Newsletter date: 19 December 2013
Contents:
* SMH: Indigenous burning among ancient practices being studied to save eco-systems
* Anna Salleh, ABC Science: Bead currency used in Australia's first export industry
* Benedict Scambary, CAEPR: My Country, Mine Country: Indigenous People, Mining and Development Contestation in Remote Australia
* Tim Kroenert, Eureka Street: Coalition stirs the ghost of Jimmie Blacksmith [99-year leases]
* WGAR News: "Statement by Rev. Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM regarding MOUs on township 99 year leases" (11 Nov 13)
* WGAR News: Dismantling the Land Rights Act - 99 year leases: 'concerned Australians' & 'Respect and Listen' compilations (9 Dec 13)
* 'concerned Australians': Changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) 1976
* Tracker: NT guilty of destroying sacred trees
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Social Justice & Native Title state of the nation report!
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: People of the whales unhappy with native title determination
* The Wire: Native title for the Bandjalang mob - what does it mean?
* Background to Mabo and Native Title
* Seán Kerins, CAEPR: Social enterprise as a model for developing Aboriginal lands
* Andrew Probyn, The West Australian: PM tells Barnett to back Browse
* Background to the Save The Kimberley Campaign - James Price Point, north of Broome, WA
* SMH: INDIGENOUS BURNING AMONG ANCIENT PRACTICES BEING STUDIED TO SAVE ECO-SYSTEMS
- Analysis / Opinion
SMH: Indigenous burning among ancient practices being studied to save eco-systems
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/indigenous-burning-amon...
10 Dec 13: "Ancient farming practices, such as raising fish in rice paddies in China or indigenous Australian fire controls, will get a new lease of life under plans to slow extinctions of animals and plants, experts said. ... in countries including Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Venezuela, traditional burning of small patches of countryside can create a mosaic of firebreaks that prevents the spread of devastating blazes in the dry season, it said." Reuters
* ANNA SALLEH, ABC SCIENCE: BEAD CURRENCY USED IN AUSTRALIA'S FIRST EXPORT INDUSTRY
- News
ABC Science: Bead currency used in Australia's first export industry
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/12/06/3905030.htm
6 Dec 13: "Indigenous Australians took European glass beads from Macassan seafarers in return for giving them fishing rights on traditional lands as early as the 18th Century, say archaeologists. They say the findings could have relevance for native title claims, which rely on this as a precedent for Aboriginal people negotiating access to their lands. Daryl Wesley and Mirani Litster of the Australian National University reported on the significance of 30 beads they excavated from the Wellington Range in north western Arnhem Land, at this week's Australian Archaeology Association conference in Coffs Harbour." Anna Salleh, ABC
* BENEDICT SCAMBARY, CAEPR: MY COUNTRY, MINE COUNTRY: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, MINING AND DEVELOPMENT CONTESTATION IN REMOTE AUSTRALIA
- Analysis / Opinion
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) - ANU: My Country, Mine Country: Indigenous People, Mining and Development Contestation in Remote Australia
Benedict Scambary
http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/mono/2013RM33.php
Research Monograph 33 / 2013: "Abstract: Agreements between the mining industry and Indigenous people are not creating sustainable economic futures for Indigenous people, and this demands consideration of alternate forms of economic engagement in order to realise such 'futures'. Within the context of three mining agreements in north Australia the study considers Indigenous livelihood aspirations and their intersection with sustainable development agendas. The three agreements are the ... "
- Profile
CAEPR: Benedict Scambary
http://caepr.anu.edu.au/StaffProfiles/Benedict-Scambary
[scroll down page] http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/mono/2013RM33.php
"Dr Benedict Scambary is an anthropologist with over 15 years of experience working in the Northern Territory. In 2007 he completed a PhD at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at The Australian National University, under the ARC project 'Indigenous Community Organisations and Miners: Partnering Sustainable Regional Development?' with industry partners Rio Tinto and the Committee for Economic Development Australia. His dissertation is the basis of this monograph. Dr Scambary is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority in the Northern Territory."
* TIM KROENERT, EUREKA STREET: COALITION STIRS THE GHOST OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH [99-YEAR LEASES]
- Analysis / Opinion
Eureka Street: Coalition stirs the ghost of Jimmie Blacksmith
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=38573
11 Dec 13: "During what Frank Vincent QC describes as a fly-in, fly-out mission, Scullion obtained memorandums of understanding from members of Gunbalanya and Yirrkala townships to negotiate 99-year leases. East Arnhem elder Dr Djiniyini Gondarra describes this as being part of a 'blitz' designed to encourage other communities around the country hastily to sign similar deals, ostensibly for their own betterment. Gondarra expressed fury about the manoeuvre in The Australian: 'We … do not want further controls put over our society,' he said. 'We want the shameful march of colonisation to end.'" Tim Kroenert, the assistant editor of Eureka Street
* WGAR NEWS: "STATEMENT BY REV. DR DJINIYINI GONDARRA OAM REGARDING MOUS ON TOWNSHIP 99 YEAR LEASES" (11 NOV 13)
- Compilation
WGAR News: "Statement by Rev. Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM regarding MOUs on township 99 year leases" (11 Nov 13)
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/11/10/wgar-news-statement-by-rev-dr-djiniyi...
* WGAR NEWS: DISMANTLING THE LAND RIGHTS ACT - 99 YEAR LEASES: 'CONCERNED AUSTRALIANS' & 'RESPECT AND LISTEN' COMPILATIONS (9 DEC 13)
- Compilation
WGAR News: Dismantling the Land Rights Act - 99 year leases: 'concerned Australians' & 'Respect and Listen' compilations (9 Dec 13)
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/12/09/wgar-news-dismantling-the-land-rights...
