Newsletter date: 6 May 2012
Contents:
* BNI: ANSTO radioactive waste application more responsible option than remote dump plan
* Background to the proposed Muckaty nuclear waste dump
* AuSIL: Indigenous languages in education: What the research actually shows
* Background to the use of Aboriginal languages in NT schools
* ABC Video: Elders take stand on intervention
* Congress: Stop, listen and test NT laws for human rights violations
* Background to the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples
* More 'Stronger Futures' Legislation related articles
* Background to 'Stronger Futures' new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Justice Reinvestment Campaign
* NITV News: Moree Tent Embassy
* Background to the Aboriginal tent embassies
* Other articles
* BNI: ANSTO RADIOACTIVE WASTE APPLICATION MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN REMOTE DUMP PLAN
- Media Release
Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI):
ANSTO radioactive waste application more responsible option than remote dump plan
http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/2012/05/02/ansto-radioactive-waste-ap...
1 May 12: "The Beyond Nuclear Initiative (BNI) has cautiously welcomed news today that the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) will apply to build an interim storage facility at Lucas Heights for radioactive waste due to return from overseas reprocessing.
BNI coordinator Natalie Wasley says the application shows Minister Martin Ferguson’s current push for a remote dump on the Muckaty Land Trust in the NT is losing ground and that interim storage at Lucas Heights is a better option while a comprehensive and long-term management plan is considered. ...
"The application to store this waste at ANSTO would see it returning to a secured federal site where nuclear waste and nuclear expertise is currently concentrated. This is clearly a better interim plan than trucking waste thousands of kilometres to a remote area with a couple of security guards posted at the facility door". ... "
- Related Media Release
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO):
Plan in place to safely manage medical and research waste
http://www.ansto.gov.au/discovering_ansto/media_centre/ansto_media_relea...
"The Australian Government’s nuclear agency, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) will apply for a licence to construct an interim storage facility for Australian radioactive waste generated by several decades of nuclear medicine production and scientific research. ...
For more than 50 years, almost all of Australia’s nuclear medicine has been produced at Sydney’s Lucas Heights. ANSTO produces 550,000 doses of medicine a year, which is distributed to more than 250 hospitals and medical centres across the country.
The proposed new storage facility at Lucas Heights (subject to regulatory approval) would enable Australia to meet obligations to repatriate Australian waste currently being reprocessed in France and due, under arrangements established by Governments in the 1990s, to return to Australia by the end of 2015.
This proposed interim facility would operate at Lucas Heights for up to five years from late 2015 – while planning is underway for the siting, design and construction of a permanent national radioactive waste management facility anticipated to be operational by 2020."
- Related Audio
ABC PM: ACF welcomes nuclear waste plan, but urges inquiry
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3493234.htm
1 May 12: "Australia's biggest national environment group has given cautious approval to radioactive waste storage plans by Australia's nuclear research agency ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation). ANSTO wants to store returned reprocessed radioactive waste from France temporarily at its facility in Sydney's Lucas Heights. The Australian Conservation Foundation says it makes sense to store it in a specially constructed building at the ANSTO headquarters. But the ACF rejects the Federal Government's long term plan to transport nuclear waste to a remote national storage facility. And it's calling for a full public inquiry into the country's long term options for nuclear waste storage."
[Includes comments by ACF's David Sweeney and ANSTO's CEO Dr Adi Paterson.]
- Related Analysis / Opinion
ABC Environment: We need to talk about Lucas Heights
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/05/03/3494030.htm
3 May 12: "SUCCESSIVE FEDERAL governments have attempted to manage Australia's radioactive waste by keeping the issue as low on the political radar and as far from the public eye as possible. This approach has meant that instead of developing a credible process to identify the range of best management options they have been obsessed with a finding a vulnerable and politically powerless postcode to host the nation's radioactive waste." Dave Sweeney
- Related News
ABC Rural: Nuclear waste to be stored in Sydney
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/nt/content/201205/s3493073.htm
1 May 12: "Nuclear waste could be stored in metropolitan Sydney within five years. The waste is currently being processed in Europe and will be stored at the Lucas Heights facility in Sutherland upon it's return to Australia. But Adi Paterson from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation says Lucas Heights would only provide an interim solution until a national repository is built. "It is not a permanent storage location. "I think permanent storage at Lucas Heights would be out of line with international practice. ... ""
ABC: Radioactive waste to be stored at Lucas Heights
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-01/radioactive-waste-to-be-stored-at-...
