‘There will never be mining’ at Northern Territory site, Albanese says as area becomes part of Kakadu national park
It’s the decades-long fight over uranium mining that pitted Indigenous owners against the resources industry.
Now it seems the war is over, with the Australian government moving to expand the Kakadu national park to protect the Jabiluka site from mining for ever.
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Q: Why target the individuals when it’s state policy?
Penny Wong said the Australian government has been “clear in terms of state-to-state relations about our view on settlements”.
They are unlawful under international law. We’ve been clear about that … We have also said that we want to continue to take steps towards a two-state solution.
That may not be the view of some people in the Israeli government, but that is the view of the Australian government.
These individuals have been involved in violent attacks on Palestinians, including things such as beating, sexual assault and torture, resulting in serious injury and in some cases death.
We have imposed these after careful consideration and we would expect that all Australians would recognise the weight of these.
Settlements are unlawful under international law. We are continuing to act in ways that we can to look to how we protect a pathway to a two-state solution, and part of that is to ensure we also impose penalties who perpetrate violence against Palestinians.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Labor MP Jonty Bush among those speaking out about state’s youth justice policies after Guardian Australia investigation
Queensland’s most prominent victims’ rights groups say the state government must remove children from police watch houses after the release of confronting footage showing the “brutal” treatment of children in the adult holding cells.
The videos, published after a year-long investigation by Guardian Australia and SBS The Feed, showed young people locked in “freezing” isolation cells, becoming panicked and struggling to breathe.
Continue reading...Advocates also detail flaws in automated debit system that prevented clients stopping their deductions
The government’s Centrepay debit system has been abused by “unscrupulous” businesses to take welfare money from dead Australians and Indigenous women fleeing domestic violence, advocacy groups claim.
The government last month announced a major review of Centrepay, an automated debit system designed to give businesses early access to a person’s welfare money to ensure they can afford essential services such as rent and healthcare.
Continue reading...Letter urges environment minister to investigate alleged breaches at Doongmabulla Springs
There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.
Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves.
Continue reading...Three-night stay-at-home order issued for town after weekend violence, including a brawl involving 80 people
Politics needs to be kept out of addressing long-running issues in Alice Springs, the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney said, following the town’s first night of curfew.
A three-night stay-at-home order was issued for the Northern Territory community after a spate of violent weekend incidents, including a brawl involving 80 people and a knife attack on a 42-year-old woman.
Continue reading...Much-lauded Praiseworthy joins works by Gregory Day, André Dao, Sanya Rushdi, Jen Craig and Hossein Asgari competing for Australia’s highest literary honour
Alexis Wright continues her dream run with the acclaimed novel Praiseworthy, one of six books announced as the shortlist for the 2024 Miles Franklin literary award, Australia’s highest literary honour.
Announced on Tuesday, the other five books up for the $60,000 prize are Gregory Day’s The Bell of the World, André Dao’s Anam, Sanya Rushdi’s Hospital, Jen Craig’s Wall and Hossein Asgari’s Only Sound Remains.
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Australia needs more gas supply on east coast, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese is speaking to the ABC from Devonport.
We’ll work those issues through with Aemo.
We need more gas supply. We announced our future gas strategy a short while ago because we understand that we need more supply. Gas has an important role to play in manufacturing in particular. But also in providing firming capacity for the renewables rollout.
Continue reading...The current pair, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, will return to China this year. Follow the day’s news headlines
Labor ‘continuing to consult’ on Makarrata commission, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese says he will attend Arnhem Land’s Garma festival in August to “talk about a way forward” on Indigenous policy after the defeat of the voice referendum, keeping open the prospect of setting up a Makarrata commission to advance truth and treaty processes.
Treaty process is undergoing at the various states and that’s appropriate. With regard to Makarrata, we’re continuing to consult on those issues. said.
Indigenous leaders, of course, were very disappointed by the referendum result. I’ll attend Garma once again this year and sit down with people and talk about a way forward.
Continue reading...But the government is being urged to move more quickly in outlining policy after failure of voice referendum
Anthony Albanese says he will attend Arnhem Land’s Garma festival in August to “talk about a way forward” on Indigenous policy after the defeat of the voice referendum, keeping open the prospect of setting up a Makarrata commission to advance truth and treaty processes.
But key advocates for the referendum have urged the government to move more quickly in outlining its new agenda, including honouring the prime minister’s election night pledge to implement the Uluru statement from the heart “in full”.
Continue reading...Department expects ‘extensive’ changes to result from state government’s negotiations with First Peoples’ Assembly later this year, documents say
The Victorian department responsible for child protection and housing is preparing for a “likely transfer” of powers to First Nations groups as a result of treaties that will soon be negotiated with the government.
The Department of Fairness, Families and Housing (DFFH) is looking for an organisation to provide training to staff to “increase readiness for treaty”, according to tender documents seen by Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Ms Dhu died two days after being locked up at police station after arrest for unpaid fines of $3,622
Western Australia’s police chief has formally apologised to the family and community of a 22-year-old Aboriginal woman who died in custody a decade ago.
Yamatji woman Ms Dhu, whose first name has not been used for cultural reasons, died two days after being locked up at South Hedland police station on 4 August 2014.
Continue reading...Michael Murphy denies deliberately misleading public about knowledge of awards but regrets not investigating earlier, inquest hears
WARNING: This article contains offensive images and content
The Northern Territory’s top police officer has agreed he was “gaslighting” Aboriginal people when he said he had not seen racism in the force, and admitted he knew about racist award certificates months before their existence was made public.
