30 May 2008 - The federal race discrimination commissioner Tom Calma has backed calls for an Indigenous treaty to be signed by the Federal Government. |
| Indigenous leader calls for greater effort 28 May 2008 - INDIGENOUS leader Lowitja O'Donoghue last night called on churches to play a bigger role in reconciliation with the Stolen Generations. |
| Public Lecture and Prayers for Reconciliation 27 May 2008 - Thank you very much. It is a great honour to be here tonight to kickstart Reconciliation Week for 2008. I would like to thank, especially, the Very Reverend Dr Steven Ogden, Dean of St Peter's Anglican Cathedral, for inviting me to present this lecture. |
| Pete Postlethwaite inspired to fight for Aboriginal people 23 May 2008 - PETE Postlethwaite is a distinct face from stage and cinema but every fan remembers him for a different role. |
| Dr Nelson breaks “unconditional” commitment to parliament 23 May 2008 - Media release ANTaR - Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's decision to pull out of the bipartisan commission to improve housing in Aboriginal communities flies in the face of undertakings he gave in parliament during his apology to the Stolen Generations. |
| Peace prize for Dodson, a critic of the intervention 21 May 2008 - PATRICK DODSON, the "father of reconciliation", has urged the Federal Government to reconsider its use of constitutional powers to support the intervention in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. |
| Statement about the passing of Dr Marika 12 May 2008- HREOC - Statement from Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma and Sex DiscriminationCommissioner Elizabeth Broderick about the passing of Dr Marika Every now and then you come across a person who epitomises the true spiritof compassion and human dignity. Dr Marika was such a person. |
| $10 Billion Health Fund must be used to close Indigenous health gap 14 May 2008 - Media Release ANTaR - A significant portion of the $10 billion Nation Building Health Fund announced by the Treasurer last night should be earmarked for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care, according to Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR). |
| Brumby's budget for social justice 5 May 2008 - A $1 BILLION social justice package targeting disabled people and "at risk" groups such as Aborigines and new migrants will be a centrepiece of tomorrow's state budget. |
| Government timetable for Indigenous employment reforms announced 30 April 2008 - Media Release - The Government will shortly begin consultations on Indigenous employment services reforms which will form part of a broader Indigenous Economic Development Strategy to be announced by the end of the year. |
| Forget a treaty, say Pearson, Yunupingu 25 April 2008 - TWO of the nation's most powerful Aborigines have dismissed the treaty movement as a political "dead horse" and have urged their fellow indigenous leaders to embrace the mainstream push towards constitutional recognition of Aboriginal people. |
| The gains must not be squandered 24 April 2008 - Aboriginal children "can't eat the constitution," Professor Marcia Langton said at the 2020 Summit. She is one of various high-profile indigenous commentators who have criticised the indigenous stream's emphasis on constitutional reform since the weekend. She is right, of course. Constitutional reform alone will not fix the problems facing indigenous children and their families in Australia. |
| Call to offer Aboriginal scholarships 18 April 2008 - PRIVATE and public schools should be given annual results-based incentive payments to cover scholarships for indigenous students and staff in an "education revolution" reflecting the urgent need to address low Aboriginal education standards. |
| Aborigines to welcome Pope Benedict 17 April 2008 - Aboriginal elders will be the first Australians to officially welcome the Pope when he arrives in Sydney for the Catholic Church's World Youth Day (WYD) in July. |
| Aboriginal skulls to return home from UK 9 April 2008 - The skulls of six Aborigines that have been gathering dust in Scotland since the 19th century will be returned to Australia within weeks. |
| Rudd pledges annual update on indigenous crusade 6 April 2008 - A Progress report by the Government on how it is closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians will be made on the first working day of every parliamentary year, Kevin Rudd has pledged. |
| Indigenous mining share deal 1 April 2008 - More than 2500 of the country's most disadvantaged Aborigines will become shareholders in an Australian Securities Exchange-listed mining company under an innovative native title agreement. |
Reconciliation Australia applauds a new alliance to turn good intentions into measurable actions |
| Historic signing of Statement of Intent between Australian Government and Indigenous peoples on health equality 20 March 2008 - Media Release - Historic signing of Statement of Intent between Australian Government and Indigenous peoples on health equality (the first from HREOC and the second from the Close the Gap coalition). |
