TRADITIONAL, TEACHING DANCE AND SONG – Meaning & application of Aboriginal Sovereignty – MARK MCMURTRIE, VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL LAND JUSTICE GROUP,Prof WENDY BRABHAM Deakin university
TEACHING OF SOVEREIGNTY AND ABORGINAL LAW– Legal place & position in Australia, post Mabo – MARK MCMURTRIE,VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL LAND JUSTICE GROUP
FRIDAY JULY 2 2010
10:00AM @ TRADES HALL CARLTON
WELCOME TO COUNTRY – Wurundjeri
INTRODUCTION – New Way Summit –Socio-economic and political implications and movement against broader factors – MICHAEL ANDERSON SUMMIT FOUNDER
SOVEREIGNTY – Importance and meaning of sovereignty – MICHAEL ANDERSON
Why a new way and why sovereignty and treaty are necessary – MARK MCMURTRIEeduactor
GENOCIDE –Past & Present socio-political, legal implications- PROF ROBERT MANNE – LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
TREATY – The importance of treaty and its relevance today and in the future- GEOFF CLARKE ex-chairman ATSIC – ROBBIE THORPE Activist
11:30AM
AUSTRALIA HAS A BLACK HISTORY –The whitewashing of black history and future –
PROF RICHARD BROOME La Trobe university
HISTORICAL CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND IT’S APPLICATION TODAY –Who’s dreaming what? –
THE ABORIGINAL MOVEMENT AND THE LEFT – An explanation – TERRY TOWNSEND – author
2:00PM
THE GAP – Why does it exist & how do we bring it to an end ?
PROF JOHN TAYLOR- ANU Canberra university
ABORGINAL COMMUNITY BASED & CONTROLLED ORGANISATIONS
Do they have a future ? ALAN BROWN
VAHS -Chairman
THE ILLUSION OF GOVERNMENT & ABORIGINAL ORGANIZATION PARTNERSHIP(S) –
A bad marriage? PROF MARK ROSE Deakin university
4:00pm
NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION
“The purpose and the design of the intervention and how to bring it to an end” – MAIC Panel
DEATHS IN CUSTODY
Why do Aboriginal deaths in custody continue and what must we do – Panel-MARRIANE MACKAY
WA –watch committee
CHILDREN TAKEN AWAY
Are they still being stolen and what can we do? – PROF ROBERT MANNE –La Trobe university
7:30PM – Keynote Address -Freedom of speech and racism in the media? CHRIS GRAHAM – FOUNDING – EDITOR National Indigenous Times
8:10pm DRINKS & REFRESHMENTS
SATURDAY JULY 3 2010
10:00AM
THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN ADVANCING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS
THE VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE CENTER – What needs to be done and how do we do it? SHARON FIREBRACE – Founder ABORIGINAL GENOCIDE CENTRE
SOCIALIST MOVEMENTS – Advancing the cause – SANDRA BLOODWORTH
UNITED NATIONS – Comparisons, priorities, directions -MARK MCMURTRIE
11: 30AM
THE ROLE of AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IN ADVANCING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS -International to local issues – Are there -commonalities and is there a way forward? MONICA MORGAN – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
VENEZEULAN EXPERIENCE – Lessons, parallels and benefits to be gained for the Aboriginal movement – LARA PULLEN
MAORI AFFAIRS – Common issues and directions- Waitangi treaty – SINA BROWN-DAVIS – Maori activist
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES – USA NEW ZEALAND CANADA – Relevance, parallels and models for application – PANEL –GEOFF CLARKE, ROBBIE THORPE,MICHAEL ANDERSON
2:00PM
POLTICAL PARTIES –HOW CAN THEY ADVANCE AN ABORIGINAL FUTURE?
Socialist Alliance SAM WATSON green ADAM BANDT party – Labor Party –Liberal Party –Do they have solutions or are they pretending?
4:00PM
TRADE UNION MOVEMENT & DEFENDING ABORIGINAL RIGHTS
Panel Discussion – ETU MUA CMFEU AMWU– policies and Directions – Unions & the New Way
7:30 UNIONS & ABORIGINAL MOVEMENT- SOLUTIONS & DIRECTIONS –Key note speaker – Union movement
SUNDAY JULY 4 2010
10:00AM
KEY ABORIGINAL INSTRUMENTALITIES ARE THEY STILL RELEVANT?
WHAT HAPPENED TO ATSIC & IT’S BILLIONS ? – An economic, socio-political evaluation –GEOFF CLARKE –Ex-chair ATSIC
ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCILS – Do they provide a future?
WHAT OF NATIVE TITLE? – manipulated outcomes or a mistake?
11:30
NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST PEOPLE -Is this Appropriate and why? TERRY ARABENA – Chairperson
VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL LAND JUSTICE GROUP –
What is it and does it offer a solution? GARY MURRAY Traditional owner
ORIGINAL SOVEREIGN TRIBAL FEDERATION- Are we ready? MICHAEL ANDERSON / MARK MCMURTRIE
An Open invitation is extended to you and your Organization to attend the New Way Summit scheduled for July 1 – 4 2010 commencing the National NAIDOC Week.
You are invited to attend the Official Opening @ 1:00pm @the Kangan Institute @Pearcedale parade Broadmeadows on Thursday July 1, 2010.
Further you are invited to attend Friday 2 July – Sunday 4 July @ Trades Hall Council – Cnr Victoria and Lygon street Carlton.
A number of significant issues pertinent to our future will be addressed by leading Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, traditional law practitioners, academics, aspiring politicians, managers, and community representatives.
The Summit will bring together noted Australian academics, professional, political and community figures for a unique meeting on the status and place of Aboriginal people in contemporary Australia, and beyond.
This summit will have strong appeal for educators, administrators, and Aboriginal Affairs practitioners, senior and middle management personnel from both private and public sectors, government agencies and communities who will be attracted to the breadth and depth of issues under discussion.
Confirmation of your participation would be appreciated at your earliest convenience.
Bookings see Cheryl Kaulfuss on – 0401 806 331
See attached program for further details on speakers, sessions, times and location.
22 Jun 10: “Funds are now urgently needed to help with the
large gathering being held from 6-9 July.
IRAG [Intervention Rollback Action Group] is supporting
this event by contacting communities and helping organise
transport to bring people into Alice Springs. We are also
involved in provision of food and logistics, and with
running several workshops.”
ABORIGINAL ARTICLES:
Radio
CAAMA: Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association
25th June 2010 CAAMA Radio news
25 Jun 10: “* We have a new Prime Minister and she’s famale.
* The former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd leaves a good legacy
for Indigenous affairs according to the Australian
Indigenous human rights commission.”
