Newsletter date: 22 November 2012
Contents:
* The Wire: Call for indigenous commissioners to head up abuse investigation [Interview with Tjanara Goreng Goreng]
* ABC: Abused Indigenous children 'must be heard' [Tjanara Goreng Goreng]
* SNAICC News: Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse
* Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: FMG [Fortescue Metals Group] actions warrant further investigation
* ABC 7.30 Videos: Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG)
* Background to the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC)
* Tracker: Environmental approval granted for controversial gas hub [James Price Point, WA]
* Background to the Walmadan Tent Embassy, James Price Point, north of Broome, Kimberley Region, WA
* Tracker: Deadline looms for Murray-Darling plan
* Background to the Northern Murray-Darling Basin Aboriginal Nations (NBAN)
* Illawarra Mercury: Sandon Point site to be made permanent
* Background to Sandon Point Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Bulli, near Wollongong, NSW
* Morgan Brigg and Matthew Johnson: How can we achieve Aboriginal wellbeing?
* National Scorecard on the Stolen Generations Working Partnership, by the National Sorry Day Committee
* AIHW: Indigenous young people enter juvenile justice supervision earlier, stay longer
* Other articles
* THE WIRE: CALL FOR INDIGENOUS COMMISSIONERS TO HEAD UP ABUSE INVESTIGATION
- Audio Interview
The Wire: Call for indigenous commissioners to head up abuse investigation
Produced by Tim Roxburgh
http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=9875
20 Nov 12: "A victim of sexual abuse has told The Wire that male and female indigenous Australians should be among the commissioners appointed to head up the recently announced royal commission. Tjanara Goreg Goreng is an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Canberra. As a child she was sexually abused at a convent in Rockhampton. She took her case through the courts and one priest was jailed for his crimes. But others haven’t been able to find justice. Tjanara Goeng Goreng hopes that the royal commission into child sexual abuse will give other indigenous Australians who’ve been abused a chance to tell their stories. But she when she spoke to me a little earlier today she expressed concern that people won’t come forward unless the commission provides a culturally appropriate setting. ...
Featured in story: ...
Tjanara Goreng Goreng, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Canberra and National Convenor of the Foundation for Indigenous Recovery and Development"
* ABC: ABUSED INDIGENOUS CHILDREN 'MUST BE HEARD'
- News
ABC: Abused Indigenous children 'must be heard'
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-20/abused-indigenous-children-must-be...
20 Nov 12: "An Indigenous woman from Queensland [Tjanara Goreng Goreng] who was abused by a Catholic priest in the 1960s says the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse must examine the widespread abuse of Aboriginal children by members of the Catholic Church. ... She fears the widespread abuse of Indigenous children will not be adequately investigated unless the victims are given a safe environment in which to give evidence. "Aboriginal people would be more likely to come [forward] if there was a space that was a safe space, that had Aboriginal people in it, Aboriginal elders, an Aboriginal royal commissioner or two, or Aboriginal legal people and people from our own community who could be with us.""
* SNAICC NEWS: ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
- News
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC):
SNAICC News: Royal Commission into institutional child sexual abuse
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-view-article.cfm?loadref=32&id=927
21 Nov 12: "Prime Minister Gillard has announced the Australian Government will establish a Royal Commission into "institutional responses to instances and allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia". ... Acting Families Minister said the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in federal institutions may be included for examination by the royal commission. ... "We're looking at children in state care (and) we're looking at religious organisations," Mr O'Connor told ABC TV’s Insiders program. "There's no reason of course that wouldn't involve Indigenous children." ... SNAICC welcomes the announcement of the royal commission and will support the inquiry in whatever ways it can. SNAICC believes it is important that the royal commission adopts a child rights framework, and that its terms of reference specifically draw on the principles articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. ... "
* GREENS SENATOR RACHEL SIEWERT: FMG ACTIONS WARRANT FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Media Release
Greens Rachel Siewert: FMG actions warrant further investigation
http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/fmg-action...