1 May 12: "The Federal Government's nuclear agency has revealed plans to build a new radioactive waste storage facility next to its reactor at Sydney's Lucas Heights. The waste was generated at the Sydney facility but was sent to France several years ago to be reprocessed to remove plutonium and residual uranium. ... ANSTO's chief doctor, Adi Paterson, say the application has been lodged because a national radioactive waste facility has still not been built."
SMH: Residents concerned at Sydney nuclear waste plan
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/residents-concerned-at-sydney-nuclear-...
1 May 12: "A plan to store radioactive waste in Sydney's southern suburbs raises safety concerns, says a local councillor who is angry the area is being treated like a world dumping ground. Thirteen cubic metres of the waste - enough to fill one-third of a shipping container - will be returned to Australia by 2015 and stored for five years at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility."
Australian: Nuclear waste to be shipped to Sydney
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news-old/nuclear-waste-to-...
1 May 12: "A PLAN to store radioactive waste in Sydney's suburbs has the backing of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) because it won't be dumped in the outback. Thirteen cubic metres of the waste - enough to fill one third of a shipping container - will be returned to Australia by 2015 and stored for five years at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility."
The West: Locals angry over Sydney nuke waste plan
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/national/13564852/locals-slam-sydne...
1 May 12: "A community in Sydney's south has reacted angrily to plans to store radioactive waste in the area, saying Lucas Heights is being treated like a nuclear "dumping ground". Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) revealed that 13 cubic metres of waste will be returned to Australia by 2015 and stored for five years at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility."
SMH: Locals angry over Sydney nuke waste plan
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/locals-angry-over-sydney-n...
1 May 12: "A community in Sydney's south has reacted angrily to plans to store radioactive waste in the area, saying Lucas Heights is being treated like a nuclear "dumping ground". Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) revealed that 13 cubic metres of waste will be returned to Australia by 2015 and stored for five years at the Lucas Heights nuclear facility."
Leader: ANSTO nuclear waste decision condemned
http://www.theleader.com.au/news/local/news/general/ansto-nuclear-waste-...
1 May 12: "Sutherland Shire Mayor Carol Provan has condemned the Federal Government’s decision to store nuclear waste at the ANSTO facility at Lucas Heights, claiming Sutherland Shire has become the ‘defacto dumping ground’ for the nation. ANSTO issued a press release this morning confirming it would be storing the waste, but has yet to even contact the council about the issue, Cr Provan said."
Australian: Reactor provides hope as mum Nicole Jarman battles illness
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/reactor-provides-hope-as-mum...
2 May 12: "CALLS from the anti-nuclear lobby for the research reactor at Lucas Heights, on Sydney's southern outskirts, to be shut down were amplified yesterday, after it was revealed radioactive waste would be stored at the site. But western Sydney mother Nicole Jarman is deaf to those calls, at any volume. Ms Jarman, 28, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last October, and medical isotopes produced at Lucas Heights have been a key part of her treatment."
SMH: No nuclear waste store for Shire, says mayor
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/no-nuclear-waste-store-for-shire-says-mayor-20...
2 May 12: "SUTHERLAND Shire Council says a ''people power'' campaign by residents might be the only way to stop plans by the nuclear agency to build a nuclear waste storage facility at Lucas Heights. The mayor, Carol Provan, said she was dismayed with an announcement yesterday by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation that it would apply for a licence to build a nuclear waste facility to take mid-level radioactive waste now being reprocessed in France."
* BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSED MUCKATY NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP:
Last updated: 22 April 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-proposed-muckaty-nu...
* AuSIL: INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION: WHAT THE RESEARCH ACTUALLY SHOWS
AuSIL: Indigenous languages in education: What the research actually shows
http://www.ausil.org.au/node/3741
Written by Charles E. Grimes Ph.D and published by the Australian Society for Indigenous Languages (AuSIL).
