Newsletter date: 15 July 2011
Contents:
* 'Say No to Government’s Income Management, Not in Bankstown, Not Anywhere!'
* Interview with Rosalie Kunoth-Monks about the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Government uses Aboriginal mining royalties to pay for leases on Aboriginal land
* The fight to stop the James Price Point gas hub
* Other Northern Territory (NT) Intervention articles
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Other articles
* 'SAY NO TO GOVERNMENT'S INCOME MANAGEMENT, NOT IN BANKSTOWN, NOT ANYWHERE!'
- New website
Welcome to the campaign website of
Say No to Government’s Income Management, Not in Bankstown, Not Anywhere!
http://www.sayno2gim.info/
"The Australian Government has announced that Income Management will be coming to Bankstown. A coalition of organisations came together in June 2011 to campaign against this policy. ...
Read the Open Letter to Minister for Human Services and Minister for Social Inclusion, Tanya Plibersek, the Member of Blaxland, Jason Clare and the Member for Banks, Daryl Melham."
* INTERVIEW WITH ROSALIE KUNOTH-MONKS ABOUT THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
- Audio Interview with transcript
Australian Human Rights Commission:
Episode 13: Intervention in the Northern Territory
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/podcasts/podrights_transcripts/2011/transcript_1...
11 Jul 11: "Graeme Innes: ... The government’s Intervention in remote Northern Territory communities is regularly in the news. But I wonder how many Australians have a perspective on the Intervention from someone actually living in one of those remote communities. This Pod Rights seeks to fill that gap. I'm speaking by phone with Rosalie Kunoth-Monks. Rosalie is an Arrente/Anmatjere woman from the Utopia station in the Northern Territory. She lived on the station until the age of nine where she learned the Aboriginal laws of her tribe, the Anmatjere people."
See more about Rosalie Kunoth-Monks:
Aboriginal Elders' Statement, signed by Rosalie Kunoth-Monks along with six other elders (7 Feb 11)
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/Elders-statement-7-2-11.pdf
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
Rosalie Kunoth on CAAMA Radio (10 Feb 11)
http://caama.com.au/rosalie-kunoth-on-caama-radio
WGAR News: A further conversation with Elders - impacts of living under the Intervention (25 Feb 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/02/25/wgar-news-a-further-conversation-with...
WGAR News: Elders speak out on the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention (21 Apr 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/04/21/wgar-news-elders-speak-out-on-the-nor...
* GOVERNMENT USES ABORIGINAL MINING ROYALTIES TO PAY FOR LEASES ON ABORIGINAL LAND:
- News
ABC: Government caned for spending Indigenous mining royalties
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-12/government-caned-for-spending-indi...
12 Jul 11: "Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda has described Federal Government use of the Aboriginal Benefits Account (ABA) to pay for long-term leases on Aboriginal land as "outrageous". ... "They are required to pay just compensation but they are paying it out of the Aboriginal Benefits Account, which is actually Aboriginal money. It's like Darwin Council assuming someone's land and deciding to pay them compensation by raiding their own bank accounts." [Mr Gooda said]"
* THE FIGHT TO STOP THE JAMES PRICE POINT GAS HUB:
- Event
Sun 17 July 2011: Broome, WA
Broome families community event to save the Kimberley
Event details: [scroll down page] http://www.savethekimberley.com/wp/blog/
Event details: http://handsoffcountry.blogspot.com/
Save the Kimberley info: http://www.savethekimberley.com/
Broome NO GAS: http://www.kimberleypage.com.au/tag/broome/
- Update on protest camp
Save the Kimberley: Protest camp at James Price Point in the Kimberley to stop the Gas Hub – update week 5
http://www.savethekimberley.com/wp/2011/07/09/protest-camp-at-james-pric...
6-13 Jul 11: "What a week. The events of Tuesday the 5th of June will not be forgotten. The way in which over 80 police took a long and disturbing day to literally push the protest blockade out of the way has left a strong impression on all involved. The blockade had stood for 30 days, peaceful and resolute. So many stories have emerged from this historical day, this page will touch on a few but there are many more to come.. "
[Includes photos and videos.]
Indymedia Australia: Save the Kimberly's blockade update: police violence and 25 arrests
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/07/09/save-the-kimberlys-blockade-update-po...
