Until there is truth-telling in Australia about the colonisation process, reconciliation remains superficial
First Nations people across Australia are mourning with Canadian First Nations families as evidence mounts of hundreds of deaths of children at residential schools.
We are standing with our Canadian First Nations brothers and sisters on these recent horrific discoveries.
Continue reading...Barnaby Joyce denies he will challenge Michael McCormack for leadership of the National party as a spill is widely anticipated. Follow latest updates
So a grinning Michael McCormack, an unhappy Barnaby Joyce and an ambivalent David Littleproud walk into the Nationals party room.
Leadership. That’s it. That’s the joke.
Sarah Martin tells me that on his way in to the Nationals party room, Michael McCormack was asked how he was feeling and answered with :
Positive, as I’m always feeling”
Continue reading...International lawyer Geoffrey Robertson to argue Australia failed to protect Dungay’s right to life and denied family justice for his 2015 death in Long Bay jail
International human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson will take the case of the death in custody of David Dungay to the United Nations, arguing that Australia violated his human rights and those of his family by denying them justice and accountability for his 2015 death in prison custody.
Robertson’s London-based Doughty Street Chambers will lodge the complaint on behalf of the Dungay family at the UN human rights committee in Geneva. In it they will say that Australia has failed to protect his right to life and failed to undertake investigations into anyone or any organisation responsible for his death.
Continue reading...Traditional owners are standing together to protect the Fitzroy – a ‘beautiful, living water system’. Just watch out for the bird-sized spiders …
A Nyikina man, Mark Coles Smith, and his fellow travellers began their 400km journey down the mighty Martuwarra (Fitzroy River) on a flood plain covered in giant spiders.
“Bird-sized” spiders were clinging to the canopy, jostling for space on branches protruding above flood water that stretched for kilometres in every direction.
Continue reading...Dodson criticises ‘poor judgment’ but Ben Wyatt says move will pressure other companies to appoint Aboriginal people to boards
Labor senator Pat Dodson has launched a scathing attack on the former West Australian Aboriginal affairs minister, Ben Wyatt, for joining the board of mining giant Rio Tinto, saying it showed “poor judgment” and would “do nothing” to restore Rio’s reputation after the Juukan Gorge disaster.
Wyatt, a Yamatji man, was the Aboriginal affairs minister and treasurer in WA from 2017 to March this year when he retired from parliament.
Continue reading...Rio Tinto’s reputation is in pieces, but the laws, policies and power imbalances that allowed the blast to happen remain largely unchanged
The Western Australian government has refused to commit to a moratorium on approving the destruction of Aboriginal heritage sites, despite the recommendation of a federal inquiry which found that the laws are “unfit for purpose”.
The recommendation was made by an inquiry into Rio Tinto’s destruction of Aboriginal heritage sites at Juukan Gorge on 24 May 2020.
Continue reading...Complex web of data reveals large swathes of country controlled by small number of billionaires and large companies
Continue reading...A perceived lack of cultural awareness has raised concerns about how the rollout will be received, but islanders are working to overcome the barriers
Disruptions are not uncommon on Badu Island, one of the largest islands in the Torres Strait. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the Torres Strait went into lockdown in line with the rest of the country, and locals were encouraged not to travel between islands.
Charlotte Nona, the director of Queensland Regional Health in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula, says there is only one frontline health worker for the entire population on Badu.
Continue reading...Wayne Fella Morrison had no criminal convictions and died three days after being restrained and taken to high security area
A South Australian prison officer has denied directing other staff to destroy records, during evidence to an inquest into the death in custody of Wayne Fella Morrison – the first hearing to be held in two years.
The coroner resumed hearing evidence on Tuesday five years after the death of Morrison, a 29-year-old Wiradjuri, Kokatha and Wirangu man who died on 26 September 2016 at the Royal Adelaide hospital.
Continue reading...NSW MPs call for end to police investigating themselves on 30th anniversary of royal commission; Queensland eases Covid restrictions; fashion designer Carla Zampatti farewelled in Sydney. Follow updates live
Scott Morrison is speaking now.
Now that unemployment has hit 5.6%, the treasurer Josh Frydenberg has signalled he will revisit the budget strategy - which is that the Morrison government won’t tighten fiscal policy until unemployment is “comfortably within” 6%.
Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra that 5.6% was not “comfortably within” 6% and that now is “not the time for austerity”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Sharon Johal left the Australian soap last month but says she endured a ‘painful’ four years, alleging ‘direct, indirect and casual racism’ from fellow cast members
One of Neighbours’ longstanding cast members has claimed she endured “direct, indirect and casual racism” on set, including racial slurs and mockery, saying the past four years starring in the long-running Australian soapie were “painful and problematic”.