Opinion/Analysis
Green Left:
ALP’s desperate rebadging could mask a shift to right
25 Jun 10: “Socialists and progressive trade union and
social movement activists have reacted sceptically to the
leadership change in the Australian Labor Party (ALP)
federal government of Australia. …
Richard Downs, spokesperson for Alyawarr people and
organiser for the July gathering of elders and leaders:
“In Julia Gillard’s address to the nation, there was no
mention of the first Australians and owners of this country
on the way forward.” …
Sharon Firebrace, Koori activist and Socialist Alliance
Senate candidate for Victoria:
“There is no sign that Gillard will do anything to reverse
the racist apartheid laws in the Northern Territory where
indigenous people have lesser rights than non-indigenous
people.” … “
26 Jun 10: “AUSTRALIA’S new Prime Minister Julia Gillard
should rethink her predecessor’s decision to build a
nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory, Chief
Minister Paul Henderson said. Mr Henderson said the Muckaty
Station nuclear waste dump would be one of the first issues
on the table.”
National Indigenous Radio Service:
Richard Downs calls for Intervention rollback gathering support
25 Jun 10: “Alyawarra elder and spokesperson for the
Ampilatwatja walk off, Richard Downs, has called for all
people in central Australia to attend a gathering from July
6 – 9 to unite against the NT Intervention and all racist
laws.”
National Indigenous Radio Service:
Hopes Gillard will fulfil Stolen Generation promise
25 Jun 10: “The Northern Territory’s Anglican Bishop Greg
Thompson says he hopes the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard
will fulfil the Government’s commitments to the Stolen
Generations.”
Koori Mail: Mansell says Rudd won’t be missed
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
24 Jun 10: “ABORIGINAL people around the country will be
unanimous in celebrating the demise of Kevin Rudd as Prime
Minister, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre legal director
Michael Mansell said today. He said Stolen Generations
members remained without compensation and Aborigines in the
Northern Territory had been humiliated.”
Koori Mail: Former PM ‘proud’ of Apology
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
24 Jun 10: “FORMER Prime Minister Kevin Rudd included the
Apology and reaching out to the Stolen Generations among a
list of things he was most proud to have achieved during
his time in the top job. Mr Rudd yesterday stepped down
from the position following a challenge by his deputy,
Julia Gillard, who is now Australia’s first female Prime
Minister.”
Alternative Media Group:
Back to the ration days for indigenous workers
17 Jun 10: “Aboriginal workers in the Northern Territory
employed in the building and construction industry are
getting less than a quarter of the award pay of workers in
NSW. Peter Inverway, a building worker from Kalkaringi in
the Northern Territory addressed workers at construction
sites across Sydney and NSW last week to talk about the
stripping back of pay and conditions under the federal
Northern Territory intervention.” Liz Cush
Contents:
New welfare quarantining laws pass the Senate
A long time fighter for Indigenous rights
Aboriginal Leader challenges invader sovereignty over Australia
Video: “Australia nuclear waste dump row”
NT Intervention Articles
NEW WELFARE QUARANTINING LAWS PASS THE SENATE:
- Background
WGAR News: Laws extending income management to come before the Senate (18 Jun 10)
22 Jun 10: [Media Release from ‘concerned Australians’]
“The Government promised that it would reinstate the Racial
Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory. Two and a
half years later it has ensured that this will not happen.
The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment
(Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of Racial Discrimination
Act) Bill 2009 was passed today irrespective of widespread
criticism in Australia, internationally and from the United
Nations. The legislation is not consistent with Australia’s
international obligations. Government has been warned that
the legitimacy of so called ‘special measures’ that
restrict the rights of individuals will be brought into
question. … Michele Harris of ‘concerned Australians’
says, ”This new legislation which is racially discriminatory
will now become class discriminatory. … ””
Greens MPs: Greens lament national income management laws
22 Jun 10: “The Australian Greens have expressed their
extreme disappointment that legislation extending income
quarantining across the Northern Territory and the rest of
Australia has been passed by the Senate. The Social
Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform
and Reinstatement of Racial Discrimination Act) Bill 2009
gives the Commonwealth the power to extend income
management measures across the country. Senator Rachel
Siewert, Greens spokesperson for Community Services says
the expansion of the income management will begin
immediately in the Northern Territory, with most
Australians still unaware that the measures can be applied
nationally.”
ANTaR Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation:
Intervention changes fail to deliver required reform
22 Jun 10: ““It’s time to really engage Aboriginal
communities in lasting solutions to the problems they face,
and end the top-down coercive approach,” said Dr Janet
Hunt, ANTaR President. “ANTaR is disappointed that,
although legislation passed last night improves on the
current situation, it will not achieve the full
reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) to the
Northern Territory. The new legislation fails to address a
number of discriminatory aspects of the Northern Territory
Emergency Response (NTER), including five-year leases of
Aboriginal land and extensive Government powers to control
the delivery of Indigenous community services.””
Australian Human Rights Commission:
Passage of NTER Amendments a step in the right direction
22 Jun 10: “Commissioner Innes, and Commissioner Gooda,
said passage of the Social Security and Other Legislation
Amendment (Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of Racial
Discrimination Act) Bill 2009 yesterday would go some way
to lifting the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act
(RDA) and state and territory anti-discrimination laws in
the Northern Territory. … Noting that the amendments do
not completely reinstate the RDA, Commissioner Innes and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner, Mick Gooda, emphasised that the passing of
this legislation should only be seen as a first step in
the restoration of full protections for the affected
communities.”
- Submission
ANTaR Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation:
Comment on Draft Policy Outlines for New Model of Income Management
Submission to the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Jun 10: “The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment
(Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of the Racial
Discrimination Act) Act (the Act) was passed by the Senate
on Monday 21 June. The Act establishes a new model of
income management, to be rolled out first across the
Northern Territory, then, subject to a review, to be
progressively rolled out in disadvantaged locations in
other parts of Australia. … ANTaR reiterates our
opposition to the Government’s new compulsory income
management scheme. We remain concerned that it will affect
broad categories of social security recipients, is not
cost-effective and does not respect the rights and dignity
of Indigenous or non-Indigenous social security recipients.”
- Opinion/Analysis
On Line Opinion: How paternalistic, how racist, how demeaning
23 Jun 10: “Again the Aboriginal community is used as an
experimental pen for political and social engineering.