* 'CONCERNED AUSTRALIANS': CHANGES TO THE ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS ACT (NT) 1976
- News
'concerned Australians': Changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (NT) 1976
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Amendment (Delegation) Regulation 2013 - F2013L02122
[scroll down page] http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
18 Dec 13: "The new Regulation was registered on 12 December 2013. This was the last sitting day of Parliament for the year and means the changes will not come before Parliament before February 11, at the very earliest. All information can be found at: www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2013L02122 The legislative instrument allows for Aboriginal Corporations to request that certain functions of the Land Councils be delegated to them. Where there is reluctance on the part of the Land Councils, the Minister is the final arbiter. ... "
* TRACKER: NT GUILTY OF DESTROYING SACRED TREES
- News
newsTracker: NT guilty of destroying sacred trees
http://tracker.org.au/2013/11/nt-guilty-of-destroying-sacred-trees/
29 Nov 13: "NATIONAL: The Northern Territory has been convicted of carrying out work on a sacred site, causing the destruction of two sacred Aboriginal gum trees. Since 2010, the NT government has held a 99-year lease on the Judburra/Gregory National Park, about 500km south of Darwin, with the agreement that it would jointly maintain the land as a park with the traditional Aboriginal land owners." By Tracker
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: SOCIAL JUSTICE & NATIVE TITLE STATE OF THE NATION REPORT
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Social Justice & Native Title state of the nation report!
http://thestringer.com.au/social-justice-native-title-state-of-the-natio...
17 Dec 13: "A state of the nation type report was delivered recently by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda via the 2013 Native Title and Social Justice Report. ... despite the promissory underwriting within the report the economic, social and political landscape for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples remains one of the world’s highest imprisonment rates, rising suicide rates, horrific premature death rates, questionable life expectancy rises from skewed data, rising homelessness, high youth unemployment, impoverished communities, and still no Treaty ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
- Related Audio Interviews
National Indigenous Radio Service 'Weekly News In Review'
Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lnq6e92ti1l2hx8/Weekly%20News%20In%20Review%20...
16 Dec 13: "It includes interviews with:
* Social Justice Commissioner, Gangulu man Mick Gooda on the challenges ahead following his report on Social Justice and Native Title;
* Barbara Shaw on the watershed created by the inception of the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975;
* Birra-Gubba Duru Elder Jim Gaston on the decision by the Federal and Queensland government to approve an expansion of the Abbott Point coal plant, that includes dredging three million cubic metres of spoil to be dumped offshore in the Great Barrier Marine Park."
[The NIRS WNIR expires after about a week, so if you want to listen to these interviews you will need to download them soon.]
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: PEOPLE OF THE WHALES UNHAPPY WITH NATIVE TITLE DETERMINATION
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: People of the whales unhappy with native title determination
http://thestringer.com.au/people-of-the-whales-unhappy-with-native-title...
7 Dec 13: "In the midst of a ramping up of native title deliberations around the country reaching determination, particularly in Queensland, Victoria and on the NSW north coast, another one has been reached in South Australia but which has bitterly divided and marginalised people. South Australia’s Far West Coast native title agreement has been a messy one. But for the Mirning peoples the journey is not over, and they warn that the determination may create more disputes and further divide people." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* THE WIRE: NATIVE TITLE FOR THE BANDJALANG MOB - WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
- Audio Interview
The Wire: Native title for the Bandjalang mob - what does it mean?
Produced by Emma Rennie
9 Dec 13: "On Monday the 2nd of December, the Bandjalang people on the New South Wales north coast were awarded native title over two claims that were filed in the mid and late nineties. The native title covers an area of around 2750 square kilometres, much of which is national parks and crown land. The native title is also non-exclusive, so the Bandjalang people have to keep the parks open for public access. Emma Rennie reports on the significance of this finding for Indigenous Australians. ...
Featured in story:
* Tori Edwards - senior solicitor, NTS Corp
* Jeffrey McLaran - sole-practicing solicitor"
* BACKGROUND TO MABO AND NATIVE TITLE:
Last updated: 2 November 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/07/02/background-to-mabo-and-native-title
* SEAN KERINS, CAEPR: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AS A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING ABORIGINAL LANDS
- Analysis / Opinion
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) - ANU: Social enterprise as a model for developing Aboriginal lands
Seán Kerins
http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Publications/topical/2013TI4.php
Topical Issue 4 / 2013: "Abstract: Common property (communal land) is often viewed negatively with some claiming that communal land ownership and the absence of private property rights more generally have been insurmountable barriers to Indigenous enterprise. This paper provides a brief overview of common property resources and explores how Aboriginal common property is being used by some Aboriginal groups to develop social enterprises that provide benefits to remote communities, the environment and wider Australia. ... "
- Profile
CAEPR: Seán Kerins
http://caepr.anu.edu.au/Authors/Se%C3%A1n-Kerins
* ANDREW PROBYN, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN: PM TELLS BARNETT TO BACK BROWSE
- News
The West Australian: PM tells Barnett to back Browse
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/20321904/pm-tells-barnett-to-back-bro...
14 Dec 13: "Tony Abbott has urged Colin Barnett to embrace floating LNG technology for the Browse project, saying the overriding priority has to be securing multibillion-dollar investments. In an interview with The Weekend West yesterday, the Prime Minister said he understood the Premier's reluctance to abandon the James Price Point gas hub concept but the economics of the project had to be respected." Exclusive Andrew Probyn, Federal Political Editor, The West Australian
* BACKGROUND TO THE SAVE THE KIMBERLEY CAMPAIGN - JAMES PRICE POINT, NORTH OF BROOME, WA
Last updated: 9 December 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/22/wgar-news-background-to-the-save-the-...
- - -
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