Category Archives: Indigenous Australians

State and territory leaders to sign joint statement backing Indigenous voice to parliament

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The move, ahead of national cabinet, will give a fresh push to Labor’s referendum plans, with the Liberals and Greens yet to agree their positions

State and territory leaders are expected to formally endorse a plan to support an Indigenous voice to parliament ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting.

The leaders of all eight states and territories have committed publicly to backing the voice, but are expected to sign a joint statement at their Council for the Australian Federation meeting on Thursday evening, ahead of national cabinet on Friday.

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Australia news live updates: ClubsNSW chief says he ‘misspoke’ in linking Perrottet’s faith to pokies policy

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Independent MP Alex Greenwich calls on Josh Landis to step down following comments about NSW premier. Follow the latest updates live

Alice Springs’ convention centre was packed last night for a meeting where business owners alleged they’ve suffered losses due to government inaction.

The ABC is reporting that organiser and business owner Garth Thompson told the crowd that the Northern Territory government had neglected Alice Springs and residents “deserve to be compensated for what the government has put us through”.

I’m more than proud to stand here and say we, as a community of Alice Springs, are about to sue our government for $1.5 billion in compensation.

Those of us who came here for a community meeting ended up listening to 20 to 30 minutes of a local business owner essentially stir up a very emotive narrative centred around the protection of private property.

I think it’s fair to say that the premier has very little understanding of this issue and has acted from his conservative Catholic gut rather than based on evidence.

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Australia news live: Peter Dutton to attend voice referendum working group meeting remotely

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The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, also spoke to ABC Radio this morning about how the government is balancing the budget with record high inflation, and all signs pointing to another rate hike from the RBA next week.

Gallagher says there will be mortgage pain for over a fifth of mortgage holders:

We’re expecting about 20% of mortgage holders to come off fixed rate loans this year.

We always said 2023 was going to be challenging year … Dealing with the inflation challenge is a key economic priority for the government.

What you’ll see is a continued focus on cost-of-living relief, funding those priority areas like health and aged care and making sure we’re getting the balance right in terms of spending restraint, banking upgrades and looking for sensible savings where we can.

There’s no doubt that migrants have been key to the formation of modern Australia.

I think [migrants] should be recognised for their contribution to this country. And I think that’s fair enough, but that’s not minimising the Indigenous.

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‘The government has listened’: Australia’s peak bodies praise $300m federal arts policy

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Launched by Anthony Albanese at Melbourne live music pub the Espy, the policy offers welcome support for the beleaguered industry

Australia’s arts industry has welcomed the federal government’s $300m national cultural policy Revive, which was launched on Monday by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

Albanese described it as a comprehensive and inclusive way to enhance the lives of all Australians, “from the gallery, to the mosh pit, to your favourite reading chair”. While most of the major policies were released over the weekend, the official launch, held at Melbourne live music venue the Esplanade, revealed a few more details, such as the establishment of a national poet laureate – a position Australia has not had since the convict era – and the commitment to deliver a state of culture report every three years, similar to the government-issued state of the environment report.

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‘Complete, unmitigated disaster’: inquest into Veronica Nelson’s death urges overhaul of ‘discriminatory’ Victorian bail laws

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Coroner refers prison health contractor to Director of Public Prosecutions over death in custody

A Victorian coroner has declared the state’s controversial bail laws discriminatory and a “complete, unmitigated disaster”, using landmark findings into the 2020 death in custody of First Nations woman Veronica Nelson to recommend urgent reforms.

Coroner Simon McGregor on Monday handed down the highly anticipated findings into the death of Nelson, a 37-year-old Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman who was in prison after being arrested for shoplifting and refused bail.

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Arrernte traditional owners urge PM to ‘come back and talk to the elders’ amid Alice Springs crisis

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Strong Grandmothers of the Central Desert group wants Anthony Albanese and other politicians to hear concerns at grassroots level

Arrernte traditional owners are urging the prime minster to return to Alice Springs to talk to elders on the ground following his visit last week in response to a surge in crime and antisocial behaviour in the Northern Territory town.

Eastern Arrernte woman Elaine Peckham, senior Western Arrrernte woman Doreen Carroll and Southern Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra woman Brenda Shields form part of the Strong Grandmothers of the Central Desert group, who have come together to advocate for their community and push for change.

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Social platforms set advertising rules on Indigenous voice for Australia’s first referendum in digital age

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Warren Mundine, a leading critic of voice to parliament, is concerned advertising from main referendum campaigns may be removed by platforms

Major online platforms are setting their transparency and misinformation rules for Australia’s first referendum in the digital age, as Warren Mundine, a prominent member of the no campaign, calls for advertising about the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum to run unrestricted.

Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat will require all paid ads for the voice referendum to carry authorisation messages like those at elections, and will fact-check ads and remove those rated as false.