21 Nov 12: "The Australian Greens have called on the Federal Government to investigate serious claims made about Fortescue Metals Group and their influence on the Native Title and heritage processes in the Pilbara.
"The Government needs to take a leading role in regards to the serious allegations made about FMG around their actions in relation to the Solomon site and the Yindjibarndi community," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Issues said today.
"It is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that both the Native Title Act and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act are used in a correct and proper manner, not manipulated to deliver benefits for big business.
"Members of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) have raised serious concerns about damage to sacred sites within the Solomon lease. They have reported being denied access to the site and feel as though their interests are being undermined by FMG. ... " [said Senator Rachel Siewert]"
- Related Media Release
Greens Rachel Siewert: Action needed to protect Yindjibarndi heritage
http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/action-nee...
19 Nov 12: "The Australian Greens say the Federal Government should give some teeth to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act in light of reports of raising concerns around the heritage and Native Title processes associated with FMG’s Firetail Solomon site.
"Reports today suggest there have been significant breakdowns in the assessment and management of this site," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Issues said today.
"There have been repeated concerns raised about the risk to and loss of significant sites at this mine.
"Archaeological reports suggest that there are a number of carvings, rock art, ceremonial stone arrangements, human remains and other artefacts in the area, and yet the State Government has already demonstrated that it is incapable of effectively protecting this area.
"Federal intervention is long overdue and the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation have a Section 9 application on the desk of Minister Burke, seeking to stop work at the area after sacred burial sites were uncovered. ... " [said Senator Rachel Siewert]"
* ABC 7.30 VIDEOS: YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION (YAC) AND FORTESCUE METALS GROUP (FMG)
- Videos
ABC 7.30: Conflicting information, interests and land owners dog FMG
Reporter: Bronwyn Herbert; Presenter: Leigh Sales
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3637169.htm
20 Nov 12: "KERRY SAVAS [lawyer]: Wirlu-murra was set up by FMG in order for FMG to have a party to deal with. So, what they did is created their own. And they created the Wirlu-murra. ...
BRONWYN HERBERT: What's so controversial about this?
KERRY SAVAS: Controversial is probably not the word, the word is illegal. The Native Title Act is fairly clear. It doesn't give terribly many rights to the Aboriginal group, but the one thing it affords Aboriginal people is good faith negotiations. That's not been interpreted to mean awfully much in the courts, but what it does mean is that the company should engage with Aboriginal group in a good faith manner and talk about possible compensation."
ABC 7.30: FMG Director responds to accusations around company
Reporter: Leigh Sales; Presenter: Leigh Sales
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3637171.htm
20 Nov 12: "PETER MEURS, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, FORTESCUE: Leigh, thanks for having me on the show tonight and very happy to respond. Fortescue definitely did not set up a rival group to YAC. The Yindjibarndi people... they are the land-owners; YAC is one organisation that represents the people. And we were approached as Fortescue by other people from the community, particularly the women of the community, that really wanted to work with Fortescue. The women of the community and many of the elders approached us and said, "What we see is a need for a future for our families, and what Fortescue offers is jobs and opportunities for us to grow and develop as a people and to end the disparity that we're faced with and the terrible position that we are here in Roebourne.""
- Related News
Yahoo!7: Fortescue accused of rigging land rights deal
http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/fortescue-accused-dirty-tricks-land-103...