| Annual Social Justice and Native Title Reports tabled in Parliament today 20 March 2008 - Media Release - Amending the Northern Territory intervention legislation to maximise protection of children from abuse while ensuring the basic human rights of Indigenous people are protected is one of the major elements of a 10 point plan outlined in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Report 2007 tabled in federal Parliament today. |
| Australia's hidden empire 6 March 2008 - The New Statesman (UK) - That Canberra runs an imperial network is unmentionable, yet the chain of control stretches from the Aboriginal slums of Sydney to the South Pacific. |
Attacking the great digital divide |
| Financial services sector unites around reconciliation agenda 26 February 2008 - media release - In an industry where competition rules, Australia’s four big banks along with credit unions and building societies are working side by side to make their own unique contribution to reconciliation. |
| Indigenous appeal: sorry is not hard to say 27 January 2008 - "IT'S BEEN a tough year." Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service chief executive Julie Tongs knows a little about doing it tough. |
| Invasion Day protests 26 January 2008 - Around the country, hundreds of people marked white invasion of Australia on January 26 by attending protests and festivals. |
| Sorry message hangs over Australia Day 26 January 2008 - Reconciliation was a dominant theme as millions of people celebrated Australia Day, which included a mystery skywriter scrawling "sorry" above Sydney Harbour. |
| Indigenous posting jumps gun 25 January 2008 - SOUTH Australia has recycled a former ATSIC commissioner into the role of its top indigenous advocate, jumping the gun on federal moves to set up a new representative organisation for Aborigines. |
| Reconciliation requires an Aborigine for head of state 22 January 2008 - Until now, if you wished to be appointed to the post of governor-general, two of the essential qualities were that you were white and male. The first appointment, of Lord Hopetoun, had its problems, not least because he was criticised as pallid, sickly and bedecked with too many plumes. When a youthful Prince Charles - possibly impressed by his encounter with local bikini girls - thought he might fit the bill, he was told to back off as Australians had their own blokes for the job. |
| Rudd prepares for national reconciliation 21 January 2008 - NZ Herald - Australia's new Labor Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has returned to work, facing a task that none of his predecessors could master - reconciliation with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. |
| An apology is the first step on a long road 20 December 2007 - Economic progress is vital to ensure better lives for Aboriginal people. |
| Indigenous affairs top priority at COAG 17 December 2007 - Indigenous affairs will be a top priority when Kevin Rudd meets state and territory counterparts this week as the new prime minister pledges to turn COAG into a workhorse not a "whipping boy". |
| Aboriginal people need the fires of reconciliation to be relit 11 December 2007 - TODAY is a historic day, not only in the life of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but in the life of this nation. |
| Addressing extreme disadvantage through investment in capability developement 6 December 2007 - Ken Henry Secretary to the Treasury - Thank you to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and to Dr Penny Allbon in particular, for organising this conference and inviting me to speak. The AIHW’s report ‘Australia’s welfare 2007’ is the eighth in a long standing biennial series published by the AIHW but is the first under the stewardship of Dr Allbon. |
| CommBank to support Aboriginal reconciliation 6 December 2007 - The Commonwealth Bank has announced it will support a formal commitment to Australia's reconciliation with Indigenous, saying the bank will now focus on a reconciliation strategy, including employment. |
| Dawn of a new era 27 November 2007 - Kevin Rudd, prime minister-elect, has declared his hand openly on the issue of a national elected Indigenous representative body and hopefully Labor will implement it within the first 12 months of their new term. |
| Aboriginal leaders letter to Editor 28 November 2007 - Kevin Rudd's election provides an opportunity for Australia and Aboriginal people to repair amage caused by the Howard years. Mr Rudd's intention to apologise to the Stolen Generations already indicates a positive change of national policy towards Aboriginal people and should he remove the NT Emergency laws Aboriginal reconciliation will be further enhanced. |
| Dodson backs Labor on reconciliation 26 November 2007 - Leading Aboriginal activist Mick Dodson says he is confident progress on reconciliation will be achieved with the new Labor government. |
| Church urges treaty to help deal with Aboriginal unrest 12 November 2007- The Uniting Church is urging that the South Australian Government sign a treaty recognising Aboriginal land rights in SA. |
| Nigeria: Priest Finds African Parallels With Australian Aborigines 6 November 2007 - Wilcanna - Though surrounded by Western civilization, especially popularity of the nuclear family, the indigenous peoples of Australia still treasure their extended family system and matriarchal culture, a Nigerian priest found out. |
