Category Archives: Indigenous Australians

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

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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”.

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

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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”.

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

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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:

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‘It’s like they’re impervious’: fury at let off for Queensland police staff in racist recordings

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Exclusive: Lack of punishment follows repeated promises by police commissioner Katarina Carroll to crack down on racism and misogyny within service

Officers recorded making “sickening” racist comments while working inside a Brisbane watch house have escaped sanction, despite repeated promises by the police commissioner to crack down on racism and misogyny within the service.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, said at a press conference last year she believed officers making such comments “should not be in the organisation” after Guardian Australia exclusively published the leaked recordings.

The tapes revealed officers joking about beating and burying black people, referring to Nigerians as “jigaboos”, and raising fears of “outbreeding” by Muslim immigrants.

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Politics live: James Paterson calls for security vetting of Australian parliament staff in wake of UK espionage scandal

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Shadow home affairs minister calls for extra checks ‘at the very least for MPs who work on sensitive committees’. Follow today’s live news updates

Ley defends pharmacists’ opposition to 60-day dispensing rule for prescriptions

The interview then gets to the issue of pharmacists and the change the government made to allow for 60-day dispensing (two-for-one prescriptions) which will save chronically ill patients up to $180 a year (as well as money on less trips to the doctor, travel etc.) but will cost pharmacists up to $150,000 a year (from the fourth year of the change) in lost dispensing fees (plus people buying fewer ‘incidentals’ such as jelly beans).

I’ve been in contact with many pharmacists over recent weeks, including those who left their businesses and assembled here a couple of weeks ago and I really am concerned about the impact this policy change is going to have.

I’m hearing [about] pharmacies who are already laying off staff. They’re already letting people go and most importantly, they can’t continue to provide the previously free support services that they used to …

Because they’ve told me.

Because if the government has changed the contract it has with pharmacy and is paying them less, they have to change their business in response. It’s as simple as that.

I would like to absolutely recognise the contribution she has made. She has been a trailblazer for our party. She has changed national politics and I have seen the work that she’s done over many years, much of it very modest, very behind the scenes, very in community.

So people often think of her as a defence and foreign affairs minister. I’ve seen her as a local champion for Western Sydney, and disadvantaged people across this country, and I have yeah, I mean, I’ll be really sad to see her go.

Always standing up for Australia’s national interest and a safer, stronger region. It’s as simple as that.

I think we did extremely good work with the Solomon Islands and, indeed, with the Pacific and people are looking at this through the lens of Covid and suggesting that we could have done more when, in fact, travel was an impossibility. I think that issue is well and truly being put to bed.

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Yes campaign hopes to reignite momentum for voice with nationwide events and advertising blitz

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Campaigners are keen for federal politics to take a backseat so the campaign can get more attention

The yes campaign is looking forward to reigniting momentum in its campaign after the coming parliamentary sitting week – the last before the referendum on 14 October – with a nationwide series of major community events, performances and a further advertising blitz.

“The real campaign kicks off after Thursday,” a yes campaign source said, referencing the end of the parliamentary week. “It’s really a month-long campaign.”

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Coalition’s second referendum plan a ‘mirage’, Noel Pearson says

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Indigenous leader dismisses Peter Dutton’s proposal and urges Australians to back coming vote as a chance to settle ‘unfinished business’

Cape York leader Noel Pearson believes the Coalition would never hold another referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition if next month’s vote on the voice fails, saying plan is a “mirage” and pointing to internal opposition confusion.

Pearson has urged Australians to back the current referendum as a chance to settle “unfinished business”, expressing confidence the vote would succeed despite slipping support in opinion polls.

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Hundreds of Aboriginal children likely buried in unmarked graves at three WA missions

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Exclusive: More than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, are believed to have been buried with no record at Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia

As many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three former Western Australian missions, the vast majority of them interred after dying when five or under, a Guardian Australia investigation can reveal.

