120523 – “NT intervention law must comply with Australia’s human rights obligations” M. Bogner

Contents:
* Matilda Bogner, UN Human Rights Office:
NT intervention law must comply with Australia’s
human rights obligations
* ABC: NT Aboriginal intervention breaches Human Rights – NGO
* Panel discussion:
Poverty reduced by Indigenous communities’ self-management
* Congress: Unity is the key: Speech to ACTU Congress 2012
* Gerry Georgatos:
The NT is a prison built brick by brick by the Commonwealth
* Jack Waterford: Macklin policies do not translate
* More ‘Stronger Futures’ Legislation related articles
* Background to ‘Stronger Futures’ new NT Intervention laws
* Background to the Northern Territory (NT) Intervention
* Other articles

* MATILDA BOGNER, UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE:
NT INTERVENTION LAW MUST COMPLY WITH AUSTRALIA’S
HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS

– Analysis / Opinion

Matilda Bogner, UN Human Rights Office:
NT intervention law must comply with Australia’s
human rights obligations
HRLC: http://www.hrlc.org.au/content/topics/indigenous/northern-territory-intervention-law-must-comply-with-australias-human-rights-obligations/
22 May 12: “”There is a path that the Government can take
to reassure its critics that it wants the Stronger Futures
legislation to comply with human rights standards. Putting
it up for review by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on
Human Rights would be a strong signal,” writes Matilda
Bogner, UN Human Rights Office Regional Representative in
the Pacific. Concerns regarding the Australian Federal
Government’s interventions in the Northern Territory,
dating back to 2007, have been expressed loudly and repeated
by affected indigenous communities and their supporters, … ”

– Related News

newsTracker: UN urges scrutiny of intervention laws
http://tracker.org.au/2012/05/un-urges-scrutiny-of-intervention-laws/
23 May 12: “NATIONAL: The United Nations has challenged the
Australian government to subject its Stronger Futures laws,
which would continue the Northern Territory intervention in
remote Indigenous communities, to scrutiny against its
human rights obligations. … The legislation is before the
Senate and was introduced to parliament before the
committee was set up late last year. “Putting it up for
review by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights
would be a strong signal that the government is committed
to bringing it fully in line with its human rights
obligations,” Ms Bogner wrote … ”

Age: NT laws ‘need rights testing’
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/nt-laws-need-rights-testing-20120522-1z3aq.html
23 May 12: “A SENIOR UN official has called on the
Australian government to subject its proposals for an
extension of the federal intervention in the Northern
Territory to scrutiny by a newly formed parliamentary
committee on human rights. … Under laws that took effect
in January, all government legislation must be examined by
a parliamentary committee on human rights, which examines
whether the proposals comply with Australia’s international
human rights obligations. However the so-called “Stronger
Futures” proposals are not subject to this requirement
because the bills were introduced in November.”

9 News: UN urges more scrutiny of Aboriginal laws
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8471639/un-urges-more-scrutiny-of-aboriginal-laws
22 May 12: “The United Nations has challenged Australia to
pit its planned laws to boost indigenous advancement in the
Northern Territory against its wider human rights
obligations. That task would help sure mistakes of the past
were not repeated, the UN said. … The UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Pacific representative
Matilda Bogner has called on Labor to allow a new
parliamentary committee on human rights to review the draft
laws.”

See:

WGAR News:
“Australia challenged at United Nations over NT laws”
Statement of delegations to UN (21 May 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/21/wgar-news-australia-challenged-at-united-nations-over-nt-laws-statement-of-delegations-to

* ABC: NT ABORIGINAL INTERVENTION BREACHES HUMAN RIGHTS – NGO

– Audio Interview

ABC Radio National:
NT Aboriginal intervention breaches Human Rights – NGO
Presenter: Meredith Griffiths
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/nt-aboriginal-intervention-breaches-human-rights-ngo/947012
21 May 12: “The United Nations has heard that Australia is
breaching its human rights obligations by moving to extend
the Intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal
communities. The chairman of the National Congress of
Australia’s First People says it’s a major disappointment
that the government is extending laws for another 10 years,
without the consent of the people concerned. Les Malezer
says the laws are racist.
Speaker: Les Malezer, chairman,
National Congress of Australia’s First People”

– Related Audio

Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association:
CAAMA Radio Online News 22.05.2012
http://caama.com.au/caama-radio-online-news-22-05-2012
22 May 12: “Australia challenged at United Nations over
racist laws.”

See:

Background to National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples:
Last updated: 5 May 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/05/background-to-the-national-congress-of-australia%E2%80%99s-first-peoples

WGAR News:
“Australia challenged at United Nations over NT laws”
Statement of delegations to UN (21 May 12)
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/21/wgar-news-australia-challenged-at-united-nations-over-nt-laws-statement-of-delegations-to

* PANEL DISCUSSION:
POVERTY REDUCED BY INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES’ SELF-MANAGEMENT

– Audio

ABC RN Drive: Panel discussion: Indigenous governance
Presenter Waleed Aly; Producer Melanie Christiansen
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/panel-discussion3a-indigenous-governance/4024264
21 May 12: “A proposed ten-year extension of the
controversial intervention into Indigenous communities,
which began in the Northern Territory five years ago, is
expected to pass the federal parliament next month. But it
comes as some experts argue there is increasing evidence,
particularly from Northern America, that allowing
indigenous communities to manage their own affairs can
significantly reduce poverty.
Guests:
* Professor Stephen Cornell,
Co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian
Economic Development and director of the Udall Center for
Studies in Public Policy at The University of Arizona
* Tanya Hosch, Executive director of the
Indigenous Governance Institute project”