First, the Aboriginal community; then the rest of the
Northern Territory; then the rest of Australia’s pensioners
- all this charade to simply justify the government’s
attempt to appear righteous in getting rid of Howard’s
racist anti-discrimination provisions yet, … ” JDB Williams
SMH: Let Aboriginal communities have a say over intervention
23 Jun 10: “The Rudd government has kept many of the
punitive elements of Howard’s Northern Territory
intervention. This week marks the third anniversary of the
Northern Territory intervention. On Monday night, the
Senate passed legislation to partially restore racial
discrimination protections and modify aspects of the
intervention, including income management.” Jacqueline
Phillips
22 Jun 10: “The expansion of income quarantining laws
defies an overwhelming expert consensus that the policy
just doesn’t work, writes Eva Cox. It’s done. The
government has just passed new income quarantining laws
through the Senate which will extend income management to
non-Indigenous welfare recipients in the Northern
Territory.” Eva Cox
23 Jun 10: “The [income management] scheme is used in
Aboriginal communities as part of the federal intervention
but it is now being expanded to an estimated 20,000 other
people across the Territory. The Northern Land Council,
Central Land Council, Aboriginal Medical Services NT and
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency say that is the
wrong move.”
23 Jun 10: “MONEY spent extending welfare quarantining
across the Territory would be better spent fixing the
ailing child protection system, the former Chief Minister
Clare Martin said yesterday. … The [income management]
scheme may be expanded across the rest of Australia, but NT
goes first.”
Australian:
Racial discrimination act delayed as welfare rules extended
23 Jun 10: “THE Racial Discrimination Act, suspended for
welfare quarantining in Northern Territory Aboriginal
communities, will not be reinstated until December.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said it would
take some time for it to be fully reinstated after the
government passed new laws to make income quarantining
apply to indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.”
Amnesty International Australia:
Laws allowing discrimination in the NT to continue condemned
22 Jun 10: “Amnesty International Australia has condemned
parliament’s approval last night of legislation that does
not sufficiently reinstate rights protections in the
Northern Territory and fails to put an end to many of the
discriminatory measures initiated under the Government’s
Emergency Response. … the organisation is profoundly
disappointed that the new laws do not provide for full
reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act.”
Koori Mail: Changes don’t deliver, says ANTaR
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “AUSTRALIANS for Native Title and Reconciliation
(ANTaR) says legislation passed last night by the Senate
offers some improved protection against racial
discrimination under the NT intervention but doesn’t go far
enough. ANTaR president Dr Janet Hunt says ongoing
five-year leases over Aboriginal land and extensive
Government powers to control the delivery of Indigenous
community services are still discriminatory, and income
management will continue to impact unfairly on Indigenous
welfare recipients.”
Koori Mail: Legislation ‘falls way short’
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “A group of NT Aboriginal organisations has
disputed the Federal Government’s insistence that its
newly-passed welfare reform legislation fully reinstates
the Racial Discrimination Act. The Northern and Central
Land Councils, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice
Agency, and the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT
issued a joint statement today calling on the Government
rectify all instances where the RDA is found not to apply
to NT Intervention measures.”
Koori Mail: Aid agency condemns welfare changes
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “AMNESTY International has joined a chorus of
condemnation of the Federal Government’s welfare reform
legislation, passed by the Senate last night. The aid
agency’s Indigenous Rights Campaigner Rodney Dillon
criticised the changes for allowing race-based welfare
quarantining to continue for another year, not reversing
racially-discriminatory actions already initiated under
the NT Intervention, and offering no redress for
discrimination already suffered by Indigenous peoples.”
Koori Mail: Warning of legal challenges
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “A GROUP of concerned Australians including
former Family Court Chief Justice Alastair Nicholson says
‘special measures’ under the NT Intervention will be
subject to legal challenge, after the Federal Government
ignored criticism and warnings from health, welfare and
legal bodies and the United Nations to push ahead with its
welfare reforms. The group says related legislation that
had been racially discriminatory will now become class
discriminatory.”
Koori Mail: Changes only ‘first step’ in right direction
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “THE Australian Human Rights Commission says the
passage of legislation enabling new welfare reforms will
end a lot of community uncertainty, misinformation and
conflict but the changes should be seen as only ‘the first
step’ in restoring protections for communities affected by
the NT Intervention. Commissioners Mick Gooda and Graeme
Innes say they’re still concerned that compulsory five-year
leases are excluded from protection under the Racial
Discrimination Act, and the possible disproportionate
impact of income management on Aboriginal people.”
Koori Mail: Govt income management claims ‘hypocrisy’
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “THE Australian Greens say they’re extremely
disappointed about the passage of the Federal Government’s
welfare reforms. Senator Rachel Siewert says most
Australians are still unaware that compulsory income
management can now be applied nationally and has labelled
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin’s claims that
compulsory income management is ‘all about human dignity’
as ‘nothing short of hypocrisy’.”
Koori Mail: Green light for welfare reforms
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
22 Jun 10: “THE SENATE last night passed welfare reforms
legislation that will enable incoming quarantining to be
extended nationwide and, the Federal Government says,
reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern
Territory. Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny
Macklin says the reforms aim to increase parental
responsibility, fight passive welfare and protect
vulnerable people but there’s been widespread criticism of
the changes, set to commence on 1 July.”
22 Jun 10: “Amnesty International has criticised new laws
aimed at reinstating the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) in
the Northern Territory, claiming they fail to end
discrimination introduced by the intervention. Federal
parliament on Monday passed laws that will reinstate the
RDA next year while maintaining many of the intervention’s
controversial measures.”
22 Jun 10: “Federal Parliament has passed laws to extend
income management in the Northern Territory to
non-Indigenous welfare recipients. Some people in
Indigenous communities already have part of their welfare
payments quarantined for essential items. The new laws will
apply to non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory on
the same benefits. They come into effect from July.”
22 Jun 10: “THE biggest welfare reform in decades will
become law as soon as today, expanding income management to
disadvantaged groups across the country. … Welfare
quarantining was introduced as a part of the Northern
Territory intervention into remote indigenous communities
three years ago.”
SBS World News Australia:
Welfare quarantine for non-Indigenous people
22 Jun 10: “Income management for non-Indigenous welfare
recipients will be rolled out across the Northern Territory
from next month, after draft laws passed the Senate.”
AFP: Australia restores race laws after Aboriginal crackdown
22 Jun 10: “Australia reinstated race discrimination laws
in the remote Northern Territory region Tuesday after
suspending them for three years to pursue a controversial
crime crackdown in poor Aboriginal townships.”
Green Left: Welfare quarantining and the NT struggle for justice
20 Jun 10: “Legislation that was debated in parliament last
week, and supported by Coalition opposition leader Tony
Abbott, gives the community services minister the authority
to deem specific areas and communities “disadvantaged”.