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Linda Reynolds sends formal defamation complaint to Brittany Higgins’s partner – as it happened

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Ukrainian loss would embolden leaders in Pacific region, ambassador says

The ambassador of Ukraine to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, stresses that the reason Australia’s assistance needs to continue is because it’s in Australia’s interests to support the Ukraine:

The reason why we need to keep up and step up that assistance because this war in Ukraine is disrupting everything. It’s really undermined security, regionally, globally.

It’s having a major impact on your partners here in the region. Look at Indonesia. I mean, they are really suffering from the lack of food that can get on their market. They have 275 million people to feed and they really rely on grain from Ukraine, which now they have a hard time getting hold of as the prices have surged. We’ve seen the impact on the energy markets on the volatility of the commodity markets.

What’s important is that Australia continues to support Ukraine. We are truly thankful for what Australia has done so far, especially the last package which was announced in October where another 30 Bushmasters were allocated and the troops which are now in Britain have already been able to train Ukrainian soldiers. It’s really a big help.

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Lidia Thorpe joined anti-voice Coalition senators to push for inquiry into Indigenous bodies

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Exclusive: the Greens senator blames an ‘administrative error’ for the move in November before being forced to withdraw by Adam Bandt

The Greens senator Lidia Thorpe put her name to the establishment of an inquiry into Indigenous bodies pushed by some of the Coalition’s most strident opponents of the voice, before being forced to withdraw by the Greens leader, Adam Bandt.

Thorpe has blamed an “administrative error” for the move in November, when she briefly teamed up with the Nationals’ Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Liberal James McGrath, among others, to ask the Senate for a year-long inquiry, which would run throughout the voice referendum debate.

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‘Nothing to celebrate’: Invasion Day rallies draw thousands but participants divided on voice

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Attendees at the Sydney rally say the strong opposition to the voice to parliament by organisers was shaping how they will vote

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Thousands of people attended Invasion Day rallies across Australia on Thursday, where First Nations speakers called for action on deaths in custody, and end to the removal of Aboriginal children and – in many locations – made a case against an Indigenous voice to parliament being enacted before a treaty.

The referendum on a constitutionally enshrined First Nations advisory body, as first proposed in the Uluru statement from the heart, is due to be held later this year and was a prominent topic at Thursday’s events, which are held each year to mourn and protest Indigenous dispossession on what is officially Australia’s national day.

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Thousands attend Invasion Day rallies on Australia’s national holiday as colonisation debate rages

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With Australia increasingly uneasy about celebrating its national day, recognition of Indigenous people in the constitution has become a new flashpoint

Tens of thousands of people have marked Australia’s national day by attending protest rallies in cities across the nation, amid a rising political and social reckoning with the country’s colonial history.

Australia Day – 26 January – commemorates the landing of the British first fleet of convicts at Sydney Cove in 1788, the beginning of the settlement that entrenched European colonisation of the Australian continent.

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Myanmar backflip on Sean Turnell’s amnesty leaves government ‘deeply concerned’ – as it happened

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‘We have to change the attitudes … it won’t matter what day’, McCarthy says

Malarndirri McCarthy, the assistant minister for Indigenous affairs and Yanyuwa Garrawa woman, says Australia Day has always been a time of reflection for her – both on the brutality her people experienced and celebration of the nation.

We know the 26 January always brings debate, I mean, look at the last 10 years with people talking about changing the date. I’ve been on the record saying, well, I think we have to change the attitudes across our country, it won’t matter what day.

We ought to be proud of our country at some point in a united way. And whether it’s the 26th of January or another day, that’s something that our country has to mature and grow towards.

[I’m] disappointed. For a couple of reasons: if we look at the United Nations declaration of Indigenous peoples ... nothing in the declaration undermines the authority of the state, the country’s government. In Australia we did not cede ownership of Australia. Regrettably, it was determined by the British on the day, that terra nullius existed in Australia, which was overturned in 1992 through the Mabo high court decision ... whilst we haven’t ceded ... we haven’t progressed that matter.

It’s important that we as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have an opportunity to be able to contribute to policies that impact us, and programs and legislation – and that’s the first step. And we’ll go down and address the other matters, truth-telling is already progressing, treaty, although some states already looking at treaties within their own jurisdictions. So, I feel a bit offended when we’re starting to determine that the support or determination of whether to support a voice is predetermined by whether you address some of the other issues in Indigenous affairs. As I said in my speech last night, they can co-exist, these approaches. If you support the principle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people having input into policy and legislation, that’s what you should support - it shouldn’t be predicated on whether other things are happening.

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Australia Day 2023 honours for elder abuse law trailblazer, Indigenous activist and a fossil hunter

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Most of the 1,047 Australians honoured are not famous but many of them have changed lives, if not the country

Most of the 1,047 names on the 2023 Australia Day honours list are not as recognisable as Archie Roach, Norman Swan or David Wenham.

But many of them have changed lives, if not the country. Take the solicitor Rodney Lewis, appointed to the Order of Australia for his “life-long contribution to human rights and civil liberties both in Australia and more broadly across our region”.

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Senator may go against party room on voice – as it happened

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Should governments have acted sooner on alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs?

The Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles and the minister for Indigenous affairs Linda Burney have appeared on ABC Radio after the announcements in Alice Springs yesterday.

