WGAR News: 'Systemic Racism' Of WA Remote Community Closures Savaged At United Nations: Amy McQuire, New Matilda

Newsletter date: 24 April 2015

Contents:

* News Analysis: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: 'Systemic Racism' Of WA Remote Community Closures Savaged At United Nations
* News Analysis: Kimberley Land Council: KLC condemns community closures at United Nations
* News Analysis: Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian: UN forum backs fight against closure of remote Aboriginal communities in WA

* Audio Interview: RN Drive, ABC: Australian lawyer to chair top UN indigenous body [Featuring Megan Davis]
* Background: UN News Centre: As Forum opens, deputy UN chief says 2015 a 'critical year' for world's indigenous peoples
* Background: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Fourteenth Session of the Permanent Forum

* Analysis / Opinion: John Pilger.com, The secret country again wages war on its own people

* News: Online News Team, Maori Television: Events planned worldwide to support Aboriginal communities on May 1st
* News: Maiki Sherman, Maori Television: Labour outlines concerns on Aborigine communities in letter to Australian Labor Party
* Latest News & Videos: Indigenous - Maori Television: http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/latest-news/indigenous

* News & Video: Phil Hickey, Perth Now: Heirisson Island camp Indigenous leaders protest at State Parliament
* News: Brendan Foster, WA Today: Parliament House protest: ugly scenes as police make arrests
* Facebook: The Stringer: "Official statement from Elder Bella Bropho, of the Matargarup First Nations Refugee Camp"

* Event Poster: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook: "We would like to confirm that that 2nd National Call of Action will be held Friday 1st May 2015."
* Facebook: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia: https://www.facebook.com/sosblakaustralia

* 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)

- News Analysis

New Matilda: 'Systemic Racism' Of WA Remote Community Closures Savaged At United Nations
https://newmatilda.com/2015/04/23/systemic-racism-wa-remote-community-cl...
23 Apr 15: " ... The WA government’s plans to close up to 150 remote Aboriginal communities, and wind back state Aboriginal heritage legislation, a form of "systematic racism" that prioritises development over Aboriginal interests, has been savaged at a key United Nations forum on Indigenous issues. The Kimberley Land Council yesterday addressed the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, drawing support from international human rights organisations and NGOs ... " By Amy McQuire, a Darumbul woman from central Queensland. Amy is a senior reporter with New Matilda. She is the former editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker.

Amy McQuire - New Matilda
https://newmatilda.com/users/amy-mcquire

New Matilda - About Us
https://newmatilda.com/about-us
" ... New Matilda is independent journalism at its best. The site has been publishing intelligent coverage of Australian and international politics, media and culture since 2004. You'll find new stories on the homepage daily. ... The New Matilda news digest is the best way to keep up to date with our coverage. We publish three times a week - it lands in your inbox at lunchtime on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and in the evening on Sundays. ... It's free!"

- News Analysis

Kimberley Land Council: KLC condemns community closures at United Nations
http://www.klc.org.au/news-media/newsroom/news-detail/2015/04/22/klc-con...
22 Apr 15: "The Kimberley Land Council has received widespread international support at the United Nations for condemning Aboriginal community closures in Western Australia. Global human rights organisations, Indigenous organisations and NGOs from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United States pledged support to the KLC as it highlighted the discriminatory and race-based erosion of Indigenous rights currently occurring in Australia. KLC Chairman Anthony Watson and CEO Nolan Hunter addressed the United Nations ... "

"The KLC will be attending United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues until April 26."

Kimberley Land Council United Nations submission extracts: http://www.klc.org.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/kimbe...

Kimberley Land Council - About Us
http://www.klc.org.au/about-us/about-the-klc
"The Kimberley Land Council was formed in 1978 by Kimberley Aboriginal people as a political land rights organisation. Today, we have grown to become the peak Indigenous body in the Kimberley region working with Aboriginal people to secure native title recognition, conduct conservation and land management activities and develop cultural business enterprises. ... "

- News Analysis

The Guardian: UN forum backs fight against closure of remote Aboriginal communities in WA
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/apr/23/un-forum-backs-fig...
23 Apr 15: " ... The submission, moved by the Kimberley Land Council’s chairman, Anthony Watson, and its chief executive, Nolan Hunter, at the forum in New York on Tuesday, said that Indigenous people in WA were facing "a discriminatory and race-based erosion of their rights and the attempted assimilation of Indigenous people into white Australia," which risked their economic, social and cultural wellbeing and violated their rights under the international declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples." Calla Wahlquist

- Audio Interview

RN Drive, ABC: Australian lawyer to chair top UN indigenous body
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/australian-lawyer-to-...
21 Apr 15: "Megan Davis grew up with a picture of the UN General Assembly on her wall. The distinguished Indigenous lawyer and academic has been elected to chair the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She told Patricia Karvelas that the job is a dream come true. ... ‘It’s very exciting. It’s always a privilege to be elected by your peers to a body like this to be the chair,’ the professor of public law and international law at the University of New South Wales told RN Drive. ...
Guests: Prof Megan Davis, Director of the Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW; Credits: Producer Erica Vowles"