Welfare recipients living in the area and receiving certain
Centrelink payments could then be forced onto income
management.”
Koori Mail: Welfare reforms ‘racism as usual’
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/
18 Jun 10: “THERE’S been renewed condemnation of the
Federal Government’s proposed welfare reforms, expected to
pass through the Senate this week. The Alice Springs-based
Intervention Rollback Action group (IRAG) and STICS (Stop
the Intervention Collective Sydney) say failure under the
new laws to ensure full protection for Aboriginal people
under the Racial Discrimination Act will only entrench
racism and continue the hardships being felt under the NT
Intervention.”
22 Jun 10: “Humans rights activist Rosemarie Gillespie was,
in her own words, no stranger to danger. Her passion took
her to the front line of many conflicts and often face to
face with military forces. Ms Gillespie, also known as
Waratah Rose, has passed away at the Melbourne home of one
of her daughters after a stroke in the early hours of
Monday morning.”
ABORIGINAL LEADER CHALLENGES INVADER SOVEREIGNTY OVER AUSTRALIA:
- Media Release
Indigenous Peoples Issues & Resources:
Australian Leaders Challenged To Produce Invader
Sovereignty Documents
18 Jun 10: “An Aboriginal leader has written to the prime
minister, the NSW premier and the governor-general
challenging invader sovereignty over Australia and urges
all Aboriginal nations to do the same. “Australia’s free
party at the expense of our people is over,” Michael
Anderson writes in a media release. The political activist
and leader of the 3,000 Euahlayi of northwest NSW is the
last survivor of the four young Black Power men who set up
the Aboriginal embassy in Canberra in 1972. He now
spearheads a “New Way” movement which has had summits in
Canberra and Sydney and is convening another in Melbourne
for 1, 2 and 3 July, at which continuing Aboriginal
sovereignty will be a main talking point.”
[New Way Summit starts at 1pm, Thursday, 1st of July at
Kangan Institute TAFE, Broadmeadows, 20km from Melbourne CBD.
How to get there, go to this link: http://www.kangan.edu.au/broadmeadows-tafe-course/ ]
VIDEO: “AUSTRALIA NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP ROW”:
YouTube: Australia nuclear waste dump row
Al Jazeera’s Azhar Sukri reports
15 Jun 10: “Australia’s government is pushing its plans for
a nuclear waste dump in a remote part of the country’s
Northern Territory. It as signed an agreement with [some
of] the traditional owners of the land who will receive
$10m in compensation, most of it in cash. … “
NT INTERVENTION ARTICLES:
- Audio
Rollback the Intervention: Audio
Peter Inverway interviewed on 2SER radio, Sydney
20 Jun 10: “55 people attended a June 11 forum with Peter
Inverway, a Gurindji worker from Kalkaringi, who said
Gurindji people are being forced to work up to 30 hours a
week for Centrelink entitlements.”
ABC Alice Springs: Local government body claims CDEP backflip
18 Jun 10: “The Northern Territory’s Local Government
Association says the Federal Government has changed its
mind about funding an Indigenous employment program that
was due to wind up at the end of the month.”
Australian: Shoddy homes to be rebuilt for Aborigines
18 Jun 10: “SEVEN Groote Eylandt residences constructed
under the nation’s biggest remote Aboriginal housing
program will be either demolished or rebuilt due to shoddy
workmanship and the use of sub-standard materials.”
Koori Mail: Parliament misled on SIHIP, Oppn
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/
18 Jun 10: “THE Federal Opposition has accused Indigenous
Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin of misleading Parliament on
the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program
(SIHIP). Opposition Senator Nigel Scullion says Ms Macklin
told Parliament on Wednesday that houses were now being
built in ‘hundreds of locations’ throughout the remote NT,
despite just 16 communities being slated to receive new
houses throughout the life of the program, with renovations
in a further 57.”
“The Rudd Government’s new laws give them the power to
extend Income Management across Australia to people on many
kinds of Centrelink payments. These laws could affect your
family. The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment
(Welfare Reform and Reinstatement of Racial Discrimination
Act) Bill 2009 is listed to go through the Senate this week
so it’s the last chance to voice our opposition and express
our specific concerns about it. Call your Senators now at
Parliament House (phone numbers are available here) or
email them senator.(senator’s surname)@aph.gov.au and ask
them questions, such as: … “
- Media Releases
Stop the Intervention:
Racial discrimination entrenched in new NT Intervention laws
17 Jun 10: “The Alice Springs Based Intervention Rollback
Action group (IRAG) and STICS (Stop the Intervention
Collective Sydney) have condemned the Social Security and
Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform and
Reinstatement of Racial Discrimination Act) Bill, expected
to pass through the Senate this week. IRAG and STICS say
many aspects of the new laws entrench racial discrimination
and continue the hardships being felt under the NT
Intervention. “… The Australian Human Rights Commission
and other legal experts have been clear that Jenny
Macklin’s new laws will continue to deny the full
protections of the Racial Discrimination Act to Aboriginal
people. All draconian controls initiated by Howard in the
NT will continue”, said Peter Robson from STICS.”
Stop the Intervention:
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council
Bishop cautions on income management
15 Jun 10: “Bishop Christopher Saunders, Chairman of the
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, has urged
politicians to remember the dignity and rights of
Indigenous people as Senators vote this week on a Bill
related to income management under the Northern Territory
Emergency Response. … ‘Compulsory income management alone
will not address the underlying causes of poverty and
disadvantage. A rigid focus on compliance or a policy that
implies that “we know what is best” or “it is all for their
own good” risks adopting the kind of attitude that gave
rise to policies behind the Stolen Generations. … ‘
Bishop Saunders said.”
- Rally
Stop the Intervention:
Rally Sunday 20th June:
3 Years of racist shame – Stop the NT Intervention
This Sunday June 20th, 12pm at Town Hall Square [Sydney]
“Three years of federal intervention into Aboriginal
communities in the NT has created a mounting pile of
reports damning it as racist and destructive. But to the
despair of those living with the policies, Labor’s new
legislation entrenches and extend the intervention – which
explains why they have the support of the Tony Abbott’s
Liberals.”
- News
SMH: NT welfare recipients to lose control of payments
17 Jun 10: “COMMUNITY organisations say 20,000 people in
the Northern Territory will be shocked when they lose
control of half their Centrelink payments from July 1 in a
trial of the biggest shake-up of the welfare system in
decades. Under new legislation, the federal government will
extend welfare quarantining … “
Koori Mail: Greens won’t move on income management
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
17 Jun 10: “THE Australian Greens say they’ll stand firm on
their opposition to the Federal Government’s proposed
welfare reform legislation, which would extend income
management across Australia. Senator Rachel Siewert says
the legislation is discriminatory, and growing public
disapproval of the ‘punitive’ measures is obviously causing
the Government concern.”
