Newsletter date: 17 May 2011
Contents:
* Global Call to Action for Aboriginal Rights in Australia
* Interview with Muckaty Traditional Owner, Dianne Stokes
* Doctor: Public misled over nuclear medicine needs
* More on Muckaty nuclear waste dump
* Background to Muckaty nuclear waste dump
* Renewed Call for a Joint Committee Senate Inquiry into Deaths in Custody
* Background to Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and incarceration rates
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Other Aboriginal articles
GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION FOR ABORIGINAL RIGHTS IN AUSTRALIA:
- Media Release
Indigenous Peoples: Australia: Aboriginal Leader Calls For Social Justice Outside Australia House In London
http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
15 May 11: "Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra OAM, senior elder and Dhurili Clan Nation leader of the traditional Yolngu peoples of Northeast Arnhem Land, has delivered a speech to the world's media outside the Australian High Commission in London. He expressed the deep hurt of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory caused by the Northern Territory Intervention and other policies that breach their human and cultural rights. Rev. Dr. Gondarra announced the Global Call to Action for Aboriginal Rights, whose statement has been signed by former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser and other eminent Australians."
- Statement signed by Leading Australians
Our Generation: Global Call to Action for Aboriginal Rights in Australia
http://www.ourgeneration.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Global-Call-t...
"BACKGROUND
Under current Australian Government policy, the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory are at breaking point. Suicide rates are soaring and chronic health problems are rife. Despair and cultural confusion are driving young and old to alcoholism, violence and drug abuse. Australias Aboriginal people now have the poorest health record of any Indigenous group in the world, and incarceration rates are higher than those of black South Africans during Apartheid.
The Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER), otherwise known as the Northern Territory Intervention, has been in place since June 2007 in ongoing violation of international human rights law. ... [click on link to continue reading background and to read statement signed by leading Australians]"
- News
Our Generation: GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION launched in London outside Australia House
[scroll down page] http://www.ourgeneration.org.au/
"Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra has called upon the citizens of the world to support Aboriginal rights in Australia. Drawn from a statement by eminent Australians, including former prime minister Hon. Malcolm Fraser, the Global Call to Action outlines the key demands by the Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory and human rights advocates from across Australia."
Koori Mail: Australia under the spotlight
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
16 May 11: "AN Aboriginal Elder has drawn international attention to the failings of the Northern Territory Intervention. Outside the Australian High Commission in London yesterday, Yolngu clan leader Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra unveiled the Global Call to Action for Aboriginal Rights in Australia – a campaign backed by prominent Australians opposing the controversial policy. Last week in Geneva, Rev Dr Gondarra met with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Navi Pillay, who'll visit Australia this week to examine Australia's human rights record."
ABC: Aboriginal elder takes blowtorch to intervention
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/16/3217929.htm?section=justin
16 May 11: "Aboriginal elder Djiniyini Gondarra is making waves on his barnstorming tour of Europe. ... Dr Gondarra unveiled a Global Call to Action for Aboriginal Rights, which draws from a statement signed by former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser and other eminent Australians. He invited the global community to support Aboriginal people in their struggle. ... Dr Gondarra is on a diplomatic visit to Europe, meeting leading political, religious and humanitarian figures."
National Indigenous Radio Service: NT leader tells UN that intervention is racist
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5764...
16 May 11: "An Aboriginal elder has told the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights the Northern Territory intervention is racist. Reverend Djiniyini Gondarra is a senior elder and Dhurili clan leader of the Yolngu people of north-east Arnhem Land. In Geneva this week, Dr Gondarra told UN high commissioner Navi Pillay Aboriginal people are victimised by some of the services delivered to them."
ABC: Aboriginal elder in London to protest intervention
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/14/3217072.htm
15 May 11: "An Aboriginal elder from Arnhem Land has taken to the streets of London to call for world support to end the federal intervention in Northern Territory Indigenous communities. Dr Djiniyini Gondarra hails from Elcho Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land. Standing outside the Australian High Commission in London, Dr Gondarra has sung a traditional song and read a statement calling for the federal intervention to end immediately. "We are asking all people today to stand with us, fight with us," he said."
- Audio
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
CAAMA Radio News 16-05-2011
http://caama.com.au/caama-radio-news-16-05-2011
16 May 11: "Top end Aboriginal elder Reverend Djiniyini Gondarra has told the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that Aboriginal people are being victimized by some of the services delivered to them under the Northern territory intervention."
See:
WGAR News: Aboriginal elder raises international awareness of the NT Intervention (14 May 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/05/14/wgar-news-aboriginal-elder-raises-int...
- Related News
National Indigenous Radio Service: UN Indigenous Forum underway
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5776...
