Newsletter date: 30 January 2013
Contents:
* Save The Kimberley: Broome 'army ready' for war on Kimberley gas hub
* Broome Community No Gas Campaign: Decision "insulting joke" to Aboriginal heritage
* Perth Now: Broome and the gas hub - a town divided
* The West: Premier heckled by protesters
* Background to the Save The Kimberley Campaign - James Price Point, north of Broome, WA
* 'concerned Australians': Stronger Futures Legislation passed into Law on 29 June, 2012
* Paddy Gibson, Solidarity: NT Liberals betray Aboriginal communities with cuts and more cops
* Background to 'Stronger Futures' new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* SMH: Indigenous party rallies in Canberra [Australian First Nation's Political Party]
* Tracker: Aboriginal ALP members put hands up against Peris nomination
* ABC: Indigenous ALP members nominate against Peris
* Socialist Alternative: What's to celebrate on Invasion Day?
* Socialist Alternative: Poems of resistance on Invasion Day
* Sovereign Union: Invasion Day 2013 - 26 January
* ABC AM Audio: Indigenous Australians mark 75 years since Day of Mourning protests
* SBS World News: Remembering 1938 'Day of Mourning' declaration
* Sovereign Union: Invasion Day 2013 - Melbourne March
* SAVE THE KIMBERLEY: BROOME 'ARMY READY' FOR WAR ON KIMBERLEY GAS HUB
- News
Save The Kimberley: Broome 'army ready' for war on Kimberley gas hub
http://www.savethekimberley.com/2013/01/21/broome-army-ready-for-war-on-...
20 Jan 13: "AN army of thousands will join a blockade at James Price Point as protesters yesterday warned that the campaign to stop the $40 billion Kimberley gas hub would be the biggest since saving old-growth forests. Local Broome Resident and anti gas hub campaigner Shaun Clark is one of thousands opposed to the Kimberley gas hub. ... The Broome community says drill rigs and machinery for the final phase of exploration which the Woodside-led consortium will carry out regardless of whether it decides to proceed with a gas hub will be "blocked at all costs"." Trevor Paddenburg, The Sunday Times
See:
About Save The Kimberley
http://www.savethekimberley.com/about-us/
"Save The Kimberley is an independent awareness organisation. We are a not-for-profit, 100% volunteer run group which is made up of a diverse and passionate group of individuals - traditional custodians, local Kimberley community, and other committed Australians from all parts: we are business owners, administrators, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians and media professionals."
* BROOME COMMUNITY NO GAS CAMPAIGN: DECISION "INSULTING JOKE" TO ABORIGINAL HERITAGE
- Statement
Decision "insulting joke" to Aboriginal heritage
GLW: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/53159
27 Jan 13: "The Broome Community No Gas Campaign released this statement on January 15. ***
Traditional custodians have responded to revelations that state minister Peter Collier has authorised Woodside to destroy sacred sites on the Kimberley coast, north of Broome, as part of its exploration and assessment work at the controversial James Price Point gas hub site.
Spokesperson and Goolarabooloo law boss Phillip Roe says he and senior law boss Joseph Roe had not been given prior notice of the decision and had learnt about it via the media.
"This shows an outrageous disregard for the profound impacts of such a decision on our proven and substantial culture and heritage," Roe said from his home on the Kimberley coast at Walmadan near the James Price Point gas hub site.
"The decision is an insulting joke." ... "
See:
Broome Community No Gas Campaign
http://www.broomenogas.org/
"We are a coalition of concerned community members dedicated to stopping the proposed industrial development at James Price Point (Walmadany), north of Broome."
* PERTH NOW: BROOME AND THE GAS HUB - A TOWN DIVIDED
- News
Perth Now: Broome and the gas hub - a town divided
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/broome-and-the-gas-hub...
28 Jan 13: "SHAUN Clarke opens the gate and looks up and down the street. Carefully. The 44-year-old former Department of Environment ranger is always careful, these days. Broome is not the carefree holiday town it once was. ... Mr Clarke was the first person to lock himself to machinery during the long-running protest at James Price Point, the rocky beach with steep blood-red cliffs, 50km north of Broome that has become a focal point for WA's latest clash of development versus conservation."
* THE WEST: PREMIER HECKLED BY PROTESTERS
- News
The West: Premier heckled by protesters
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/15964908/premier-heckled-b...