Canadian Press: Australia plans to change ‘racist’ policy
that restricts how Outback Aborigines spend welfare
16 Jun 10: “The government wants to extend the spending
restrictions to everyone … The changes will depend on
legislation proposed next week to the Senate … Amnesty
International Australia said in a statement that while the
new regime would not be directly racially discriminatory,
concerns remain that it would disproportionately effect
Aborigines.”
ABC: Senate debates welfare quarantine extension in NT
16 Jun 10: “Legislation to extend welfare quarantining
across the Northern Territory is set to be debated in the
Senate this afternoon. … Indigenous Affairs Minister
Jenny Macklin says welfare quarantining will not apply to
aged and disability pensioners, unless there are special
circumstances.”
Koori Mail: PM warns against ‘stuffing around’ on welfare reform
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
16 Jun 10: “PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has appealed to the
Senate to ‘get on with it’ and pass the Government’s
welfare reform Bill this week. If passed, the legislation
would extend contentious income quarantining beyond NT
Intervention communities to most welfare recipients in the
Territory from 1 July and throughout the country within two
years. … “
15 Jun 10: “Extending income management to more indigenous
communities returns the paternalistic attitudes that gave
rise to the Stolen Generations, Catholic bishops say. The
federal government quarantines the welfare payments of some
indigenous groups and the Senate will this week vote on
extending the scheme to other disadvantaged areas of the
Northern Territory and, eventually, throughout Australia.”
Koori Mail: Bishop urges income management caution
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
15 Jun 10: “WITH the Senate expected to vote this week on
proposals to extend income management beyond the Northern
Territory and reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act
there, a high-ranking cleric has urged politicians to
remember the dignity and rights of Indigenous people.
Catholic Bishop Christopher Saunders says income management
will impact most heavily on Indigenous people and won’t by
itself address poverty and disadvantage.”
12 Jun 10: “JENNY Macklin has written to Greens leader Bob
Brown urging him to back the government’s bill making
welfare quarantining apply to all Australians — to remove
discrimination against Aborigines.”
- Interview
Prime Minister
Transcript of joint press conference – Canberra – 16 June 2010
16 Jun 10: “MACKLIN: What we’ve had made clear is at the
end of 2011, after the end of 2011, we will do a very
extensive evaluation of the impact of the introduction of
income management across the Northern Territory before we
extend it to other parts of Australia. But certainly from
the evidence we have so far in the Northern Territory,
income management is a very useful tool for making sure
that food is put on the table, making sure that welfare
money is spent in the interests of children and not on
alcohol and drugs.”
“To the Honourable President and members of the Senate in
Parliament assembled:
The NT Intervention promised Aboriginal people real jobs.
Instead, thousands of Community Development Employment
Project (CDEP) positions have been lost. Under the new CDEP
scheme, some Aboriginal people are being forced to work
providing vital services such as rubbish collection, school
bus runs, sewerage maintenance and aged care in exchange
for quarantined Centrelink payments. … “
“From 4th-11th June P. Inverway (PI), a construction worker
from Kalkaringi (Wave Hill) in the NT toured Sydney. PI is
working for $4 an hour plus $85 a week for food on his
BasicsCard. For this he and ten others have been doing 24
hours a week turning an old power station into a new arts
and craft centre. … Workers at the meetings were
astounded and disgusted that PI is being paid $4 an hour to
do the work they get paid $24 – $26 an hour to do.”
- News
Age: For some workers, the struggle will never end
16 Jun 10: “GURINDJI member Peter Inverway grew up hearing
his stockman father’s tales of once having been paid in
rations, never dreaming he might one day know the same
indignity. That was until the federal government intervened
in Northern Territory indigenous communities three years
ago. … “
The Guardian: Opposition to return of work for rations
9 Jun 10: “Peter Inverway, a Gurindji worker from
Kalkaringi says Gurindji people are being forced to work up
to 30 hours per week for Centrelink entitlements. Half of
the entitlements are quarantined on the Basics Card as part
of the government’s Community Development Employment
Program (CDEP). This is a new measure of the Northern
Territory Intervention.”
Green Left: Aboriginal workers demand jobs with justice
6 Jun 10: “Elders from Kalkaringi community say people in
their community are being forced to work for up to 30 hours
a week on construction sites or they will have their
Centrelink payments cut. As if being forced to work for the
dole wasn’t bad enough, half their benefits are also
“quarantined”: placed onto a Basics Card that can be spent
only on food, clothing and medical supplies.”
16 Jun 10: “The Rudd government has set itself a target of
halving the employment gap between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous Australians within a decade. Part of the
plan involves radical changes to CDEP, the Community
Development Employment Projects program, commonly referred
to as Indigenous work for the dole. But as Cathy Van Extel
reports, the latest official figures point to a spiralling
Indigenous jobless rate and Aboriginal communities say the
loss of CDEP is creating greater social disadvantage.”
ABC Radio National – Breakfast:
Indigenous councils respond to CDEP
17 Jun 10: “But a number of councils say they simply don’t
have the funds to employ additional workers, and the loss
of the CDEP funding is having an impact on the delivery of
services. There’s also concern that the CDEP reforms will
jeopardise fledgling Indigenous enterprises in remote
communities.”
- Video
ABC Radio National – Breakfast:
Video: Jenny Macklin on Indigenous employment
16 Jun 10: “Jenny Macklin, Minister for Families, Housing,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, discusses how
the changes to the work for the dole scheme will affect
Indigenous Australians.”
Vimeo: Back to Country : Alyawarr Resistance
by jagath dheerasekara
15 Jun 10: “In July last year, the Alyawarr people walked
off from the prescribed area controlled by the government,
and began to build a new community on their homeland or as
they call it Country. My ongoing project is about their
survival, struggles and aspiration.”
OTHER ABORIGINAL ARTICLES:
- Video
YouTube: Australia nuclear waste dump row
Al Jazeera’s Azhar Sukri reports
15 Jun 10: “Australia’s government is pushing its plans for
a nuclear waste dump in a remote part of the country’s
Northern Territory. It has signed an agreement with the
traditional owners of the land who will receive $10m in
compensation, most of it in cash. But the proposed nuclear
dump has divided local people while and environmentalists
warn it could one day be used to store waste from overseas.”