17 May 11: "The annual United Nations forum aimed at advancing the rights of the estimated 370 million Indigenous persons around the world is underway with a call to turn those rights into a practical reality. More than 1,300 delegates are expected to participate in the two-week Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is being held at UN Headquarters in New York and is marking its tenth anniversary."
Green Left: Aboriginal leader: ‘We need to make communities viable again’
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/47558
14 May 11: "Barbara Shaw, a town camp leader from Alice Springs and member of the Intervention Rollback Action Group, spoke to Green Left Weekly on May 9. She said the current intervention hasn’t worked, so "why have another one?" ... Shaw, who travelled to New York on May 12 to attend the 10th UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said the intervention has been a "waste of time and waste of money". Those resources should have been used "to allow Aboriginal people to get on with their lives and solve their problems themselves"."
INTERVIEW WITH MUCKATY TRADITIONAL OWNER, DIANNE STOKES:
- Audio
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane
Let's Talk - Indigenous presented talkback:
http://989fm.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29
11 May 11: "Dianne Stokes and Natalie Wasley: Tiga Bayles spoke with Muckaty Tradtional Owner, Dianne Stokes and Beyond Nuclear Initiative spokesperson, Natalie Wasley."
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasting/audio/98fm-podcast-2011-05-11-74520.mp3
DOCTOR: PUBLIC MISLED OVER NUCLEAR MEDICINE NEEDS:
- News
SMH: No need for nuclear medicine: doctor
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/no-need-for-nuclear-medici...
12 May 11: "The federal government has misled the public about Australia's need for nuclear medicine, a Northern Territory emergency physician says. Hilary Tyler, a member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW), said even if a nuclear reactor was needed to make medical radioisotopes, there was no need for further uranium mining. "The amount of uranium you need a year to treat everyone in Australia with cancer - you can hold that amount of uranium in your hand. It's a very tiny amount," she told AAP. ... Dr Tyler, who works at Alice Springs Hospital, said MAPW was opposed to the establishment of a nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, near Tennant Creek, in central Australia."
MORE ON MUCKATY NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP:
- Audio
ABC PM: Native title dispute over nuclear waste dump
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3216587.htm
13 May 11: "There is a new and significant development in the fight over the Commonwealth's plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. Lawyers acting for one indigenous clan are now accusing the Northern Land Council of ignoring its earlier findings that the land belonged primarily to the Yapa Yapa clan. The council is now backing another family, who will receive $12 million for agreeing to allow contaminated waste to be buried on the site. The traditional owners are now at war in court, and some locals say they will take direct action to stop trucks carrying nuclear waste onto their land."
- News
National Indigenous Radio Service: Yapa-Yapa clan say they are being ignored over nuclear dump
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5769...
16 May 11: "There is a new and significant development in the fight over the Commonwealth's plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. Lawyers acting for one Indigenous clan are now accusing the Northern Land Council of ignoring its earlier findings that the land belonged primarily to the Yapa-Yapa people."
National Indigenous Radio Service: NT MP calls for end to nuclear waste dump
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5766...
16 May 11: "A Northern Territory Labor Minister has called on his federal colleagues to abandon plans to set up a nuclear waste storage facility in the Northern Territory. Member for Barkly Gerry McCarthy was one of about 50 people who staged an anti-nuclear dump protest outside Parliament House in Darwin this afternoon."
National Indigenous Times: Muckaty nuclear debate shrouded in Budget cloud
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=21891
15 May 11: "The Australian Greens have accused the Federal Government of trying to hide a Senate debate on nuclear waste behind the smokescreen of the 2011 Federal Budget. Greens Senator, Scott Ludlam said legislation to set up Australia’s first nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, near Tennant Creek, was listed for debate in the Senate last Tuesday, when the Federal Budget was being handed down. 'It’s a sign that the government’s got something to hide ... it’s curious timing,' he said."
National Indigenous Radio Service: Anti-nuclear waste dump protest held in Darwin
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5752...
12 May 11: "Around 50 people staged a protest outside Parliament House in Darwin yesterday afternoon saying they don't want a nuclear waste storage facility to be built in the Northern Territory. ... Voice of Lorna Vejo: I am a traditional owner of Muckaty, by acceptance to the law and the land and the culture and I say no to Mackaty being used as a dump! Voice ends."
NT News: Locals reject waste dump
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/05/12/231901_ntnews.html
12 May 11: "'NO' was the message from an anti-nuclear waste dump protest at Parliament House in Darwin on Wednesday. ... Nuclear Free NT and rally organiser Cat Beaton said the nuclear waste should remain where it is, and that it will not be just medical waste, as the Government has said. "I don't have the answers, I don't pretend I do," she said. "The majority of waste is stored at Lucas Heights (South Sydney) where it is safe. Keeping it there minimises transport.""
BACKGROUND TO MUCKATY NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP:
YouTube: Muckaty Voices-Australia's nuclear waste dump story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuNpT84Ovo
""Muckaty Voices" is a short film capturing community resistance to an Australian government plan to dump radioactive waste at Muckaty Station, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory."
