Indigenous affairs
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David Solomon. Black Lives Matter here, too.
I hate the way we so often slavishly follow whatever fashion is currently gripping the American people. But I make an exception for the protest movement that has taken to the streets prompted by the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the United States…. Continue reading »
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Less Aboriginals in Gaol ? How can we do it ?
“Circle Sentencing” was a great idea: Get the Aboriginal Community involved in the the administration of justice to the First Nations people. But why wait until the horse has bolted, when guilt is assumed and penalty is the question…. Continue reading »
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Remove place names dedicated to racists. *
* This article uses the names of some deceased persons. The removal of the visual reminders of perpetrators of racism is a good move towards helping Indigenous peoples feel as though they belong in their own land…. Continue reading »
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Unlearning racism starts with deep listening
The George Floyd case has given witness to social systems in the US that privilege whiteness. However across the world, there is institutional police brutality that is an expression of existing tensions and hierarchies…. Continue reading »
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BRUCE CAMERON. Australia’s First Defenders
Surely, the first defenders of Australia who tried to protect their family with spears when confronted by muskets and canon, deserve our admiration and respect…. Continue reading »
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Poor prospects for Indigenous justice.
Those of us who would like to live in a more just Australia have little reason for optimism. We endure the shame of continually failing to address the social disadvantage affecting Indigenous peoples. Demands for change will continue…. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The patience of our first nation, while remarkable, is not inexhaustible.
Whether we like it or not, it doesn’t take much for racism to come out of the underbelly of this country. We only have to think back to Cronulla in 2005. And of course the Adam Goodes story just last year…. Continue reading »
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IAN BOWIE. How many Aboriginal Australians are there?
It is commonly said that there are about 800,000 ‘indigenous’ Australians. In fact, the number of Aboriginal Australians may be substantially fewer…. Continue reading »
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THALIA ANTHONY. ‘I can’t breathe!’ Australia must look in the mirror to see our own deaths in custody (THE CONVERSATION 2.6.20)
I can’t breathe, please! Let me up, please! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!… Continue reading »
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MICHAEL GRACEY. Protecting remote Indigenous people from the COVID-19 pandemic
The current pandemic caused by the virus COVID – 19 is affecting many countries; it is highly infectious and potentially fatal, especially for vulnerable people. Indigenous Australians are especially at risk to this infection and will need special arrangements to minimise the devastation that this virus could bring to them. How can this be best… Continue reading »
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TONY BROE & ELLEN FINLAY. Aboriginal History, Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe and the Culture Wars
Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu (2018) has given a recent jolt to the declining History Wars and has invigorated some conservative commentators and writers to disagree with his conclusions (Marks 2020; Morton 2019)…. Continue reading »
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ROSEMARY O’GRADY. Anthropology and Perspective
One of the rare pleasures of working to salvage documentation of a vandalized archive is that, sometimes, a damaged jewel surfaces amidst the rubble…. Continue reading »
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JOHN R. SABINE. A Separate Voice to Government: not the brightest of ideas
How many sound reasons does one need before concluding that something in indeed a bad idea? Perhaps even just nonsense…. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Morrison closes the books on black disadvantage gap
The annual February Closing the Gap statement by the prime minister of the day is becoming one of the major Caucasian political festivals…. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The Gap report.Hopes dashed within minutes.
We know Scott Morrison seldom takes much notice of those who disagree with him…. Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. Australia Day or dying in a ditch for January 26.
Australia Day divides rather than unites the community which we presume is the key reason for having a national day in the first place…. Continue reading »
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VACY VLAZNA. On Becoming Australian: A Migrant Story, Part 2
Co-host of ABC Minefield, Scott Stevens astutely, impeccably summed up the generosity inherent in The Uluru Statement of the Heart…. Continue reading »
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VACY VLAZNA. On Becoming Australian: A Migrant Story, Part 1
Australia is an unresolved crime scene… Continue reading »
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DAVID MARR. Blood, brains and foul murder: evidence of Australia’s massacres is in its newspapers (The Guardian, 17 November 2019)
We’re only human. We hang on to lies that comfort us. A big consoling lie that still hangs around this history of slaughter and dispossession is that we can’t apply the outlook of the 21st century to killings on the frontier. Tell that to those who denounced the crimes as they were being committed. Theirs… Continue reading »
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LINDA BURNEY. The Way Forward on Uluru – 2019 Frank Walker Memorial Lecture
I think there are three things we can learn from Frank Walker’s life and legacy. First, his willingness to make personal sacrifices for fairness and justice. Second, his pragmatism – to know the best possible outcome when you see it, and to not let it go. Third, to be able to provide a calm and… Continue reading »
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MARION BENNETT. Working together to end homelessness in Cairns
A new Mission Australia evaluation has highlighted that when people experiencing homelessness in Cairns have the support of strong, caring relationships and when services work collaboratively and seamlessly together, their standards of living and personal relationships improve, they feel safer and they are more positive about their future security…. Continue reading »
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DOMINIC O’SULLIVAN. Indigenous people no longer have the legal right to say no to the Adani mine – here’s what it means for equality (The Conversation, 5 Sep 2019)
Last week, the Queensland government extinguished native title over tracts of land in the Galilee Basin so the Adani coal mine could proceed…. Continue reading »
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BOB DEBUS. Must Prisoner Numbers Grow Forever? (an edited version of a lecture given to the Law Society of New South Wales, 22 August)
We can all accept imprisonment as the appropriate response for serious and violent crimes. Nevertheless there is a plethora of studies confirming the common sense conclusion that prison is damaging for individuals at a psychological level, especially in the absence of rehabilitative services; that rates of recidivism, however measured, remain persistently over 50 per cent… Continue reading »
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DONNA AH CHEE. Given this history of strength and success, why do Aboriginal health dollars keep going to NINGOs? (Croakey 14-8-19)
Aboriginal community controlled health services have many advantages, including their power to advocate and shame governments into action, according to Donna Ah Chee, CEO of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress…. Continue reading »
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ERIC SIDOTI. Re-Imagining Bi-Partisanship
Australians have become used to the idea that major reforms demand bi-partisan support. Yet bi-partisanship, as traditionally understood, is increasingly elusive with the result that genuine reforms are either watered down or abandoned on the assumption of failure. This is being played out before our eyes in the arguments for and against putting a referendum… Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Indigenous leaders draw line in sand
In the far north east of Arnhem land, a line has been drawn in the sand. As part of the great Garma festival, two of the most important and revered leaders of Indigenous Australia have made it clear that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is not negotiable…. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL GRACEY. Closing that Aboriginal Health Gap
The persisting poor health of Aboriginal people over decades is an embarrassing stain on our national reputation and one that seems obstinately difficult to erase. How can this situation be effectively managed?… Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Have Australians the heart for the Uluru statement? Losing the referendum would set back indigenous affairs by decades
There are many good reasons to support the latest plans to find a constitutional referendum question to encapsulate the principles of the Uluru statement from the heart. There’s the fact that it represents a good idea and good ideal – perhaps one, as some say, that is essential to a mature nationality for Australia and… Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN Constitutional Recognition of the Indigenous Voice
Addressing the National Press Club during NAIDOC Week, Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians said: ‘I will develop and forward a consensus option for constitutional recognition to put to a referendum during the current parliamentary term. That means working through until we reach a point in which there is consensus across all the relevant groups… Continue reading »
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ROSEMARY O’GRADY. Lost leaders.
The first words addressed by the Hon David Hurley AC as Governor-General were to the Australian First People and their successors, including, specifically, ‘future leaders’…. Continue reading »
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