Category Archives: Indigenous Australians

Uluru Dialogue accuses Dutton of ‘deception’ over voice – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Jim Chalmers is now on RN Breakfast, where he was asked by host Hamish McDonald whether he was reconsidering the stage-three tax cuts given much of the $22.1bn budget surplus comes from the taxes of “hard working Australians”.

Chalmers said the government has not changed its view on the tax cuts, which recent data showed will flow disproportionately to high-income earners and men:

Well, first of all, it’s partly a function that people are working more and earning more. The labor market is incredibly resilient given what’s coming at us from around the world. And so unemployment is lower than what many people anticipated. And wages have began growing again, and that’s a good thing too. And that’s one of the reasons why the budgets in better nick but also getting good better prices for our commodities and what that means for company tax.

We haven’t changed our view about the stage three tax cuts, but we have found a way to provide substantial cost-of-living relief for people on low and middle and fixed incomes, because we recognise people are doing it tough and they’ve been our priority.

Continue reading...

AEC struggles to get Twitter to remove posts that ‘incite violence’ and spread ‘disinformation’ ahead of voice

Posted on by

Exclusive: Documents reveal platform has repeatedly ruled tweets reported by the Australian Electoral Commission are not against its terms of service

The Australian Electoral Commission has struggled to get Twitter to remove posts that it says are inciting violence against staff and promoting disinformation about the electoral process ahead of the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, documents reveal.

Correspondence between the agency and social media company – now known as X – obtained under freedom of information laws, show frustration over “nil actions” by Twitter on AEC reports in April and May, with a referral left pending for up to 15 days and some appeals left even longer.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Central Land Council executive condemns Jacinta Price’s ‘denial of history’ in press club comments as ‘disgraceful’

Posted on by

The CLC executive – 90 elected members who represent 75 communities across nine regions – said comments insult survivors of 1927 Coniston massacre. Follow the day’s news live

New report combats ‘inaccurate assertions’ about teaching courses

Almost three-quarters of Australian teachers are satisfied with their training programs, a new report has found, undermining the suggestion poor course content is leading to workforce shortages in the field.

Rather than focusing on the unsubstantiated claim that teachers are generally dissatisfied with ITE programs, we should instead focus on the willingness and capacity of ITE providers to continually improve these programs.

This will require a shift in focus from policymakers - away from the overwhelming emphasis on ITE and towards effective, system-wide [development] that becomes a regular part of teachers’ workload rather than a bolt-on.

Not a preamble. Not a footnote in the Constitution. First Nations people want structural change that can make a practical difference.

A mechanism that can make children’s lives better. Not just something that will feel good - something that will do good.

As the Minister, I will go to the voice and say: ‘this school attendance program isn’t working’. Help me to get the best possible advice to fix it … From every corner of the country – about how we can do better.

Continue reading...

Indigenous and culturally diverse Australians more likely to attend arts events, study finds

Posted on by

Diversity advocates say more funding and leadership opportunities are needed to match the high participation rates

Advocates representing diverse Australian artists have called for more funding after a landmark study found that Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse (Cald) Australians were more likely than other Australians to create, attend and engage with the arts.

Results from the fifth National Arts Participation survey of 9,396 Australians aged 15 and above, conducted in September and October 2022, were released on Wednesday – the first survey to take place since the Covid pandemic decimated the arts industries.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Victoria to spend public housing money on Carlton towers; RBA considered further rate hike

Posted on by

Reserve bank considered a 25 basis point hike before deciding to hold benchmark cash rate unchanged at 4.1%, minutes reveal. Follow the day’s news live

O’Neil: government response on cybercrime will not take away responsibilities of corporations to secure data

Clare O’Neil is asked whether the government is considering implementing a “safe harbour rule” like other countries have that would enable businesses to report what’s happened but then be saved from prosecution.

What’s really important to understand … is the way in which a cyber attack unfolds is quite different than other types of crime. So if you get something stolen from your house, the police can come in and you can identify the items that are gone usually pretty much immediately. Cybercrime is not like that. Often what is taken is invisible and it will take sometimes months to understand exactly what has happened.

So what what we are thinking about at the moment is how to make sure we’ve got as open disclosure as possible at the crisis point of the attack. So when we know there is an intruder on the system … we need to help companies [eject] them from the system as quickly as possible. That doesn’t take away from any responsibilities that corporations will have ultimately around the transparency of what has happened, and reporting that to government and to regulators.

We’ve got really good reason to believe that the cybersecurity environment is actually going to worsen. And I say that not to scare people, but to help them understand that we can see what is coming at us and that is why the government is so fiercely active on this issue.

What I mean by that is that cybercrime is a relatively new form of criminal activity. And I think what we’re seeing is countries around the world start to build and develop responses that will actually help us bring perpetrators to account …

Continue reading...

