Newsletter date: 3 February 2014
Contents:
* WGAR News: Aboriginal Sovereignty Day, Invasion Day and Survival Day Events: Sunday 26 January 2014
* The Stringer: Survival Day - Andrew Davis' response to Warren Mundine
* CAAMA Radio: Mansell shares his thoughts on Australia Day celebrations
[Featuring veteran Tasmanian Aboriginal rights campaigner Michael Mansell]
* Amy McQuire, The Guardian: Australia Day: Indigenous people are told to 'get over it'. It's impossible
* Nakkiah Lui, The Guardian: Australia Day is a time for mourning, not celebration
* Steve Gumerungi Hodder Watt, Rollback the Intervention: Invasion Day Mparntwe/Alice Springs 2014
* Michael Mansell, The Guardian: Andrew Bolt, Indigenous Australian? Come off it
* 3CR Community Radio: Solidarity Breakfast
[Featuring veteran Aboriginal activist Robbie Thorpe]
* Marc Tong, Living Black Radio: An Open Letter to the Indigenous Advisory Council
[Featuring CEO of the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative, Don MacAskill]
* WGAR NEWS: ABORIGINAL SOVEREIGNTY DAY, INVASION DAY AND SURVIVAL DAY EVENTS: SUNDAY 26 JANUARY 2014
- Compilation
WGAR News: Aboriginal Sovereignty Day, Invasion Day and Survival Day Events: Sunday 26 January 2014
http://indymedia.org.au/2014/01/15/wgar-news-aboriginal-sovereignty-day-...
"Contents:
* Background to Sovereignty Day, Invasion Day and Survival Day
* Adelaide events
* Alice Springs event
* Brisbane and Queensland events
* Melbourne and Victoria events
* Perth events
* Sydney and NSW events"
- Past Event
Event: Sun 26 January 2014: various locations in Australia
Sovereignty Day / Invasion Day / Survival Day / Day of Mourning
"'Australia Day', also known as Survival Day,
Invasion Day and Sovereignty Day:
a commemmoration of the day white settlers
landed in Australia and a day to reflect on the
controversial past of Australia and steer
towards a better society." ATSI Support Portal
"Aboriginal people call it ‘Invasion Day’,
‘Day of Mourning’, ‘Survival Day’ or,
since 2006, ‘Aboriginal Sovereignty Day’.
The latter name reflects that all Aboriginal
nations are sovereign and should be united
in the continuous fight for their rights." Creative Spirits
"Australia Day - No time to celebrate:
Australia Day is traditionally the most racist
day of the year for Aboriginal people.
When people celebrate on January 26,
there is no escaping the fact they are celebrating
the day that one race of people invaded another
race of people’s country and took control of
Aboriginal lands and tried to dominate Aboriginal
people. Invasion Day, as it should be called,
celebrates the dispossession of land, culture,
and way of life of Aborigines." Jay McDonald, GLW
Event details: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/australia-day-...
Event details: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/46475
Event summary: http://www.atsisupport.org.au/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=223015
* THE STRINGER: SURVIVAL DAY - ANDREW DAVIS' RESPONSE TO WARREN MUNDINE
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Survival Day - Andrew Davis' response to Warren Mundine
http://thestringer.com.au/survival-day-andrew-davis-response-to-warren-m...
28 Jan 14: "Warren Mundine is talking about "forgiving" as being as important as the Government’s apology in terms of the reconciliation process. I disagree wholeheartedly! Whilst the apology only went a small way in the journey to forgiveness, I cannot (and will not) forgive until the Australian government takes a leaf from its own books. This nation was built on criminal acts, by criminals and their descendants and I won’t forgive until I have seen justice. These criminals stole our land, deliberately contradicting orders from their own "Royal" realm in England at the time (Theft – a crime)." By Andrew Davis
* CAAMA RADIO: MANSELL SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON AUSTRALIA DAY CELEBRATIONS
[FEATURING VETERAN TASMANIAN ABORIGINAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER MICHAEL MANSELL]
- Audio Interview
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association: Mansell shares his thoughts on Australia Day celebrations !
http://caama.com.au/mansell-shares-his-thoughts-on-australia-day-celebra...
31 Jan 14: "Veteran Tasmanian Aboriginal rights campaigner Michael Mansell has responded to mainstream media claims that graffiti critical of Australia Day celebrations was un-Australian."
* AMY MCQUIRE, THE GUARDIAN: AUSTRALIA DAY: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE TOLD TO 'GET OVER IT'. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE
- Analysis / Opinion
The Guardian: Australia Day: Indigenous people are told to 'get over it'. It's impossible
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/27/australia-day-indig...
27 Jan 14: "When Aboriginal people boycott celebrations, we are told to move on. It's like the breathtaking legacy of disadvantage we have to endure did not exist ... Every year, Australia tries to wash away its hidden history with displays of overt nationalism. ... For the majority of them, [Australians] there has only been one name for the date: Australia day. But for the First Peoples, there have been several. Survival day, invasion day, sovereignty day - each word loaded with the pain of 200 years of dispossession that has left Aboriginal people impoverished but, against the odds, remarkably strong. ... " Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South sea islander journalist, editor of the largest circulating Aboriginal magazine - Tracker Magazine, a researcher on John Pilger's Utopia documentary
* NAKKIAH LUI, THE GUARDIAN: AUSTRALIA DAY IS A TIME FOR MOURNING, NOT CELEBRATION
- Analysis / Opinion
The Guardian: Australia Day is a time for mourning, not celebration
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/26/australia-day-is-a-...