- Radio
SBS Audio and Language: Aboriginal
Racism in Country Rubgy League?
By Michelle Lovegrove
16 Jun 10: “The racism-in-rugby furore leading to Timana
Tahu handing back his Blues’ jersey is not an isolated
incident, says ex-Manly’s Michael Anderson. Is there racism
in rugby league? The NRL says no. Many voices, including
Aboriginal ex and current players, say – yes. … “
- News
Australian:
Top End Aboriginal housing push ‘doomed from the start’
16 Jun 10: “MANAGEMENT of the nation’s largest Aboriginal
housing project was doomed from the start, a Northern
Territory parliamentary committee has been told. The NT
Auditor-General, Frank McGuiness, told an estimates hearing
in Darwin yesterday there was a “complete lack of
management” in the model used to roll out the federal
government’s $672 million Strategic Indigenous Housing and
Infrastructure Program.”
7 Jun 10: Chair of the New Way Summit Task Force,
Michael Anderson’s statement: “The next New Way Summit that
was set down for the June long weekend has been shifted to
the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July, prior to the start on 4 July
of the National Aboriginal & Islander Day Observance
Committee (NAIDOC) week. This is to take advantage of the
greater than usual attention to Aboriginal issues generated
by NAIDOC. The Melbourne New Way Summit convener Ms Sharon
Firebrace said that this is a more appropriate time for it
to occur … The Melbourne New Way Summit themes are
genocide, sovereignty and treaty. … The governments know
that they do not have authority over Aboriginal people but
use force and threats to make us submit to their will. But
the New Way Summit participants know and understand this
weakness and will address it.”
EVENT 6-9 JULY: INDIGENOUS & NON INDIGENOUS GATHERING (ALICE SPRINGS)
Stop the Intervention: Gathering in Alice Springs 6-9 July 2010
10 Jun 10: ” … Now the Gurindji people face another
challenge. It has been revealed that they are being paid
just $4 an hour for up to 30 hours’ work a week, through
Centrelink. That money is also subject to income
quarantining through the Northern Territory Intervention.
Gurindji elder Peter Inverway speaks with Michelle
Lovegrove.”
Rollback the Intervention: Audio
June 2, 2010: Kalkaringi workers’ rights rally
- Darwin Parliament House
Speakers include:
Jimmy Wavehill, Peter Inverway, Maurie Japarta Ryan,
Aunty Kathy Mills, Kara Touchie (ACTU), Rob Wesley Smith,
David Cooper (ANTaR) and Paddy Gibson (IRAG).
2 Jun 10: “Indigenous people from the remote Wave Hill
Station say the federal intervention is stripping them of
rights as they have to work long hours for little pay.”
- News
ABC: Aborigines ‘forced to work 30 hours for $195′
2 Jun 10: “An elder from Kalkaringi, about 500 kilometres
south-east of Katherine in the Northern Territory, says
Gurindji people are being forced to work up to 30 hours per
week on construction sites under the Commonwealth’s
Community Development Employment Projects. In return they
get a food card and Centrelink money totalling about $195
per week.”
11 Jun 10: “LAETITIA LEMKE, Presenter: Local government
councils across the Territory are preparing to sack
hundreds of long term employees. From the first of July,
federal government funding supporting community development
employment workers will dry up. Two years ago the federal
Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin made changes to
CDEP. The idea was that local government and the Territory
government would create mainstream jobs for the workers -
but that hasn’t happened.”
- Opinion/Analysis
Crikey: Rudd overpromised on indigenous unemployment
4 Jun 10: “Yesterday, employment data for 2008 and 2009,
the first two years of the Rudd government, were released.
And the figures suggest that rather than delivering on
their ‘closing the gap’ pledge, the Australian government
might have exacerbated the expansion of the indigenous
unemployment gap it has committed to halve.” Professor Jon
Altman and Dr Nicholas Biddle, Australian National University
- Media Release
Greens call for fresh approach as Indigenous unemployment jumps
4 Jun 10: “The Australian Greens are extremely concerned
about the widening gap in employment rates between
Australia’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson
Employment and Aboriginal Issues says the latest ABS
figures show the unemployment rate among Australia’s
Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander population
increased alarmingly from 13.8% in 2007 to 18.1% in 2009, a
loss of around equating to around 2000 jobs.”
8 Jun 10: “The Federal Minister for Remote Services, Warren
Snowdon, has indicated the Commonwealth will not provide
more funding to keep Indigenous people employed at shire
councils in the Northern Territory. The Local Government
Association says 500 people employed under a
work-for-the-dole program, known as CDEP, are at risk of
losing their jobs when funding runs out this month.”
Koori Mail: Widening jobs gap demands ‘fresh approach’
[scroll down page] http://www.koorimail.com/index.php
7 Jun 10: “THE Australian Greens say a four per cent rise
in Indigenous unemployment in the two years to 2009 shows
the Federal Government isn’t doing enough to provide
Indigenous people with realistic employment options and
work-ready skills. The Government pledged in 2008 to halve
the unemployment gap within a decade and has blamed the
economic downturn for the jump but Greens Senator Rachel
Siewert says that’s unacceptable.”
4 Jun 10: “The Local Government Association is calling on
the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments to help
stop about 500 people losing their jobs in remote areas.
The association says remote shires were given $8 million to
provide “real jobs” for people coming off the Aboriginal
work-for-the-dole program, known as CDEP. But the
association’s president, Kerry Moir, says the shires do not
have the money to continue providing the jobs once the
government funding ends this month.”
ABORIGINAL HOUSING:
Opinion/Analysis
Australian: Nothing constructive in housing disaster
10 Jun 10: “Read carefully: 11 houses have been built and
160 repaired in two years for more than $200m. But at the
government’s valuation of $450,000 for a new house (no land
costs) and $75,000 for a refurbishment, the sum spent
should be only $16.85m. The location of the missing $183m
is not known.” Adam Giles
- News
Australian: Report warns of Strategic Indigenous Housing
and Infrastructure Program failure
10 Jun 10: “THE nation’s largest Aboriginal housing project
- blighted by delay and poor governance – is at risk of
failing to deliver on its original promises as resources
are squeezed and management systems flounder. They were the
conclusions reached by Northern Territory Auditor-General
Frank McGuiness in a report that has angered senior federal
bureaucrats … “
7 Jun 10: “THE problematic strategic indigenous housing and
infrastructure program will cost the Territory taxpayer
more than twice than was originally promised. Opposition
Treasury spokesman John Elferink said the government
revealed during the Council of Territory Co-operation
hearings last week that the housing scheme would cost the
NT an additional $140 million.”
