Indymedia Australia | News and views from the progressive grass roots.

Asylum seeker tragedies predictable due to the Australian political landscape and migration walls - They did not have to drown

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Wed, 27/06/2012 - 5:05pm

Gerry Georgatos
Basarnas, the Indonesian search and rescue agency has for more than a decade informed the Australian Government that it does not have the boats, nor the quality of vessels, or the resources to manage ocean rescue, and Basarnas has long asked Australia for provision of quality vessels and resources in order to assist in search and rescue and in order to monitor its ports for boats departing.

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"Stronger Futures legislation will cause great suffering in our hearts"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 27/06/2012 - 12:32pm

MEDIA RELEASE (27.6.2012)by the Yolngu Nations Assembly and the Alyawaar Nation

Should this Stronger Futures legislation pass through the Senate and become law, it will be a day of mourning for all Aboriginal peoples. This legislation will be the cause of great suffering in our hearts.

For those of us living in the Northern Territory the anguish of the past five years of Intervention has been almost unbearable. Many have simply given up hope. We have been burying people who can no longer live with the pain and despair.

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Navy chief raped us said two sailors - one of many such complaints

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Wed, 20/06/2012 - 7:08pm

Two retired sailors have accused a former top navy officer of raping them aboard the ship he commanded in 1973. I know both these men and they are telling the truth. For far too long they have been denied all forms of justice and one of these men had his pension denied as the Navy Chief had gone to great lengths to silence him.

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Dexamphetamine and ADHD cons - Mental health policies must move from medication to recovery

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Wed, 20/06/2012 - 11:15am

Gerry Georgatos
"In Western Australia, 1989, 880 people were prescribed stimulant medication (for ADHD). By the year 2000 this had increased to 20,648, with the WA Health Department estimating 18,000 prescriptions having been issued to children. By 2002 WA prescription rates were amongst the highest in the world, exceeding the US national average,” said Martin Whitely.

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Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam, an alliance of views calling out to the Australian consciousness

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Tue, 19/06/2012 - 11:07am

On Jun 06, 2012 former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser delivered the 2012 Whitlam Oration to the Whitlam Institute in Sydney. Despite the chasm of differences and political ambitions of Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam they are both a far cry from the bottom of the barrel politics and personal ambitions of some our nation's contemporary crop of most prominent politicians.

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Two brothers attempt suicide within 12 hours and AVS officers not called in

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Sun, 10/06/2012 - 5:24pm

Gerry Georgatos
Western Australia’s Greenough Prison has at this time no Aboriginal Visitors Scheme (AVS) according to AVS officer Joyce Capewell and confirmed by the Department of Corrective Services (DCS). In February, two young Aboriginal brothers, around 20 years of age, attempted suicide by hanging, were found in their cells and cut down - such is the despair in Greenough Prison which Mrs Capewell describes. The AVS officers were not allowed to assist the brothers.

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WA's first Aboriginal school principal ostracised by the Department of Education

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Sun, 10/06/2012 - 3:36pm

Gerry Georgatos
Margie Webb was West Australia’s first Aboriginal female school principal – appointed in 1991 to Glen Hill Primary school. In 2000 Mrs Webb caused a storm by taking on the Department of Education on grounds of discrimination. Once again Mrs Webb is standing solid in her drive to see Indigenous languages at Derby High School. However, Derby High School is refusing to include Indigenous languages under the ‘Languages other than English’ program. LOTE is a requirement, and currently Mrs Webb says there is no LOTE at Derby.

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From the cradle to the grave one injustice after another - Rex Bellotti Jr

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Sun, 10/06/2012 - 10:11am

Gerry Georgatos
Three and half years have passed since a police-four-wheel-drive struck down 15 year old Rex Bellotti Jr, dragging him underneath the undercarriage of the vehicle, nearly amputing his right leg at the knee which hung on by torn tendons.

The WA Police have languished in their duty to settle the insurance pay out to the Bellotti family who are now bitterly in debt to meet the costs of convalescence for their eldest child, and as they watch the trauma of being blind-sided by the WA Police impact upon their five other children.

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Country regions right behind the renters rights revolution – now a national movement

Submitted by Gerry Georgatos on Thu, 07/06/2012 - 10:15am

Gerry Georgatos
Renters Alliance (RA) WA coordinator Lea Keenan said that every week now Blackwood residents, renters and some who are home owners, are joining the movement and "are motivated for a united pursuance for legislation to make life fair for everyone."

Rally – August 15 – WA State Parliament – Rallies Australia-wide – October 16 – every capital city and many towns.
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/29/renters-rights-rally-wa-august-15-nat...

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War being prepared against China behind the backs of the Australian people

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/06/2012 - 7:40pm

It has been revealed in The Australian newspaper that the 2009 Defence White Paper “Force 2030” included a secret chapter that planned for Australia to fight alongside the U.S. to enforce a naval blockade of crucial sea lanes and how in return Australia might be faced with retaliatory attacks by China on our ports, mines and strategic targets like the U.S. Pine Gap military base. It also reveals that this potential conflict was the reason that the White Paper committed Australia to purchasing tens of billions of dollars worth of military equipment. This revelation is just the latest that documents how the deepening of our military alliance with the U.S. in a time of increasing militarism in the Asia Pacific poses great dangers to the working classes of not just Australia but indeed the whole region.
Related: Coverage in the Australian -- Analysis in the WSWS

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war in the Asia Pacific