26 Jan 14: "The refusal to celebrate Australia Day is part of an ongoing fight for the recognition of the abuse of Indigenous people's rights. If we give up on protesting, we might soon no longer remember the past ... I'm an Aboriginal woman in her 20s who cruises dating websites, but it’s only four generations back that my family felt the direct consequences of foreigners invading our land. There's my great-great grandmother, who survived a massacre; my great grandfather, who was forced back to the mission after his father died and wasn't allowed to own land; ... " Nakkiah Lui
Nakkiah Lui - The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/profile/nakkiah-lui
"Nakkiah Lui is a writer for theatre and TV and proud Gamillaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman from Mount Druitt, western Sydney. She is an associate playwright in residence at Belvoir and a 2013 artist in residence at Griffin Theatre under the emerging cultural leader program. ... "
* STEVE GUMERUNGI HODDER WATT, ROLLBACK THE INTERVENTION: INVASION DAY MPARNTWE/ALICE SPINGS 2014
- Speech
Rollback the Intervention: Invasion Day Mparntwe/Alice Springs 2014
[scroll down page] http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/
27 Jan 14: "And the words of Steve Gumerungi Hodder Watt..
My quasi-rhyming speech called ‘Counting Blessings/Being Thankful?!’ at the Resistance Rally in Mparntwe/Alice Springs:
I saw a Facebook post this morning that had an image of Australia and the Anglo-colonial Australian flag with a slogan attached saying that people should be thankful for what they are blessed with rather than dwelling on their misfortunes… …so the implication is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be thankful?!… Thankful for our lot in life, thankful for all we got?! ... "
* MICHAEL MANSELL, THE GUARDIAN: ANDREW BOLT, INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN? COME OFF IT
- Analysis / Opinion
The Guardian: Andrew Bolt, Indigenous Australian? Come off it
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/31/andrew-bolt-indigen...
31 Jan 14: "I support Bolt’s right to participate in the constitutional recognition debate, but he should avoid inflaming prejudice against Aboriginal people while doing so ... Right wing commentator Andrew Bolt is at it again, this time arguing the sky will fall in if there is any constitutional recognition of the fact of Aboriginal people being here before whites arrived. Everyone knows Indigenous people were here, so what’s the great fuss? Bolt’s view is an attempt to revive the Terra nullius doctrine which, for 200 years, fictionalised that the British came to an empty land and settled peacefully." Michael Mansell, an Aboriginal lawyer from Tasmania, a founding member and secretary of the Aboriginal Provisional Government
* 3CR COMMUNITY RADIO: SOLIDARITY BREAKFAST
[FEATURING VETERAN ABORIGINAL ACTIVIST ROBBIE THORPE]
- Audio Interview
3CR Community Radio: Solidarity Breakfast 25.01.2014
http://www.3cr.org.au/solidaritybreakfast/podcast/solidarity-breakfast-2...
25 Jan 14: "The final summer Broadcast is a conversation recorded with veteran Aboriginal activist Robbie Thorpe, a Gunnai Kurnai man with and unblemished record of resistance. Enjoy survival day."
* MARC TONG, LIVING BLACK RADIO: AN OPEN LETTER TO THE INDIGENOUS ADVISORY COUNCIL
[FEATURING CEO OF THE AWABAKAL NEWCASTLE ABORIGINAL CO-OPERATIVE, DON MACASKILL]
- Audio Interview
SBS Living Black Radio: An Open Letter to the Indigenous Advisory Council
By Marc Tong
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/313796/t...
24 Jan 14: "The Indigenous Advisory Council has been accused of having a lack of transparency with no reporting obligations to the community. ... The head of a New South Wales Aboriginal organisation has questioned the transparency and community reporting obligations of the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council. CEO of the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative, Don MacAskill l, is concerned that the Council does not seem to have any frameworks to show how they operate. ... " By Marc Tong
- - -
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
About WGAR News:
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/30/about-wgar-news-working-group-for-abo...
Subscription to 'WGAR News' is free.
'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:
* the Australian Federal government intervention into Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal communities;
* the Aboriginal sovereignty movement and the Aboriginal tent embassies;
* Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody;
* Aboriginal land rights and mining;
* Suicide and self-harm in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities;
* Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing;
* other Aboriginal rights issues; and
* upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia.
'WGAR News' gives priority to grassroots Aboriginal voices and grassroots voices in solidarity with Aboriginal peoples' rights.
The role of 'WGAR News' is to facilitate the voices of others, and as such, 'WGAR News' rarely writes its own articles.
'WGAR News' publishes information and opinions from a wide range of sources.
These opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of WGAR.
The e-newsletters include media releases, opinion pieces, news items, audio, videos and events.
Subscribers can expect to receive about 7 e-newsletters each week.
To subscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "subscribe WGAR News" in the message header.
To unsubscribe, email wgar.news@gmail.com and include the words "unsubscribe WGAR News" in the message header.
Sample WGAR News e-newsletters:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-sample-wgar-news-e-ne...
WGAR events postings:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-wgar-events-postings
WGAR background info web-pages:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-wgar-background-info-...
WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)