28 Jan 13: "Colin Barnett's election campaign sailed into a storm last night when he came face-to-face with more than 100 jeering James Price Point protesters. ... He told people waving placards and banners he would be happy to attend a public meeting in the town to discuss the planned development. Mr Barnett said the social impact of the proposed gas hub would be minimal on Broome, sparking jeers from the crowd, some of whom had waited for almost two hours for Mr Barnett to appear." Glenn Cordingley, The West Australian
* BACKGROUND TO THE SAVE THE KIMBERLEY CAMPAIGN - JAMES PRICE POINT, NORTH OF BROOME, WA
Last updated: 28 January 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/11/22/wgar-news-background-to-the-save-the-...
* 'CONCERNED AUSTRALIANS': STRONGER FUTURES LEGISLATION PASSED INTO LAW ON 29 JUNE, 2012
- Info and Quotes
'concerned Australians': Stronger Futures Legislation (and Associated Bills) passed into Law on 29 June, 2012
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/media/Stronger_Futures_chart.pdf
"Essentially this package of legislation is a continuation of the NT Emergency Response, widely known as the INTERVENTION, and it is expected to remain in place for the next ten (10) years. BEFORE passing this legislation Senators travelled to the Northern Territory from Canberra to hear what Aboriginal people had to say about the proposed legislation. ... Did Aboriginal People in the Northern Territory consent to this legislation? NO, there was no majority consent for the Stronger Futures (and Associated Bills) Legislation"
See:
'concerned Australians' - without Justice there can be no Reconciliation
http://www.concernedaustralians.com.au/
* PADDY GIBSON, SOLIDARITY: NT LIBERALS BETRAY ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES WITH CUTS AND MORE COPS
- Analysis / Opinion
Solidarity: NT Liberals betray Aboriginal communities with cuts and more cops
http://www.solidarity.net.au/52/nt-liberals-betray-aboriginal-communitie...
January, 2013: "The Country Liberal Party (CLP) government in the Northern Territory (NT) have launched a series of devastating cuts to public services and Aboriginal organisations in their first mini-budget, handed down in December. ... For Aboriginal people in the NT, the cuts have a particularly bitter edge. The CLP swept to power in August 2012, on the back of Aboriginal anger at the incumbent Labor government who had worked hand-in-glove with the racist NT Intervention to cut community councils and funding for homelands." Paddy Gibson
See:
About Solidarity Online
http://www.solidarity.net.au/about-us/
"Solidarity is a socialist group with branches across Australia. ... We’re committed to building social movements and the wider left, through throwing ourselves into struggles for social justice, against racism and to strengthen rank-and-file unionism. We’re active in the movement for refugee rights, the climate action movement, the Occupy movement, the campaign to scrap the NT intervention and others."
* BACKGROUND TO 'STRONGER FUTURES' NEW NT INTERVENTION LAWS:
Last updated: 24 January 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-stronger-futures-new-nt...
* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:
Last updated: 31 December 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-...
* SMH: INDIGENOUS PARTY RALLIES IN CANBERRA [AUSTRALIAN FIRST NATION'S POLITICAL PARTY]
- News
SMH: Indigenous party rallies in Canberra
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/indigenous-party-rallies-in-canbe...
27 Jan 13: "An indigenous political party has held a rally in the nation's capital on Australia Day to mark its planned participation in the federal election. Australian First Nation's Political Party (AFNPP) founder Maurie Japarta Ryan on Saturday led a group of Aboriginal people and supporters to the steps of Old Parliament House, across the road from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy."
* TRACKER: ABORIGINAL ALP MEMBERS PUT HANDS UP AGAINST PERIS NOMINATION
- News
newsTracker: Aboriginal ALP members put hands up against Peris nomination
http://tracker.org.au/2013/01/aboriginal-alp-members-put-hands-up-agains...
28 Jan 13: "Three long-term Aboriginal ALP members have put their hands up to contest pre-selection for a Northern Territory senate seat against Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s star candidate Nova Peris tomorrow. Marion Scrymgour, a former deputy Chief Minister of the Territory, Aboriginal MLA Karl Hampton and former ALP candidate Des Rogers have all nominated. Last week, Ms Gillard announced the former Olympian gold-medallist Peris would be on the top spot of the ALP’s Senate ticket in the NT, knocking off incumbent Trish Crossin and overriding the Northern Territory branch of the party." By Amy McQuire
See:
Stories by Amy McQuire
http://tracker.org.au/author/amy/
"Amy McQuire is a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman who hails from Rockhampton in Queensland. She is editor of Tracker."
