Australia

Thousands of children evicted – nowhere to go

Gerry Georgatos - courtesy of The Stringer - http://thestringer.com.au/ - Recently in Western Australia, an 86-year-old grandmother, an Aboriginal lady, was threatened with eviction for non-payment of a state-housing water bill. Her eviction has only been stalled by the intervention of Kimberley parliamentarian, Kija woman Josie Farrer. Recently, two Perth families, once again Aboriginal, with 9 children and 11 children were evicted from their homes.

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Help us assist children in 68 countries

Brother Olly Pickett was building wheelchairs for children in a tiny workshop in Cambodia when he came across one of the youngest workers in the group. Brother Pickett told ABC journalist, Stephanie Dalzell, that the 15-year-old amputee was propped up on his knees, undeterred by the rough concrete floor he was kneeling on.

He was helping construct one of a dozen wheelchairs for children on the outskirts of the town who struggled to get to the local school each day.

Brother Pickett says at the end of his trip, the group decided to give the boy his own wheelchair.

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‘Close the Gap’ – failed

Gerry Georgatos - courtesy of The Stringer - photo, Palm Island kids, courtesy of NACCHO - http://thestringer.com.au/ - Last week we revealed the lie of $25 billion spent on Indigenous disadvantage, and several weeks ago we revealed that almost 1000 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders died from suicide throughout Australia between 2001 to 2010, and that we estimate this national epidemic is probably twice the reported numbers.

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Australia’s Federal Parliaments still reflect a White Australia

Gerry Georgatos - courtesy of The Stringer - http://thestringer.com.au/ - Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 sought to journey Australia in a new direction - having condemned The White Australia Policy. Australia, dominated by a majorly conservative class and apothegms, was in effect trying to catch up with social movements around the world – such as with the United States of America’s Civil Rights Bill 1965, and the more liberal precepts of most of Europe.

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Destroying 18C will give rise to “race hate”

Gerry Georgatos - courtesy of The Stringer - http://thestringer.com.au/ - The amendments sought to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 by the Australian Government will give rise to the advent of public race hate, foment racial tensions and solidify rampant racism according to the majority of non-Anglocentric cultures in Australia.

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600,000 Australian children in poverty, 18,000 kids homeless

Story by Gerry Georgatos, photo by Frank Violi - courtesy of The Stringer - http://thestringer.com.au/ This morning, Federal Parliament resumed sitting, the first time since the Federal election. The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) and UNICEF Australia immediately called upon the House of Representatives and the Australian Senate to develop an anti-poverty plan.

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The Stringer weekly newsletter - November 23

Welcome to The Stringer’s weekly newsletter - NEWS update: The Stringer went live February 20. The Stringer comprises thirty-odd contributors, from most States and Territories of Australia, from an increasing number of locations around our world. If you would like to become a regular contributor, or contribute an article, photograph/s, a radio or video piece, we would be glad to hear from you.

WGAR News: 'Close the Gap' - failed: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer

Newsletter date: 23 November 2013

Contents:

* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: 'Close the Gap' - failed
* The Wire: Slowly, closing the gap [Featuring Jack Bulman and Associate Professor Gracelyn Smallwood]
* Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Policy change needed to close the gap
* SNAICC News: COAG report - Lessons for federal reform
* NACCHO AGM Perth 2013 health news: Aboriginal life expectancy increases to Close the Gap
* ABC The World Today: Positive news from efforts to 'close the gap'

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COP19: Australia wins unprecedented fourth Fossil of the Day award for finance stance

While 30,000 people rallied for climate action in Melbourne, and an estimated 60,000 nationally at 130 events across Australia, it seems Australia has won an unprecedented fourth fossil of the day award in Warsaw for a statement that obligations for new, predictable and reliable finance from developed countries are “not realistic” and “not acceptable.”

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