‘Very little has shifted’: watch house case a major concern for First Nations group advising Queensland police

Posted on by

Exclusive: Leadership needs to act with urgency to address ‘culture of racism’ instead of focusing on ‘performative’ elements, says adviser

A key adviser to the Queensland police on First Nations issues says more urgency is required to fix racism in the ranks, amid concerns the service has failed to address widespread cultural problems exposed by a commission of inquiry.

Christine Thomas, the co-chair of the QPS First Nations advisory group, said the group “holds great concern that little has changed” since last year’s inquiry found a “failure of leadership” had allowed a culture of sexism, racism, fear and silence to take hold unchecked. The government responded by giving police $100m to enact reforms.

Continue reading...

First Nations groups demand immediate stop to killing dingos as control method

Posted on by

Declaration signed by more than 20 Indigenous groups says dingoes are a ‘cultural icon’ and killing them is ‘killing family’

First Nations people around the country have called for the immediate end of lethal dingo control, following an inaugural national dingo forum held in Cairns on Friday and Saturday.

A national dingo declaration signed by representatives from more than 20 First Nations groups says “lethal control should never be an option”.

Continue reading...

Destruction of sacred Flinders Ranges sand hills ‘heartbreaking’, say traditional owners

Posted on by

South Australia’s environment department apologises for damage done to sacred sites adjacent to Nilpena Edicara National Park

Traditional owners have described the destruction of sacred Aboriginal sites in South Australia during an attempt to fence off a national park as “totally heartbreaking”.

The damage to Flinders Ranges sand hills happened during work on a planned fence to stop stock from an adjoining cattle station from going into the recently established Nilpena Ediacara National Park, on the land of the Adnyamathanha people.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Liberals say Warren Mundine’s stance on treaties and Australia Day could cost him Senate seat

Posted on by

Senior party source says the leading no campaigner ‘made it very difficult for himself’ in race to succeed retiring NSW senator Marise Payne

Leading no campaigner Warren Mundine’s support for treaties with First Nations people and moving the date of Australia Day will likely sink his chances of taking a vacant Liberal Senate seat, party sources have said.

Mundine has been touted as a possible candidate for the New South Wales vacancy created by Marise Payne’s resignation. He has been supported by the former prime minister Scott Morrison and his centre-right factional ally Alex Hawke.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Indigenous voice no campaigner Warren Mundine says date of Australia Day should be changed

Posted on by

Mundine says win for no vote more likely to lead to treaties; Walk for Yes events held around Australia

Asked about the Indigenous Advisory Council, Mundine says the body was “just a committee” that advised the Prime Minister and Cabinet “in ways that we could improve things”. He says this body was different to the proposal for the voice which will create unnecessary bureaucracy.

Well, the difference between us and the voice, as I said, we weren’t a representative body, we were made up of all different races. And we were experts in these areas of what needed to be done … and also we weren’t in the constitution. We were totally outside that.

This is one of the problems I had, and this is one of the [reasons] why I stepped away from the Uphold & Recognise movement, was because I didn’t see – why did we have to have it in the [constitution]? Because that creates a position that [Indigenous Australians] are always going to need help and are always victims, and I didn’t agree with that.

I say treaties in the plural sense because we have to recognise Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal culture is our First Nations, and the first thing we learn about life is that one nation cannot talk about another nation’s country, only those traditional owners of those countries can talk about those countries, and therefore when you talk about like a state treaty or a national-type treaty, it doesn’t make sense in our culture.

If it is a “no” vote, that’s when the real work starts. As Jacinta said, the senator, she said we have to have accountability. We are spending billions of dollars every year and according to Closing the Gap we are still not going places. We have to deal with that.

Continue reading...

Mundine calls for Australia Day date change and backs treaties despite opposing voice

Posted on by

Warren Mundine, a leading anti-voice campaigner, made the comments despite his no campaign warning against such ‘radical’ changes

Leading no vote spokesperson Warren Mundine has called for the date of Australia Day to be changed, and for multiple treaties with Australia’s First Nations, despite his own campaign raising these as potential “radical” consequences of voting for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

Mundine, who founded the Recognise a Better Way group opposing the voice, also hinted on Sunday that fellow no vote advocate Gary Johns had been told to keep quiet, after a backlash over Johns’ comments suggesting blood tests for access to welfare, and that some people in Indigenous communities lived in a “stupor”.

Continue reading...

Yes campaign ramps up with new $20m ad campaign and rallies around Australia

Posted on by

Launch of ad promoting the yes vote ahead of the voice referendum coincides with Walk for Yes events in major cities

The yes campaign has stepped up its efforts ahead of the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, launching a $20m advertising blitz as it holds ‘Walk for Yes’ rallies around the country.