About Tracker
http://tracker.org.au/about-us/
"Tracker magazine is a publication of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, Australia’s largest Aboriginal organisation."
* ABC: INDIGENOUS ALP MEMBERS NOMINATE AGAINST PERIS
- News
ABC: Indigenous ALP members nominate against Peris
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-28/indigenous-alp-members-nominate-ag...
28 Jan 13: "Several Indigenous members of the ALP in the Northern Territory have nominated for pre-selection ballot in protest against the Prime Minister's intervention to pick Nova Peris for the top spot on the Senate ticket. ... Des Rogers, an Indigenous member of the ALP in the Northern Territory, still wants to register his discontent with the decision to parachute in a candidate who was not a member of the party. ... Former Territory Labor minister Karl Hampton also plans to lodge his nomination before tonight's deadline. ... So too will Marion Scrymgour, an Indigenous former Labor deputy chief minister."
* SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE: WHAT'S TO CELEBRATE ON INVASION DAY?
- Analysis / Opinion
Socialist Alternative: What's to celebrate on Invasion Day?
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7633:whats-to-...
25 Jan 13: "January 26 is the celebration of the start of one of the great crimes of capitalism: the brutal and continuing process of genocide and dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. To mark this occasion of mourning, and of resistance, we here reproduce selected sections of the pamphlet Aborigines claim citizen rights! written by Jack Patten and William Ferguson of the Aborigines Progressive Association. The pamphlet was circulated prior to the first Day of Mourning protest held on 26 January 1938, the 150th anniversary of invasion."
See:
WGAR News: Day of Mourning protest: The most significant moment in Aboriginal political history: NIRS (26 Jan 13)
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/25/wgar-news-day-of-mourning-protest-the...
See:
Socialist Alternative - What we stand for
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=catego...
"Socialist Alternative’s 2012 National Conference voted to adopt a new Statement of Principles. The Principles will provide the foundation for the organisation’s broader political positions and analyses, and will guide the organisation’s political practice."
* SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVE: POEMS OF RESISTANCE ON INVASION DAY
- Poetry
Socialist Alternative: Poems of resistance on Invasion Day
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=7635:poems-of-...
25 Jan 13: "January 26 is the celebration of the start of one of the great crimes of capitalism: the brutal and continuing process of genocide and dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. To mark this occasion of mourning, and of resistance, we present two poems by poet and resistance fighter Kevin Gilbert (from his extraordinary collection The Blackside: People Are Legends and other poems) and another from the Oodgeroo Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker), another legendary poet and activist and the first Aboriginal to publish a book of verse, We are Going: Poems."
See:
Socialist Alternative - Where we came from
http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3912:where-we-...
"Socialist Alternative stands in the tradition of "socialism from below" which dates back to Karl Marx's famous declaration: "The emancipation of the working class must be conquered by the working class themselves.""
* SOVEREIGN UNION: INVASION DAY 2013 - 26 JANUARY
- News and Photos
Sovereign Union: Invasion Day 2013 - 26 January
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/node/496
"Invasion Day is known as 'Australia Day' by the settlers - Also known as 'Survival Day' by some of the remaining First Nations peoples. Some First Nations gatherings were held on the 25th January and named the 'Last day of freedom'. ... The number of First Nations people has been reduced dramatically since European settlement, they were shot, diseased, raped, tortured, had their children taken from them, punished for practising their customs and lore, continually jailed for trivial crimes and were forcefully removed from traditional lands."
See:
About 'Sovereign Union'
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/node/3
"This is the official website of the Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples in Australia. The Sovereign Union was first formed at a meeting on 12-14 June 1999 on Mt Kaputar, near Narrabri, NSW. A delegation was sent to Geneva to the UN Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights to take our sovereign voices to the international community. The Sovereign Union was further formalised with a Foundation Meeting of the 'Sovereign Union – interim Unity Government' at the Kuradji Tent Embassy, near Wollongong, New South Wales on May 25 2012."