The police commissioner, Michael Murphy, told the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker on Wednesday that he regretted not investigating the “coon of the year” certificates awarded within the force’s Territory Response Group or reporting them to the NT police professional standards command when he learned about them in August 2023.
Continue reading...Dan Ilic wanted to project Vincent Namitjira’s work after Australia’s richest woman tried to have it removed from the National Gallery
An Australian comedian has dropped his plan to broadcast Vincent Namatjira’s contentious portrait of Gina Rinehart to thousands of tourists and New Yorkers in Times Square.
Dan Ilic told Guardian Australia on Tuesday lunchtime that, after exceeding his crowdfunding target of A$30,000, his stunt would go live in Times Square at 8pm on Friday night.
Continue reading...The artist used ephemera to convey how white Australia failed to come to terms with the country’s Indigenous peoples
Destiny Deacon, the trailblazing First Nations artist and activist known for her works using “Koori Kitsch” to subvert colonial interpretations of Indigenous culture, has died aged 67.
Deacon’s death was announced on Friday by Sydney’s Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, which has represented the artist for more than two decades.
Continue reading...Controversial monument of a Tasmanian premier who beheaded the body of an Indigenous man damaged and graffitied
A controversial statue of William Crowther has been toppled in Franklin Square, Hobart, after its legs were cut through the night before a decision on its removal.
It was dumped face-down on the ground beside its podium, which was graffitied in red with the word “decolonize” and “what goes around”.
Continue reading...High court delivers judgment in the case of ASF1. Follow the day’s news live
Penny Wong is speaking on RN Breakfast now. Right off the bat she was asked by Patricia Karvelas if the Australian government will support admitting Palestine as a full member of the UN at a vote later today.
Wong begins with a preamble about Australia’s support for a two-state solution, then says:
We will consider the final resolution that comes before the General Assembly. Obviously, countries are still negotiating texts.
I don’t want to speculate about our vote … I think an abstention generally means you can agree in part with the resolution but not with sufficient, not with all of it, or not with a sufficient extent of the resolution for you to vote for it, so it can send a message that whilst you don’t agree with it in full, you’re not going to stand in the way.
I understand that question … I understand questions from those who don’t want us to deal with it at this time. I think one of the things we are aware of, and thinking about, is the timing of the situation on the ground. We know Hamas is still holding hostages. We want to look at the wording of the resolution to make sure we are being responsible, that what we commit to we are obliged to and look to the UN Charter and the resolution would have to be consistent with the charter. And of course it was with our partners, but your listeners, what I would say to them is Australia does support a two-state solution.
You’ve spoken to me many times over the years, Patricia, and you know I always try and bring a more nuanced discussion about what is really happening rather than getting drawn into the end the hard edges of the debate. Unfortunately, in this country, we seem, we see too much of this discussion, which is looked at by those who basically say you’re either with us or against us. And everything is black and white and simple. Regrettably, that is not what is happening in the Middle East. And regrettably, that is not how we should be looking at this.
The board finds that both posts violated the Coordinating Harms and Promoting Crime rule that prohibits content “advocating, providing instructions for, or demonstrating explicit intent to illegally participate in a voting or census process.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says the prime minister needs to “pick the phone up” and speak directly to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, after the Australian government accused a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares close to an Australian helicopter in international waters.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, yesterday branded the incident as “unacceptable” and said the Australian pilot had to take evasive action to avoid the flares. You can read all the details below:
I think the prime minister needs to pick the phone up, frankly, and speak to the Chinese president … and express our deep concern, because at some stage, there’s going to be a miscalculation and an Australian defence force member is going to lose their life.
And that is a tragic circumstance that has to be avoided at all costs, but there will be a miscalculation by somebody who’s flying that jet or somebody who’s on the deck of a Chinese naval ship, something will happen.
Continue reading...‘Disappointment’ comes after documents reveal only two-thirds of $96m will go to Indigenous victims of predatory funeral fund
A coalition of financial rights advocates say they have “serious concerns” about an Albanese government’s $96m support scheme for the thousands of Aboriginal people harmed by the collapse of the predatory funeral fund ACBF-Youpla, after revelations that almost a third of the funds will be spent on its own departments.
According to documents published on the government’s AusTender site on Thursday, the maximum amount it is expecting to pay out to the 13,700 affected policyholders is $66.6m. Over the years of ACBF-Youpla’s operations, policyholders paid millions of dollars into the business in the belief that their funerals would be taken care of.
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PM responds to reports regional women camping out, sleeping in cars
Anthony Albanese has commented on reports that carparks in regional areas are being opened for women to sleep in tents or their cars.
We have allocated funding through our Housing Australia Future Fund for emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. I will be in discussions with the states and territories as well about what more can be done.
We know that the circumstances where a woman is escaping a violent situation [and] has to sleep in her car or surf on a couch of a friend and rotate around, we hear stories about that as well, is unacceptable in 2024. We need to do better. There’s no question about that.
We need to look at bail laws. More importantly, we actually need to look at how we can keep women, or victims and children in the home environment and force the perpetrator to leave. We have a program in NSW called the Staying Home: Leave Violence program. There are over 138 LGAs in this state at the moment, only 91 have access to that program, even though we know it is incredibly effective. We need programs like that funded immediately, not just across NSW but across the country.
I am optimistic about who we are as a country and our capacity to take responsibility for ourselves. The time of us to do this is now. We don’t have three months, which is what the government is suggesting, to wait and see what happens next. By then another 23 women will have lost their lives.
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