In a detailed 1,500 word statement provided to Guardian Australia, Sharon Johal said she tried to “deny, bury and ultimately survive” racist taunts allegedly from some of her colleagues. She also claimed that the television show’s production company, Fremantle Media, failed to take any effective action to rein in the alleged behaviour and left her feeling powerless, isolated and marginalised.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia database tallies the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have died in police and prison custody since 1991
At least 474 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in police and prison custody since the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody handed down its final report in 1991, new research has revealed.
Guardian Australia has spent the past three years tracking Indigenous and non-Indigenous deaths in custody for the Deaths Inside project.
Continue reading...No new properties have been purchased under the Queensland government program since 2017, a report finds
Cape York Indigenous groups have warned that a successful Queensland government program to return land to traditional owners is on the verge of stalling, potentially leaving large and significant swathes of the peninsula at the mercy of mining speculators.
The Cape York land tenure resolution program has returned more than 4m hectares of land to traditional owner groups since 2007, including about 2m hectares that is designated as national park.
Continue reading...Chief executive Jakob Stausholm says he will make heritage protection be ‘felt in the hearts and minds’ of his employees
Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm has pledged to make protecting cultural heritage an issue which is “felt in the hearts and minds” of his employees in an effort to avoid another Juukan Gorge-style disaster.
The mining company on Tuesday announced it would publicly report to investors on its progress on improving cultural heritage systems and renewing trust with traditional owners, as it attempts to rebuild its shattered social capital.
Continue reading...Two cast members of the Australia and New Zealand edition of the reality TV show have apologised for their past, after racially insensitive images resurfaced online
RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under has already been marred with controversy after two contestants apologised for past racially insensitive behaviour, one having performed in blackface multiple times.
Less than a week after the cast of the hit drag reality competition’s Australia and New Zealand iteration was announced, images emerged of contestant Anthony Price, known for his drag persona, Scarlet Adams, in multiple costumes appearing to imitate other cultures.
Continue reading...Former Liberal staffer and Grace Tame among those to address tens of thousands of protesters calling for an end to gender-based violence
Brittany Higgins’ voice shook as she addressed the crowd outside Parliament House in Canberra.
She had decided at the last minute to speak to more than a thousand people, mainly women, holding signs calling for justice for women, for sexual assault survivors and for Higgins herself, who has alleged she was raped by a colleague inside Parliament House.
Continue reading...From the Godfathers of Arabic rap to the father of Ethio-jazz, Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan guides a tour through global music’s greatest
This week I wrote about the glaring lack of international inclusivity in the Grammys’ newly redubbed global music (formerly world music) category.
In the category’s 38-year history, almost 80% of African nations have never had an artist nominated; no Middle Eastern or eastern European musician has ever won; every winner in the past eight years has been a repeat winner; and nearly two-thirds of the nominations have come from just six countries (the US, the UK, Brazil, Mali, South Africa, India). The situation shows little signs of improving.
Continue reading...Indigenous leaders want retailer held accountable over planned alcohol store near three dry communities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and health leaders want Reconciliation Australia to revoke its support for Woolworths over the retail giant’s plans to build one of Australia’s largest alcohol stores in Darwin, near three dry Aboriginal communities.
A letter signed by health, legal, domestic violence and community group leaders draws comparison to Rio Tinto, which was dumped by Reconciliation Australia over the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site in the Pilbara, which said Rio’s actions were a “breathtaking breach of a respectful relationship”.
Continue reading...Four protesters arrested at Sydney demonstration; rallies take place around Australia as debate around the national day rages. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
And with that comes the end of today’s blog. This is what went down today:
An update on the bushfire burning in Booderee national park on the NSW south coast: the NSW Rural Fire Service have said crews are backburning in order to build containment lines and slow the blaze.
Watch and Act: Booderee Fire (Shoalhaven LGA). Crews are implementing backburning operations to build containment lines and slow the spread of the fire, burning to the SW of Jervis Bay Airport. Those in area of Wreck Bay Village and Jervis Bay Village should monitor conditions. pic.twitter.com/nMLxwiKktL
Continue reading...Dawn vigils reflect on impact of colonialism and celebrate Indigenous life before First Fleet
As the sun rose on 26 January, thousands gathered in the rain and cold to pay tribute to elders, past and present, at the annual Invasion Day vigils.
Physically distanced crowds gathered in Barangaroo Reserve in Sydney from dusk until dawn to reflect on the impact of colonisation, and celebrate what life was like for Indigenous communities before the First Fleet arrived.
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