Category Archives: Indigenous Australians

Australia politics live: Lambie threatens to disrupt Senate over Afghanistan medals; question time under way

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Adam Bandt rails against Woodside’s exclusion from petroleum resource rent tax

Greens leader Adam Bandt is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast about the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) changes and in particular the fact that Woodside’s Western Australian North-West Shelf project isn’t included in it.

The tax is still broken, and they’re meant to be subjected to it. They should pay their fair share of tax. As I say, even after these changes, Australia only brings in a few $100 million extra from these big gas corporations that are making billions of dollars of profits. It’s about a 10th of what comparable countries bring in. If we made these guess corporations pay their fair share of tax. They’d be an extra $94 billion over the decade to go to things like delivering cost-of-living relief, funding a rent freeze, getting dental into Medicare.

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Proportion of Aboriginal inmates in NSW hit a record 29.7% in February

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Exclusive: State Aboriginal Legal Service calls for end to ‘over-policing’ of Indigenous people

The proportion of Aboriginal people in prisons across New South Wales has reached an all-time high, prompting an urgent call from key groups for governments to end the “over-policing” of Indigenous communities.

The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) figures revealed Aboriginal people accounted for a record 29.7% of the state’s adult prison population in February, dipping slightly to 29.5% in March.

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Albanese urges all citizens to discuss Indigenous voice to ensure successful referendum

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Success ‘will depend on millions of conversations between Australians of all backgrounds and faiths and beliefs’, PM says in speech

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has urged citizens to discuss the Indigenous voice to parliament with friends and family to ensure the referendum’s success. He also claims the no campaign has radically underestimated Australians, who would not succumb to fear campaigns about the constitutional change.

Albanese will use a major speech in Adelaide on Monday to counter claims the government has rushed into the referendum, saying the voice and calls for Indigenous constitutional recognition have developed over decades.

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Lidia Thorpe to lodge racism claim against Greens party with Human Rights Commission

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Independent senator also foreshadowed abstaining from Senate vote on Indigenous voice referendum in interview with ABC

Senator Lidia Thorpe says she will lodge a complaint to the Human Rights Commission against her former party, the Australian Greens, claiming she experienced racism during her time in the organisation.

But the party said it is not aware of the complaint and is committed to stamping out racism at work and in parliament.

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Australia news live: Lidia Thorpe to lodge human rights complaint alleging racist treatment from the Greens

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Sydney man arrested for alleged major heroin smuggling operation after deportation

A Sydney man has been charged for allegedly orchestrating one of the biggest heroin imports in recent history after being deported from Türkiye, the Australian Federal Police has said.

Police will allege the man has been based in a number of countries since March 2020 and is responsible for organising the importation of 347.9kg of heroin into Sydney in December 2020, while he was based in Thailand. It will also be alleged this man has extensive links to transnational organised crime groups, which helped facilitate this importation.

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Bridget McKenzie praises Victorian Nationals’ vote against Indigenous voice; third teenager comes forward over Surry Hills fire – as it happened

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Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is speaking from the Northern Territory on the Indigenous voice to parliament as today marks 56 years since the 1967 referendum.

Today marks 56 years since the 1967 referendum. One of the most successful federal referendums in Australia’s history. A day when Australians came together to vote to change the constitution so Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would be counted as part of the population.

As a nation, we look back at the 1967 referendum, at Charlie Perkins and his freedom rights, at more than a 90% vote “yes” which was done with great pride.

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Linda Burney hits back at Dutton’s claim Labor risking reconciliation with Indigenous voice referendum

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Minister for Indigenous Australians says referendum ‘will be determined by the Australian people, not politicians’

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has hit back at comments from Peter Dutton and accused the opposition leader of “playing politics” with the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum and dividing Australians.

Dutton said on Saturday the cause of reconciliation could be set back if the referendum on an Indigenous voice failed but accused the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, of starving Australians of detail.