It was the previous coalition government that walked away and left the Northern Territory with no measures.

I had expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.

Do you think it took too long?

Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long, If you ask the people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes.

I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people living in town camps ... many of who had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is, I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour who had visited the hospital and there are 16 beds in ICU, 14 of those were taken by Aboriginal women who had been beaten ... I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of the problems.

It’s about balance – but being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view.

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Australia news live: flood victims targeted by online scammers; Albanese discloses helicopter flight to Lindsay Fox lunch

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Social media scam promises thousands of dollars in relief funding. Follow the day’s news

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is heaping pressure on Anthony Albanese over law and order issues in Alice Springs.

Dutton told Nine’s Today Show:

I was really shocked when I went up there in October. I spoke to a number of ... public servants who are at breaking point from what they’re seeing and experiencing. I said to the PM we would support whatever measure the government would take, whether it needed legislation, additional resources, additional money going into the Northern Territory. It was clear speaking with Indigenous elders and women on the ground and business owners this issue was completely beyond the capacity and resources of the Northern Territory government.

The prime minister, you know, was very critical of Scott Morrison at the time for not standing up [during natural disasters] ... I was hoping that the prime minister would take up the offer [to visit Alice Springs together] because it does require both sides to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and that’s what we’re offering to do.

If there is a strong Indigenous voice coming out of the Northern Territory at the moment that they wanted prime minister to lead, to act and to help them out, but the prime minister is not listening to that voice, then I think most Australians would say: why not?

It’s got to be a partnership between the feds and the state. No one is saying it should just be the Northern Territory government left to deal with it.

The highway patrol vehicle followed and in an attempt to pull that vehicle over. At the time the vehicle did not stop. And the police activated all their warning devices and a pursuit was commenced.

The vehicle travelled for approximately 2km north along Centenary Drive, at which point it continued at high speed, and when taking the corner into the on-ramp for the westbound M4, collided with the railing. And as a result of the collision, the vehicle travelling at high speed landed upside down after travelling through the bush onto the M4 upside down and burst into flames.

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Guardian Essential poll: Albanese approval rating dips in sign of gruelling political year ahead

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Prime minister’s lowest result since last August doesn’t necessarily mean the end of government’s post-election honeymoon

Anthony Albanese’s approval rating has dropped five points over the summer as Peter Dutton ramped up what Indigenous leader Noel Pearson calls “a spoiling game” on the voice to parliament.

The first Guardian Essential poll for 2023 shows voter approval of the prime minister dipped from 60% in December to 55% in January – which is Albanese’s lowest result since last August. Voter approval of the prime minister had been steady during the last quarter of 2022, ranging between 59% and 60%.

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NSW Greens to push for dedicated First Nations seats in parliament, truth-telling and treaty processes

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Lidia Thorpe and upper house candidate Lynda-June Coe to announce party’s treaty policy in Redfern on Tuesday

Dedicated seats for First Nations people in the New South Wales parliament and truth-telling and treaty processes will be called for as part of the state Greens’ pitch to voters ahead of the March election.

The federal senator Lidia Thorpe – who has described the proposed voice to parliament as a “waste” – will stand alongside NSW upper house candidate Lynda-June Coe as they announce the party’s treaty policy in Redfern on Tuesday.

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Coalition playing ‘spoiling game’ with Indigenous voice to parliament, Noel Pearson warns

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First Nations leader concerned opposition’s calls for more details on referendum is a diversion that threatens chance for reconciliation

The Coalition’s demand for more detail on the Indigenous voice to parliament is a “complete diversion” and a “spoiling game” that threatens to end the chance for reconciliation for ever, the First Nations leader Noel Pearson warns.

Pearson, one of the key architects of the Uluru statement from the heart, says the details were a matter for parliament to determine after the referendum on the voice.

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Irving case prompts review of redress options for miscarriages of justice

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Exclusive: Australia is alone among democracies who have not ratified UN provision enabling legal remedy for someone wrongfully convicted or imprisoned

The Queensland attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, is “actively” pursuing reforms that would expand redress options for people who have been wrongfully convicted, including the possibility of allowing a second appeal in cases where new evidence emerges.

On Thursday, Guardian Australia wrote about the Aboriginal man Terry Irving’s 25-year pursuit of justice. Irving was wrongfully convicted of a bank robbery in Cairns in 1993. He was released from prison in 1997 after the high court said it had “the gravest misgivings about the circumstances of the case”.

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NT government issues ultimatum to alcohol retailers amid Alice Springs crime wave

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Northern Territory police minister warns businesses to self-regulate or authorities will toughen laws to help curb rising street crime and family violence

The Northern Territory government has told alcohol retailers in the troubled central Australian town of Alice Springs they need to limit grog sales to help put a lid on spiralling harms, street crime and family violence, or it will step in and toughen up the laws.

The NT police minister, Kate Worden, issued the ultimatum after meeting with the town’s social order response team (SORT), made up of police, local council, business and community leaders, on Friday.

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