Newsletter date: 26 October 2011
Contents:
* Rosalie Kunoth-Monks - panellist on Q and A live from Darwin
* Interview with Rev. Dr. Djiniyini Gondarra - Yolgnu embassy proposed
* Interview with Michael Anderson - Sovereignty and Native Title
* Evidence - Free Policy Making? The Case of Income Management by Eva Cox
* Eva Cox: The lack of evidence for the benefits of Income Management
* What's Working: Tjuwumpa Rangers
* Chapter of Book: The Doctrine of Discovery in Australia
* Protesters shut down Macklin press conference
* More on APY Lands
* Other Northern Territory (NT) Intervention articles
* Other articles
* Upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia - 17 events from 25 October 2011
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* ROSALIE KUNOTH-MONKS - PANELLIST ON Q AND A LIVE FROM DARWIN:
- Video
ABC: Q and A live from Darwin
Panellists: Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Stuart Blanch, Fiona O'Loughlin, Luke Bowen, Paul Henderson and David Tollner
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3336326.htm
17 Oct 11: "NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP: Kylie Sambo from Tennant Creek, NT asked via video: Hello my name is Kylie Sambo, I'm a hip hop artist and a traditional owner for Muckaty where the Federal Government wants to build a nuclear waste dump. ... To all the panellists: will you please support me and my family fight against the waste dump? ...
AMNESTY AND UTOPIA: Joanne Noske asked: What emotions did you experience when the Amnesty International’s Secretary General said that living standards in your home community of Utopia were completely unacceptable given Australia's wealth? If Mr Shetty were to return to Utopia in 10 years time, what progress and improvements would you hope he could see and experience? ...
INTERVENTION STIGMA: Jade Hopkins asked: Why did the Government introduce the intervention policy in Indigenous communities, labeling Indigenous men as rapists and wife bashers when they drink alcohol? And how are they able to change perceptions once the intervention is lifted?"
- News
ABC Darwin: Territory on show to Australia: Q and A
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/10/18/3342434.htm
18 Oct 11: "The Q and A current affairs discussion program filmed live from the Darwin Entertainment Centre last night in a first time visit to the Territory. Executive producer Peter McEvoy said it was the biggest Q and A studio audience ever, with more than 800 people filling the theatre. ... Joining the Chief Minister on the panel was CLP Member Dave Tollner, NT Environment Centre director Stuart Blanch, NT Cattlemen's Association president Luke Bowen and indigenous elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks."
* INTERVIEW WITH REV. DR. DJINIYINI GONDARRA - YOLGNU EMBASSY PROPOSED:
- Audio Interview
ABC Darwin: Drive with Vicki Kerrigan:
Yolgnu embassy proposed
http://blogs.abc.net.au/nt/2011/10/yolgnu-embassy-proposed.html
17 Oct 11: "For the very first time elders from Arnhem Land are meeting for the first Yolgnu assembly. They want customary law recognised. They want to establish a Yolgnu embassy with a vision to creating their own government. Reverend Djiniyini Gondarra says Arnhem land already operates as a sovereign state. Listen to Reverend Djiniyini Gondarra, a traditional owner from Elcho Island, talk about creating a Yolgnu embassy and why it's important to his people."
* INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL ANDERSON - SOVEREIGNTY AND NATIVE TITLE:
- 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
17 Oct 11: "Tiga Bayles spoke with Tent Embassy Founder, Michael Anderson. Sovereignty and Native Title."
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasting/audio/98fm-podcast-2011-10-17-71299.mp3
- Related Statement
Queen Victoria: Crown owns nothing, Aborigines sovereign
Treaty Republic: http://treatyrepublic.net/content/queen-victoria-crown-owns-nothing-abor...
Indigenous Peoples: http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
18 Oct 11: "The Crown doesn't legally own anything in Australia because Queen Victoria and the House of Lords said so in an 1875 Act.
Nor were the Australian colonies of the time "to derogate from the rights of the tribes or people inhabiting such islands or places, or of chiefs or rulers thereof".
The startling findings are cited in a media release by Michael Anderson, Aboriginal activist and last surviving member of the four young Black Power men who started the Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972."
* EVIDENCE - FREE POLICY MAKING? THE CASE OF INCOME MANAGEMENT BY EVA COX:
[Womenforwik] Evidence based failures
http://www.sydneykin.org.au/pipermail/womenforwik/2011-October/000644.html
21 Oct 11: "SPECIAL ISSUE Journal of Indigenous Policy
EVIDENCE - FREE POLICY MAKING?