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Nationals push for $10m fines and ability to break up Coles and Woolworths if they abuse market power

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Exclusive: David Littleproud says former Coalition government was ‘too slow’ on compulsory grocery code of conduct

David Littleproud has offered to help Labor bolster competition law protections for farmers and suppliers in a bid to prevent potential abuses of market power by Australia’s big supermarkets.

The Nationals leader proposes making the grocery code of conduct compulsory, boosting penalties to a “punitive” $10m maximum and adding powers to break up grocery giants in the event of misconduct.

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Indigenous leaders warn that ‘hate is raining down on us’ as voice campaign ramps up

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Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, asks nation to ‘lean on the wheel of history and give it a push’

Racism is taking its toll on Aboriginal communities during the voice debate, “and it is going to get tougher”, the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has said at a meeting of the government’s referendum advisory group at Uluru on Friday.

“This is going to be a difficult campaign. It’s one of the reasons that we’ve set aside $10m in the most recent budget for mental health, particularly for Aboriginal people, distributed through the Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations for that very reason,” Burney said.

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Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly says Facebook must act against ‘tidal wave’ of racist trolls

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Indigenous body says it has blocked about 300 people in the past week who used racist slurs

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly has called on Facebook to act against the “tidal wave” of racist online trolls that it says have targeted its work.

But Facebook’s parent company Meta has defended its record of addressing online abuse, saying it was a problem all tech companies needed to confront.

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Australia politics live: Christian Porter will not act in Palmer lawsuit against government due to conflict, estimates told

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Former attorney general received confidential information while in office and has said he will not act for Clive Palmer, senators hear. Follow the day’s news live

Cricket builds friendship between Australia and India, says Albanese

Narendra Modi described the Australia-India relationship last night as the three Cs – commonwealth, cricket and curry, the three Ds – diaspora, democracy and dosti (Bollywood film series and friendship) and the 3Es – economy, energy and education.

There is always a discussion about cricket when Australians and Indians gather and I did get the experience of being day one of the fourth test for a brief time with Prime Minister Modi. It was quite an experience in the world’s biggest stadium there in March and Australians and Indians are very passionate about their cricket but it is part of the way that we build our friendship between our two nations.

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Australia politics live: ABC journalists walk out to stand in solidarity with Stan Grant against ‘awful blight’ of racism

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Greens announce comedian Mandy Nolan as Richmond candidate for 2025 election

We are only a year into the Albanese government, but it’s never too early to be prepared, I suppose. The Greens have announced their candidate for Richmond at the next election – Mandy Nolan.

At the last election people were desperate to kick out the Liberals, but now they’re realising Labor also wants new coal and gas, which makes the climate crisis worse, as well as billions in handouts for property moguls, which pushes up rents and house prices. Labor has no plan whatsoever to help renters and Labor’s housing bill sees the crisis get worse.

Mandy’s already got a team of volunteers ready to hit the streets and talk to Richmond residents about how the Greens are the only party fighting for renters and climate action.

The Finance and Public Administration Committee (which includes department of parliamentary services and prime minister and cabinet).

The Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee, where it will be the Department of Home Affairs show.

The Environment and Communications committee will hear from the climate change and energy department as well as environment and water. (So power prices will dominate this one).

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Original voice bill wording to stay as Noel Pearson calls Mick Gooda a ‘bedwetter’ over proposed change

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Former human rights commissioner suggested Indigenous leaders should consider ‘compromise’ to improve referendum’s chance

Calls to change the wording of the Indigenous voice amendment have been shot down by key Indigenous leaders of the government’s expert working groups, with Noel Pearson dismissing former human rights commissioner Mick Gooda on ABC radio as “foolish” and a “bedwetter” for suggesting an eleventh-hour alteration.

Guardian Australia understands the Albanese government doesn’t plan to amend the proposed constitutional amendment ahead of it being debated in parliament on Monday.

