WGAR News: UN Rapporteur visits Aboriginal communities (23 Aug 09)

Submitted by WGAR - Working ... on Sun, 23/08/2009 - 12:04pm

WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)

Contents:
UN Rapporteur, James Anaya, visits Aboriginal communities
Aboriginal Housing in the NT
Other NT Intervention articles
Other Aboriginal articles

UN RAPPORTEUR, JAMES ANAYA, VISITS ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES:

- Background

WGAR News:
UN Expert visits Australia to report on Aboriginal Human Rights (18 Aug 09)
http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=newswire&parentview=145907

WGAR News:
UN Expert James Anaya to examine NT Intervention (19 Aug 09)
http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=newswire&parentview=145947

- Video

CAAMA Radio Online News: U.N. visits Mparrentwe Alice Springs
(Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association):
http://caama.com.au/radio/un-visits-mparrentwe-alice-springs/
21 Aug 09: "U.N. takes a look at the human rights of Australian Aboriginal people."
[includes interview with UN Special Rapporteur]

- Radio

CAAMA News
(Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association):
[scroll down page] http://caama.com.au/category/radio/
21 Aug 09: "U.N. special rapporteur on Indigenous rights Professor James Anaya speaks with Aborignal people in Mparrentwe / Alice Springs."

- News

ABC: Macklin backs out of UN envoy visit
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/22/2663496.htm
22 Aug 09: "Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has cancelled a visit to a remote Northern Territory community with the United Nations rapporteur on indigenous rights. ... Today he [Professor James Anaya] is expected to meet with representatives from the Northern Land Council and the Laynhapuy Homelands Association in Yirrkala."

BBC: UN envoy in Aboriginal assessment
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8213366.stm
21 Aug 09: "The United Nation's special rapporteur on indigenous human rights has toured some of Australia's most disadvantaged Aboriginal communities. Professor James Anaya is investigating complaints that government measures to fight child abuse in remote settlements are racially discriminatory. More than 70 indigenous townships in Australia's Northern Territory have been taken over by federal authorities."

Radio New Zealand: UN envoy looks at treatment of Aborigines
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/08/21/1245c242a944
21 Aug 09: "The United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous human rights has toured some of Australia's most disadvantaged aboriginal communities to investigate claims of racist federal government policy. ... He has travelled to the heart of Australia, Alice Springs, to learn more about the unrelenting poverty that makes Aborigines by far the country's most disadvantaged people."

ABC: UN briefed on prison van death
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/21/2662988.htm
21 Aug 09: "The United Nations has been briefed on the death of an Aboriginal man in the back of a prison van in Western Australia's Goldfields. ... The Deaths in Custody Watch Committee's chairman, Marc Newhouse, met the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, James Anaya, this week."

Uniting Church in Australia - National Assembly:
Territory Intervention Highlighted for UN Rapporteur
http://assembly.uca.org.au/media-centre/50-mediareleases09/506-mr-ntinte...
20 Aug 09: "The Uniting Church in Australia has taken its vehement opposition to the Northern Territory Emergency Response to the United Nations. The Uniting Church has written to the United Nations special rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, currently visiting Australia, to draw his attention to the concerns being expressed by Indigenous members of the Uniting Church."

Koori Mail: Church flags intervention concerns with UN
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
20 Aug 09: "THE Uniting Church has told a UN Special Rapporteur on human rights that the Northern Territory intervention is the nation’s most pressing human rights concern. The church has written to James Anaya, currently touring Australia, about its ‘vehement’ opposition to suspension of the racial discrimination act and ‘inadequate consultation’ with communities under the intervention."

ABC Alice Springs: UN rapporteur hears Indigenous concerns
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/20/2662107.htm?site=alicesprings
20 Aug 09: "The United Nations special rapporteur on Indigenous rights says he has heard both good and bad reports about the treatment of Aboriginal people in central Australia. Professor James Anaya held talks with organisations and government agencies in Alice Springs this morning. He later met with about 40 people, many of whom were from Aboriginal town camps and remote communities."

ABC: Alice hosts UN Indigenous rights visit
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/20/2661777.htm?site=news
20 Aug 09: "The United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights will meet Aboriginal organisations and government and welfare agencies in Alice Springs today. ... A resident of the Mount Nancy Aboriginal town camp, Barbara Shaw, says she hosted a dinner for Professor Anaya at her house last night. ... He will tour the town camps this afternoon."

China Post - Taiwan: UN probes Aboriginal discrimination allegations
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/australia/2009/08/17/220873/UN-probes.htm
17 Aug 09: "Anaya, an American professor of human rights law, said suspending anti-discrimination laws to apply the measures appeared to be a discriminatory act. "On its face yes, but I'm not expressing a conclusion about whether or not that's justified at this time," Anaya told reporters. "I'll talk about my views at the conclusion of my visit." "

BreakingNews.ie - Ireland: UN probing claims child-abuse measures breached Aboriginal rights
http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/un-probing-claims-childabuse-measures-b...
17 Aug 09: "A United Nations representative is visiting Australia to investigate complaints that a government crackdown on child abuse in Outback settlements is violating Aborigines’ human rights. ... Activists say these measures violate human rights because they target Aborigines only."