- Background

UN News Centre: As Forum opens, deputy UN chief says 2015 a ‘critical year’ for world's indigenous peoples
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50635#.VTmHkvB1csI
20 Apr 15: " ... This year's Forum - which is scheduled to run for two weeks and concludes on 1 May - will similarly focus on the economic, social and cultural rights of indigenous peoples, continued Mr. Eliasson [UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson], who added that as the UN Declaration affirms the rights of indigenous peoples to health, education, clean drinking water and sanitation, it also states that such services be provided in ways that are "culturally appropriate." ... "

- Background

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Fourteenth Session of the Permanent Forum
http://undesadspd.org/IndigenousPeoples/UNPFIISessions/Fourteenth.aspx
"The fourteenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will be held in UN Headquarters, New York from 20 April to 1 May 2015. ... "

- Analysis / Opinion

JohnPilger.com, The secret country again wages war on its own people
http://johnpilger.com/articles/the-secret-country-again-wages-war-on-its...
22 Apr 15: "Australia has again declared war on its Indigenous people, reminiscent of the brutality that brought universal condemnation on apartheid South Africa. Aboriginal people are to be driven from homelands where their communities have lived for thousands of years. In Western Australia, where mining companies make billion dollar profits exploiting Aboriginal land, the state government says it can no longer afford to "support" the homelands. ... Aboriginal leaders have warned of "a new generation of displaced people" and "cultural genocide". ... " John Pilger

The films and journalism of John Pilger
http://johnpilger.com/
"It is not enough for journalists to see themselves as mere messengers without understanding the hidden agendas of the message and myths that surround it." John Pilger

- News

Maori Television: Events planned worldwide to support Aboriginal communities on May 1st
https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/events-planned-worldwide-s...
23 Apr 15: "States across Australia, Berlin, Los Angeles, London and New Zealand are organising events for the 2nd Call to Action Against the closure of Aboriginal communities to take part on the 1st of May. Meanwhile today in Perth members of the Nyoongar Community are preparing to march on Parliament to carry the same message. Protests against the closure of remote Aboriginal communities have spread far and wide across the globe both on social media and on the ground. ... " By Online News Team. Our Online News Team reports on the latest news stories at local, national and international levels.

- News

Maori Television: Labour outlines concerns on Aborigine communities in letter to Australian Labor Party
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/labour-outlines-concerns-ab...
23 Apr 15: "The New Zealand Labour Party has sent a letter to the Australian Labor Party outlining their concerns in regards to the closure of 150 remote Aborigine communities. Labour’s Maori caucus chairman, Peeni Henare, says they have received the full support of leader Andrew Little in initiating the letter. ... " By Maiki Sherman

Maiki Sherman - Maori Television
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/reporters/maiki-sherman
" ... Maiki came to Te Kaea having spent three years with Te Karere, and before that she worked in print. Maiki is now based is Wellington focussing on politics as Te Kaea’s reporter in Parliament. While at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata, Maiki was named New Zealand Top Scholar, Te Reo Rangatira Level 3, for students exceptionally fluent in the Maori language. ... "

- Latest News & Videos

Australia - Maori Television:
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/latest-news/australia
"Maori Television reports on the current situation affecting Indigenous Aboriginal communities in Western Australia, and other relevant stories of our Maori people residing in Australia."

Indigenous - Maori Television:
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/latest-news/indigenous
"Stories of signifficance from around the world that relate to and impact the Indigenous people."

- News & Video

Perth Now: Heirisson Island camp Indigenous leaders protest at State Parliament
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/heirisson-island-camp-...
23 Apr 15: "PROTESTERS have descended on State Parliament over the ongoing Heirisson Island dispute, with one person believed to be arrested. Its estimated about 50 protesters waving indigenous flag and banners arrived on the steps of Parliament House on Thursday afternoon, where they reportedly warned the City of Perth not to move them on from Heirisson Island, where they have set up camp over the past two months. ... " Phil Hickey

- News

WA Today: Parliament House protest: ugly scenes as police make arrests
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/parliament-house-protest-ugly-scenes-a...
23 Apr 15: "A rally against the closure of remote indigenous communities turned ugly after police and protesters clashed outside Parliament House on Wednesday. A scuffle between police and protesters erupted after Aboriginal activist Merv Eades was arrested after he stepped in to stop friend Herbert Bropho being issued with a move-on notice. Mr Eades appeared to push a police officer and was quickly arrested. ... " Brendan Foster, Reporter

- Facebook

The Stringer - Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/TheStringerNews
https://www.facebook.com/TheStringerNews/photos/a.297056170438931.107374...
""We want to stay on the Island here until our purpose is done - our point is to make a stand to stop the closures of Communities, and making our People - the First People - homeless, and as long as it takes." - Official statement from Elder Bella Bropho, of the Matargarup First Nations Refugee Camp (Heirisson Island, Perth - Western Australia)."

- Event Poster

Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook
https://www.facebook.com/sosblakaustralia/photos/a.1042299689120174.1073...
24 Mar 15: "We would like to confirm that that 2nd National Call of Action will be held Friday 1st May 2015. Actions will begin at 10am in the Kimberley but there will be other times for other states behind this and we will promote the information specific to the locations when confirmed. Any communities wishing to organise an action on this day, please contact us so that we can support you and provide resources."

- Facebook

Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia
https://www.facebook.com/sosblakaustralia

- 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: 22 April 2015)

- Background

WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-aboriginal-peoples-a...
(last updated: 22 April 2015)

- - -

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

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'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on:

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)