The Case of Income Management by Eva Cox
http://www.jumbunna.uts.edu.au/researchareas/journals/specialissue.html
This special issue examines the many reports, submissions and research projects that influenced or, more importantly, failed to influence the Government's decisions on income management policy. The evidence in this issue can be used to lobby for policies that will work
post the Intervention and for teaching examples of good and bad policy making. The publication demonstrates the serious lack of evidence for the benefits of income management. This finding questions why the Federal Government is continuing and extending compulsory and so called voluntary income management. Please download and distribute the document.
Eva Cox, Research Fellow, Jumbunna IHL UTS."
* EVA COX: THE LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR THE BENEFITS OF INCOME MANAGEMENT:
Stop the Intervention: The lack of evidence for the benefits of Income Management
Eva Cox - Research Fellow Jumbunna
http://stoptheintervention.org/facts/income-management/eva-cox
October 2011: "This is the view of almost all major welfare agencies, most Aboriginal health and local community organisations as well as independent research groups, with one notable exception, the NPY women's group. The near consensus is that genuinely voluntary IM should be made available and compulsion only used where there is evidence of substantial self-harm or families at serious risk of harm. ... The following list includes reports offered by FAHHCSIA officers as ‘evidence' of the benefits of IM, with our brief comments and reports. We also list reports with alternative views on the claimed benefits."
* WHAT'S WORKING: TJUWUMPA RANGERS:
What’s Working: Tjuwumpa Rangers
http://www.whatsworking.com.au/whats-working/tjuwumpa-rangers/
"The Tjuwanpa Rangers are a community ranger programme providing hands-on experience for Aboriginal people in land management on National Parks and Aboriginal lands surrounding Hermannsburg, 130 km west of Alice Springs. The group of young Aboriginal men from remote outstations have been working on a commercial contract installing bollards to control vehicle access at Palm Valley. After many years of requests from traditional owners wanting work for young people, the program was set up ... "
* CHAPTER OF BOOK: THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY IN AUSTRALIA:
- Book
Oxford Scholarship Online: Discovering Indigenous Lands - The Doctrine of Discovery in the English Colonies
Robert J. Miller, Jacinta Ruru, Larissa Behrendt, and Tracey Lindberg
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579815.0...
"The Doctrine of Discovery in Australia: This chapter explores the ways in which the Doctrine of Discovery was used to justify the assertion of British sovereignty over Australia and its indigenous peoples, and is continued to be used to justify its colonization. It looks particularly at the development of the legal fiction of terra nullius."
* PROTESTERS SHUT DOWN MACKLIN PRESS CONFERENCE:
- Video
NT News: Protester rains on ministers' parade
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/10/18/267041_ntnews.html
18 Oct 11: "Federal Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon was forced to end a press conference because of a protester. Mr Snowdon was with Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin when a man in a wheelchair interrupted, talking about the Territory's low school attendance rates. ... Other protesters were angry about the intervention and called for income management to be scrapped."
- News
National Indigenous Radio Service: Macklin heckled in NT
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6450...
18 Oct 11: "Protesters have disrupted the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister's visit to an Alice Springs town camp. Jenny Macklin was visiting the Morris Soak town camp in Alice Springs to mark the start of postal services to houses there. But the event was overshadowed by a group of protesters who joined a press conference being held by the minister. They were angry about the Northern Territory intervention and called for income management to be scrapped."
ABC Alice Springs: Protesters shut down Macklin media event
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-17/protesters-shut-down-macklin-media...
17 Oct 11: "MLA Malarndirri McCarthy says Aboriginal people need to feel empowered to make their own decisions. "We've certainly been very clear on the record that the Northern Territory Labor Government does not support an intervention mark two," Ms McCarthy said. The Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, shut down the press conference and told protesters they were not welcome."
* MORE ON APY LANDS:
- Video
SBS World News Australia: 'No food days' in South Australia
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1595267/%27No-food-days%27-in-South-A...
10 Oct 11: "Access to affordable, healthy food is a perennial problem for welfare dependent communities in South Australia's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara - known as the APY Lands. The situation has become so grave that the term Mai Wiya, or 'no food' days is in common usage. However, the APY Executive says claims of starvation are exaggerated and very few children have nutrition problems. Health experts have said they agree with that evaluation." Karen Ashford
- Analysis / Opinion
The Advertiser: Jory: Shameful problems confront the APY people
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/jory-shameful-problems-confro...