21 Nov 12: "Andrew Forrest's mining company, Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), has been accused of rigging a meeting with Indigenous stakeholders to win the rights to mine more than $100 billion of iron ore. Lawyer Kerry Savas says a meeting in March last year with Indigenous land owners in the East Pilbara was a sham, and FMG established a group of land owners who would fight to accept its deal. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) are recognised under Commonwealth Law as the native title holders of the land and they are stridently opposed to the project." By Bronwyn Herbert
* BACKGROUND TO THE YINDJIBARNDI ABORIGINAL CORPORATION (YAC):
- Homepage
Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation
http://yindjibarndi.org.au/yindjibarndi/
* TRACKER: ENVIRONMENTAL APPROVAL GRANTED FOR CONTROVERSIAL GAS HUB [JAMES PRICE POINT, WA]
- News
newsTracker: Environmental approval granted for controversial gas hub
http://tracker.org.au/2012/11/environmental-approval-granted-for-controv...
20 Nov 12: "WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Environmental approval has been granted for Woodside Petroleum’s proposed $30 billion Kimberley gas hub at James Price Point in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. The approval comes following a review of appeals against a controversial Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) report which recommended the project go ahead. State environment minister Bill Marmion confirmed he had now ticked off environmental approval for the proposed Browse Liquefied Natural Gas Precinct, north of Broome - subject to stricter conditions."
* BACKGROUND TO THE WALMADAN TENT EMBASSY, JAMES PRICE POINT, NORTH OF BROOME, KIMBERLEY REGION, WA
Last updated: 20 November 2012
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-aboriginal-sovereig...
* TRACKER: DEADLINE LOOMS FOR MURRAY-DARLING PLAN
- News
newsTracker: Deadline looms for Murray-Darling plan
http://tracker.org.au/2012/11/deadline-looms-for-murray-darling-plan/
20 Nov 12: "NATIONAL: Tony Burke says he still wants to introduce a final plan for the Murray-Darling Basin by the end of the year, but admits the power to do so is out of his hands. The federal environment minister said it’s now up to the Senate, as it prepares to debate two crucial pieces of legislation related to the plan this week. The minister has previously stated that the plan was "on track" to being finalised by the end of the year. ... The Australian Greens have already signalled they’ll move an amendment this week calling for "at least" that amount [3200GL] to be guaranteed for the ecosystem."
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN MURRAY-DARLING BASIN ABORIGINAL NATIONS (NBAN):
Last updated: 10 November 2012
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-aboriginal-sovereig...
* ILLAWARRA MERCURY: SANDON POINT SITE TO BE MADE PERMANENT
- News
Illawarra Mercury: Sandon Point site to be made permanent
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1131871/sandon-point-site-to-be...
20 Nov 12: "Members of Wollongong's Aboriginal community could be allowed to erect a building and camp permanently at Sandon Point under one option outlined in Wollongong City Council's draft land management plans for the site. The plans, which set out what uses are allowed on the 14-hectare stretch of land, include four options to retain and formalise an indigenous presence on a section of the site now occupied by the Sandon Point Aboriginal Tent Embassy (SPATE). The option with the smallest footprint would allow for daily use of the site from "sun up to sun down" for "Aboriginal cultural and heritage activities", but restrict overnight stays to a maximum of 42 nights a year and only six individuals/families at a time." By Shannon Tonkin
* BACKGROUND TO SANDON POINT ABORIGINAL TENT EMBASSY, BULLI, NEAR WOLLONGONG, NSW:
Last updated: 13 July 2012
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-aboriginal-sovereig...
* MORGAN BRIGG AND MATTHEW JOHNSON: HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE ABORIGINAL WELLBEING?
- Analysis / Opinion
ABC The Drum Opinion: How can we achieve Aboriginal wellbeing?
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4371096.html
19 Nov 12: "Marcia Langton and Noel Pearson have the right goals but the wrong method for achieving Aboriginal wellbeing, write Morgan Brigg and Matthew Johnson. Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton have made increasingly forceful statements about how to advance the wellbeing of Aboriginal people. Most recently, Langton has argued that access to welfare and other benefits should be linked to need rather than to race. Langton has a point. But both she and Pearson operate with an understanding of wellbeing and European approaches to the economy that deserves to be challenged." By Morgan Brigg and Matthew Johnson
"Morgan Brigg is senior lecturer at The University of Queensland."