| Aeotearoa Declaration puts Australia under international microscope 18 October 2007 - Australia's poor record in overcoming Indigenous disadvantage has again come under the microscope overseas, with an international health meeting making a formal declaration to urge the Australian government to act. |
| The symbolism isn't bad, but the hypocrisy and cruelty are 15 October 2007 - The poor track record of Australia's public institutions on indigenous issues remains undiminished. It is therefore significant to hear the Prime Minister finally acknowledge the psychological terra nullius that fuels indigenous detachment. |
| John Howard U-turn on Aborigine policy 12 October 2007 The Times UK - John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, promised yesterday to hold a referendum to recognise Aborigines in the Constitution in a dramatic policy shift weeks before going to the polls. |
| Howard calls for 'New Reconciliation' referendum for indigenous people 11 October 2007 - SYDNEY: The Australian prime minister, John Howard, proposed a referendum Thursday to change the country's Constitution to recognize the role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's history. |
| Constitutional recognition of Indigenous rights long overdue 11 October 2007 - media release - Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) said tonight it would welcome constitutional change that enshrines the distinctive rights of the first Australians, but the wording of any preamble would need to be developed on the basis of genuine negotiations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. |
| Labor spells out indigenous plan 6 October 2007 - A LABOR government would retain the 30-year old Aboriginal work-for-the dole scheme in the Northern Territory, in its first major departure from the Government over its controversial emergency intervention in the NT. |
| The story of the Chagossians 4 October 2007 - "Vidisha Biswas investigates the story of the Chagossians - forcibly removed from their Indian Ocean island home - and finds, 40 years on, opinion is divided about going back |
| Northern Territory Intervention Threatens Australian Tourism 18 September 2007 - Today Dr. Jan Turek, (Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Czech Republic) in his Ian Potter Foundation Keynote Address, likened the Australian government's treatment of its Aboriginal citizens to the genocidal excesses of Stalinist Russia. |
| United Nations adopts Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples 13 September 2007 – The General Assembly today adopted a landmark declaration outlining the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing discrimination against them – a move that followed more than two decades of debate. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been approved after 143 Member States voted in favour, 11 abstained and four – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States – voted against the text. |
| Wik women sign up for a new battle in Territory 1 September 2007 - HUNDREDS of women, including Lady Deane, the wife of the former governor- general, have pledged their support to the lobby group Women for Wik, which its organisers reactivated a week ago to oppose the Federal Government's intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities. |
| Forming a new voice that speaks for Aborigines without one 31 August 2007 - A decade with John Howard has included: native title made harder to get with his "bucket loads of extinguishment" legislation; the elected body ATSIC sacked; the Reconciliation Council dumped; paternalistic funding conditions imposed (wash hands and attend school to get Commonwealth monies); the Northern Territory land rights act amended to increase access for mining; and now vulnerable Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory are invaded by troops. It has been a nightmare decade for Aborigines. |
| Pearson’s Gamble, Stanner’s Dream - The Past and Future of Remote Australia August 2007 - In 1934 the Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sydney, AE Elkin, published a small pamphlet which called for "a positive policy which aims at the welfare and development of the aborigines". To us, Elkin's words seem anodyne. |
| Black dollars go everywhere but to blacks 21 August 2007 - HUNDREDS of millions of dollars which the Federal Government says it has spent on indigenous affairs have never been spent, have been used to benefit all Australians or have gone towards opposing Aboriginal native title claims. |
| From park layabout to head of an indigenous telecom 16 August 2007 - Eighteen years ago, Michael McLeod lived in Belmore Park near Central station - and others like it - where he passed the days between dole payments, booze binges and hits. |
| Give Aborigines hope 15 August 2007 - Australia has the wealth to help its indigenous people, but this is the wrong way to do it, writes Fred Chaney. |
| Alcohol ban for Australian town 1 August 2007 - BBC UK - Residents feared the town would draw Aborigines seeking alcohol The town of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory has become a dry zone, with drinking banned in all public places. |
| Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 18 July 2007 - Statement as delivered at a press conference at UN Headquarters presented by Les Malezer, Chairperson of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus - I open this statement with the acknowledgement of the First Peoples of this region and, as such pay our respects to them, their ancestors and their lands and territories. |
