Newsletter date: 18 November 2012
Updated 22 November 2012 to include new venue for the Adelaide Book Launch
Contents:
* Funeral Notice for Aunty Isabell Edie Coe:
Mon 19 November 2012
* Adelaide Book Launch - A Decision to Discriminate:
Sun 9 December 2012 (to mark International Human Right’s Day)
* A Decision to Discriminate: Speeches and pictures from the other book launches
* More 'Stronger Futures' Legislation related articles
* Background to 'Stronger Futures' new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Other articles
* FUNERAL NOTICE FOR AUNTY ISABELL EDIE COE
- MON 19 NOVEMBER 2012
- Event
Event: Mon 19 November 2012: West Cowra, NSW
Funeral Notice for Isabell Edie Coe
"We the Wiradjuri people of the upper Bila Gallari (Erambie)
declare Sorry Business for our well respected Wiradjuri
Warrior, Isabell Edie Coe, Who now travels with our
Ancestors, her husband William Billy Craigie, daughter
Eileen, father Les, sister Mary and the many loved ones who
have also passed before.
Our family will now send her the Wiradjuri way.
We acknowledge all of the lives that Isabell has touched
through her life and the legacy that she has given to many.
We now follow in her footsteps and she will be greatly
missed until we meet again."
"Funeral arrangements are;
10:30am Monday 19th November 2012
Erambie Mission, West Cowra NSW
The service will be held in the park at the entrance of the
Erambie Mission.
For people who wish to attend, the ceremony will be
conducted under Wiradjuri Lore and practice."
Event details: http://nationalunitygovernment.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/fil...
- Photo
ABC: Isabel Coe in the Tent Embassy
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-12/isabell-coe-in-the-tent-embassy/43...
12 Nov 12: "Isabel Coe, a Tent Embassy resident, at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra on 17 July, 2003. Ms Coe, who helped launch the Redfern Aboriginal Children's Service in Sydney in the 1970s, died on November 10, 2012."
- Related Compilation
WGAR News: The Wire: Influential tent embassy activist passes away [Isabel Coe] (15 Nov 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/15/wgar-news-the-wire-influential-tent-e...
- Related Audio Interview
AudioBoo: Indigenous activist Isabell Coe dies at 61
http://audioboo.fm/boos/1054064-indigenous-activist-isabell-coe-dies-at-61
13 Nov 12: "For decades, Isabell Coe played a key role in the campaign for Indigenous sovereignty and was instrumental in keeping the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra going. The Wiradjuri woman has died in Cowra at the age of 61. Lindy Kerin reports for ABC's 'The World Today'"
- Related News
SNAICC News: Isobel Coe, Wiradjuri Woman, Elder and life-long activist, passed away on Saturday, 10th November 2012
http://www.snaicc.asn.au/news-events/fx-view-article.cfm?loadref=32&id=921
13 Nov 12: "Australia lost a great Aboriginal leader and activist with the passing of Isobel Coe on 10 November in Cowra at the age of 61. Isobel Coe dedicated her life to the battle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and had a long association with SNAICC, including as a member of our National Executive in the 1990s. Former SNAICC CEO Nigel D'Souza has paid tribute to Isobel's life and work."
ABC: Cowra mourns death of Aboriginal elder and activist
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-13/coe-death/4368496
13 Nov 12: "The Mayor of Cowra says the death of local elder and Aboriginal activist, Isobell Coe, will be felt by the whole community. Ms Coe was an avid campaigner at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, her husband Billy Craigie was one of the founders in 1972. The Wiradjuri elder died in Cowra on Saturday, aged 61. The Mayor, Bill West, says Ms Coe will be greatly missed by locals. "I think it's sad, very, very sad for the Aboriginal community, and the broader community. ... ""
Amnesty International Australia: The sad passing of Indigenous rights activist Isabel Coe
http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/30382/
12 Nov 12: "... Growing up at Erambie Mission near Cowra, NSW, Isabel travelled to Sydney in the early 1970's where she started her life as a young Aboriginal activist. During this time she met her life partner Billy Craigie, a co-founder of the 'Aboriginal Tent Embassy'. ... At the Aboriginal Tent Embassy 40th Anniversary held this year, Isabel Coe spoke not only to Aboriginal People but to all Australian’s about the need for a national dialogue on Aboriginal Sovereignty. "Come in and sit down with an open heart and open mind, we are not into making people feel guilty, because guilt is negative, we are into treaty business," she stated."
