Two men are on the run after fleeing the scene in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, while two police officers have minor injuries
An Indigenous Queensland man has died during a “violent struggle” with police that also left two officers with minor injuries.
Two other men were on the run after fleeing the scene of the incident in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, after midday on Thursday.
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Continue reading...Miner says group is ‘trespassing’ but police have acknowledged their cultural rights under human rights act
Queensland police have told a group of First Nations people occupying the site of Adani’s Carmichael coalmine for the past five weeks that they have no intention of removing them from the area “at this time”.
The group of Wangan and Jagalingou traditional owners opposed to the coalmine project began an ongoing cultural ceremony within the boundary of Adani’s mining lease in late August.
Continue reading...The world’s oldest rainforest will join landmarks like Uluru and Kakadu, where First Nations people are custodians of world heritage sites
Eastern Kuku Yalanji people will take formal ownership of the world heritage-listed Daintree tropical rainforest in northern Australia, after the Indigenous traditional owners reached a historic deal with the Queensland government.
The Daintree national park is part of 160,108 hectares (395,467 acres) of land that will be handed back to the traditional owners at a ceremony on Wednesday at Bloomfield, north of Wujal Wujal.
Continue reading...The historical oppression of Indigenous men has shaped perceptions of First Nations masculinity. A lovingly curated book of letters challenges stereotypes
When Wiradjuri woman and Miles Franklin-winning novelist Tara June Winch met Torres Strait Islander author and activist Thomas Mayor at last year’s Perth writers’ festival, she implored the dad of five to write about fatherhood.
With three adult children from his first marriage and two, aged seven and 10, from his ongoing relationship, 44-year-old Mayor, while “thinking about all my flaws as a father and as a man”, was a reluctant starter.
Continue reading...PM’s assertion comes as national death toll since pandemic began surpasses 1,000 and states seek more Pfizer amid Delta outbreak
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has declared the government has “overcome” the challenges of the national vaccine program, despite the states crying out for more mRNA vaccine supplies to curb the Delta outbreak tearing through NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
The prime minister’s assertion came as the country marked the grim milestone of the first Indigenous death from a Covid-19 case, in western NSW, and as the national death toll surpassed 1,000 since the pandemic began in early 2020.
Continue reading...Proposed law comes after 46,000-year-old rock shelters destroyed but traditional owners say it doesn’t do enough
Traditional owners and their supporters have marched on Western Australian parliament to demand the government halt its controversial new Aboriginal heritage bill, saying it favours mining and isn’t strong enough to stop another disaster like the destruction of Juukan Gorge.
More than a hundred people, many of whom traveled to Perth from the Kimberley and the Pilbara, protested on Thursday about “fundamental flaws” in the draft law, which they say still leaves control of Aboriginal heritage in the hands of mining companies.
Continue reading...A Northern Territory supreme court ruling will allow Zachary Rolfe to argue he is immune from criminal liability under a clause in NT law
A jury could potentially find that a Northern Territory police officer accused of murdering a young Indigenous man during an outback arrest is immune from criminal liability, judges have ruled.
Constable Zachary Rolfe, 29, shot Kumanjayi Walker, 19, in the remote community of Yuendumu in November 2019, according to assumed facts released by the NT supreme court.
Continue reading...For more than 20 years, Aboriginal photographer Wayne Quilliam has captured significant Indigenous events across Australia, from the national apology to the Stolen Generations to the Garma, Barunga and Yeperenye festivals. In his travels through country, Quilliam often visits communities to teach Indigenous youth how to capture their own lives through a lens. His book, Culture is Life, is a modern, photographic celebration of the diversity of Indigenous Australians
Continue reading...Gladys Berejiklian says half of new cases were active in the community while infectious; Simon Birmingham admits Australia is ‘back of the queue’ for Pfizer vaccines; Atagi co-chair says AstraZeneca should only be used by under-40s in ‘pressing’ circumstances; Follow latest updates
Ahead of the daily health press conference in Victoria, premier Daniel Andrews has said he is “determined” to avoid another lockdown in the state, and part of that will be arguing in national cabinet on Friday for a reduction in the number of people able to return through hotel quarantine.
He repeated that it was better to lock out a small number of people than lock down whole cities or states, particularly while Victoria will not have a dedicated quarantine facility up and running in Mickleham until January.
Talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist. They’re the people to talk to, because whether it’s Atagi or others, there can be very broad statements made. Safety is always a concern – they are risk averse, they need to be. But everyone’s individual circumstances are different, and many people come to this question of ‘should I, shouldn’t I’ when, what vaccine with pre-existing conditions, with all sorts of other issues. So the best thing to do is not to be getting your epidemiological or your vaccination advice from politicians.
Talk to your GP, that’s what I would ask Victorians to do.
NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller is up now:
In the last 24 hours, 65 personnel infringement notices were issued. One of those of concern was a hairdresser in Auburn in the shopping area of Auburn.
In the last 24 hours, 65 personnel infringement notices were issued. One of those of concern was a hairdresser in Auburn in the shopping area of Auburn.
What police will be doing is matching our taskings to those areas and places of concern on the health website, but in particular today I want to send a very clear message that we will double our efforts in terms of visibility and compliance in south-western Sydney, in particular, around that Auburn, Bankstown area, in those shopping areas, the central business areas, and also back to the eastern suburbs as well. The message is quite clear – police continue to be visible in the community, on public transport. We are stopping and proposing many people and, again, it is just disappointing that infringements continue to be issued.
Continue reading...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...