Support Bilingual Education:
Indigenous languages in education: What the research actually shows
http://www.supportbilingualeducation.com/indigenous-languages-in-education/
"For a hard copy of the book or to register your interest, please send us your details using the form below."
See:
Friends of Bilingual Learning Google group
http://groups.google.com/group/foblmail
"Supporters of Bilingual & Multilingual education, living and learning in the Northern Territory. Recognising the importance of language in human development, identity and wellbeing."
* BACKGROUND TO THE USE OF ABORIGINAL LANGUAGES IN NT SCHOOLS:
Last updated: 5 May 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/05/background-to-the-use-of-aboriginal-l...
* ABC VIDEO: ELDERS TAKE STAND ON INTERVENTION
- Video
ABC: Elders take stand on intervention
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-02/elders-outraged-poised-to-protest-...
3 May 12: "Indigenous elders are calling for an end to all land and mining talks with the Commonwealth until all aspects of the NT Intervention are abolished."
See:
WGAR News: Yolngu Nations Assembly Statement concerning 'Stronger Futures' laws and NT policies (4 May 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/04/wgar-news-yolngu-nations-assembly-sta...
* CONGRESS: STOP, LISTEN AND TEST NT LAWS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
- Media Release
National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples:
Stop, listen and test NT laws for human rights violations
http://nationalcongress.com.au/stop-listen-test-nt-laws-for-human-rights/
4 May 12: "Congress says Govt should stop, listen and test NT laws for human rights violations
Congress says it will continue to oppose new Intervention laws because they have not been tested for human rights violations as part of its on-going support to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
Congress Co-Chairs Jody Broun and Les Malezer said more Aboriginal people are calling for the laws before Parliament to be scrapped, most recently the Yolgnu Nations Assembly, which represents 8000 traditional owners in west, central and east Arnhem Land.
"Here is another significant group of our peoples, directly affected by the laws, who are actually calling this legislation 'racist' in their letter to the Prime Minister," said Mr. Malezer.
"This is a strong and simple message to the Government that these laws must be independently reviewed to ensure they do not breach human rights standards and international obligations.
"The Government has 'willful deafness' on such a fundamental issue, even after critical reports on the Intervention by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples. ... ""
- Related News
Australian: Intervention laws face human rights hurdle
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/intervention-laws-face-...
4 May 12: "THE National Congress of Australia's First Peoples has threatened to use "domestic and international human rights forums" to humiliate the Gillard government over the next stage of its radical intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The new peak Aboriginal representative body, which is partly funded by the federal government and has discussion meetings with Julia Gillard, is becoming increasingly active in opposing Labor's approach to indigenous affairs."
See:
WGAR News: Yolngu Nations Assembly Statement concerning 'Stronger Futures' laws and NT policies (4 May 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/04/wgar-news-yolngu-nations-assembly-sta...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AUSTRALIA'S FIRST PEOPLES:
Last updated: 5 May 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/05/background-to-the-national-congress-o...
* MORE 'STRONGER FUTURES' LEGISLATION RELATED ARTICLES:
- News
Australian: Musicians rally against 'Stronger Futures'
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news-old/musicians-rally-a...
4 May 12: "AUSTRALIAN musicians Paul Kelly, Neil Murray and Archie Roach have joined Northern Territory Aboriginal leaders in rallying against the federal government's Stronger Futures Laws. At a memorial concert for acclaimed Australian singer Jimmy Little at Sydney's Opera House last night the musicians performed his iconic song Blackfella Whitefella to an audience of 2500 people. They dedicated the song to the "Stand for Freedom campaign" which opposes the Federal Government's Stronger Futures laws."
See:
Stand for Freedom: There can be no reconciliation without justice:
http://standforfreedom.org.au/
* BACKGROUND TO 'STRONGER FUTURES' NEW NT INTERVENTION LAWS:
Last updated: 5 May 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-stronger-futures-new-nt...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Last updated: 29 April 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-...
* JUSTIVE REINVESTMENT CAMPAIGN:
- Audio Interview
SBS Living Black: Imprisonment In Australia Is Expensive Business
By Garfield Samuels
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/214141/t...
