Newsletter date: 28 December 2012
Contents:
* SNAICC News: Genuine Participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Child Protection Decision-making
* Leah Talbot & Dave Sweeney, ACF: Looking to the mining industry to empower Indigenous communities is a dangerous and fraught path
* Chris Graham At Large: Is our children learning and are you’re politician’s listening?
* Gerry Georgatos, Indymedia Australia: Is non-sniffable fuel really the answer?
* Sean Kerins, Crikey: No room at the inn for Aboriginal customers in Borroloola
* Background to 'Stronger Futures' new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* NIRS: Fears of long-term effect from Northern Territory budget cuts
* CAAMA: Aboriginal young people in detention
* Background to Aboriginal imprisonment and Deaths in Custody
* SNAICC NEWS: GENUINE PARTICIPATION OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES IN CHILD PROTECTION DECISION-MAKING
- News
Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care:
SNAICC News: Genuine Participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Child Protection Decision-making
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-view-article.cfm?loadref=32&id=953
19 Dec 12: "The Participation Framework forms part of SNAICC’s continuing work to promote self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in child protection decision-making. SNAICC believes that through increased self-determination better outcomes can be achieved for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families who come into contact with the child protection system. Genuine participation is also key to effective implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle."
See:
SNAICC Background
http://www.snaicc.org.au/about/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=1
"The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) is the national non government peak body in Australia representing the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families."
* LEAH TALBOT & DAVE SWEENEY, THE ACF: LOOKING TO THE MINING INDUSTRY TO EMPOWER INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IS A DANGEROUS AND FRAUGHT PATH
- Analysis / Opinion
The ACF: Looking to the mining industry to empower Indigenous communities is a dangerous and fraught path
The Age: Green movement is here to help, not hinder, Aborigines
ACF: http://www.acfonline.org.au/news-media/acf-opinion/looking-mining-indust...
Age: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/green-movement-is-here-to-help...
21 Dec 12: "A CONSISTENT theme running through Professor Marcia Langton's recent Boyer Lectures is the idea that the environment movement is standing in the way of indigenous empowerment and that conservationists are ''new colonisers under a green flag''. The accusation is way off the mark. Long ago, the Australian Conservation Foundation recognised that the best way to protect the environment in this country was in partnership with those who have done this for thousands of years, the Aboriginal traditional owners. We have a positive vision for northern Australia ... " By Leah Talbot and Dave Sweeney
Leah Talbot, a Kuku Yalanji woman, works for the Australian Conservation Foundation
Dave Sweeney, works on nuclear, resource and Indigenous issues with the Australian Conservation Foundation
See:
ACF - Australian Conservation Foundation
About us
http://www.acfonline.org.au/about-us
"ACF’s vision is a prosperous society in which the principles of ecological sustainability, social justice and human wellbeing are embedded in Australia’s decision-making processes, in government, in business practices and in our cultures."
ABC Radio National: 2012 Boyer Lectures
The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/
"The 53rd Boyer Lectures will be presented by Professor Marcia Langton AM, Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at The University of Melbourne. The lectures' subject will be The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom. Prof Langton will look at the dependency of Aboriginal businesses and not-for-profit corporations on the resources industry and their resultant vulnerability to economic downturns."
Indymedia Australia: Researcher argues new generation of deals can finally empower Aboriginal communities
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/23/researcher-argues-new-generation-of-d...
23 Dec 12: "Lily O'Neill is a PhD student with the Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Project, an Australian Research project at the University of Melbourne and she argues the case that agreements such as the Kimberley LNG deal are the way forward for Aboriginal communities otherwise languishing in poverty. ... Human Rights Alliance Indigenous spokeswoman Natalie Flower said the Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Project run a defeatist argument of "get what you can and work with it and not what you are entitled to."" By Gerry Georgatos
* CHRIS GRAHAM AT LARGE: IS OUR CHILDREN LEARNING AND ARE YOU'RE POLITICIAN'S LISTENING?
- Analysis / Opinion
Chris Graham At Large: Is our children learning and are you’re politician’s listening?
http://chrisgrahamatlarge.com/2012/12/20/is-our-children-learning-and-ar...
20 Dec 12: "ONE of the great ironies of the latest round of hand-wringing over the results in the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (or NAPLAN) tests is that while we flog our black kids for not learning fast enough - and the schools for not lifting their results - as a nation we continue to fail to learn the lessons of our own past. ... And therein lies the solution. While there are a host of factors that affect Aboriginal learning - poverty, poor housing, home life - the core principle remains: Aboriginal communities must determine Aboriginal educational priorities." By Chris Graham, former managing editor of Tracker magazine, founding editor of the National Indigenous Times, a freelance writer based in Sydney
See:
Chris Graham At Large
http://chrisgrahamatlarge.com/
* GERRY GEORGATOS, INDYMEDIA AUSTRALIA: IS NON-SNIFFABLE FUEL REALLY THE ANSWER?
