Writer
Paul Wright
Paul Wright is the National Director, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. He has nearly 2 decades of experience working in both Government and non-government sectors – covering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, health, immigration and social services.
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Uluru-Legacies, political capital and ending the procrastination
You know the feeling you get when something is bleedingly obvious, staring you in the face and because no one else seems to recognise it, you begin to doubt what you see? Continue reading »
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Let them eat cake
In closing the gap between First Nations peoples and their fellow non-Indigenous Australians, this budget has nothing worthwhile. Continue reading »
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History repeating: expecting injustice
“When are we going to get justice?” Ned Jampinjinpa Hargreaves, Warlpiri elder Continue reading »
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Budget Blues and what’s not in the news
This week we had Budget night, with the anticipated cash splurge which is expected to set the Government up for re-election in the next 12-months. The last budget was in October 2020, with special emergency budgeting required to manage Covid-19 over the last 12 months. Just 7 months later, and despite the much improved economic Continue reading »
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Nationhood and the deadly incarceration pandemic of our First Nations people
“For the vast bulk of our people the legal system is not a trusted instrument of justice. It is a feared and despised processing plant that propels the most vulnerable and disabled of our people towards a broken and bleak future.” Continue reading »
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The biggest step yet in Truth Telling about Australia’s history since colonisation
Focus has rightly been on the very serious issues of sexual violence that have been raised regarding the Federal Parliament and historically with the Attorney-General, Christian Porter. However, there is already a risk that the profound importance of what has been announced in Victoria this week by the First Peoples Assembly and the State government – Continue reading »
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A Rightful Place, from colonisation to reconciliation
In the lead up to Survival Day this year, three key reports have been released, the interim Report to the Australian Government by the Indigenous Co-Design team on the Voice; the Human Rights Watch World Report for 2021; and the 2021 State of Reconciliation in Australia Report released last week by Reconciliation Australia. Continue reading »
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Misery profits: Woolworths’ selective listening on a new mega alcohol supermarket in Darwin
The decision in recent days by the Northern Territory’s Liquor Licensing director to green light the construction of a huge Woolworths owned alcohol retail store within walking distance of Aboriginal communities is an outrage on every level. Continue reading »
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Who are we now? – Sovereignty and confidence
It’s gone a bit quiet this week, with our federal parliamentarians deciding to keep their heads down and not further antagonise their Chinese Government counterparts. But it was curious observing the Australian reaction and outrage expressed – and on balance rightly – about China’s demands that would impinge on our sovereignty and independence. Continue reading »
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The Budget: record spending, but very little for First Nations peoples
So unless you’ve been off the grid or in a bunker since January, the 2020 Budget has been offered up by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last night (5 months late) with the historic backdrop being the cold, hard economic reality of living with a global pandemic. Continue reading »