Beyond Nuclear Initiative - Muckaty:
http://beyondnuclearinitiative.wordpress.com/muckaty/
Beyond Nuclear Initiative:
http://beyondnuclearinitiative.wordpress.com/
Proposed Radioactive Waste Dump at Muckaty, NT
Briefing Paper - February 2011
Jim Green B.Med.Sci.(Hons.), PhD
National nuclear campaigner - Friends of the Earth, Australia
Friends of the Earth: http://www.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/oz/nontdump/Dump%20briefing%20...
Nuclear Territory News: Waste Dump News:
http://ntne.ws/articles/article.php?section=waste
WGAR News: Nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory (2 Mar 10)
http://indymedia.org.au/2010/03/02/wgar-news-nuclear-waste-dump-in-the-n...
WGAR News: Muckaty Station Nuclear Waste Dump (20 Mar 10)
http://groups.google.com.au/group/foblmail/browse_thread/thread/ddc393bb...
WGAR News: Nuclear Waste Dump (28 Mar 10)
http://indymedia.org.au/2010/03/28/wgar-news-nuclear-waste-dump-close-th...
WGAR News: Muckaty Radioactive Waste Dump (4 Apr 10)
http://indymedia.org.au/2010/04/03/wgar-news-muckaty-radioactive-waste-d...
WGAR News: National day of action against Muckaty nuclear waste dump: 12th April!
http://indymedia.org.au/2010/04/10/wgar-news-national-day-of-action-agai...
WGAR News: Nuclear Waste Dump: Senate inquiry in Darwin; Nationwide protests (17 Apr 10)
http://indymedia.org.au/2010/04/16/wgar-news-nuclear-waste-dump-senate-i...
WGAR News: Update: Muckaty Station Nuclear Waste Dump (23 Apr 10)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2010/04/22/wgar-news-raw-sewage-dumped-in-ampila...
WGAR News: Update on Muckaty Station Nuclear Waste Dump (2 May 10)
http://wgar.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/02052010-update-on-muckaty-station-...
WGAR News: "Muckaty Voices" film; Senate Report into nuclear waste dump plan (16 May 10)
https://indymedia.org.au/2010/05/16/wgar-news-muckaty-voices-film-senate...
WGAR News: Federal Court legal challenge over nuclear waste dump (13 Jun 10)
http://lists.perthimc.asn.au/pipermail/blackgreensolidarity/2010-June/00...
WGAR News: PM Gillard: No change on Muckaty nuclear waste dump (12 Jul 10)
http://lists.perthimc.asn.au/pipermail/blackgreensolidarity/2010-July/00...
WGAR News: Legislation passes enabling a nuclear waste dump to be built at Muckaty, NT (1 Mar 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/03/01/wgar-news-legislation-passes-enabling...
WGAR News: Federal Court challenge over nuclear dump resumes in August (16 Mar 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/03/16/wgar-news-federal-court-challenge-ove...
WGAR News: Interview with Kylie Sambo, Mark Lane and Dr. Jim Green about Muckaty nuclear waste dump (21 Mar 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/03/21/wgar-news-protest-blockade-by-lake-ty...
WGAR News: Nuclear waste legislation must wait until objections heard in Federal Court (23 Mar 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/03/23/wgar-news-international-day-for-the-e...
WGAR News: Aboriginal groups protest against nuclear waste dump (26 Mar 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/03/26/wgar-news-police-used-to-break-blocka...
WGAR News: Crisis in Japan and Muckaty Nuclear Waste Dump (2 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/02/wgar-news-online-petition-about-abori...
WGAR News: Muckaty Traditional Owners speak out (14 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/14/wgar-news-deaths-in-custody-and-abori...
WGAR News: Help Stop the Muckaty Radioactive Waste Dump - May 7-8 (24 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/24/wgar-news-two-urgent-petitions-on-the...
WGAR News: "Keep the poison out of Muckaty" - community rally on May 7, 2011 (30 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/30/wgar-news-keep-the-poison-out-of-muck...
WGAR News: NT nuclear waste dump plans contested (10 May 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/05/10/wgar-news-nt-nuclear-waste-dump-plans...
WGAR News: More on Muckaty nuclear waste dump (14 May 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/05/14/wgar-news-aboriginal-elder-raises-int...
RENEWED CALL FOR A JOINT COMMITTEE SENATE INQUIRY INTO DEATHS IN CUSTODY:
- Media Release
Indymedia Australia: Blood on the hands of all Australian Senators. We will continue the call for a Joint Committee Senate Inquiry.
http://www.indymedia.org.au/2011/05/10/blood-on-the-hands-of-all-austral...
