WGAR News: Matargarup Aboriginal Refugee Camp: About 50 WA police officers have used mounted police and K-9 dogs to seize the tents and valuables

Newsletter date: 16 March 2015

Contents:

* Petition: Change.org Petition: Stop displacing Indigenous Australians by the closure of Indigenous communities.

* Urgent Action: Jennifer Kaeshagen, The Stringer facebook: "If anyone can donate to the ... Matargarup First Nations refugee camp, then that be good. Really good. Tents, mattresses, bedding, ... cash"
* News Analysis: Alex Bainbridge in Perth, Green Left: Police move in but fail to snuff out sacred fire at Matagarup
* Audio: Adam Evans with CAAMA Radio, NIRS: We have a right to be on Matagarup: Noongar embassy [Featuring Marianne Mackay]
* Photos: Sovereign Union: WA uses mounted police and dogs to seize tents and valuables at Refugee Camp
* Audio Interview: social justice and sustainable living - new media: #Indigenous tent Embassy near #Perth CBD will continue despite eviction by police - yarn with Herbert Bropho
* News: Calla Wahlquist and agencies, The Guardian: Mounted police join effort to dismantle Heirisson Island protest
* News: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: 'Refugee Camp' For Aboriginal People Moved Off Remote Communities Ordered To Close

* News Analysis: Alan Austin in France, Independent Australia: Abbott trashes Australia's reputation abroad - again
* Analysis / Opinion: Jon Altman, 'concerned Australians': Homelands under the hammer, again, from the aspiring PM for indigenous policy
* Analysis / Opinion: Michael Gordon, SMH: Tony Abbott's lifestyle choice remark leaves 'everyone hurting inside' in remote indigenous communities

* News & Photos: Green Left: Rally against Indigenous community closures shuts down Melbourne CBD

* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Forced to dance to the White Man's song - Australia, steeped in racism

* Background: Diet Simon sourcing from WGAR news, Linksunten Indymedia: Maori politicians support Aboriginal protest over proposed closure of indigenous communities
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA

WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

- Petition

Change.org Petition: Stop displacing Indigenous Australians by the closure of Indigenous communities. Commit to providing the basic services they need to live and commit to upholding Indigenous human rights in Australia
Petitioning Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett and 1 other
https://www.change.org/p/premier-colin-barnett-pm-tony-abbott-stop-displ...
"WA Premier, Colin Barnett has made a decision to close and destroy 150 remote Indigenous communities, further displacing our Original Australians from their lives, lands, culture and social support networks. Demolition has started, resulting in more Indigenous peoples becoming homeless and committing suicide, as despair is felt. ... "

- Urgent Action

The Stringer facebook: Jennifer Kaeshagen
[scroll down page] https://www.facebook.com/TheStringerNews
15 Mar 15: "Dear readers, If anyone can donate to the Nyoongah Tent Embassy / Matargarup First Nations refugee camp, then that be good. Really good. Tents, mattresses, bedding, food, water, mosquito repellent, cash ... This is history in the making. Be a part of it. Be on the right side of it. I can guarantee that any donations will be gifted to those most in need. With love and respect, Jennifer Kaeshagen - 0449 655 282."

- News Analysis

Green Left: Police move in but fail to snuff out sacred fire at Matagarup
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58532
14 Mar 15: "An Aboriginal encampment returned to Matagarup (also known as Heirisson Island) on March 1. Police moved in on March 13 to close it down but were unsuccessful. ... the encampment has described itself as a "refugee camp". Participants believe that this makes it possible to get extra protection and support from the United Nations. It is also a reaction to the current moves by the state government to close 150 remote Aboriginal communities. The argument has been made that closure of communities will result in an influx of people with nowhere to go. ... " Alex Bainbridge, a socialist activist since 1990 when he first joined Resistance and then the Democratic Socialist Party. He was a founding member of the Socialist Alliance in 2001.

- Audio

NIRS: We have a right to be on Matagarup: Noongar embassy [Featuring Marianne Mackay]
http://nirs.org.au/NEWS/We-have-a-right-to-be-on-Matagarup-Noongar-embassy
13 Mar 15: "The Noongar Tent Embassy in Perth says they're well in their rights to uphold the embassy on Heirisson Island, or Matagarup, as it's a registered sacred site. Earlier in the week, the City of Perth gave the embassy a notice of removal ... Spokesperson for the embassy, Marianne Mackay (pictured) told CAAMA Radio the local, state and Federal governments, as well as the police, are in breach of Native Title" Adam Evans with CAAMA Radio

- Photos

Sovereign Union: WA uses mounted police and dogs to seize tents and valuables at Refugee Camp
http://sovereignunion.mobi/content/wa-uses-mounted-police-and-dogs-seize...
13 Mar 15: "Image Gallery: WA police have used K-9 dogs and Mounted Police to seize the tents and valuables of Refugee's and their supporters. Djurin Republic of the Nyoongar established a 'Refugee Camp' for their displaced people at Matagarup (Heirisson Island) Perth, Western Australia, following the announcement that First Peoples living on their homelands would be removed - 7 News report below Gallery ... "