* ADELAIDE BOOK LAUNCH: A DECISION TO DISCRIMINATE
- SUN 9 DECEMBER 2012 (TO MARK INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHT'S DAY)
- Event
Event: Sun 9 December 2012: Adelaide CBD, SA
(to mark International Human Right’s Day)
Note new date and location!
Book Launch: A Decision to Discriminate
Aboriginal Disempowerment in the Northern Territory
Launched by:
* Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM
* Rosalie Kunoth Monks OAM
New venue: Pilgrim Hall, 12 Flinders St, Adelaide CBD
"This new book is an important historical record
that focuses on the Senate Committee Inquiry
into the Stronger Futures legislation. It shows
how the Government decision-making process
chose to ignore the views and ideas expressed
by many Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory
communities in much the same way as has
happened since colonisation."
A 'concerned Australians' publication
Flyer: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/ca/ADTD-flyer-final.pdf
Order Form: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_Order_Form.pdf
Event details: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/ADTD_booklaunches.html#Adelaide
Event details: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
Event details: http://www.respectandlisten.org/nt-intervention/concerned-australians.html
Event details: http://www.respectandlisten.org/nt-intervention/concerned-australians/a-...
'concerned Australians' Media Release: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/ca/MR-ADTD-Launch-5-11...
Book reviews:
http://acmsydney.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/review-of-a-decision-to-discri...
http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2012/2012115_91.shtml
http://overland.org.au/blogs/loudspeaker/2012/10/stronger-futures-and-ab...
Audio Interviews: http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=9818
'concerned Australians' Homepage: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
See also:
WGAR News: Launch of A Decision to Discriminate: Aboriginal Disempowerment in the NT (9 Nov 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/09/wgar-news-launch-of-a-decision-to-dis...
* A DECISION TO DISCRIMINATE: SPEECHES AND PICTURES FROM THE OTHER BOOK LAUNCHES
'concerned Australians': A Decision to Discriminate: Speeches and pictures from the book launches
Source: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/ADTD_launchspeeches.html
* Sydney launch:
Graeme Mundine:
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_Graeme_M...
""I am extremely happy to be here tonight to help launch this very important book A Decision to Discriminate. For so long many of us have been going around trying to make people understand what has actually happened in the Northern Territory since 2007. It’s hard to articulate the impact that the Intervention has had on Aboriginal people across the NT. There are plenty of Government reports - which to be honest completely confuse even the most analytical of minds. There are lots of numbers and dollars floating around, but little in the way of evidence that shows us measurable outcomes and improvements. But these reports mean little if they don’t reflect the experiences of those who are most affected by the Intervention. There have been some very strong statements, for example from the Yolngu Nations Assembly, in recent years and this book adds to and reinforces those statements."
Videos ... [Jeff McMullen & Graeme Mundine]: http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/#ADTD
* Melbourne launch:
Alastair Nicholson:
Audio - part 1 (MP3): http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_Alastair...
Audio - part 2 (MP3): http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_Alastair...
Transcript (PDF): http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_transcription_A...
" ... But I suppose I also should acknowledge and give a very big thank you to, the people who participated in this book because it’s their voice that you hear, it’s their voice that you read about. And it’s absolutely essential that their voice be heard. Unfortunately it’s not being heard. It’s not being heard, I believe, because of what’s really an unholy combination of the Liberal and Labor Governments, both former Liberal and then the Labor Government, pursuing the same hopeless policies and seeming to be completely unaware of the need to speak to the Aboriginal community to actually involve them in decision making about their matters. ... "
Muriel Bamblett:
Audio (MP3): http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_Muriel_B...
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks:
Audio (MP3): http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_Rosalie_...