9 Jul 11: "Before first light the police arrived in force. There have been 25 arrests today. Around 100 campers were woken by police. At least 70 Police ahead of a huge convoy of Browse Joint Venture vehicles including bulldozers and other heavy machinery approached the camp. In the pre-dawn 7 Police cars were at first held up. After some discussion the police vehicles were allowed through - just like all tourists and local vehicles have been for 30 days (without the friendly wave and well wishes that were customary). ... "
[Includes photos and video.]
- Audio Interview
The Wire: Native Title Indigenous lobby against Woodside continue
[scroll down page] http://www.thewire.org.au/daydetail.aspx?SearchDay=2011-07-12
12 Jul 11: "Two Traditional owners from the Kimberley in Western Australia have travelled to Sydney to call for a halt to Woodside’s gas operations North of Broome. Woodside LNG Petroleum has resumed land clearing, following the arrest of 25 protesters including Indigenous elders, last week. One of the elders, Kerrianne Cox, has told a forum in Sydney that the debate needs to move beyond Native Title. She says they will meet with many other Indigenous clans in Byron Bay to discuss their calls for a new era of Aboriginal land rights. Interviews with leading Traditional land owners Neil Mckenzie and Kerrianne Cox."
See:
Traditional Land Owner Kerrianne Cox: http://www.kerriannecox.com/
Kimberleys Traditional land owner Neil Mckenzie: http://www.kimberleypage.com.au/2010/05/opinion-neil-mckenzi
- Analysis / Opinion
Indigenous Peoples: Western Australia: SOS To All Aboriginal Communities Of Our Land - James Price Point
http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
12 Jul 11: "You are being asked now to Stand and Save and fight against the Destruction of your Culture by supporting everyone who stands up to the WA Barnett Government which is about to be destroying our Culture, the Whale Dreaming and all our Sites at James Price Point, north of Broome. You must support. This is another Noonkanbah. ... You must turn against State and Federal Governments and tell them to go away when they, State and Federal Governments in company with mining companies approach you to make deals to sell your Culture and your Spiritual Beliefs and go against other Aboriginal People, and the Aboriginal Nation of People as a whole." Nyungar Elders of the Swan River People - Native Title Applicants (Albert Corunna and Others on behalf of the Swan River People - WAD 24 of 2011)
Green Left: Save Kimberley campaign at critical point
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48106
9 Jul 11: "The fight to stop the James Price Point gas hub in the Kimberly in Western Australia's north reached a critical point on July 4 as police arrested dozens of people. The arrests were an attempt to break the spirit of the community protesters who have blockaded the site for a month. ... The campaigners and arrestees include local Aboriginal people defending their country. This heavy-handed action by police took place in the week of the National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Commemoration. It shows how little regard Woodside and the state government have for Aboriginal rights." Alex Bainbridge
See:
WGAR News: Kimberley gas plant protest and blockade (28 Jun 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/06/28/wgar-news-kimberley-gas-plant-protest...
WGAR News: 25 protesters arrested at James Price Point blockade; Petition handed to Minister (9 Jul 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/07/09/wgar-news-25-protesters-arrested-at-j...
- Related News
National Indigenous Radio Service: Tony Burke may visit Kimberley gas hub site
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5969...
14 Jul 11: "An anti-gas hub group says federal environment minister Tony Burke has indicated he is open to visiting the site of Woodside's proposed gas precinct, in Western Australia's Kimberly region. A delegation travelled to Canberra to present Mr Burke with a 3,000-signature petition to reject the proposed gas hub at James Price Point."
Koori Mail: Gas deal praised
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php?page=Current+Edition
13 Jul 11: "AGREEMENT on a $30 billion Kimberley gas hub is 'the most significant act of self-determination by Aboriginal people in Australian history', West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says. The agreement between traditional owners, Woodside Petroleum and the WA Government was signed at State Parliament on 30 June. The deal with the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr people on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) precinct at James Price Point north of Broome includes $1.5 billion in benefits for Indigenous communities over 30 years."
* OTHER NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION ARTICLES:
- News
Shanghai Daily: Angry indigenous leaders call to end federal intervention in Northern Territory of Australia
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.asp?id=2876
13 Jul 11: "CANBERRA, July 13 (Xinhua) -- People in the remote Arnhem Land community of Maningrida in Northern Territory of Australia, on Wednesday said they want the federal intervention in the Northern Territory scrapped immediately. ... In a move to consult indigenous communities about the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory proposal to replace the current federal intervention when it expires, Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin met with angry locals at a meeting in Maningrida."