| Government approach to Indigenous affairs seriously flawed 14 June 2007 - HREOC - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma has called on the federal Government to address serious flaws in their Indigenous affairs programs and services. |
| ANU Reconciliation lecture 4 June 2007 - Respect for human rights, equality and justice must be at the heart of reconciliation. When the British settled Australia, they used their laws to dispossess and oppress the indigenous people of this country. |
| Crying for the place we could become 2 June 2007 - I'VE always believed in the power of music as a potent catalyst for socialchange. I believed it when I first heard Bart Willoughby's voice out front of No Fixed Address in 1981 proudly proclaiming We Have Survived. I believed itwhen Shane Howard's band Goanna made the first non-indigenous musical statement about land rights with Solid Rock. |
| Third Report on Indigenous Disadvantage 1 June 2007 - Media Release - The third in the series of reports Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators has been released. |
Black and White together, we shall overcome, some day |
| Indigenous people working on country to be recognised 28 May 2007 - HREOC Media Release - A new national program creating environmental jobs for Indigenous people is a welcome move by the federal Government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today. |
| 10th anniversary is ‘bittersweet’ 25 May 2007 - HREOC Media Release - The 1997 Bringing them home report has reunited many Indigenous peoples with their families and created a groundswell of compassion and support but the 10th anniversary of the report is a bittersweet one, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today. |
| Where budget promises remain a dream 13 May 2007 - TREASURER Peter Costello's announcement — that, for the first time, remote-community Aborigines will be offered title to their own homes under a $700 million indigenous housing package — seems beyond the dreams of the families of Yarrabah. |
| Urban outcasts 8 May 2007 - In the past six months the federal and state governments have clearly demonstrated complicity in introducing discriminatory policies which have caused, and will continue to cause, anguish for members of Indigenous communities. |
| Indigenous spending to benefit some, but still gaps galore 9 May 2007 - HREOC - Despite some welcome initiatives in relation to education and employment, the Federal Budget has missed the opportunity to close the gap in Indigenous health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today. |
| Class Action 3 May 2007 - A fortnight ago, the remote Aboriginal community of Wadeye lodged a landmark case in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission alleging that for 30 years, the Northern Territory and federal governments have deliberately discriminated against the community by grossly underfunding their local school. |
| Outlaw Nation: The Lucky Country is No Longer So Lucky 30 April 2007 - Once upon a time, it was called the "Lucky Country." Touted as an international model of social tolerance and environmental concern, Australia and Australians were looked upon by the rest of the world with more than a tinge of envy. |
| Survivor Howard in battle for his political career 20 April 2007 - The Independent (UK) - An uncanny ability to tap into the hopes and fears of middle Australia has seen John Howard retain power for 11 years and become his country's second longest-serving prime minister. |
| In memory of reconciliation 31 March 2007 - Not so very long ago Yothu Yindi's Treaty seemed the biggest Australian hit since Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport. Perhaps you dimly remember a time when "reconciliation" was in the political vocabulary and when Cathy Freeman did her lap of honour with the Aboriginal flag? It was a time of some optimism for Australia's future, based on an acknowledgment of the past. |
| Bridging a divide 28 March 2007 - What is now known as known as Sydney Harbour has always been a focal point for Aboriginal tribes, especially the Gadigal (Cadigal) and the Cammeragail peoples. |
| Australia, Rathbone not spared as Lekota rages against post-1994 'racists' 15 February 2007 - Cape Times (Edition 2) - South Africans who emigrated post-1994, were more motivated by racist fears of black rule than concerns about crime, according to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota. |
| Community discusses indigenous rights decleration 3 February 2007 - One-hundred people gathered at Brisbane’s Riverside Centre on January 27 to discuss Indigenous self-determination and the United Nation’s draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is expected to be ratified this year. |
| Young Aussie bewails Aboriginal plight 25 January 2007 - Young Australian of the Year Tania Major says many indigenous people are seeing nothing of the success of modern-day Australia, just desperation. |
| Cruelty and xenophobia stir and shame the lucky country 19 January 2007 - (The Guardian UK) - The social regression and flag-waving promoted by Australia's neocon prime minister may come unstuck in Guantánamo |