4 May 12: "The level of incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people isnt decreasing and politicians are now joining advocacy organisations' calls to invest money in keeping people out of prison. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics - a quarter of people in prison in 2009 was Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. ... Greens Legal Affairs and Social Inclusion spokesperson, Senator Penny Wright tells Garfield Samuels the concept of justice reinvestment, is the key to keeping people from offending and out of jails."
- News
National Indigenous Times: The shameful record on juvenile jail rates
http://www.nit.com.au/your-say.html
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1017-the-shameful-record-on-juvenile-jail-rat...
5 May 12: "By National Indigenous Times ACT reporter Geoff Bagnall
A new campaign featuring a group of prominent Indigenous leaders has been launched which aims to cut "the shameful number of young Aboriginal Australians in juvenile detention". The campaign, called the Justice Reinvestment Campaign, has been initiated by the Aboriginal Legal Service because Australia's prison rates are exploding and the greatest increase in those numbers are Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. ... The Justice Reinvestment Campaign for Aboriginal young people has a long list of high profile supporters including the Governor of New South Wales, Marie Bashir who launched the campaign today (Wednesday)."
* NITV NEWS: MOREE TENT EMBASSY
- Video
NITV News: Moree Tent Embassy
http://www.nitv.org.au/fx-story.cfm?sid=0BE1B333-FA29-E915-EF1DCB5B58A90B26
"Reporter: Jeremy Geia
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy movement is growing rapidly with plans to create new sites around the country in the coming weeks. The New South Wales town of Moree is the latest to join the campaign for sovereignty and self determination."
* BACKGROUND TO THE ABORIGINAL TENT EMBASSIES:
Last updated: 4 May 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-aboriginal-sovereig...
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- Audio
3CR Community Radio 855 AM - Podcasts
[scroll down page] http://www.3cr.org.au/podcast
Earth Matters - 5 May 2012
[download this program] http://pod.3cr.org.au/pod/3CRCast-2012-05-04-73379.mp3
5 May 12: "Arabunna Elder Uncle Kevin Buzzacott’s challenge to Fed Court approval of BHP-Billeton’s Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion gets dismissed – BHP & the Fed Gov seek court costs from Uncle Kev, who is an elderly pensioner. Also, update from Portland Aboriginal Tent Embassy."
See: WGAR News: "Court throws out Olympic Dam challenge" ABC PM (22 Apr 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/wgar-news-court-throws-out-olympic-da...
- Audio Interview
SBS Living Black: Who Polices The Police?
By Garfield Samuels
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/214015/t...
3 May 12: "National advocacy organisation, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation, has launched a national campaign to highlight the lack of transparency of the police investigating police, when there is a death in custody. ... ANTAR believes approaches taken overseas to prevent police misconduct and abuse should be adopted in Australia. ANTAR National Director Jacqui Philips tells Garfield Samuels, Northern Ireland has a successful independent investigative body that could be replicated in Australia."
- Analysis / Opinion
National Indigenous Times: Investigate Impact of Mining Boom
http://www.nit.com.au/opinion/988-investigate-impact-of-mining-boom.html
5 May 12: "By National Indigenous Times columnists Ian Perdrisat
The colonial settlement of Australia commenced in 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove. From this tiny outpost in the south-east corner the British occupation of Australia spread quickly harvesting the resources and occupying land to the exclusion and disadvantage of the local Indigenous people."
National Indigenous Times: Nyoongar Land Rights need to be respected
http://www.nit.com.au/opinion/984-nyoongar-land-rights-need-to-be-respec...
5 May 12: "by Gerry Georgatos National Indigenous Times Western Australia reporter
The Native Title offer from the Western Australian state government to the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) has divided not only the West Australian community and given birth to the Nyoongar Tent Embassy however also divided Nyoongars who are not part of the Embassy."
- News
National Indigenous Times: Youth suicide: Toll higher than Afghan war deaths
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1016-youth-suicide-toll-higher-than-afghan-wa...
5 May 12: "By National Indigenous Times West Australian reporter Gerry Georgatos
Kabi Kabi Elder and Bundaberg campus coordinator of Nulloo Yumbah at Central Queensland University, Cheri Yavu-Kama-Harathunian said she is devastated by the rising disenfranchisement of Aboriginal youth and the lack of action to end suicides by Australia's Aboriginal children."