17 Oct 11: "IT is 30 years since Liberal Premier David Tonkin granted land rights to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal people. It was the most significant advance in Aboriginal rights since the 1967 national referendum cleared the way for voting rights. But what has changed for these ancient desert people since they were granted land rights 30 years ago? Sadly, the answer is not nearly enough. The social, financial, health and educational problems confronting the APY people remain issues of national and international shame." Rex Jory
Tracker: BACKTRACKER: Food for thought
http://tracker.org.au/2011/10/backtracker-food-for-thought/
4 Oct 11: "NATIONAL: This month, media "broke'" the story of "starvation" in the APY Lands. But the reality is different from the agenda driven campaigns, writes BRIAN JOHNSTONE*. It’s been interesting these past few weeks to watch the Murdoch media whip itself up into a feeding frenzy over allegations of starving and malnourished children in South Australia’s APY lands. The charge has been led, as usual, by its national flagship, The Australian, and its trusty rent-a-quote band of what the newspaper routinely describes as some of Australia’s “most respected” Aboriginal leaders. We’re talking Noel Pearson, Sue Gordon, Wesley Aird, Warren Mundine, and Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda." Brian Johnstone, Walkley and Human Rights award winning journalist
- News
Australian: Rann APY Lands policy is 'a disgrace and a sinkhole'
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/rann-apy...
21 Oct 11: "A CONSULTANT who spent a decade working with local councils on the embattled Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara says the Rann government is treating the area like a "sinkhole" for policy. Jill Gientzotis, a former NSW commissioner for apprenticeships and trainees, said there was little co-ordination between federal, state and local agencies on the lands, and the Rann government department heads had little understanding of her role."
Australian: Tony Abbott all for intervention in APY Lands
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/abbott-all-for-interven...
17 Oct 11: "TONY Abbott says South Australia's remote indigenous communities are in "crisis" and compulsory income management for welfare recipients should be introduced immediately to stem the dysfunction. While travelling through eastern Cape York with Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson yesterday, the Opposition Leader said the people of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia's north had long demanded welfare reform."
See:
WGAR News: APY Council general manager calls for full community consultation about their needs (9 Oct 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/10/09/wgar-news-trackers-brian-johnston-rea...
WGAR News: Tracker's Brian Johnston: Reality in APY Lands different from media agenda campaigns (9 Oct 11)
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/10/09/wgar-news-trackers-brian-johnston-rea...
WGAR News: More on APY Lands (16 Oct 11)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2011/10/16/wgar-news-advocates-brief-un-committe...
waru.org : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Council
http://waru.org/organisations/ap/
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara
http://www.anangu.com.au/
* OTHER NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION ARTICLES:
- Media Release
Public Health Association of Australia:
PHAA says "NO" to Compulsory Income Management
http://www.phaa.net.au/documents/111014_PHAA%20says%20NO%20to%20Compulso...
14 Sep 11: "Delegates at the Public Health Association of Australia’s (PHAA) Annual Conference have passed a resolution opposing population level compulsory income management schemes. "Compulsory income management for Aboriginal people discriminates and disempowers individuals and leaves them with insufficient resources to manage their own lives," said PHAA Vice President Vanessa Lee.
"Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin recently stated that the Federal Government is considering three models of voluntary and compulsory income management in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. Income management initiatives
currently in place in other states are being monitored and evaluation has not been completed - an assessment is due early in the New Year. PHAA strongly opposes the blanket roll out of a compulsory scheme," said Ms Lee."
- Video and Audio
Ears to the Ground: Don’t Destroy Homelands, Says Amnesty
http://ears2theground.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/homelands-need-support-sa...
19 Oct 11: "Amnesty International Chief Salil Shetty recently met with MP Jenny Macklin and opposition MPs in Canberra to demand an end to the Northern Territory’s Growth Towns policy, which encourages the removal of Indigenous people from their traditional homelands into regional hub towns. After spending 12 days touring the country and meeting local spokespeople and community members living under the N.T Intervention in the Utopia region, Shetty said shocked at what he saw."
Ears to the Ground: BasicsCard: not in Bankstown
http://ears2theground.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/basicscard-not-in-bankstown/
18 Oct 11: "A recent protest held in Bankstown demanded an end to next year’s nation-wide trial of compulsory income management, which will see $4500 spent on each individual per annum, under the Northern Territory-style system. The Not in Bankstown, Not Anywhere coalition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups organised the rally of over 100 local figures and supporters, in order to send a clear message to Federal Government, that income management will stigmatise already vulnerable members of the community by quarantining 50-70 percent of their welfare payments on the BasicsCard."