| Black welfare report ignored 18 January 2007 - A CONFIDENTIAL report warning of the devastation of Aboriginal people through violence, alcoholism, disease and hopelessness was shelved ahead of the Queensland state election as Premier Peter Beattie moved to abolish the agency charged with redressing the problems facing the indigenous community. |
| 1901-2007 They Are Still Dancing on Our Peoples Graves 13 January 2007 - (Indymedia.org.uk) - The 1st January 2007 marks the 106th “Birthday” of Australian Federation 1901. In the same year, Sir Edmund Barton endorsed the commonwealth government’s participation in the legislation of an archaic, barbaric act of genocide. |
| Israel to train Australian educators 9 January 2007 - (Jerusalem Post) - A group of Australian educators landed in Israel on Monday to study firsthand the Israeli experience with educating disadvantaged populations, hoping to apply the knowledge in their efforts to improve education for Australia's Aboriginal population. |
| Maklin vows to end Aboriginal poverty 14 December 2006 - Ideology is dead in Aboriginal affairs and Labor will design policy that "makes poverty history" for all families, black and white, said Opposition indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jenny Macklin yesterday. |
| White Australia policy continues. Dodson 3 December 2006 - Aboriginal leader Pat Dodson has fired a salvo at the Federal Government, accusing it of a "virulent strain of assimilation" aimed at continuing the goals of a white Australia policy. |
| Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 29 November 2006 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma today expressed his disappointment at the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to delay consideration of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for up to 12 months. |
| Utopia – a place where Aborigines live long and prosper 13 November 2006 - (The Times UK) - Hidden off a long, lonely dirt road in the centre of Australia, the scattered Aboriginal settlements of weathered iron shanties, upturned cars and sullen dogs might be expected to fit the usual description: degradation, disease, filth. |
| UN seminar
to discuss treaty rights in Hobbema 9 November 2006 - Gateway (Canada) - The Experts will converge on Hobbema next week to discuss processes for making treaties with indigenous peoples, in the first United Nations seminar of its kind held outside of a UN venue. |
| Swoop
on township part of a 'vendetta' 8 November 2006 - THE Howard Government was accused of running a "vendetta" against the Aboriginal community of Mutitjulu yesterday after police swooped on the troubled township in the shadow of Uluru. |
| Aborigines
'shut out' by neglect 3 November 2006 - Australia's failure to solve the problems of "dysfunctional and disintegrating" Aboriginal communities is diminishing the whole nation, but most people don't want to know about it, says Treasury secretary Ken Henry. |
| Noel Pearson:
A peculiar path that leads astray 21 October 2006 - DURING the past decade we have been told that some myths pertaining to the Aboriginal people of Australia have been debunked. The myth of frontier massacres is said to have been debunked by Keith Windschuttle. The myth of the stolen generations is said to have been debunked by Quadrant magazine. The myth of the noble savage is said to have been debunked by Roger Sandall. The myth of terra nullius is said to have been debunked by Michael Connor. |
| Pope Urges Australia to Aid Aborigines 8 October 2006 -The Guardian (UK) - Pope Benedict XVI has called on Australians to address the social divisions that have left hundreds of thousands of Aborigines living in dire poverty. |
| The great
St Vincent's break-in 31 July 2006 - It was a big day at St Vincent's Redfern yesterday, but Father Gerry Prindiville sat grim-faced through the celebrations. |
| Aboriginal jackaroos invited
back to the farm 24 August 2006 - The Telegragh (UK) - Four decades after Aboriginal cowboys quit in disgust at low pay and dreadful conditions, a campaign has been launched to lure them back to the land. |
| Respecting
and Valuing Indigenous Rights 9 August 2006 - Address at Human Rights Commission Symposia on Indigenous Rights to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, August 9, 2006, by Joris de Bres, Race Relations Commissioner (Wellington) and Rosslyn Noonan, Chief Commissioner (Auckland). |
| Making indigenous poverty history
in Australia 8 August 2006 - (Ekklesia UK) - The worldwide campaign to 'Make Poverty History' rightly draws vital attention to the poorest of the world's poor, which includes the majority of indigenous peoples. |
| Government
morally irresponsible: retiring church head 7 July 2006 -The Australian Government has sacrificed millions of people on the altar of the market, preferred to help the rich over the poor, and has made human rights negotiable, outgoing Uniting Church president Dean Drayton said in his farewell speech yesterday. |
| Making
Indigenous Poverty History 27 July 2006 -People with names like Mabo and Mundine don’t take backward steps. Graham Ring discovers a force to be reckoned with. |
| Australian PM finally wins black support 25 July 2005 - (UK Reuters) - Prime Minister John Howard has been demonised by Aborigines for a decade, but on Tuesday one of Australia's most influential black leaders said Howard could be the person that ends generations of black squalor. |