- Analysis / Opinion
Indymedia Australia: Is non-sniffable fuel really the answer?
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/23/is-non-sniffable-fuel-really-the-answer
23 Dec 12: "The Human Rights Alliance Indigenous spokeswoman Natalie Flower said if the best a Government could do to try and reduce solvent abuse was to switch to low aromatic fuels then they had not done their job. "It's certainly good to remove access to a substance that people will abuse however the problem is still there, the problem that someone who is prepared to petrol sniff, well they will be prepared to find some other abuse to oneself to stampede their mind into aberration, find relief from their poverty, hopelessness, and lonesomeness. ... " said Ms Flower." By Gerry Georgatos
See:
WGAR News: Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Greens Opal Fuel Bill passes the Senate (30 Nov 12)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/30/wgar-news-grog-summit-outcomes-apo-nt...
Gerry Georgatos - Indymedia Australia
http://indymedia.org.au/users/gerry-georgatos
About Indymedia Australia
http://indymedia.org.au/about
"Indymedia is a collective providing a platform for grassroots media-makers to create radical, accurate, and passionate coverage of struggles and movements working for social, environmental and economic justice. Everyone is a witness. Everyone is a journalist."
* SEAN KERINS, CRIKEY: NO ROOM AT THE INN FOR ABORIGINAL CUSTOMERS IN BORROLOOLA
- News
Crikey: No room at the inn for Aboriginal customers in Borroloola
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/12/24/no-room-at-the-inn-for-aboriginal-cu...
24 Dec 12: "Many Aboriginal people support booze bans in local communities. But a raid on Chrisco hampers in the Northern Territory left a bad taste. Sean Kerins of ANU’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy reports from Borroloola. ... This type of activity has the look of entrapment. It reeks of punishment. Aboriginal people see it as deeply unfair. ... Who is accountable for this debacle? Perhaps it’s the Aboriginal drinkers, on the lookout for grog to feed that constant desire, to numb the pain of existence. But we know that Borroloola has no dry-out place, no counselling services." By Sean Kerins
See:
About Crikey
http://www.crikey.com.au/about/
"Crikey is Australian for independent journalism.
Crikey’s aim is very simple: to bring its readers the inside word on what’s really going on in politics, government, media, business, the arts, sport and other aspects of public life in Australia."
* BACKGROUND TO 'STRONGER FUTURES' NEW NT INTERVENTION LAWS:
Last updated: 22 December 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-stronger-futures-new-nt...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Last updated: 19 December 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-...
* NIRS: FEARS OF LONG-TERM EFFECT FROM NORTHERN TERRITORY BUDGET CUTS
- News Analysis
National Indigenous Radio Service: Fears of long-term effect from Northern Territory budget cuts
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/features/7714-fears-of-long-term-effect-from...
21 Dec 12: "The Northern Territory Government is being warned cutting funds for programs for Aboriginal people will have a long-term negative effect. ... A number of programs directly affecting Aboriginal people have also had their funding slashed. Child care organisation Stronger Aboriginal Families, Together (SAF,T) has lost half its funding and is now having to restructure in order reduce the scope of the services it provides. A spokesperson for the group says it's now expected to be an out-of-home care provider and not more involved in prevention of children being removed from their families."
See:
WGAR News: Government cuts a major blow to the territory's vulnerable children and families: SNAICC (19 Dec 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/19/wgar-news-government-cuts-a-major-blo...
[SNAICC: Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care]
WGAR News: APO NT: Mini-budget cuts to Aboriginal services will increase harm and cost more -especially in the Bush (18 Dec 12)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/18/wgar-news-brisbane-aboriginal-soverei...
WGAR News: Darwin Aboriginal Rights Coalition has condemned the CLP’s mini-budget cuts to vital Aboriginal services: Media Release (18 Dec 12)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/18/wgar-news-brisbane-aboriginal-soverei...
About the National Indigenous Radio Service
http://www.nirs.org.au/about-us/about-nirs
"The National Indigenous Radio Service Limited (NIRS) is a national service provided from a hub station residing in Brisbane. It networks material for Indigenous media organisations that don't have the staffing or capital requirements to provide a 24-hour high quality broadcast to their audience."
* CAAMA: ABORIGINAL YOUNG PEOPLE IN DETENTION
- Audio
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
http://caama.com.au/radio#tabs-6
http://caama.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/am-24-12.mp3
24 Dec 12: "A new report says just over half of all young people being held in detention on an average June night in Australia were Aboriginal."
See:
About CAAMA
http://caama.com.au/
"The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) began operations in 1980 and was the first Aboriginal group to be allocated a broadcasting license. The Aboriginal people of Central Australia own CAAMA through an association regulated under the Incorporations Act, and its objectives focus on the social, cultural and economic advancement of Aboriginal peoples. ... "
* BACKGROUND TO ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
Last updated: 21 December 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...
- - -
About WGAR News:
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/30/about-wgar-news-working-group-for-abo...
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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
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