- Video
A Current Affair: Welfare outrage
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article/8363109/welfare-outrage
20 Oct 11: "It's the controversial proposal that has people receiving welfare hopping mad. Under the plan, the government will be able to control what people spend their Centrelink payments on. A Current Affair visits the Sydney suburb where the scheme is set be trialled."
- News
SMH: HSC opens minds to new thinking
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/hsc-opens-minds-to-new-thinking...
21 Oct 11: "TRACKING down bush tucker and listening to Dreamtime stories might not sound like hard work but for 418 students across NSW, Aboriginal studies at HSC level has turned out to be one of their most challenging subjects. ''After watching Our Generation [a documentary about the Northern Territory intervention] our class were really heated and just basically wanted to get on a bus and go to Canberra to let them know what was happening,'' said Emma Dinsey, 17, a Tweed River High student who sat her Aboriginal studies exam yesterday."
National Indigenous Times: We’re watching: Amnesty
http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=23051
19 Oct 11: "The head of Amnesty International has challenged the Gillard government to lift its game on Indigenous disadvantage. Secretary-General, Salil Shetty’s call came as the Federal Government prepared to release its plan for the next phase of the Northern Territory Intervention. Mr Shetty met with Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin in Canberra last week, urging her to end discrimination for the Northern Territory’s Indigenous homeland people and initiate emergency action to improve housing conditions."
Koori Mail: Amnesty chief in challenge to Govt
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php?page=Current+Edition
19 Oct 11: "THE head of Amnesty International has challenged the Gillard Government to lift its game on Indigenous disadvantage. Salil Shetty's call comes as the Government prepares to release its plan for the next phase of the Northern Territory intervention. Mr Shetty is the latest in a growing list of international human rights experts - including his predecessor Irene Khan in 2009 and United Nations UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights James Anaya the same year - to warn Australia that its performance on human rights is sub-par."
Green Left: Amnesty International - NT intervention making life worse
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49120
16 Oct 11: "He [Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary-general] said part of the problem was mainstream Australia’s lack of understanding about the extent of the disadvantage gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Australia was one of the richest countries and should be able to find solutions "unless deep down we’re dealing with a lot of prejudice and discrimination". ... In Geneva two reports - Listen to Children and Children of the Intervention - were tabled at the United Nations’ Pre-Sessional Meeting on the Rights of the Child on October 11." Stefan Skibicki
Australian: Township leases 'abandoned'
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/township-lea...
14 Oct 11: "THE Gillard government is using "bureaucratic double-speak" to abandon the policy of securing 99-year leases over indigenous townships, claims former indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough. Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin denied Labor had abandoned the policy, a key plank of the Northern Territory intervention, even though the latest progress report on the intervention says negotiations with indigenous land councils has forced the government to shift its focus away from long-term township leasing."
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- Analysis / Opinion
West Australian: We must get away from failed political thinking
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/opinion/post/-/blog/theburningissue/pos...
18 Oct 11: "Aboriginal people in the West Australian community indicated mixed feelings over Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan's comments on the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the WA juvenile justice system (the highest in Australia). Initial feelings of "bashing us again" moved to "let's hope for a balanced discussion". ... What do we have to lose in investing some of the resources spent on detention centres in community-based initiatives before Aboriginal kids start to offend - or is this another "elephant in the room"?" Jim Morrison, Aboriginal co-chair of National Stolen Generations Alliance and Aboriginal co-convenor of Bringing Them Home Committee WA
- News
Indymedia Australia: Anaya to focus on extractive industries' "catastrophic" effect on indigenous peoples
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/10/21/anaya-to-focus-on-extractive-industri...
21 Oct 11: "The UN official who slammed Australia over the Intervention and other human rights violations says extractive industries are a major concern of indigenous peoples all over the world and will be a major focus of his work in the remaining three years of his mandate. Presenting his third report to the General Assembly on 17 October, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Professor James Anaya, a native American, wrote that he had observed “negative, even catastrophic, impact of extractive industries on the social, cultural and economic rights of indigenous peoples”."
Australian: Half of detained teens are indigenous
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/half-of-detained-teen...