"Matthew Johnson is postdoctoral fellow at The University of York. ... He is currently developing a project examining welfare regimes, cultural diversity and wellbeing by organising a cross-cultural exchange between people from an Aboriginal Australian community and a former coal mining community in his native North East of England."
* NATIONAL SCORECARD ON THE STOLEN GENERATIONS WORKING PARTNERSHIP, BY THE NATIONAL SORRY DAY COMMITTEE:
- Report
Australian Policy Online: Scorecard 2012 the progress of the SGWP from May 2011 to May 2012
National Sorry Day Committee (NSDC)
http://apo.org.au/research/scorecard-2012-progress-sgwp-may-2011-may-2012
http://apo.org.au/node/31964
16 Nov 12: "The national Scorecard on the Stolen Generations Working Partnership, by the National Sorry Day Committee has been updated and this particular one looks at the time period between May 2011 - May 2012. The National Sorry Day Committee (NSDC) was established following the tabling in Federal Parliament of the Bringing them home Report on 26 May 1997. Bringing them home documented the consequences of decades of government policies that saw Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly taken from their families and communities and placed in institutions, foster homes or orphanages, or adopted. ... The SGWP is in its infancy as a model for community representative bodies and government to work together to address issues of concern to the Stolen Generations. However, there has been progress over the past two years. This Scorecard documents the progress of the SGWP over the past 12 months, from the NSDC’s perspective."
* AIHW: INDIGENOUS YOUNG PEOPLE ENTER JUVENILE JUSTICE SUPERVISION EARLIER, STAY LONGER
- Media Release
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW): Indigenous young people enter juvenile justice supervision earlier, stay longer
http://www.aihw.gov.au/media-release-detail/?id=60129542281
21 Nov 12: "Indigenous young people entered juvenile justice supervision at younger ages than their non-Indigenous counterparts, and spent longer under supervision, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Indigenous young people in the juvenile justice system, shows that 58% of Indigenous young people under supervision during 2010-11 had first entered supervision when they were aged 10-14, compared with less than one-third of non‑Indigenous young people.
While Indigenous young people tended to complete slightly shorter individual periods of supervision than non‑Indigenous young people (average period of 62 days compared with 68), they generally spent more time under supervision overall in 2010-11. 'On average, Indigenous young people spent about 3 weeks longer (200 days compared with 178) under supervision during the year,' said AIHW spokesperson Tim Beard. ... "
- Report
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW): Indigenous young people in the juvenile justice system
http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129542246
21 Nov 12: "Although only about 5% of young Australians are Indigenous, almost 2 in 5 (39%) of those under juvenile justice supervision on an average day in 2010-11 were Indigenous. There were 2,820 Indigenous young people under supervision on an average day and 5,195 during the year. Indigenous young people first entered supervision at younger ages than non-Indigenous young people, on average, and spent longer under supervision during the year."
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- Audio
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
http://caama.com.au/radio#tabs-6
http://caama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/AM-21.11.12.mp3
21 Nov 12: "In Victoria 97 per cent of Aboriginal people who participated in a survey in the state say they have been exposed to racism in the past year."
The Wire: 'Racial abuse of Aboriginal Victorians has severe mental health impacts'
Produced by Biwa Kwan
http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=9868
19 Nov 12: "A Melbourne University study has found most Aboriginal Victorians have been the target of racist verbal or physical abuse in the past year. A survey of 755 Aboriginal adults in four towns in regional and urban parts of Victoria, showed 97 percent of respondents were subject to racist incidents including name calling, being spat at and having property vandalised. The study also highlighted the dangerous mental health impact of racist abuse. A number of Aboriginal organisations have welcomed the findings, saying they hope the research will push local, state and federal governments to act. ... "
"Featured in story:
* Margaret Kelaher - Associate Professor, School of Population Health, Melbourne University
* Jill Gallagher - CEO, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO)
* Vanessa Harris - General Manager of Research, Lowitja Institute
* Peter Streker - Acting Manager, Reducing Race Based Discrimination unit, VicHealth"
"Related Links:
Report, 'Mental health impacts of racial discrimination in Victorian Aboriginal communities'"
http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Publications/Freedom-from-discrimination...