| Scientist gives his award to Aboriginal 24 July 2006 - (The Journal of Turkish Weekly) - Anger about government inflexibility and inaction on Aboriginal training programs has prompted a leading ANU scientist to donate a $30,000 national environmental prize to pay for an indigenous trainee fire ecologist at Jervis Bay to continue his education. |
| The gentle activist 14 July 2006 - (Sur Spain) - Faith Bandler (born 1918) showed the many qualities that blossomed in her later life. The abuse and exclusion she experienced as an indigenous schoolgirl in white Australia left a lasting impression on her, but she still exudes a serenity that belies her extraordinary energy for the cause of justice for indigenous peoples, for women, and for the peace movement. |
| Aborigines
fear 'new paternalism' 3 July 2006 -The author of a landmark report into violence in Aboriginal communities has attacked the Howard Government for attempting to introduce "antiquated solutions" that are proven failures. |
| The land
of the dead 24 June 2006 - (Guardian UK) - How did two tiny islands off Australia's north coast come to have the highest suicide rate in the world? |
| Summit discusses Aboriginal abuse 26 June 2006 - (BBC UK) - Politicians from Australia's state and federal governments are meeting in Canberra to discuss ways to combat child abuse in Aboriginal communities. |
| Australian
Government blamed for abuse of women,children 6 June 2006 - (FinalCall.com News) - Revelations of horrific sexual abuse and violence suffered by women and children in Australia’s Aboriginal communities has surfaced during the fifth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) held in New York. |
| The 25 reports
on Aboriginal Australia that line government bookshelves 31 May 2006 - As more allegations about the state of Aboriginal living conditions have emerged in recent weeks, we're constantly told about the numerous reports over recent decades highlighting the state of Aboriginal Australia that have been ignored or filed away. How many reports, we wondered, and what did they say? Here's a Crikey list of at least 25 government or UN reports on the subject: |
| Problems
in remote community of Imanpa 29 May 2006 - Ten days ago we saw the worst that can happen when things go wrong in remote Aboriginal communities, when the rest of Australia became aware of the anarchy and violence at Wadeye. |
| Indigenous
people 'worst-off world over' 26 May 2006 - (BBC UK) - The health of indigenous people worldwide is much worse than that of other communities, even the poorest communities in the countries where they live. This is among the findings of a major investigation launched by the medical journal The Lancet into indigenous communities. |
| Officials discuss Aborigine
abuse 25 May 2006 - (BBC UK) - Aborigine communities are beset by many problems. Representatives from Australia's state and federal governments are meeting to discuss ways to tackle violence and abuse in Aboriginal communities. |
| Action plan
over Aborigine strife 23 May 2006 - (BBC UK) - Aborigine communities are beset by many problems. Officials in the largest Aboriginal community in Australia's Northern Territory are considering plans to send residents to camps to escape violence. |
| Pope calls
on Govt to apologise to Aboriginal Australians 22 May 2006 - The Pope has called on the Australian Government to ask forgiveness from Indigenous Australians. |
| International
aid agency to work with Indigenous kids in Perth'Chicken
coop' village fights to shed despair 18 May 2006 - The international aid agency, Save the Children, known for its work in the third world, is now planning to work with Aboriginal children in metropolitan Perth before the end of the year. |
| A troubled
town in Oz called Alice Springs 9 May 2006 - Independent Online (South Africa) - Sydney - Most visitors come away from the archetypal Australian Outback town of Alice Springs with no memories of what happens after dark. |
| Australian
shame as Aborigine left to die 26 March 2006 - The Observer (UK) - Australia's attitude to its indigenous people is back under the microscope after an Aboriginal woman who had a stroke was left for dead at a bus stop and ignored by hundreds of passers-by for five hours. |
| Queen
urges Australia to do more for Aborigines 15 March 2006 - (Reuters UK) - The Queen praised Australia for its international leadership on Tuesday, but urged the country to do more at home to alleviate poverty and to help disadvantaged Aborigines. |
| A Treaty Between Our Nations? 11 July 2000 - Inaugural professorial lecture by Professor Marcia Langton, Inaugural Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies, University of Melbourne - At the end of the Twentieth Century, the public culture of Australia remains, as it has for the previous two centuries, riven by disputes as to the status of indigenous people in Australian civil society. I argue here that it remains the case that the Australia polity is devoid of a clear and just status for indigenous people within its ambit. Further, this continuing dispute is a loose hanging thread in the web of our civil society. |
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