- Audio Interview

social justice and sustainable living - new media: #Indigenous tent Embassy near #Perth CBD will continue despite eviction by police - yarn with Herbert Bropho
https://tonyserve.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/indigenous-tent-embassy-near-...
13 Mar 15

- News

The Guardian: Mounted police join effort to dismantle Heirisson Island protest
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/mar/13/mounted-police-joi...
13 Mar 15: " ... Police have left Perth’s Heirisson Island after being called in to support council workers dismantling an Aboriginal tent embassy protest. About 50 officers including mounted, K-9 and the air wing swarmed the island on Friday afternoon after protesters failed to leave by the midday deadline, AAP reported. But after spending about an hour trying to peacefully break up the protest, the officers started to leave the area. They said there were no arrests and no move-on notices issued. ... " Calla Wahlquist and agencies

- News

New Matilda: 'Refugee Camp' For Aboriginal People Moved Off Remote Communities Ordered To Close
https://newmatilda.com/2015/03/13/refugee-camp-aboriginal-people-moved-r...
13 Mar 15: "Pressure is being placed on a Perth camp established to give shelter to Aboriginal people forced off their land by the Barnett government. Amy McQuire reports. ... Nyoongar activist Marianne McKay told New Matilda last week "this is how we feel as Aboriginal people. We feel like refugees in our own country". A spokeswoman for the city of Perth told ABC that camping was not permitted under the island’s local laws. But Ms McKay told New Matilda last week that the state’s heritage laws mean protesters have a right to be there to undertake traditional practices." By Amy McQuire, a Darumbul woman from central Queensland, the former editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker

- News Analysis

Independent Australia: Abbott trashes Australia’s reputation abroad - again
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/abbott-trashe...
14 Mar 15: "There is no place on the globe to escape the opprobrium and embarrassment generated by Australia's uniquely hamfisted prime minister, writes IA's French correspondent Alan Austin. Mon dieu! SHAMELESS, insensitive, outrageous, incredibly racist, intransigent, shameful, disrespectful, lacking humanity and completely disconnected from reality. These are just some of the loathsome labels attached to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, as the world’s media again shakes its head in collective disbelief and mild abhorrence. ... " Alan Austin, Freelance journo in France

- Analysis / Opinion

'concerned Australians': Homelands under the hammer, again, from the aspiring PM for indigenous policy
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/Homelands_under_the_hammer.pdf
11 Mar 15: "There is a very good reason many indigenous Australians live in remote communities, and it’s not a "lifestyle choice", writes Emeritus Professor Jon Altman of Australian National University. ... The Prime Minister who aspires to be known for his
contribution to indigenous affairs has been roundly criticised by all and sundry for suggesting that indigenous people who live at remote homelands are making a "lifestyle choice". Hence he argues they should self-finance access to services that are not available in remote areas or face government neglect and associated closure. ... " Emeritus Professor Jon Altman of Australian National University

- Analysis / Opinion

SMH: Tony Abbott's lifestyle choice remark leaves 'everyone hurting inside' in remote indigenous communities
http://www.smh.com.au/national/tony-abbotts-lifestyle-choice-remark-leav...
14 Mar 15: " ... The Prime Minister's comments in support of the WA government's plans to close half the communities prompted almost universal outrage and raw anger from indigenous leaders this week. But the reaction on the ground was something else, something closer to deep offence and grief. "Everyone is hurting, thinking what are they going to do, where are they going to go," Delma Cox says. "It's terrible. I don't like it one bit." ... " Michael Gordon

- News & Photos

Green Left: Rally against Indigenous community closures shuts down Melbourne CBD
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58505
14 Mar 15: " ... Protest organier Meriki Onus, a member of Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, said Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s comments that living in remote communities was a "lifestyle choice" were "blatantly racist". "These people live where their ancestors have been for tens of thousands of years," she said. "There will be [thousands of] Aboriginal refugees if these communities close." The protest was part of a national day of action, with rallies in Brisbane and Adelaide also."

- Analysis / Opinion

The Stringer: Forced to dance to the White Man’s song - Australia, steeped in racism
http://thestringer.com.au/forced-to-dance-to-the-white-mans-song-austral...
15 Mar 15: "A Wiradjuri Elder once said to me, "There is a sickness in this country, and it is called racism - we stand in it knee deep." Whether you are Black, Brown or Yellow, the only way you can majorly get ahead in the ways White Australians do is to sing the White man’s song, and dance to the White man’s song - do as they do or be damned. This is what assimilation means - do as they do, be as they are, deny who you are, betray truths, turn against your own (heritage)." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist

- Background

Linksunten Indymedia: Maori politicians support Aboriginal protest over proposed closure of indigenous communities
https://linksunten.indymedia.org/en/node/137532
14 Mar 15: "Maori members of the New Zealand parliament have been urged to stand together to support the Australian outback Aborigines threatened with being evicted from their remote communities by governments. Peeni Henare, the Member for the special Maori electorate of Tamaki Makaurau said he's not surprised with the Australian government's motives. "If aboriginal communities are ripped from their communities - and look at us Maori, we're the example of people being ripped from their communities - they'll be lost. ... " Created by: Diet Simon, sourcing from WGAR news

- Background

WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/08/background-plans-to-close-aboriginal...
(last updated: 15 March 2015)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)