Spanning decades, more than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, were most likely buried with no record at just three church and government-run missions in the state: Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia.

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Top Indigenous academic quits University of Melbourne law school role and alleges institutional racism

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Resignation of associate dean Dr Eddie Cubillo comes after he delivered speech on his encounters with racism at Melbourne Law School

A leading academic at the University of Melbourne (UoM) has resigned from his role heading Indigenous programs after public complaints over institutional racism at the faculty.

Dr Eddie Cubillo, a Larrakia, Wadjigan and Central Arrernte man, was working part-time as an associate dean and senior fellow at the university’s prestigious Melbourne Law School (MLS).

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price declines to back Peter Dutton’s plan for second referendum

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Opposition leader has called for recognition referendum if yes vote fails, but shadow Indigenous Australians minister says ‘further discussion’ needed

Peter Dutton’s own Indigenous affairs spokesperson has declined to back his plan for a second referendum if the October vote fails, throwing the opposition leader’s alternative to the voice into disarray.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians and leader of the no campaign, declined numerous opportunities to support Dutton’s plan for another referendum on symbolic constitutional recognition, saying there would need to be “further discussions” before she would back the plan.

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NT ordered to pay $1m in damages to youths teargassed in 2014 Don Dale disturbance

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Justice rules use of gas was unlawful and says there was ‘high-handedness or disparaging comments’ by officers towards Indigenous detainees

The Northern Territory government has been ordered to pay almost $1m in damages to four former detainees who were unlawfully teargassed during an incident at the notorious Don Dale youth detention centre.

According to a supreme court judgment delivered last week, Keiran Webster, Leroy O’Shea, Ethan Austral and Josiah Binsaris were entitled to exemplary damages after officers in the centre deployed CS gas, a form of teargas, to “incapacitate” another boy during a “serious disturbance” in 2014.

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Question time chaos – as it happened

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Tasmanian hospitals experiencing significant demand, public asked to reconsider attending

Tasmanians are being urged to stay away from the state’s two main hospitals unless it’s an emergency as they face “significant demand”.

The hospitals are closely managing elective surgery activity to maintain access for emergency demand. This includes working with private hospitals to access contracted bed capacity and elective surgery.”

I think the Qantas board has to seriously consider some of the decisions that they have been making. I mean, not for nothing, you’re in front of the competition watchdog for what is alleged to be quite egregious behaviour.

You have also sought to, as I said, keep on your balance sheet half a billion dollars of your customers’ money rather than giving it back in the middle of a cost of living crisis. (The flight credits)

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Australia politics live: RBA interest rates decision today; question time under way

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Follow today’s live news updates

The corporate regulator is suing Westpac after it allegedly failed to appropriately respond to hundreds of financial hardship requests from bank customers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) said in a statement on Tuesday it had started civil proceedings in the federal court seeking financial penalties to be imposed on the major bank.

All of these customers told Westpac they were experiencing financial hardship.

Many of these customers also told Westpac about their difficult circumstances and vulnerabilities, including their inability to work, the impacts of serious medical conditions or their carer responsibilities.

This error meant we didn’t provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry.

The broader picture here is the we’re seeing big corporations at the moment making record profits off the back of everyday people, these big corporations line up to public handouts when the going gets tough and then when they get back into a more healthy situation, they just pocket the profits and they pass the costs on to everyday people and we think it’s time to say enough is enough and it’s time for these big corporations [to be] made to act in the public interest and that’s government’s job.

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Activists want NT to make spit hoods illegal after report found they were used on children 27 times

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Campaigners says case of child who may have lost consciousness while restrained in spit hood highlights need to legislate ban

The sibling of an Aboriginal man who died after being placed in a spit hood while detained in South Australia has criticised the Northern Territory government for refusing to legislate a ban as recommended by the territory’s ombudsman.

Northern Territory police have used spit hoods on children at least 27 times since 2016, in a move labelled “extraordinary” by the NT ombudsman last week.