21 Oct 11: "ALMOST half of all young people locked up in juvenile detention centres are indigenous despite the fact they make up just five per cent of the population, a new report shows. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study, released today, shows that 7250 young people were under some kind of supervision on an average day in 2009/10. About 86 per cent were in the community while 14 per cent were being held in detention. Indigenous Australians make up just five per cent of young people, but comprise 38 per cent of juveniles under supervision."
National Indigenous Radio Service: Magistrate dismisses woman's charges
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6467...
21 Oct 11: "An Aboriginal woman had her charges dismissed in the Parramatta Local Court yesterday, with legal costs awarded to the Aboriginal Legal Service in New South Wales. Letisha Hickey and four other adults were defending charges arising from a dispute with Police, following her 21st Birthday Party in 2010. ... The Aboriginal Legal Service says in dismissing the charges against Hickey, Magistrate Alison Viney had noted the Police approach to the noise complaint at the party was confrontation and should have been reconsidered."
National Indigenous Times: Hickey family confident of acquittal in fight against police harassment
http://nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=23052
19 Oct 11: "Police harassment of TJ Hickey’s family continues seven years after his controversial death in a police pursuit in the inner-city suburb of Redfern, the family has claimed. The family, facing charges arising from a police raid on the family home the morning after a 21st birthday party, said they were confident of acquittal following a court appearance last Monday. Police raided the home of TJ Hickey’s cousin, Patricia Hickey at 8am, the morning after her daughter, Letisha’s 21st birthday party, claiming the music had been too loud the night before. Ms Hickey has claimed there is a police vendetta against the family because of their name and with the family in court again this week, a campaign to clear their name attracted a rally last Sunday of 80 supporters."
National Indigenous Times: Save the children
http://www.nit.com.au/story.aspx?id=23055
19 Oct 11: "Australia was failing to properly protect the rights of Aboriginal and asylum seeker children, campaigners have told the United Nations. Two women from the Northern Territory told the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Australia’s performance in Geneva last week of the damage and failures of both the Federal and Northern Territory governments to address the needs of Indigenous children. The committee was told Indigenous children have mortality rates three times higher than their non-Aboriginal peers and around 400 children were currently being held in immigration detention. The presentation was made by Djapirri Mununggirritj and Kathy Guthadjaka."
Koori Mail: Torres Strait push for territory status
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php?page=Current+Edition
19 Oct 11: "THE quest for self-government in the Torres Strait has lurched forward, with Queensland Premier Anna Bligh making good on her promise to take the views of the region's residents and their leaders to Canberra. But the champagne is still on ice back in the islands where Torres Shire Council (TSC) Mayor Napau Pedro Stephen says he's seen too many fits and starts on the subject to get excited about it. Mayor Stephen and Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC) Mayor Fred Gela met with Ms Bligh and called for greater political autonomy for the Torres Strait during a Community Cabinet forum on Thursday Island at the end of August."
Farm Weekly: Gas hub supporters keep their silence
http://fw.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/finance/...
19 Oct 11: "SIGNS reading "No gas", "Respect indigenous culture" and "Barnett crucifying the Kimberley" have cropped up in the northern coastal region of Western Australia. But you won't see any signs of support for the region's proposed gas hub. Everyone in the Kimberley port city of Broome has an opinion on Woodside Petroleum's plan to build a $30 billion gas precinct at James Price Point, 60km north of the town."
West Australian: Call for support for Aboriginal juveniles
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/10493118/call-for-support-for-ab...
19 Oct 11: "Aboriginal elders have called for special boarding schools and additional educational support for troubled teens in a bid to get them off the streets and away from crime. Ben Taylor said plucking children with a criminal history off the streets and taking them home made little sense if their homes were dysfunctional. He said education was the key to crime prevention and special boarding schools were needed in the metropolitan area to cater for the special needs of young people escaping violence or disruptive home environments."
National Indigenous Radio Service: PM considers Torres Strait independence
http://www.nirs.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6445...
18 Oct 11: "Prime Minister Julia Gillard has responded to calls for the Torres Strait to become a separate territory, saying it's an issue that can't be rushed. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has backed the long-held push by Torres Strait Islanders to secede from Queensland and become a self-governing territory of Australia, similar to the ACT and the Northern Territory. Ms Bligh has approached the Prime Minister about the issue, but Julia Gillard says more consultation is needed between the Federal Government and the people of the Torres Strait."