4 Jun 10: “A new government-funded house that was due to be
handed over to a remote Aboriginal community in the
Northern Territory almost three months ago is still empty.
The house has been locked-up and deserted in the Arnhem
Land community of Gunbalanya, about 330 kilometres east of
Darwin, for 11 weeks. It was built under the $672 million
Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program
[SIHIP] by the Earth Connect Alliance.”
OTHER NT INTERVENTION ARTICLES:
- Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Northern Territory National Emergency Response
9 Jun 10: “The Australian Greens have renewed calls for the
Federal Government to abandon legislation to extend
punitive income management provisions, saying most
Australians are unaware that the measures have been
introduced to Parliament. … Senator Siewert also accused
the Government of shamefully trying to discredit a study
into nutrition in remote Aboriginal communities which
provided compelling evidence that the Northern Territory
Intervention was not working.”
- Opinion/Analysis
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), ANU:
Income Management and the Rights of Indigenous Australians to Equity
Jon Altman
Topical Issue 3 / 2010
Jun 10: “This paper examines the changing policy rationales
for income management in prescribed Indigenous communities.
The proposed welfare reforms currently before the
Australian Parliament will fundamentally alter a
citizenship rights-based approach to welfare, replacing it
with one that is skewed towards a far higher level of state
governmentality of citizen subjects. … “
14 Jun 10: “Three years on, despite unprecedented levels of
investment, the emergency response remains a political game
that leaves the best interests of the children on the
sidelines. We need a new approach, grounded in a genuine
respect for traditional culture and with human rights
principles at its core, to tackle the entrenched poverty
and discrimination faced by indigenous peoples in
Australia.” Sarah Marland, campaign co-ordinator for
Amnesty International Australia
The Economist:
Correspondent’s diary – Tracking the intervention
Road-tripping into the prescribed areas of Australia’s
Northern Territory
11 Jun 10: “The road from Alice Springs is breathtaking.
Wild horses graze on grass from recent rains. Wrecked cars
are casualties of the dead-straight road’s mesmerising
dangers. Then, as I pass the boundary leading to Wallace
Rockhole, an aboriginal settlement, a big blue sign by the
road jolts me back to my journey’s purpose:
“Warning. Prescribed Area. No Liquor. No Pornography.””
Croakey – the Crikey health blog:
The Government campaign against researchers who dared
question income management
11 Jun 10: “Yesterday a media release from Macklin and
Snowden triumphantly claimed: The number of people being
supported through income management has reached 17,000 …
Supported? The language of this document follows an
extraordinary report and session of senate estimates last
Friday when staff from the Department of Families, Housing,
Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) did a
very suss demolition job on the Menzies data casting doubt
on the value of income management.”
24 May 10: “The Government likes to say that the NT
Intervention has improved Indigenous health – but the
problem is there’s no proper evidence for their claims,
writes Thalia Anthony”
- News
Australian:
Northern territory Intervention sees abuse cases double
11 Jun 10: “CHILD abuse and neglect cases in Aboriginal
communities uncovered as part of the radical Northern
Territory intervention have more than doubled, from 106 in
2007 to 247 last year.”
OTHER ABORIGINAL ARTICLES:
- Media Releases
Australian Human Rights Commission:
Two major reports highlight the need for a plan to achieve
Indigenous health equality within a generation
4 Jun 10: “”Both of the reports released today highlight
the need for a concerted national effort to plan for
Indigenous health equality,” Mr Gooda said. “It is
absolutely vital that a plan be developed in partnership
with Indigenous Australians as a national priority if both
the Close the Gap Statement of Intent commitments and the
Council of Australian Governments’ targets are to be met.”"
3 Jun 10: “The Australian Greens have used Mabo Day to
renew calls for the Federal Government to take further
action towards true reconciliation and to abandon the
proposed changes to Native Title Act — which they have
described as ‘unnecessary, out of proportion, and embracing
and extending the logic of the Howard-era Wik amendments’.
“Unfortunately for Indigenous Australians there is little
progress to celebrate this Mabo Day,” Australian Greens
spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues,
Senator Rachel Siewert said today.”
ANTaR Queensland: Justice, Rights and then Reconciliation
26 May 10: “On Sorry Day and the eve of National
Reconciliation Week, ANTaR Qld President, Kitty Carra,
questioned the use of the word reconciliation in relation
to Queensland. By definition reconciliation includes
contrition, confession, the acceptance of punishment, and
finally absolution. In other countries the reconciliation
movement is inseparable from the examination of truth.”
- News
National Indigenous Times:
A step in the right direction for Stolen Generations
27 May 10: “The Stolen Generations Alliance is calling for
all Australians to honour and acknowledge May 26 as the
anniversary of the release of the Bringing them home report
released in 1997. As the peak national advocacy and
representation body for Stolen Generations across Australia,
the SGA recognises the key role played by the National
Sorry Day Committee and essential support of the Australian
community to establish this anniversary as National Sorry
Day.”
National Indigenous Times:
Bridge walkers still saying Sorry for no redress
27 May 10: “The National Sorry Day Committee (NSDC) and its
partners hosted approximately 150 Canberrans marking
National Sorry Day by walking across their local bridges on
Wednesday the 26 May 2010. … “People who joined in on the
walk were asked to sit down halfway along the Commonwealth
Bridge for a minute’s silence to draw attention to the fact
that the Australian Government continues to refuse to
deliver the outstanding reparations and compensation that
complete the requirements of a full apology,” said Helen
Moran.”
Goodooga, northwest NSW, 7 June, 2010 – - The next New Way Aboriginal summit has been shifted from June to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July to take advantage of NAIDOC week, which begins on the 4th, attracting greater attention than usual to Aboriginal issues.
The Chair of the New Way Summit Task Force, Michael Anderson, cites the Melbourne summit convenor, Ms Sharon Firebrace as saying the new dates are more appropriate because it is in a week when people will focus on Aboriginal issues.
“We expect that a lot of people will attend to learn that the New Way grassroots movement is a true opposition to what the federal government is dishing up to us in their shameful charade of establishing the First Nation Congress of Australia,” he quoted Sharon as saying.
Supporting Sharon’s comments, Michael, leader of the 3,000-strong Euahlayi Nation, writes in a media release that he expects that Aboriginal people will have nothing to do with it if they understand politics, “but there will be those who will be attracted to it for the money and nothing else because, it has nothing else to offer”.
The Melbourne New Way Summit themes are genocide, sovereignty and treaty. “We will focus attention on Garry Foley’s statement that “Native Title is not land rights”.