Transcript (PDF): http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_transcription_R...
" ... It is only Australian people like yourselves that really can change and assist us but don’t do it in the paternalistic way that we’ve been doing it for a while. Let’s do it as equals on the basis of humanity and let’s not let Aboriginal culture, which brings richness to Australia, disappear. I’m not going to give you a great big intellectual talk or anything like that. I’m appealing to you on a human level to come to us, and let’s be together. I think Reverend Gondarra when he says "right at this precise time, really feel our pain" it’s a little bit more than feeling sorry for us. But we don’t want anyone feeling pity for us. We’re more than capable of fighting and we will fight. ... "
* Canberra launch:
John Falzon:
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_John_Fal...
" ... But we are here because of a decision to resist, a decision to resist that which dehumanises, a decision to create a society that celebrates diversity, that begins with a profound sense of respect, through listening to and learning from, the First Peoples of this land, a society built not only on a redistribution of wealth and resources but also a redistribution of hope. This is the only way to achieve lasting change. Not by discrimination but by self-determination. This is the kind of revolutionary change that lies at the heart of the contradictions that this book so lovingly documents."
Janet Hunt:
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/ADTD_launch_speech_Janet_Hu...
"In preparing for tonight I thought I’d also have a look at the submissions from Aboriginal peoples’ organizations in the Northern Territory to the Senate Committee, as well as what this book tells us about what they said at the Hearings. What was striking, reading them, was how many referred to the despair and despondency, the sense of disempowerment that people in the Northern Territory were feeling. Yes, some women supported income management - but generally would have preferred that it was voluntary not enforced. ...
I’ll leave you with two words which sum up what governments and our society needs to do if we are to change this sad situation- trust and respect. Trust in Aboriginal people to be able to make good decisions with the right information and support; and respect for their right to do so."
- - -
Respect and Listen:
A Decision to Discriminate - Aboriginal Disempowerment in the Northern Territory
Video clips from the Sydney book launch
Source: [scroll down page] http://www.respectandlisten.org/nt-intervention/concerned-australians/a-...
1. Jeff McMullen
2. Graeme Mundine
3. Jeff McMullen - reading the letter from Deni Langman
4. Barbara Shaw
5. Senator Sekai Holland
- - -
See also:
WGAR News: Launch of A Decision to Discriminate: Aboriginal Disempowerment in the NT (9 Nov 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/09/wgar-news-launch-of-a-decision-to-dis...
* MORE 'STRONGER FUTURES' LEGISLATION RELATED ARTICLES:
- Video
ABC Lateline: Grieving bush community fights back against alcohol
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3634021.htm
15 Nov 12: "The deaths of two brothers near a road-side drinking spot on a highway in the Top End has shaken an Aboriginal community south-east of Katherine. Tomorrow people from Aboriginal communities around the Territory will meet in Darwin to weigh into the wider debate on alcohol policy in the Territory."
* BACKGROUND TO 'STRONGER FUTURES' NEW NT INTERVENTION LAWS:
Last updated: 11 November 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-stronger-futures-new-nt...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Last updated: 13 November 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-...
* OTHER ARTICLES:
- News
Koori Mail: NAAJA slams 'bad laws'
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
16 Nov 12: "THE North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency has slammed a proposal by the Northern Territory Council Liberal Party to radically increase mandatory sentences for violent offences. NAAJA chief executive Priscilla Collins said the proposed laws were 'simply bad laws' and were 'not based on any evidence of what works to make communities safer."
National Indigenous Radio Service: Anger at police compensation for Palm Island death
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7625-anger-at-police-compensatio...
15 Nov 12: "A national Indigenous reconciliation group says the Queensland Government's decision to pay for the legal fees of police officers involved in a death in custody case has devastated a community. ANTaR's Jacqueline Phillips has strongly condemned the compensation of legal fees, worth around $660,000, accumulated by police after the death of Murindji Doomadgee on Palm Island in 2004. Ms Phillips says while the family of the man has not received any compensation, police officers involved were found to misrepresent legal proceedings."
- - -
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