* ABC AM AUDIO: INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS MARK 75 YEARS SINCE DAY OF MOURNING PROTESTS
- Audio Interview
ABC AM: Indigenous Australians mark 75 years since Day of Mourning protests
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3677102.htm
26 Jan 13: "For many Indigenous Australians, today marks the 75th anniversary of the fight for Aboriginal rights and recognition. In 1938, a large group of Aboriginal people gathered in Sydney at a protest they called The Day of Mourning. The Indigenous demonstrators demanded full citizen rights and equality, and the protest was the beginning of the organised Aboriginal civil rights movement. Will Ockenden reports."
See:
WGAR News: Day of Mourning protest: The most significant moment in Aboriginal political history: NIRS (26 Jan 13)
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/25/wgar-news-day-of-mourning-protest-the...
* SBS WORLD NEWS: REMEMBERING 1938 'DAY OF MOURNING' DECLARATION
- News
SBS World News: Remembering 1938 'Day of Mourning' declaration
Source: Stefan Armbruster, SBS
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1729842/Remembering-1938-Day-of-Mourn...
24 Jan 13: "As Australia Day celebrations get underway around the country, it will also be the 75th anniversary of the declaration of January 26 as a Day of Mourning. ... In 1938 a congress of Aboriginal people met in Sydney to demand equality. Led by William Cooper, Jack Patten and William Ferguson, they inspired generations of activists to fight for their people's rights. Stefan Armbruster reports on the historic gathering and the calls for an end to celebrations marking the arrival of the first fleet in 1788."
See:
WGAR News: Day of Mourning protest: The most significant moment in Aboriginal political history: NIRS (26 Jan 13)
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/25/wgar-news-day-of-mourning-protest-the...
- Related News
9 News: Bashir recalls 'day of mourning'
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/01/25/18/01/bashir-recalls-day-...
25 Jan 13: "The NSW governor has recalled the 1938 Aboriginal day of mourning in her Australia Day message but says the nation is a more "inclusive, harmonious" place in 2013. Marie Bashir told guests at the official Australia Day 2013 luncheon in Sydney on Friday that she was honoured to hold the post of governor on the 225th anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet on NSW shores. "It is (also) the 75th anniversary of the day of mourning, the 26th day of January in 1938, when - as a little child - I waved a flag at the incredibly wonderful procession ... " she said.
Australian: It's 'invasion day' not Australia Day: MP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/controversial-mps-inv...
28 Jan 13: "FEDERAL Labor MP Steve Gibbons has referred to Australia Day as "invasion day", saying it's odd Australians celebrate it by "throwing dead animals on a cooking fire" just as the displaced Aboriginal people did. But after complaints from left and right, the outspoken veteran MP for Bendigo has now clarified that he doesn't oppose the celebration of Australia Day outright.
"I don't have a problem with people celebrating that day but they should also acknowledge our history," he tweeted on Monday."
* SOVEREIGN UNION: INVASION DAY 2013 - MELBOURNE MARCH
- Photos
Sovereign Union: Invasion Day 2013 - Melbourne March
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/node/491
- Event
Event: Sat 26 January 2013: Fitzroy, Melbourne, Vic
Invasion Day 26th January Melbourne Rally & March
* Rally on Wurundjeri Country
* Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to country
* Speakers and forums
* March down Gertrude St to Treasury Gardens
for the 'Share the Spirit Festival
"This is a call out to all people of this land to step
forward and right the wrongs together and build
some momentum against the out of control
machine that threatens our very existence as
the oldest living culture in the world, and
together has human beings.
So bring your flags and banners and come along
and hear speakers talk about the Stronger futures act,
basics card, Native Title, Constitutional reform,
deaths in custody, racism, KODE school closures in Victoria,
Victorian update on N,T, environment, mining, Capitalism
and our black political history and its relevance today."
Event details: http://allevents.in/events/invasion-day-26th-january-melbourne-rally-amp...
Event details: http://www.facebook.com/events/116674955170738/
Flyer: http://nationalunitygovernment.org/images/2013/gatherings/invasion-day-m...
See:
About 'Sovereign Union'
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/node/3
"This is the official website of the Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples in Australia. The Sovereign Union was first formed at a meeting on 12-14 June 1999 on Mt Kaputar, near Narrabri, NSW. A delegation was sent to Geneva to the UN Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights to take our sovereign voices to the international community. The Sovereign Union was further formalised with a Foundation Meeting of the 'Sovereign Union – interim Unity Government' at the Kuradji Tent Embassy, near Wollongong, New South Wales on May 25 2012."
- - -
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