National Indigenous Times: March to remember colonial war deaths a success: Anderson
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1015-march-to-remember-colonial-war-deaths-a-...
5 May 12: "By National Indigenous Times ACT reporter Geoff Bagnall
A march to remember those who fell in colonial wars has been hailed as a great success by organisers. The group of 20 who joined on to the rear of the official ANZAC Day parade in Canberra carrying placards highlighting various massacres around Australia during colonisation and early... "
National Indigenous Times: Health fears emerge for shooting victims as Mundine calls for police to be charged
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1014-health-fears-emerge-for-shooting-victims...
5 May 12: "Fears for the health of a 17 year old shot in the neck by police in Kings Cross Sydney, then bashed, dragged and left lying in a pool of his own blood on the footpath by police have deepened. Anthony Mundine, who joined Indigenous leaders and family members of the six victims of the shooting, attended the protest last Tuesday outside... "
National Indigenous Times: Mabo anniversary looms
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1013-mabo-anniversary-looms.html
5 May 12: "By National Indigenous Times reporter Geoff Bagnall
"It's a part of Australia's history now. It's living history. For all the young people it's their history" - Gail Mabo
What's the first thing you think of when you hear "Mabo"? For a majority of people the answer would be land or Native Title. The name has entered the lexicon as a metaphor for the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal struggle... "
National Indigenous Times: Special ceremony by family brings Frank Archibald’s spirit home from New Guinea
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1009-special-ceremony-by-family-brings-frank-...
5 May 12: "He was a black man in an army dominated by white soldiers. But the only colours that mattered to Private Frank Richard Archibald's closest mates were the khaki uniform on his back and the blood he shed for his country. It's been nearly 70 years since Private Archibald, an Aboriginal digger from New South Wales' north coast, was shot dead by a Japanese sniper during the... "
National Indigenous Times: ANZAC Day sacred, says Gladys Waters
http://www.nit.com.au/news/1008-anzac-day-sacred-says-gladys-waters.html
5 May 12: "ANZAC Day is as sacred as Good Friday to 83 year old Gladys Waters. The wife of Australia's first Aboriginal military pilot Len Waters has attended ANZAC Day services religiously each year since her husband died in 1993. Ill health meant she had to settle for watching the parade on television from her Brisbane home on Wednesday."
National Indigenous Radio Service: New book exposes bloody history of Tasmanian colonisation
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7176-new-book-exposes-bloody-his...
4 May 12: "A new book about a darker side of Tasmania's history argues that at least 800 Aboriginal people were massacred at various locations by colonists. Author and historian, Professor Lyndall Ryan, says research for the book 'Tasmanian Aborigines - A History Since 1803' reignites a critical debate in Australian Aboriginal history. Professor Ryan says a major massacre occurred after colonists sought revenge for a murdered stockman and attacked Pallittorre people at Liffey Falls one morning in 1827."
National Indigenous Radio Service: Crowd gathers to protest shooting of Brisbane teenager
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7172-crowd-gathers-to-protest-sh...
3 May 12: "Aboriginal protesters yesterday staged a rally outside Parliament House in Brisbane in response to the shooting of 18-year-old Dempsey Cleven by police and to campaign for the future protection of children. Mr. Cleven was shot in the leg by police on Easter Sunday while being a passenger in an allegedly stolen vehichle. Protest speaker and prominent Murri rights advocate Wayne Wharton says the key point of the rally was to challenge the new Queensland Premier Campbell Newman to keep Aboriginal children more safe and better protected."
Sovereign Union: Rally and march highlight new Stolen Generation in Queensland and gain father his grieving rights
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/content/rally-and-march-highlight-new...
2 May 12: "Brisbane Sovereign Embassy, Musgrave Park ...
Aboriginal people and their supporters held a rally and march in Brisbane on Wednesday 2nd May to highlight the continued genocidal practice of removing large numbers of Aboriginal children from their families and their culture. Just last year 13,433 Aboriginal kids were taken in Queensland. In last couple of weeks a thirteen year old girl was killed after being chased by police because she was trying to get back to her family and a 3 year old boy was fatally run over by a truck, both after being removed from their homes, kids that would still be alive today if they hadn't been stolen."
- - -
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http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/30/about-wgar-news-working-group-for-abo...
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