* CONGRESS: UNITY IS THE KEY: SPEECH TO ACTU CONGRESS 2012

– Speech

National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples:
Unity is the key: Speech to ACTU Congress 2012
http://nationalcongress.com.au/unity-is-the-key-speech-to-actu-congress-2012/
16 May 12: “Congress CEO, Lindon Coombes spoke to the ACTU
Congress, the meeting of 1000 delegates from every industry
and sector in Australia. He spoke about the National
Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, about opposing the
current legislation for the next phase of the NT
Intervention and about supporting Constitutional reform.
The ACTU Congress then passed a unanimous resolution to
support the campaign to recognise Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples in the body of the Constitution of
Australia.
Click here to read the full speech.”

See:

Background to National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples:
Last updated: 5 May 2012
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/05/background-to-the-national-congress-of-australia%E2%80%99s-first-peoples

* GERRY GEORGATOS:
THE NT IS A PRISON BUILT BRICK BY BRICK BY THE COMMONWEALTH

– Analysis / Opinion

Indymedia Australia:
People are not the property of people;
the Northern Territory is a prison built brick by brick
by the Commonwealth
http://www.indymedia.org.au/2012/05/20/people-are-not-the-property-of-people-the-northern-territory-is-a-prison-built-brick-by-b
20 May 12: “The Northern Territory Intervention and Stronger
Futures are custodial predicaments and hence the premise to
the arguments by many that they are racist occurrences.
Statistics indicate that everything since the Military
Emergency Response in the Northern Territory have got worse
and not better, … Not just one, however twelve Northern
Territory Elders, twelve out of twelve, said to me that the
Intervention is a prison, and that they do not just live in
prison-like conditions however in an actual prison, in that
they see the warden, the guards, and in that they can see
the walls, the bars, and the heavy metal doors.”
By Gerry Georgatos

* JACK WATERFORD: MACKLIN POLICIES DO NOT TRANSLATE

– Analysis / Opinion

Canberra Times: Macklin policies do not translate
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/macklin-policies-do-not-translate-20120518-1yvlv.html
19 May 12: “One of the latest whizz ideas in Aboriginal
affairs is the appointment of indigenous engagement
officers – or IEOs as they are already being called at
MackDonald’s Farm. We – perhaps more accurately Aboriginal
communities – already have about 30 of them, and one of the
budget ”initiatives” from the Minister for Indigenous
Affairs, Jenny Macklin, is that there will be another 60
IEO jobs invented over the next two years. IEOs, according
to Macklin, will work closely with Government Engagement
Coordinators in communities … ” Jack Waterford

* MORE ‘STRONGER FUTURES’ LEGISLATION RELATED ARTICLES:

– News

National Indigenous Radio Service:
Work-for-the-dole scheme no help: Darwin group
http://www.nirs.org.au/news/latest-news/7230-work-for-the-dole-scheme-no-help-darwin-group
22 May 12: “A Northern Territory Indigenous rights
organisation says the gradual reduction of work scheme
Community Development Employment Programs (CDEP) has
created uncertainty in communities. The Darwin Aboriginal
Rights Coalition welcomed comments from Federal Opposition
Indigenous Affairs Spokesperson Nigel Scullion which
contradicted the Liberal’s policy of moving people from CDEP
to welfare. The Rights Coalition’s Peter Robson says if CDEP
continues to be watered down to a work-for-the-dole scheme,
there would be little to provide community members with
long-terms jobs.”

9 News: Qld urged to revolt against welfare policy
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8470753/qld-urged-to-revolt-against-welfare-policy
21 May 12: “The Queensland government is being urged not to
allow compulsory income management to be extended to two
Queensland cities. The policy is set to be rolled out in
Logan and Rockhampton on July 1 if the state government
signs an agreement with the federal government. Queensland
Greens spokeswoman Libby Connors has urged Communities
Minister Tracy Davis not to agree. The state government has
promised a new inquiry into child protection and should
await its report, she says.”

* BACKGROUND TO ‘STRONGER FUTURES’ NEW NT INTERVENTION LAWS:

Last updated: 21 May 2012

http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-stronger-futures-new-nt-intervention-laws

* BACKGROUND TO THE NORTHERN TERRITORY (NT) INTERVENTION:

Last updated: 29 April 2012

http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-northern-territory-nt-intervention

* OTHER ARTICLES:

– Analysis / Opinion

agendaTracker: Little Black Duck:
A broken promise for social justice
http://tracker.org.au/2012/05/little-black-duck-a-broken-promise-for-social-justice/
18 May 12: “NATIONAL: As the anniversary of the landmark
Mabo decision nears, we should focus on the Keating
government’s failure to deliver its Social Justice Package,
writes NICOLE WATSON*. The third of June will mark the
twentieth anniversary of the High Court’s decision in Mabo
v Queensland. It will be an occasion for many to reflect on
the brave plaintiffs who fought a David and Goliath battle
against the treacherous Queensland government. But it will
also be a time to contemplate the injustice of the native
title recognition process that has failed to realize the
promise of that historic decision.”
Nicole Watson, Murri lawyer and researcher,
Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, UTS

– Audio Interview

Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane:
Grant Rigney –
Chair of the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/
22 May 12
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/grant-rigney/