ABC: Angry calls to end federal intervention
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-13/macklin-tour/2793066
13 Jul 11: "People in the remote Arnhem Land community of Maningrida want the federal intervention in the Northern Territory scrapped immediately. Angry locals confronted Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin at a meeting in the community, about 530 kilometres east of Darwin, yesterday afternoon. The current arrangements for the intervention expire next August. Ms Macklin says she is in the process of deciding what to do with the policy. Angry people confronted senior government officials during the Maningrida meeting."
Koori Mail: NTER consultations roll on
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
13 Jul 11: "Consultations over the future of the Northern Territory Intervention continued yesterday with a phalanx of politicians descending on the community of Maningrida. About 200 people gave Federal Ministers Jenny Macklin and Warren Snowdon, Territory Minister Malarndirri McCarthy and local member Marion Scrymgour a mixed response. Many were unhappy with the short notice and short nature of the meeting. Traditional owner Reggie Wurridgal said the Intervention was like 'a bomb' being dropped on Aboriginal communities. The Ministers head to Groote Eylandt and Ngukurr today."
Koori Mail: Govt Intervention review draws fire
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php?page=Current+Edition
13 Jul 11: "THE Federal Government has started its promised six-week consultation with Aboriginal communities about a 'new way forward' for the Northern Territory Intervention. Consultations kicked off in Tennant Creek on 28 June and are taking place in prescribed communities throughout the NT."
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane
Let's Talk - Indigenous presented talkback:
http://989fm.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29
12 Jul 11: "Paddy Gibson: Tiga Bayles spoke with Aboriginal rights activist, co-editor of Solidarity magazine and a researcher with Jumbunna Indigenous Centre at the University of Technology in Sydney, Paddy Gibson."
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasting/audio/98fm-podcast-2011-07-12-73809.mp3
[Includes discussion of the NT Intervention.]
See:
Jumbunna: "Rebuilding from the Ground Up" Alternatives to the Northern Territory Intervention
http://www.jumbunna.uts.edu.au/researchareas/alternatives.html
Stop the Intervention: Alternatives to the Intervention
http://stoptheintervention.org/alternatives-to-the-intervention
Solidarity Online: http://www.solidarity.net.au/
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane
Let's Talk - Indigenous presented talkback:
http://989fm.com.au/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29
6 Jul 11: "Professor Jon Altman: Tiga Bayles spoke with Professor Jon Altman from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR)."
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasting/audio/98fm-podcast-2011-07-06-95667.mp3
[Includes discussion of the NT Intervention.]
See:
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR): http://caepr.anu.edu.au/
'concerned Australians': Without Justice there can be no Reconciliation: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
- Audio Interviews
SBS Audio and Language: Aboriginal: Former Prime Minister Blasts Intervention
http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/aboriginal/highlight/page/id/178037/t...
13 Jul 11: "Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser says new government consultations in the Northern Territory are flawed and secretive. Three eminent Australians have accused the Fedral Government's new round of consultations in the Northern Territory of being flawed, secretive and carried out in a hurry. Former Prime MInister Malcolm Fraser, Former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Alistair Nicholson and former Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ian Viner have written an open letter to Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin outlining their concerns and demanding answers. ... " Michelle Lovegrove
National Indigenous Radio Service: Malcolm Fraser critical of Intervention audit
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5962...
"Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and other prominent Australians from the ‘Concerned Australians' group, have signed an open letter to the federal government outlining their concerns with the current round of community consultation over the NT Intervention. ... Mr Fraser spoke to the Patrick Pollock from the National Indigenous Radio Service"
See:
Open Letter To Hon. Jenny Macklin MP
By Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH GCL, Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC and Hon Ian Viner AO QC (4 Jul 11)
http://stoptheintervention.org/facts/consultations-mid-2011/letter-from-...
Press Release re "Stronger Futures"
By Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH GCL, former Prime Minister of Australia (27 Jun 11)
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/MR-Malcolm-Fraser-27-6-11.pdf
- Audio Interview
ABC Sunday Nights: Archbishop Freier on the NT Intervention
http://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s3265998.htm?site=canberra
11 Jul 11: "Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne Phillip Freier about his comments this week regarding the government's indigenous intervention strategy."