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Littleproud says ‘there’ll be no victory lap’ if voice fails – as it happened

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Nationals leader backs Peter Dutton’s call to hold a referendum on Indigenous recognition if the voice to parliament vote fails in October. This blog is now closed

Reforms ensure basic standards around pay and working conditions: Burke

Burke has also flagged reforms to ensure gig workers have some basic minimum standards around pay and conditions. Burke says the government reforms are not designed to “break the technology”.

There is no doubt that when people are ultimately receiving really low wages then making ends meet is tougher, and that puts extra pressure on you to take risks.

Riders have spoken to me about it and they say quite specifically that part of the desperation is you are just not earning enough to make ends meet.

We’re talking about the crime being for intentional wage theft, that’s where someone knows the rules. They know exactly what they’re doing. It is the cases where somebody knows that someone is meant to be paid more and they don’t care because they think they can get away with it, and they know that up until now the worse they will have to do is just pay the money back at a later point in time. So wage theft has nothing to do with complexity. It is about theft.

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‘Trumpian era’ of disinformation makes voice yes campaign job more difficult, Megan Davis says

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Architect of the Uluru statement criticises some media outlets for highlighting misinformation being shared on social media platforms

Key yes campaigner and architect of the Uluru statement from the heart, Prof Megan Davis, has accused the no campaign of relying on Trumpian disinformation, conceding it has made the job of persuading Australians more difficult.

During an event to launch a new television ad featuring John Farnham’s song, You’re the Voice, Davis also criticised some media outlets for highlighting disinformation being shared on social media platforms, particularly Facebook.

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Indigenous leaders dismiss Peter Dutton’s vow to hold recognition referendum if voice vote fails

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Opposition leader says constitutional recognition is ‘the right thing to do’ but Indigenous leader accuses him of ‘not listening’

Indigenous leaders have dismissed opposition leader Peter Dutton’s promise to hold another referendum on constitutional recognition if the voice vote fails and the Coalition win the next election.

Dutton told Sky News on Sunday that, if elected, his party would send Australians back to the ballot box to vote on constitutional recognition, instead of a voice to parliament, saying it is “the right thing to do” and that he supported “regional voices”.

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University of Sydney one of 15 higher education institutions not to have a position on the voice

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Indigenous faculty members say the leadership of Australia’s oldest university could have been ‘much braver’

The University of Sydney is one of 15 Australian higher education institutions that have neglected to take a position on the Indigenous voice to parliament, as pressure mounts on the sector to step up its support ahead of the referendum.

Of Australia’s 41 universities, 25 have backed the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution, and 15 have withheld from a view. The University of Newcastle will reveal its position next month.

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Atagi recommends additional Covid vaccine booster for people over 75 – as it happened

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Health minister’s office confirms government has accepted expert body’s advice. This blog is now closed

AMA says Coalition should ‘get out of the way’ of 60-day dispensing changes

The Australian Medical Association has welcomed the start of 60-day dispensing and urged the Coalition against reversing the decision. The opposition is expected to attempt to overturn the decision with a disallowance motion when parliament resumes next week.

Patients have waited for five years to get the hip pocket savings this policy delivers due to hardline opposition from pharmacy owners. It’s time for patients to get a fair go and for the Coalition to get out of the way of this long overdue health reform and to stop defending pharmacy owner profits.

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Makarrata commission has so far spent barely half the $900,000 allocated by Labor, documents show

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Exclusive: First look at the truth-telling and treaty-making body’s work comes amid heavy Coalition scrutiny

The federal Makarrata commission for truth-telling and treaty-making has so far spent just a small amount of the funds it was allocated by the government, newly released documents show, with the body focusing on research and talking with state governments about treaty processes already under way.

It is the first look at the work of the Makarrata commission, a body requested by the Uluru statement from the heart and funded by the federal Labor government in its first budget last year, to oversee processes around treaty and truth-telling.

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