10 May 11: "The Human Rights Alliance, on this occasion led by its PhD Law researcher into Australian Deaths in Custody, will continue to urge Australian Senators for the need to call for a Joint Committee Senate Inquiry into Australian Deaths in Custody.
April 15 has now passed, twenty years since the release of the 339 recommendations and the Final Report from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. However the HRA will continue to campaign for an Inquiry and will continue to campaign for prison and police reforms, and continue to educate Australians to Australia's horrific deaths in custody record."
BACKGROUND TO ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY AND INCARCERATION RATES:
WGAR News: Deaths in custody and Aboriginal incarceration rates (14 Apr 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/14/wgar-news-deaths-in-custody-and-abori...
WGAR News: Joint National Call to Action to reduce imprisonment of Indigenous people (16 Apr 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/16/wgar-news-joint-national-call-to-acti...
WGAR News: Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (21 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/21/wgar-news-elders-speak-out-on-the-nor...
WGAR News: Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (24 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/24/wgar-news-two-urgent-petitions-on-the...
WGAR News: Deaths in Custody: A Crikey Investigation (29 Apr 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/29/darwin-gathering-for-aboriginal-peopl...
WGAR News: Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and Aboriginal incarceration rates (3 May 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/05/03/wgar-news-indigenous-languages-forum-...
WGAR News: ANTaR: Reducing over-imprisonment of Aboriginal peoples (7 May 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/05/07/wgar-news-interviews-with-barb-shaw-a...
BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Creative Spirits: Northern Territory Emergence Response (NTER) - "The Intervention": http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/northern-terr...
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Northern Territory National Emergency Response: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_intervention
CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) - NT Intervention: http://caama.com.au/?s=NT+Intervention
IRAG (Intervention Rollback Action Group): Mparntwe - Alice Springs: http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/
Treaty Republic - NT Intervention: http://treatyrepublic.net/search/node/NT%20Intervention
ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) - NT intervention: http://www.antar.org.au/issues_and_campaigns/nt_intervention
The Greens: Rachel Siewert: Northern Territory Intervention: http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/category/issues/indigenous-rights...
STICS (Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney): http://stoptheintervention.org/
Crikey - NT Intervention: http://www.crikey.com.au/topic/nt-intervention/
Jobs with Justice: http://jobswithjustice.wordpress.com/
MAIC (Melbourne Anti-Intervention Collective): http://maicollective.blogspot.com/
'concerned Australians': Without Justice there can be no Reconciliation: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
New Matilda - northern territory intervention: http://newmatilda.com/tag/northern-territory-intervention
Amnesty International Australia: Looking back at the Northern Territory Intervention: http://www.amnesty.org.au/indigenous-rights/comments/24460/
Defending Indigenous Rights: http://defendingindigenousrights.wordpress.com/
Intervention walk-off's Blog: http://interventionwalkoff.wordpress.com/
Australian Human Rights Commission: Northern Territory ‘Emergency Response’ intervention: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/intervention/index.html
FAIRA; Human Rights Law Resource Centre; NACLC: Australia’s compliance with CERD - Fact Sheet 2: Northern Territory Intervention: http://www.hrlrc.org.au/files/Fact-Sheet-2-NT-Intervention.pdf
Green Left: Northern Territory intervention: myths and facts: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/39732
WGAR (Working Group for Aboriginal Rights): http://wgar.info/
OTHER ABORIGINAL ARTICLES:
- News
National Indigenous Times: Language linked to drug decline
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=21882
15 May 11: "New research shows young Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders who speak an Indigenous language are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the results from its fourth study into the wellbeing of Indigenous children and young people. It focuses on language and how it affects a young person’s wellbeing."
National Indigenous Times: Now for the election!
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=21897
15 May 11: "Maurie Japarta Ryan, the leader of a new Territory-based political party First Nations, hoisted his party’s flag on a piece of historic colonial land and declared he would stand against the Federal Labor stalwart, Warren Snowdon when the next Federal election was held. First Nations was federally registered earlier this year and has had another breakthrough victory, with formal recognition from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission."
National Indigenous Times: A national disgrace
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=21916
15 May 11: "Indigenous Australians now make up more than a quarter of the entire prison population in Australia despite representing only 2.5 per cent of Australia’s total population, a report by the highly respected Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has said. Neil Gillespie of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) slammed the findings and warned he believed the number of Indigenous Australians was even worse than the report has estimated."
National Indigenous Times: Congress is put on notice but let’s give it a chance
http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=21905
15 May 11: "Indigenous community leaders from around Australia have put the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples on notice it must perform or it will lose their support but many have said until then the Congress deserves a chance to succeed. Twenty Indigenous leaders from throughout Australia have responded to a strong attack on the National Congress and in particular the male Co-chair, Les Malezer by Warren Mundine who said Mr Malezer was ‘radical and living in the past’ and that the Congress was merely symbolic."
- - -
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