- News
National Indigenous Times: Community mourns passing of warrior Aunty Isabell Coe
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2243-community-mourns-passing-of-warrior-aunt...
20 Nov 12: "The Aboriginal community has lost another warrior with the passing of Aunty Isabell Coe. Aunty Isabell, a stalwart of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy from its inception, passed peacefully at home on Erambie Mission at Cowra in central western New South Wales among family and friends. Aunty Isabell was born on Erambie in 1951 and as a young girl excelled at various sports and rose to State representative... "
National Indigenous Times: Adelaide’s eviction plan for homeless just racist: Clark
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2244-adelaides-eviction-plan-for-homeless-jus...
20 Nov 12: "A resolution to be considered by Adelaide City Council to evict homeless people from the city's parklands was discriminatory and targeted against Aboriginal people and would only force the homeless to exist in even greater squalor and despair, the Executive Director of South Australia's peak housing and homeless care organisation, Shelter SA has warned."
National Indigenous Times: Aboriginal people targetted in WA’s "move-on" policy
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2242-aboriginal-people-targetted-in-was-move-...
20 Nov 12: "Western Australia's Aboriginal peoples are targeted and victimised with more move-on notices issued to them than all other ethnic groups combined the West Australian Parliament has been told and advocates have called for an end to what they see as racial vilification. The Aboriginal Legal Services WA Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Eggington said enough was enough and he urged parliamentarians to... "
National Indigenous Times: Anger over Bourke evictions
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2241-anger-over-bourke-evictions.html
20 Nov 12: "Residents of the Alice Edwards Village at Bourke in the far west of New South Wales, angry and disillusioned with being forced to live in dilapidated and dangerously run down houses, have claimed the Nulla Nulla Local Land Council has now started a process to evict tenants who have refused to pay rent in protest. The residents have claimed many of the houses have had no repair work carried out on them... "
National Indigenous Times: Wyatt calls for an end to Native Title litigation
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2233-wyatt-calls-for-an-end-to-native-title-l...
20 Nov 12: "The Federal Court has made a ruling in favour of Traditional Owners following a five year Native Title dispute with miners in Western Australia's Pilbara region and National Native Title Council Chief Executive, Brian Wyatt has called for an end to the West Australian Government's "wasteful and unnecessary" legal action against the rights and interests of Traditional Owners."
National Indigenous Times: Government failure to act on deaths in custody a "national shame":Bonig
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2232-government-failure-to-act-on-deaths-in-c...
20 Nov 12: "The lack of response by Federal, State and Territory governments to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was a disgrace, the South Australian Law Society President, Ralph Bonig said. Mr Bonig said September marked the 25th anniversary since the announcement of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the final report was delivered in April, 1991 and it made some 339... "
National Indigenous Times: Scott declares mining move "bold"
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2246-scott-declares-mining-move-bold.html
20 Nov 12: "The true economic independence of Aboriginal people in New South Wales is another step closer to reality following the announcement the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council has progressed further with its Petroleum Special Prospecting Authority Applications or PSPAs, Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Scott said. Mr Scott described the decision to move into mining by the Land Council as "bold"."
National Indigenous Radio Service: Congress members express child protection concerns
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7627-congress-members-express-ch...
19 Nov 12: "A Director of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples says its members have identified child protection as a key area for improvement for Indigenous Australians. Congress held its annual meeting in Alice Springs in September, where an open mic session saw many delegates express concern about the high level of Indigenous children in care. Director Tammy Solonec told 98.9fm Congress will now look more closely at the issue and believes the concerning state of Indigenous child protection is due to socio-economic factors."
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