On the issue of sovereignty, Michael says the New Way Summit will demand that all governments produce documentation proving “that we Aboriginal people of Australia have ceded our sovereignty to them or the British”.
Michael argues that MABO Judgment No. 2 “did correct one error of Australian history, and that was that our title to land is continuing”.
“I find it difficult to understand how the courts can now turn around and say that our title has been extinguished by some act of the white state through a piece of legislation. Once again we are being hoodwinked by the dominant society for their own ends.”
Michael says governments know that they have no authority over Aboriginal people but use force and threats “to make us submit to their will”. “But the New Way Summit movement knows and understands this weakness and will address it.”
“Our understanding of international law demonstrates that Australia as a nation is illegal,” Michael, a lawyer by training, argues. “There are two questions the Australian government must answer. Why is Australia registered as a company, “The Commonwealth of Australia”, in the United States of America with the SO-CALLED coat of arms their registered trade mark?”
Michael observes that it is interesting to note that “Her Majesty’s High Court of Chivalry of England and Wales”, which has had jurisdiction over the misuse of heraldic arms since the fourteenth century, has never been convened to consider and approve the Australian coat of arms, the emu and the kangaroo.
“So the question again is why the Australian government continues to parade it as a coat of arms when they know that it is not.”
Another question Australians must ask is why in 1985 Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his foreign affairs minister, Gareth Evans, failed to repatriate the Australian constitution from England, as the Canadians did, Michael writes.
“This government must explain to the Australian populace why they continue to have a constitution that is only an act of its mother country, England, or is there another reason?”
“The New Way Summit will also ask the Australian and state governments to prove when and how civil law came into this country, considering that the modern Australia was founded as a penal colony with the Rules and Disciplines of War being the law at the time of invasion, when the first illegal boat people arrived on these shores.”
Michael says he shares with many of his colleagues the opinion that the Australian states remain penal colonies that should still be under English Admiralty laws and not civil law. “That being the case, Australia as a nation is falsely representing itself as a free nation.”
Michael asserts that the only law of the land of this country continues to be Aboriginal law.
On the question of genocide, Michael writes that he hopes that the New Way Summit in Melbourne will authorise the Task Force to take whatever measure is necessary to have the Australian government and Britain held accountable “for their killing and falsely imprisoning our people as we continue to be the sovereign people now under the rule of foreigners whose authority is questionable”.
On the issue of ‘treaty’, the New Way Summit will ask the Aboriginal Nations across Australia to formalise treaties with each other by way of exchanging message sticks of unity and solidarity. “The message stick is our way and I encourage people not to use the white man’s paper.”
Michael says he will ask the New Way Summit to authorise the Task Force to negotiate treaties with other peoples of the South Pacific who have also been invaded by foreign and illegal boat people.
“From this we will let the world know that colonialism was wrong and that it wreaked havoc over civil and organised societies, causing them to become politically displaced people within their own countries, and they must now pay and be accountable for this,” Michael writes.
Michael Anderson can be contacted at 02 68296355 landline, 04272 92 492 mobile, 02 68296375 fax, ngurampaa@bigpond.com.au
Michael’s statement in full:
The next New Way Summit that was set down for the June long weekend has been shifted to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July, prior to the start on 4 July of the National Aboriginal & Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week.
This is to take advantage of the greater than usual attention to Aboriginal issues generated by NAIDOC.
The Melbourne New Way Summit convener Ms Sharon Firebrace said that this is a more appropriate time for it to occur. “This is a week where people will focus on Aboriginal issues and we expect that a lot of people will attend so that they can learn that this grassroots movement is a true opposition to what the Federal Government is dishing up to us in their shameful charade of establishing the First Nation Congress of Australia,” Sharon said.
In support of Sharon’s comments, I expect that Aboriginal people will have nothing to do with it if they understand politics, but there will be those who will be attracted to it for the money and nothing else, because it has nothing else to offer.
The Melbourne New Way Summit themes are genocide, sovereignty and treaty. We will focus attention on Garry Foley’s statement that “Native Title is not land rights”.
On the issue of sovereignty, the New Way Summit activists have decided that all governments will be asked to produce documentation that proves that we Aboriginal people of Australia have ceded our sovereignty to them or the British. With the decision in MABO Judgment No.2 the court did correct one error of Australian history and that was that our title to land is continuing, so I find it difficult to understand how the courts can now turn around and say that our title has been extinguished by some act of the white state through a piece of legislation. Once again we are being hoodwinked by the dominant society for their own ends.
The governments know that they do not have authority over Aboriginal people but use force and threats to make us submit to their will. But the New Way Summit participants know and understand this weakness and will address it.
Our understanding of international law demonstrates that Australia as a nation is illegal. There are two questions that the Australian government must answer. Why is Australia registered as a company, “The Commonwealth of Australia”, in the United States of America with the SO-CALLED coat of arms their registered trade mark?
It is interesting to know that the English Court of Chivalry has never been convened to consider and approve the Australian coat of arms, the emu and the kangaroo. So the question again is why the Australian government continues to parade it as a coat of arms when they know that it is NOT.
There is another question that the Australian people must ask and that is why did the former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans fail have the Australian constitution repatriated from England in 1985 as the Canadians did? This government must explain to the Australian populace why they continue to have a constitution that is only an act of its mother country England – or is there another reason?
The New Way Summit will also ask the Australian and state governments to prove when and how civil law came into this country, considering the modern Australia was founded as a penal colony, with the Rules and Disciplines of War being the law at the time of invasion, when the first illegal boat people arrived on these shores.
Many of my colleagues and I share the opinion that the Australian states remain penal colonies that should still be under English Admiralty laws and not civil law. This being the case, then Australia as a nation is falsely representing itself as a free nation. The only law of the land of this country continues to be Aboriginal law.
On the question of genocide, I hope that this New Way Summit will authorise the Task Force to take whatever measure necessary to have the Australian government and Britain held accountable for their killing and falsely imprisoning our people, as we continue to be the sovereign people now under the rule of foreigners whose authority is questionable.
On the issue of ‘treaty’, the New Way Summit will ask the Aboriginal Nations across Australia to formalise treaties with each other by way of exchanging message sticks of unity and solidarity. The message stick is our way and I encourage people not to use the white man’s paper.
I will be asking the New Way Summit to authorise the Task Force to negotiate treaties with other peoples of the South Pacific who have also been invaded by foreign and illegal boat people.
From this we will let the world know that colonialism was wrong and that it wreaked havoc over civil and organised societies, causing them to become politically displaced people within their own countries, and the colonisers must now pay and be accountable for this.