ABC Kimberley: Broome's Shire election fizzles on gas at James Price Point but powerful on Aboriginal politics
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/10/17/3341536.htm
17 Oct 11: "Both sides of the Kimberley gas issue claim they have majority support amongst the Broome community. But when it came to voting in the Broome Shire for the two tickets perceived as representing pro and anti gas processing at James Price Point, the majority message was clear: I couldn't be bothered voting one way or the other."
Brisbane Times: Torres Strait leader hopeful of secession 'within five years'
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/torres-strait-leader-hopeful-...
13 Oct 11: "The mayor of Torres Strait Island Regional Council hopes to see the north Queensland archipelago secede from the state in the next five years, buoyed by Premier Anna Bligh's support for the concept. Mayor Fred Gela last night welcomed Ms Bligh's appeal to Prime Minister Julia Gillard for Torres Strait to become a self-governing territory, saying he was "deeply moved" by the Premier's letter to Ms Gillard which asked for her involvement in a working party to discuss the move."
Maritime Union of Australia: MUA Workers stand by Muckaty Traditional Owners
http://www.mua.org.au/news/mua-workers-stand-by-muckaty-traditional-owners/
12 Oct 11: "MUA branches and members have joined with Muckaty traditional owners to campaign to stop radioactive waste being transported and dumped in Australia. ... MUA Southern NSW Branch Secretary Garry Keane noted, "It's really a frightening situation that people aren't going to have a say about what's stuck there, buried in their own lands. We are not prepared to be the people who transport this to bury it in an area where the communities have no say, the Traditional Owners have no say whatsoever about this going in the ground. We need to say this is just not acceptable.""
inMyCommunity: Community leaders says indigenous crime rates can be lowered
http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/news-and-views/local-news/Community-lead...
11 Oct 11: "THE juvenile indigenous crime rates recently publicised by Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan can be lowered, according to community leaders. ... Nyungah-Yamatji leader Glenn Moore, who works as an Aboriginal youth mentor with the Drug and Alcohol Youth Service, believed youth centres played a vital role. The Lockridge resident said juveniles jailed for minor offences should be released, and the money spent on Police and Community Youth Centres (PCYC), like the Hilton centre he frequented as a teenager. "Economically, why would you want to spend $150,000 locking up one kid who did a stupid thing, when you could give two of these places a decent budget?" he asked." Liam Croy
* UPCOMING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS EVENTS AROUND AUSTRALIA - 17 EVENTS FROM 25 OCTOBER 2011:
WGAR News: Upcoming Aboriginal rights events around Australia - 17 events from 25 October 2011
http://indymedia.org.au/2011/10/25/wgar-news-upcoming-aboriginal-rights-...
[Last updated 25 October 2011 4:20pm.]
Note new event:
Event: Wed 9 November 2011: UTS Building, Sydney, NSW
UTS Joint Annual Lecture:
Indigenous Government: A Solution in Settler States
Speakers - UTS Distinguished Visiting Scholars:
Prof Stephen Cornell & Dr Miriam Jorgensen
"In Australia, Canada, and the United States, there is
growing evidence that Indigenous communities themselves may
have solutions to problems of socio-economic distress that
work substantially better than those developed by central
governments. ... "
Jointly organised by Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning
and the Transforming Cultures Research Centre
Event details: http://datasearch2.uts.edu.au/tfc/news-events/news-detail.cfm?ItemId=28626
* 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
STICS (Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney): http://stoptheintervention.org/
Tracker - NT Intervention: http://tracker.org.au/tag/nt-intervention/
The Greens: Rachel Siewert: Northern Territory Intervention: http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/category/issues/indigenous-rights...
Crikey - NT Intervention: http://www.crikey.com.au/topic/nt-intervention/
Treaty Republic - NT Intervention: http://treatyrepublic.net/search/node/NT%20Intervention
IRAG (Intervention Rollback Action Group): Mparntwe - Alice Springs: http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/
'concerned Australians': Without Justice there can be no Reconciliation: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
MAIC (Melbourne Anti-Intervention Collective): http://maicollective.blogspot.com/
The Conversation - After the Intervention: http://theconversation.edu.au/pages/after-the-intervention
ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation) - NT intervention: http://www.antar.org.au/issues_and_campaigns/nt_intervention
Jobs with Justice: http://jobswithjustice.wordpress.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/
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'WGAR News' monitors the media, including alternative media, focusing on the Australian Federal government intervention into Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal communities along with other Aboriginal rights issues.
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WGAR: Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
WGAR Website: http://wgar.wordpress.com/