The ad, which launches on Saturday across TV, digital, radio and print, features a young Indigenous boy who asks if he will “grow up in a country that hears my voice”.

Continue reading...

Chris Minns open to a NSW voice to parliament regardless of federal referendum outcome

Posted on by

Exclusive: The premier says state with largest First Nations population should not be the only one without a truth and treaty process

New South Wales could implement a voice to parliament similar to the South Australian model regardless of the outcome of the federal referendum in October.

The premier, Chris Minns, told Guardian Australia he was open to a state voice to parliament or one of the other models being implemented as part of truth-telling and treaty processes under way in other Australian jurisdictions.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Burney decries ‘unbelievably racist and bullying’ treatment in candid remarks to NSW premier – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Burney says Price’s comments ‘simply wrong’

Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney also described Jacinta Price’s comments as “simply wrong”.

It’s a real betrayal to the many families that have experienced things like Stolen Generations.

The idea that colonisation in any country ... doesn’t have long and far-reaching effects is simply wrong.

There are many people I’ve spoken to last night, this morning, that are very distressed and quite frankly, pretty disgusted. But I am going to focus on the goal here and that is a successful referendum.

Continue reading...

No campaigners make unfounded claims that crosses on ballots could invalidate 5% of referendum vote

Posted on by

Fair Australia field director tells volunteers ticks and crosses issue could affect large proportion of vote despite fewer than 1% of votes in 1999 referendum being informal

Anti-voice campaigners are making unfounded claims about the impact ticks and crosses on ballot papers could have on the outcome of the referendum, with one campaigner claiming to volunteers that the issue could account for “5% of the vote” being discounted.

The Australian Electoral Commission has repeatedly rebuffed concerns about a decades-old rule that papers marked with a tick may be counted, but papers marked with a cross would likely be discounted due to the ambiguity of crosses. The no campaign has seized on the issue, claiming that allowing ticks to be counted in some cases would favour the yes campaign, despite the AEC pushing voters to write either “yes” or “no”.

Continue reading...

Politics live: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says she does not believe legacy of colonisation continues to impact Indigenous Australians

Posted on by

Shadow Indigenous affairs minister last spoke at forum alongside Marcia Langton and Josephine Cashman in 2016. Follow live news updates today

We’ll be hearing from Michael Long and the Long walkers very soon.

In other news ahead of us, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will give an address to the national press club and then she is down for an event with the Australian newspaper later this afternoon.

[It’s an issue that’s been identified across international media and domestically, but we need to make sure that there are absolutely no loopholes or ability for people to think that they can operate contrary to Australia’s national interest.

And so we’re making sure that our laws clearly identify and make it clear to any veteran to any firm former service personnel to public servants that have worked in defence that we take the integrity of our information, our national security information and training very seriously, and that we are going to properly regulate any work that they do for a foreign military or companies associated with them so that we’re protecting our national interest.

Continue reading...

Brazilian Indigenous group expresses solidarity with voice yes campaign amid fight with BHP

Posted on by

Brazilian Indigenous leaders who are fighting a class action suit against BHP over a tailings dam collapse say they face similar struggles to First Nations Australians

A group of First Nations Brazilians taking on the mining company BHP say a voice to parliament will give Indigenous Australians a critical avenue they were not afforded – the chance to consult.

The delegation is visiting Australia to meet with politicians this week amid their multibillion-dollar class action suit against the Australian mining firm over its role in the devastation caused by the Mariana dam disaster in 2015.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Voice can close economic gap for Indigenous Australians, says Julian Leeser

Posted on by

Former Liberal frontbencher supports referendum as a way of getting First Nations people ‘to the same starting line’ as other Australians

The Liberal MP Julian Leeser says a voice to parliament is not about “special treatment or privileges” but about getting Indigenous Australians “to the same starting line that other Australians are at”.

Amid rising partisan rancour in the referendum debate, with his own side leading the charge for the no campaign, Leeser told parliament he supported the voice because it was a manifestation of “deeply Liberal and conservative ideas”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Hi it’s Jacinta Price’: Liberal anti-voice mass text campaign branded ‘deceptive’ by teals

Posted on by

Australian Electoral Commission says texts purporting to be from no campaign leader are legal, but MPs say they are ‘predatory’

A Liberal party mass text campaign against the Indigenous voice that encourages voters to sign up for a postal vote on the party’s website has been branded as “deceptive” by teal independent MPs.

Many thousands of Australians are believed to have received unsolicited texts from the Liberal party, some sent in the name of no campaign leader Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, branding the Indigenous voice as “risky”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Opposition leader accused of being ‘chief propagandist’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

All eyes will be on the high court from about 10am, when it hands down its decision on whether Qantas illegally sacked its ground staff three years ago. The TWU brought the case and Qantas has appealed it all the way to the high court.

You can read some of the previous reporting here:

Continue reading...