Newsletter date: 6 October 2012
Contents:
* Michael Anderson: Australian Government is trying to buy a seat in UN Security Council
* The Wire: Sovereignty movement calls for Australia to be denied UNSC seat
* Amnesty International Deutschland: Bevormundung und kein Ende
* Background to the Aboriginal sovereignty movement
* NACCHO condemns cuts in Queensland primary and community healthcare services
* Australian: Kwementyaye Briscoe's family rallies over reforms
* MICHAEL ANDERSON: AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO BUY A SEAT IN UN SECURITY COUNCIL
- Media Release
Sovereign Union: Australian Government is trying to buy a seat in UN Security Council
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/content/australian-government-trying-...
3 Oct 12: "Michael Anderson, National Coordinator for 'Sovereign Union' writes in a media release: "It is not surprising that PM Julia Gillard holds up the charity card, because they have no other credible standing political, or otherwise, to win votes through respect for their legitimate contributions to world affairs."
"Australia's two trump cards which are laboriously held up and promoted are its continued participation in war zones and its so-called charity through foreign aid to third world countries," he writes.
"There is absolutely no way Australia can stand alone on merit, due to the constant and gross human rights violations that are perpetrated against Aboriginal people and those seeking refugee status."
See:
WGAR News: First Nations sovereignty movement asks UN to deny Australia a seat on the Security Council (1 Oct 12)
[scroll down page] http://indymedia.org.au/2012/09/30/wgar-news-sticss-response-to-coroner%...
- Related News
Perth Now: Michael Anderson urges UN to reject Aust seat bid
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/national/un-urged-to-reject-aust-seat-bi...
30 Sep 12: "AN ABORIGINAL activist is urging the United Nations to reject Australia's bid for a temporary seat on the Security Council. Michael Anderson, who founded the tent embassy in Canberra 40 years ago, wrote a letter to UN ambassadors ... claiming Australia was a colonial power and in breach of international conventions in its treatment of its indigenous people. Mr Anderson also criticised the government for its policies on asylum seekers."
Sovereign Union: Australian Government is trying to buy a seat in UN Security Council
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/content/australian-government-trying-...
"For clarification of our media release dated 28 September 2012, the recent correspondence that was sent to all the ambassadors in the UN in New York from the Sovereign Union opposing Australia's application for a seat on the UN Security Council was not sent to Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, but a letter dated 27 February 2012 to Ban Ki-moon was attached to the ambassadors' letters, along with a previous letter to Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights dated 24 May 2011."
* THE WIRE: SOVEREIGNTY MOVEMENT CALLS FOR AUSTRALIA TO BE DENIED UNSC SEAT
- Audio Interview
The Wire: Sovereignty movement calls for Australia to be denied UNSC seat
Produced by Tawar Razaghi
http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=9672
2 Oct 12: "Australia’s Indigenous sovereignty movement, First Nations, has called upon the United Nations to deny Australia’s Security Council seat bid. The movement argues Australia is founded upon a colonial state that is in breach of the Human Rights Conventions in its treatment of Indigenous Australians. I spoke to Michael Anderson, Chair of the sovereignty movement about their letter sent to UN ambassadors in New York."
* AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DEUTSCHLAND: BEVORMUNDUNG UND KEIN ENDE
- Analysis / Opinion
Amnesty International Deutschland: Bevormundung und kein Ende
http://www.amnesty.de/journal/2012/juni/bevormundung-und-kein-ende
Juni 2012: ""Unser Ziel ist Souveränität", sagt Michael Anderson, "die haben wir aber bis heute nicht erreicht". Der Aborigine-Aktivist richtete vor vierzig Jahren zusammen mit Gleichgesinnten in Canberra eine inoffizielle Zelt-Botschaft der Aborigines ein. Sie brachten damit ihren Protest zum Ausdruck gegen die damals von der australischen Regierung angebotenen, zeitlich befristeten Nutzungsrechte des Landes, das die Indigenen als ihr Eigentum betrachten. "Wir brauchten zunächst einmal eine politische Vertretung, um überhaupt Gehör zu finden", erinnert sich Anderson heute. Obwohl die Ureinwohner das geforderte unveräußerliche Recht auf Land nie erhalten haben, sind in den letzten Jahrzehnten doch große Gebiete in ihre Verwaltung übergegangen." Von Christoph Behrends
* BACKGROUND TO THE ABORIGINAL SOVEREIGNTY MOVEMENT:
Last updated: 5 October 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-aboriginal-sovereig...
* NACCHO CONDEMNS CUTS IN QUEENSLAND PRIMARY AND COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE SERVICES:
- Media Release
nacchocommunique: Press Release: NACCHO condemns cuts in Queensland primary and community healthcare services
http://nacchocommunique.com/2012/09/26/press-releasenaccho-condemns-cuts...
26 Sep 12: "Mr Justin Mohamed, Chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) has joined other Aboriginal leaders in condemning the latest round of cuts to primary and community healthcare services by the Queensland government.
The cost-saving measures are likely to bite deeply into the service delivery capability of crucial non-government agencies such as drug and alcohol and non-acute mental health services.
Mr Mohamed said that the very services that evidence shows are most accessible to Aboriginal people and which are provided in the community setting are the ones suffering the greatest cuts. ... "
* AUSTRALIAN: KWEMENTYAYE BRISCOE'S FAMILY RALLIES OVER REFORMS
- News
Australian: Kwementyaye Briscoe's family rallies over reforms
http://m.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/kwementyaye-briscoes-family-ra...
5 Oct 12: "DOZENS of people demanding justice over an Aboriginal death in police custody have staged a noisy protest outside a meeting on alcohol reform in Alice Springs. Holding placards reading "Justice For My Grandson" and "Police Must Be Charged", the family of Kwementyaye Briscoe led the rally of about 70 people. Mr Briscoe controversially died in police custody in January in what Northern Territory Coroner Greg Cavanagh said was a preventable death caused by lack of adequate care."
See:
WGAR News: Alice Springs Rally to Stop Black Deaths in Custody - 5 October 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/10/04/wgar-news-alice-springs-rally-to-stop...
Sky News: Protest set for NT alcohol meeting
http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=802348
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