See:
Media Release: Government move on NT Intervention may cause further grief, Archbishop Freier warns (29 Jun 11)
http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/NewsAndViews/Pages/Government-move-...
Media Release: Decision to include interpreters in Northern Territory consultations welcome, but concerns remain (5 Jul 11)
http://www.melbourne.anglican.com.au/NewsAndViews/Pages/DECISION-TO-INCL...
- Media Release
Jenny Macklin, Warren Snowdon and Malarndirri McCarthy:
Consultations continue on building stronger futures
http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/mediareleases/2011/pages/consulta...
12 Jul 11: "The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, and the Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon, travelled to Maningrida today for a community meeting to discuss the next steps in building stronger futures for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory.
Ms Macklin and Mr Snowdon were accompanied to Maningrida, 350km east of Darwin, by the Northern Territory’s Minister for Indigenous Development, Malarndirri McCarthy.
Tomorrow, the group will visit Angurugu on Groote Eylandt, and Ngukurr, some 500km south-east of Darwin, for further community meetings.
The visits are part of a six-week consultation process that includes one-on-one and community meetings with Indigenous people in remote communities, regional centres and town camps across the Northern Territory."
* 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
STICS (Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney): http://stoptheintervention.org/
CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) - NT Intervention: http://caama.com.au/?s=NT+Intervention
ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) - NT intervention: http://www.antar.org.au/issues_and_campaigns/nt_intervention
'concerned Australians': Without Justice there can be no Reconciliation: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
IRAG (Intervention Rollback Action Group): Mparntwe - Alice Springs: http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/
The Greens: Rachel Siewert: Northern Territory Intervention: http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/category/issues/indigenous-rights...
Treaty Republic - NT Intervention: http://treatyrepublic.net/search/node/NT%20Intervention
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/
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/
Students For Indigenous Rights - UQ: The Northern Territory Intervention: http://uqsir.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/stir-uq-intervention-intro-fact...
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.wordpress.com/
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- Film Finalist
Uranium Film Festival 2011 Report MUCKATY VOICES
http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/URANIUM_FILM_FESTIVAL_2011_REPORT_Eng...
"Muckaty Voices is a short film capturing Aboriginal community resistance to an Australian government plan to dump low and long lived intermediate level radio-active waste at Muckaty Station, 120km north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. The government’s push for Muckaty has sparked widespread criticism from the targeted community, trade unions, national health and environment groups and Indigenous organisations. A federal court challenge has been launched to contest the Muckaty nomination. The film presents the country and community affected by this proposal.
Muckaty Voices, Australia, 2010, 10 min, Director: Natalie Wasley.
The film was produced for the Muckaty Traditional Owners by Enlightning Productions, with support of Beyond Nuclear Initiative: www.beyondnuclearinitiative.com "
See:
International Uranium Film Festival Rio de Janeiro http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/
Muckaty Voices - Australia's nuclear waste dump story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcuNpT84Ovo
- Analysis / Opinion
ABC The Drum Opinion: An out of sight, out of mind approach to nuclear waste management
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2791570.html
12 Jul 11: "The unassuming town of Tennant Creek hugs the Stuart Highway 500 kilometres north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. It is the principal service town of the Barkly, a region the size of the UK that is home to a smattering of gold, manganese and other mines, some of the world's biggest cattle stations and - if Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson gets his way - Australia's first national radioactive waste dump. And, like the waste itself, the politics of how to manage radioactive waste are getting hotter and dirtier." Dave Sweeney
See: Beyond Nuclear Initiative: http://beyondnuclearinitiative.com/
Canberra Times Editorial: Flying the flag for reignited indigenous debate
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/flying-th...
8 Jul 11: "It will be 40 years on Tuesday since the National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee first flew the distinctive black, red and yellow Aboriginal flag. Six months later in January 1972 the flag gained a more official status when it was hoisted above the newly established Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra. The flag's designer, Harold Thomas, says he wanted the flag to symbolise ''the struggle''. It was primarily about the struggle for Aboriginal land rights but has become about much more. So, what's left of the struggle four decades later?" Toni Hassan
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