WGAR News: Grandmothers Against Removals call for support

Grandmothers Against Removals camp at Aboriginal Tent Embassy ahead of Canberra Protest on February 13 - call for support

https://www.facebook.com/stopstolengenerations/posts/378025745692415

Newsletter date: 2 February 2015

Contents:

* Statement: Grandmothers Against Removals call for support
* Analysis / Opinion: SNAICC: Child placement principle should be strengthened, not attacked
* Letter: SNAICC Chairperson responds to Sammut's opinion piece in the Australian
* WGAR Background: Removal of Aboriginal children and the continuing Stolen Generation

* Analysis / Opinion: Jon Altman, New Matilda: How Successive Governments Destroyed Black Jobs, And Why The Latest Plan Will Too
* WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget

* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: 8 little children on the streets; youngest less than 30 days old
* Audio Interview: Kirstyn Lindsay, Living Black Radio: Housing overcrowding under-reported [Featuring Jenny Samms]

* News: SNAICC: We must look to our humanity to solve the crisis of Indigenous incarceration
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: More than 15 % in jail for unpaid fines
* WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody

WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News - Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

- Statement

Grandmothers Against Removals call for support
Green Left: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/58149
31 Jan 15: "Grandmothers Against Removals released this statement on January 28. * * *
Activists from the national movement Grandmothers Against Removals joined the Aboriginal protest convergence in Canberra over the Invasion Day long weekend, including the march on Parliament House.
Many of the Aboriginal families attending the convergence were suffering from the impact of the continuing forced removal of children by welfare agencies across the country. More than 14,000 Aboriginal children are now in "out of home care", more than at any time in Australia's history, including at the height of the Stolen Generations of the 20th century.
Several of the grandmothers remain camped at the Aboriginal tent embassy and have vowed to maintain their protest camp until a big demonstration in Canberra planned for February 13, the anniversary of Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generations.
While at the camp, they will continue their work of providing support and case advocacy for families struggling to have their children returned, along with making preparations for the upcoming demonstration.
The grandmothers are calling on supporters to join them at the embassy, to help with preparations for February 13. ... "

Homepage of Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR): http://stopstolengenerations.com.au/

- Analysis / Opinion

SNAICC - Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care: Child placement principle should be strengthened, not attacked
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-articles.cfm?loadref=168&id=1174
27 Jan 15: "The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) has come under attack twice in recent weeks in opinion pieces published in the Australian newspaper by Jeremy Sammut of the Centre for Independent Studies. ... SNAICC strongly disagrees with Sammut’s stance and is concerned that his opinion pieces contain a number of inaccuracies and misconceptions about the ATSICPP (as well as other Indigenous issues). ... "

- Letter

SNAICC Chairperson responds to Sammut's opinion piece in the Australian
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-articles.cfm?loadref=168&id=1173
22 Jan 15: "To: Editor, The Australian
22 January 2015
Dear Editor,
... here are the facts about the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. I am a "modern day" Narungga/Kaurna Aboriginal woman, with an evolving but very strong culture. I lead a child protection agency and am chair of the national peak Indigenous child protection body, SNAICC. I work with this principle every day. It aims to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and agencies a say on child protection decisions - a basic right denied to us, with disastrous consequences, during the Stolen Generations era. ... " Sharron Williams, CEO Aboriginal Families Support Services (South Australia) and SNAICC Chairperson

- Background

WGAR Background: Removal of Aboriginal children and the continuing Stolen Generation
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-removal-of-aborigina...
(last updated: 29 January 2015)

- Analysis / Opinion

New Matilda: How Successive Governments Destroyed Black Jobs, And Why The Latest Plan Will Too
https://www.newmatilda.com/2015/01/28/how-successive-governments-destroy...
28 Jan 15: "The dismantling of a successful Aboriginal employment program by Labor and Liberal has proved to be disastrous. Professor Jon Altman explains. On a Saturday in early December last year, the Abbott government announced its proposed reform of the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP), applicable to 30,000 unemployed Aboriginal adults living in remote Australia. The proposals, to be introduced from July 1 this year, are the clearest evidence yet that the ‘new’ government with a ‘new’ Indigenous Advancement Strategy focused on remote Australia ... has totally lost its way." By Jon Altman

- 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: 8 January 2015)

- Analysis / Opinion

The Stringer: 8 little children on the streets; youngest less than 30 days old
http://thestringer.com.au/8-little-children-on-the-streets-youngest-less...
24 Jan 15: "On New Year’s Day a little girl was born, opening her eyes to the world, but to what kind of a world? Compassionate or merciless? By this Thursday, only 28 days old this little baby will be homeless. It is bullsh*t a 28 day old baby should be homeless. Not just this little baby but also her six sisters and her brother. A whole family is about to be evicted and they have not put a single foot wrong. What sort of society are we? Their mum is a good mum, who circumstance has betrayed. Where is society’s compassion? ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist

- Audio Interview

Living Black Radio: Housing overcrowding under-reported
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/389110/t...
30 Jan 15: "This week the ROGS report was released from the Productivity Commission, comparing jurisdictions within the Productivity Report for 2014. The ROGS Report is the Report on Government Services and the data indicates that ten percent of first nations people are living in overcrowded public housing, with concerns that reporting the issues with public housing has been under-reported. Jenny Samms is the CEO for Aboriginal Housing Victoria and she clarifies more on the report and what funding cuts mean for people on waiting lists for housing."

- News

SNAICC - Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care: We must look to our humanity to solve the crisis of Indigenous incarceration
http://www.snaicc.org.au/news-events/fx-articles.cfm?loadref=168&id=1179
29 Jan 15: "Indigenous education expert Chris Sarra has described the high incarceration rate of Indigenous Australians as "a stain on our society". Writing in The Guardian newspaper, Mr Sarra pointed out that Indigenous Australians are among the most incarcerated peoples in the world. "As a society," Mr Sarra writes, "Australia does better at keeping a young Aboriginal person in prison than in school or university. The Aboriginal re-imprisonment rate is actually higher than the Aboriginal school retention rate from year 7 to year 12.""

- Analysis / Opinion

The Stringer: More than 15 % in jail for unpaid fines
http://thestringer.com.au/more-than-15-in-jail-for-unpaid-fines-9407
23 Jan 15: "One of the major reasons Western Australia’s prison population is at a record high is because the State is jailing poverty stricken fine defaulters. ... The State’s Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples are disproportionately burdened, once again and as per usual. They comprise less than 3 per cent of the State’s total population but are about 45 per cent of the State’s prison population. ... One in 13 of all the State’s Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander adult males are in prison. Nearly half the Western Australians jailed for fine defaults are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders." By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist

- Background

WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
https://indymedia.org.au/2014/12/24/wgar-background-justice-reinvestment...
(last updated: 24 December 2014)

- - -

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)