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Q+A host Stan Grant standing down from ABC show after racist abuse

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The ABC presenter says he has been a media target for racism and for now he’s ‘walking away’

The host of Q+A Stan Grant is standing down from the show after receiving “grotesque racist abuse” which escalated after he spoke on the ABC about the impact of colonialism ahead of the King’s coronation.

Grant said in a column published on the ABC website that after Monday’s episode he was “walking away”.

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Gas lobby plans ‘national public awareness campaign’ – as it happened

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‘Good women’s policy is good economic policy’: Sussan Ley convening women’s economic security roundtable

The deputy opposition leader and shadow minister for women, Sussan Ley, is convening a women’s economic security roundtable today.

Restarting the Career Revive program for older women to retrain and re-enter the workforce.

Greater flexibility in childcare arrangements (for which there are no details, but the rhetoric is consistent with allowing women to use subsidies on alternatives such as nannies).

Paying superannuation on paid parental leave.

Helping older women who face relationship breakdown achieve financial security, including through access to superannuation.

The Liberal party can be the party of choice for women – we must be – and that is why we are going to meet them where they are in life with new ideas and real solutions that help them.

I want the women of Australia to know that the Liberal party that Peter Dutton and I lead will be back in your corner – we will support your career choices, we will look at ways to help you as you manage your work-life balance and we will help you secure your financial independence.

I don’t think anyone would question when you’ve got something like the debt ceiling being negotiated in the United States …

In terms of the relationship between the countries and the strength of the relationship, as allies, that’s all there; and I think anyone who knows what negotiations with the debt ceiling are like in the United States understands exactly why President Biden’s been in a situation to make a decision like this.

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Labor’s cashless welfare bill criticised as disproportionately affecting First Nations people

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Critics claim the bill could see government further expand income management policies

Indigenous organisations and welfare advocates have blasted a government bill they say cements controversial cashless welfare policies that disproportionately affect First Nations people.

Labor abolished the cashless debit card that operated in several trial sites but has kept income management in the Northern Territory, where about 20,000 mostly Indigenous welfare recipients are forced on to the “basics card”.

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Breaking the cycle: protesters demand solutions for youth detainees of Banksia Hill

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Advocates say system is broken and government needs to work with local community to support young people

They came to call for change.

Among the 700 protestors outside Western Australia’s Banksia Hill Juvenile detention centre on Sunday afternoon was Lee-Anne Mason.

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Central Australian schools get record federal funding, as Labor aims to halt public education flight

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Albanese government will spend $28bn on schools in 2023-24, but unions demand more to improve retention rates

Public schools in Central Australia will meet the minimum education funding benchmark for the first time in about a decade under the new federal budget, but the Greens say more needs to be done to close the gap between public and private education.

The Albanese government will spend a record high of $28bn on schools in 2023-24, Tuesday’s budget confirmed, rising to $31.4bn in 2026-27.

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Budget allocates millions to support Indigenous mental health through voice campaign

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Treasurer also finds $492m for Closing The Gap plan and $250m for programs to tackle antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs

The government will devote $492m to the Indigenous Closing The Gap plan and $250m for a new strategy for central Australia and Alice Springs, but nearly $95m of that remains in a contingency fund pending further co-design processes with local communities.

The federal budget also allocates $336m to the Australian electoral commission to manage the referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament, including $10m to print and deliver the official yes and no pamphlet to every household, plus millions to support mental health for Aboriginal people throughout the campaign. The government will also press on with developing regional voice groups before the national voice referendum is held.

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NRL joins growing number of sporting codes backing Indigenous voice to parliament

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Major Australian sporting organisations expected to play a significant role in the yes campaign, with AFL and Cricket Australia yet to announce a stance

The National Rugby League is the latest major sporting code to back the Indigenous voice to parliament, joining a growing list of elite athletic organisations campaigning for a yes vote in this year’s referendum.

As the major football codes hold their Indigenous rounds in coming weeks, a long-mooted campaign of support from sporting groups is expected to intensify toward a referendum likely to be held in October – shortly after the AFL and NRL grand finals.

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