Australia

Australian slavery buried in Queensland mass grave

Hidden under an old sugar cane plantation outside the Queensland city of Bundaberg lies an awful secret - the bodies of 29 South Sea Islanders buried in an unmarked grave. Bundaberg and District South Sea Islanders Action Group president, Matthew Nagas, says they could be his ancestors. And he believes they were probably worked to death "like pieces of machinery".

"If they weren't working anymore, you just pushed them aside and covered them with dirt," Mr Nagas told the AAP news agency. "They were buried in that place with no name, and forgotten. It cuts deep.”

Promotion: 

WGAR News: Michael Anderson's urgent letter to United Nations Ambassadors, New York

Newsletter date: 14 December 2012

Contents:

* Indymedia Australia: Powerhouse of Indigenous protest celebrated in art
* NIRS: Sandon Point Embassy to celebrate 12 years [15 & 16 Dec 12]
* Background to the Aboriginal tent embassies

* Sovereign Union: Michael Anderson's urgent letter to United Nations Ambassadors, New York
Re: 12 Dec 12 Assault on Aboriginal Embassy in Brisbane by colonial authorities
* ABC Brisbane: Sacred fire re-lit at Musgrave Park as supporters vow to stay
* SMH Video: Three arrested in [Brisbane] tent embassy midnight raid

Michelle Lovegrove (SBS) interviews journalist Gerry Georgatos returned from Roebourne & Yindjibarndi CEO Michael Woodley

SBS Living Black Michelle Lovegrove interviews Gerry Georgatos on stark contrasts between Yindjibarndi poverty and the wealth nearby, and then Michelle continues on with an interview with Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation CEO Michael Woodley.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/WUJhYnV5Tk1VVG5MYnNUQw

This interviews says quite a lot about it everything wrong in the Pilbara and for Indigenous people all over Australia.

WGAR News: "Government remains deaf to the data on income management"

Newsletter date: 13 December 2012

Contents:

* Eva Cox, The Conversation: Government remains deaf to the data on income management
* Paddy Gibson, Overland literary journal: Income management in the Northern Territory: racism is still the issue
* Background to 'Stronger Futures' new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention

* Allyson Horn, ABC: NT Labor draws line in sand on nuclear waste dump
* Background to the proposed Muckaty nuclear waste dump

WGAR News: Human Rights Day open letter to PM Julia Gillard: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights

Newsletter date: 12 December 2012

Contents:

* WGAR Human Rights Day open letter to PM Julia Gillard
* SNAICC News: 10 December 2012 - Human Rights Day focuses on the rights of all people
* SBS World News Video: Human Rights awards: Indigenous members recognised

* Larissa Behrendt, Age: Sadly, the Redfern speech is still the high-water mark for inclusion
* Let's Talk interview with Sol Bellear on the 20th Anniversary of Paul Keating’s Redfern Speech
* The Wire: Redfern speech still inspires hope despite decades of 'policy failures' [Featured in story: Larissa Behrendt]

Geography: 

The National Indigenous Times – ‘voice to the voiceless’

Published at Indymedia courtesy of the National Indigenous Times (12.12.2012) - Photo courtesy of the National Indigenous Times, by Geoff Bagnall; January 26, Lobby Restaurant

Promotion: 

WGAR News: Upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia - 30 events from 11 December 2012

Newsletter date: 11 December 2012

Click on the links for details of the events ...

Event: 10 December 2012 to 10 January 2013: Online
Our Generation film
Film released free online
"To mark the International Day for Human Rights
(10 Dec), we have uploaded the original version
of the film to watch for free online."
Event details: http://www.ourgeneration.org.au/news/film-released-free-online-1
About the film: http://www.ourgeneration.org.au/about
Film Reviews: http://indymedia.org.au/2012/09/24/our-generation-film-reviews

Event: 11 December 2012: Northcote, Melbourne, Vic