Newsletter date: 30 November 2013
Contents:
* Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Priscilla Collins, CEO of NAAJA, about the criminalisation of alcohol problems in the NT
* Background to the NT Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Bill
* SBS Living Black Radio: Legal Aid Cuts Deep [Featuring Greens spokesperson for Legal Affairs Penny Wright]
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Australia, the mother of all jailers of Aboriginal people
* The Stringer: Crime and Punishment
* ABC News: Parliamentary Committee finds many police lock-ups fall short of expectations
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Police kicked boy in head to wake him
* Daniel Emerson, The West Australian: Police lockups in poor state
* Background to Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
* Rachel Evans, Green Left: Bowraville campaign wins inquiry into murders
* Michaela Whitbourn, Canberra Times: New South Wales: Bowraville murders: inquiry to give families chance to be heard
* NITV News: NSW to hold inquiry over murder of three Aboriginal children
* LET'S TALK'S TIGA BAYLES INTERVIEWS PRISCILLA COLLINS, CEO OF NAAJA, ABOUT THE CRIMINALISATION OF ALCOHOL PROBLEMS IN THE NT
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane:
Let's Talk - Priscilla Collins
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/
25 Nov 13: "CEO of North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA)
NAAJA has called for the NT Government to act on the evidence and take real steps to address alcohol-related harm in the NT"
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/priscilla-collins-5/
* BACKGROUND TO THE NT ALCOHOL MANDATORY TREATMENT BILL
Last updated: 25 November 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/07/03/background-to-the-nt-alcohol-mandator...
* SBS LIVING BLACK RADIO: LEGAL AID CUTS DEEP [FEATURING GREENS SPOKESPERSON FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS PENNY WRIGHT]
- Audio Interview
SBS Living Black Radio: Legal Aid Cuts Deep
By Michelle Lovegrove
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/303557/t...
29 Nov 13: "Statistics show Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates are on the rise and the government legal aid budget cuts are not helping. ... The number of Aboriginal people being sent to jail continues to rise leaving many questions about the effectiveness of government plans to tackle First Nations incarceration. ... Greens spokesperson for Legal Affairs Penny Wright asks how long the situation will escalate before a different approach is implemented." By Michelle Lovegrove
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: AUSTRALIA, THE MOTHER OF ALL JAILERS OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Australia, the mother of all jailers of Aboriginal people
http://thestringer.com.au/australia-the-mother-of-all-jailers-of-aborigi...
22 Nov 13: "Lo and behold, Australian prison numbers are on the increase, record high – and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples now comprise nearly one in three of all prisoners. 30 per cent of the Australian prison population is made up of Aboriginal peoples, up from the much touted 26 per cent, the more than one in four of all prisoners. As a researcher in custodial systems and as a prison reform advocate I predicted the rise, accurately. I have also predicted that the Australian prison population will near double by 2020 and that one in two prisoners will identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander persons." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* THE STRINGER: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Crime and Punishment
http://thestringer.com.au/crime-and-punishment/
29 Nov 13: "Investigating the concept of wickedness in contemporary society in relation to homicide, and the effects of sentencing on the identity of Indigenous Australians, are the focus of two new books by senior law researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney. With identity, dominant, hybrid and multiple, at the forefront of recent rulings before courts, such as that of western NSW Wilcannia’s William Bugmy, the books have a timeliness about them." By The Stringer
* ABC NEWS: PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE FINDS MANY POLICE LOCK-UPS FALL SHORT OF EXPECTATIONS
- News
ABC News: Parliamentary Committee finds many police lock-ups fall short of expectations
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-28/lock-up-report/5122962?section=wa
28 Nov 13: "Marc Newhouse from the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee says the State Government has a big job ahead of it and it needs to start implementing the committee's recommendations. "There's so much work that needs to be done, not only in our police system but in our prison system and the justice system as a whole," he said. ... "It shows that many lock-ups in WA are still failing to comply with the recommendations the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody made years ago."
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: POLICE KICKED BOY IN HEAD TO WAKE HIM
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Police kicked boy in head to wake him
http://thestringer.com.au/police-kicked-boy-in-head-to-wake-him/
29 Nov 13: "A Western Australian parliamentary committee heard reports of police maltreatment of Aboriginal people in custody. The Legislative Assembly Community Development and Justice committee slammed the lack of recommendations implemented from the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC), criticised various negligence and criticised the ageing infrastructure such as watch houses - the lockups. The parliamentary committee’s report included 22 recommendations." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* DANIEL EMERSON, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN: POLICE LOCKUPS IN POOR STATE
- Analysis / Opinion
The West Australian: Police lockups in poor state
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/20068162/police-lockups-in-poor-...
29 Nov 13: "Reports of police kicking an Aboriginal boy in the head to wake him up and stripping indigenous women to "calm them down" were aired in a damning assessment of regional lockups tabled in Parliament yesterday. ... Many did not comply with recommendations of the 1991 royal commission report into Aboriginal deaths in custody, the committee found in the first official review of those recommendations for at least 10 years." Daniel Emerson, The West Australian
* BACKGROUND TO JUSTICE REINVESTMENT, ABORIGINAL IMPRISONMENT AND ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
Last updated: 25 November 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/12/17/background-to-aboriginal-imprisonment...
* RACHEL EVANS, GREEN LEFT: BOWRAVILLE CAMPAIGN WINS INQUIRY INTO MURDERS
- Analysis / Opinion
Green Left: Bowraville campaign wins inquiry into murders
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55444
24 Nov 13: "Macquarie Street, home to NSW Supreme Court and Parliament, reverberated with chants for justice as 150 Aboriginal people and supporters marched to demand justice for the Bowraville three on November 21. In 1991, a triple murder of three Aboriginal youths took place within five months in Bowraville on the New South Wales mid north coast. ... The state government has now given its in-principle support for a parliamentary inquiry into the murders." By GLW author Rachel Evans, Sydney
* MICHAELA WHITBOURN, CANBERRA TIMES: NEW SOUTH WALES: BOWRAVILLE MURDERS: INQUIRY TO GIVE FAMILIES CHANCE TO BE HEARD
- Analysis / Opinion
Canberra Times: New South Wales: Bowraville murders: inquiry to give families chance to be heard
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/nsw/bowraville-murders-inquiry-to-give-f...
26 Nov 13: "The state government has given the green light to a parliamentary inquiry into the murder of three Aboriginal children in Bowraville in the 1990s, in a breakthrough for the children's grieving families. The Legislative Council voted unanimously on Tuesday in support of the inquiry into the murder of Colleen Walker-Craig, 16, Evelyn Greenup, 4, and Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16, who went missing separately from the same road in the northern NSW town over a period of five months from September 1990." Michaela Whitbourn
* NITV NEWS: NSW TO HOLD INQUIRY OVER MURDER OF THREE ABORIGINAL CHILDREN
- Video
NITV News: NSW to hold inquiry over murder of three Aboriginal children
By Malarndirri McCarthy; Source NITV News
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/11/26/nsw-hold-inquiry-over-murd...
26 Nov 13: "Today, the Greens motion for a parliamentary inquiry was finally passed in the NSW Upper House, giving the green light for a public inquiry to begin. The motion was passed unanimously. "I said at the outset last week when we were debating this issue in Parliament in front of the family and of course the community that had come with the family in Bowraville, we show our support to them as grieving victims," NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Michael Gallagher told the house." By Malarndirri McCarthy
- - -
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