Koori Mail: Town camps to host UN rights advocate
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
13 Aug 09: "THE United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples will visit the Alice Springs town camps next week as part of his visit to Australia. Prof James Anaya will also meet with government representatives, Indigenous communities and civil rights groups in Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Cairns, Sydney and Brisbane."

ABORIGINAL HOUSING IN THE NT:

- Background

WGAR News:
Government failure over Northern Territory Aboriginal housing (24 July 09)
http://wgar.info/240709-government-failure-over-northern-territory-abori...

- Video

CAAMA: Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association
The Forgotten Place
http://caama.com.au/radio/the-forgotten-place/
20 Aug 09

- Media Release

Australian Human Rights Commission:
Native title should be protected at all costs
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2009/74_09.html
13 Aug 09: "Claims by the West Australian Government that native title legislation will ‘block’ it from building new houses were false and misleading, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said today. Commissioner Calma said he was disappointed to read in today’s media that the WA Government was blaming native title for holding up housing under the $496 million funding agreement with the federal government. “The Native Title Act does not block the building of homes for anyone - Indigenous or non-Indigenous,” Commissioner Calma said."

- Opinion

Australian: Slice of pie for building is shrinking by the day
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25954870-7583,00.html
20 Aug 09: "WHEN it was revealed Northern Territory ministers had been warned that less than half the promised 750 houses would be built under the $672 million Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program, federal minister Jenny Macklin went on the attack. "That report is completely wrong," she said on national radio the morning after the July 23 article in The Australian." Natasha Robinson

- News

Green Left: Indigenous housing program head sacked
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2009/808/41574
22 Aug 09: "Jim Davidson was sacked as the head of the Northern Territory’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) on August 18. Davidson was fired after revelations that SIHIP’s administration costs would absorb a great deal of the program’s $672 million budget. The program was launched 18 months ago with the promise to build 750 houses for remote Aboriginal communities. So far, no houses have been built."

Australian: Jenny Macklin's go-slow 'to fix errors' on housing
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25959162-5013404,00.html
21 Aug 09: "INDIGENOUS Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has insisted she will not rush into delivering housing to Northern Territory indigenous communities without securing land leases and agreements for proper payment of rent."

Koori Mail: SIHIP review report expected next week
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
21 Aug 09: "FEDERAL Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has promised to make public the report from a review of the embattled $672 million Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP). Ms Macklin says she expects to receive the report next week."

Australian: Macklin 'seeking to save her political skin'
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25955127-601,00.html
20 Aug 09: "THE former head of a $700 million Aboriginal housing project [Jim Davidson] claims Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin made unrealistic promises to build 750 houses in remote communities because of poor advice and a lack of basic budget analysis by senior commonwealth bureaucrats." Natasha Robinson and Nicola Berkovic

Koori Mail: Release housing report straight away, says Opp
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
20 Aug 09: "THE Federal Opposition has called on the Rudd Government to release straight away a report from a review of the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP). The program has failed to build even a single remote house in 18 months. The review report is expected soon, possibly tomorrow."

Canberra Times: Indigenous housing scheme under fire
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/indigenou...
20 Aug 09: "Money earmarked for desperately needed homes in remote communities across Australia could be used to prop up an embattled housing scheme in the Northern Territory. Hobbled by soaring costs and ''appalling mismanagement'', the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program is yet to produce a single new home in almost 18 months."

ABC: 'Pie in the sky' house costs worry Wood
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/20/2661516.htm?site=news
20 Aug 09: "The independent Northern Territory politician Gerry Wood says he is concerned the original budget for the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program was out of touch with reality. ... Mr Wood also wants a faster review of the program."

ABC: Housing Minister lets rip at previous failures
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/19/2660951.htm?site=news
19 Aug 09: "The Northern Territory Housing Minister, Rob Knight, has launched a stinging tirade against previous housing projects to defend his handling of a controversial $672 million Aboriginal housing program. ... Mr [Jim] Davidson says the promised houses will not eventuate unless the budget goes up to $1 billion."

ABC: One fifth of housing funds allocated so far
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/19/2660857.htm?site=news
19 Aug 09: "The Northern Territory Government says only about $120 million dollars of the controversial $672 million Aboriginal housing program have been allocated so far and the project will still build the 750 new homes it promised. ... The Northern Territory Housing Minister Rob Knight says the program is being remodelled to make sure all promises are met within budget."

Comments

Re: WGAR News: UN Rapporteur visits Aboriginal communities ...

Permalink Submitted by Ron (not verified) on Thu, 27/08/2009 - 12:35pm

Another bleeding hearts character! Why do we allow so many outsiders to pass comment on matters that don't concern them, and who have no idea of political conditions in Australia.
Send him home!