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Lead article
Will They Be Heard?
Where then is the consultation? The approach smacks of attitudes of racial superiority more appropriate to the 19th Century than this one.
This is an edited extract of the introduction to a report, co-authored by Professor Nicholson, on the consultations held by the Federal government over the future of the Northern Territory Intervention. Read the full document Here
This Report has its genesis in the great work done by the group known as ‘concerned Australians’ in conjunction with the relevant Aboriginal Communities in the Northern Territory, and in the tireless enthusiasm of one of the co-authors Michele Harris. We are particularly fortunate to have the involvement of the other co-authors Larissa Behrendt and Nicole Watson, both of whom are Aboriginal and Alison Vivian, who bring their own particular knowledge and appreciation of the problems discussed.
For my part I have been an opponent of the Intervention since its inception and I am therefore pleased and proud to be associated with this Report. In a speech that I gave at Parliament House, Sydney four days after the 2007 Federal Election, I said:
The breadth of the legislation is frightening and it significantly overrides the rights of many Indigenous people in ways that would not be tolerated by the ordinary Australian community. It is discriminatory and racist and bundles all Indigenous people together as potential pornographers, child molesters and persons habitually addicted to the excessive consumption of alcohol.
In that speech I commented:
By treating the Indigenous people in this way, the then...
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CLC members said that the Federal Government’s application of the Racial Discrimination Act to the Northern Territory Emergency Response legislation still ignores Aboriginal people’s interests and its ‘special measures’ remain discriminatory.
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Internationally, Obama has to deal with the fallout of Bush administration policies such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also, more vigorously than any other president, tackling problems between Israel and the Palestinians. While the security of Israel must be inviolate, he has also made it clear that expansion of settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem must stop.
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THE recent defence white paper is a depressing document. It claims stability depends upon the continued involvement of the US in the Western Pacific, and under the umbrella of an “extended” nuclear deterrent. By implication, our role is to do enough to earn American support should we ever need it. The assumption is that if a country such as Australia can earn brownie points and sufficient goodwill, we will be secure.
Read more »Reading
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VIDEO Recordings of the "consultations" at Bagot Community, Ampilatwatja and Arlparra/Utopia - 5 minutes from each community"
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VIDEO The Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser’s speech at the launch of the independent report "Will They Be Heard?"
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VIDEO Professor Alastair Nicholson delivers his critique of the FHCSIA "consultations" and introduces Shane Charles, Larissa Behrendt and Theo Mackaay.
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What does it mean when the Rudd Government says it is "consulting" a particular community as it designs policy? Not much, apparently, if that community happens to be Indigenous, writes Sarah Burnside for New Matilda.
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A new report accuses the Federal Government of deliberately ignoring the views of Aboriginal people on the Northern Territory Intervention. It concludes that the Government's "consultation" sessions were a sham, which offered the communities no choice on the intervention's future. An ABC news story.
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Surely, if we stand with Israel, if we want what’s best for the Jewish state, we must be honest – we must tell the leadership of our spiritual home the truth. And the truth is, President Obama is right when he says that settlement building must stop. John Friedman, JTA news service.
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President Barack Obama, who vowed to revive the Arab-Israeli peace process at the start of his term, has begun with a direct and public challenge to Israel’s latest plan to build new settlements in East Jerusalem. From the New York Times.
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The Australian Government’s Defence White Paper was released on 2 May 2009. Read it here.
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The burqua is worn by only a tiny proportion of Muslim women in France. French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s recent call for an investigation into its banning is yet another act of political stigmatisation against an already marginalised community.
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Read the findings of the WA Coroner's investigation into the death of a well respected community leader in outback Western Australia who was locked in a metal cell in the back of a prison van and driven through the desert in the searing heat. Four hours later he was dead.
Useful Links
- Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at the University of NSW (Australia)
- Amnesty International Australia
- Amnesty International
- Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
- Australians Against Racism
- Castan Centre for Human Rights Law at Monash University (Australia)
- Global Rights (Washington USA)
- Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (Australia)
- Human Rights Council (United Nations)
- Human Rights Council of Australia
- Human Rights Watch (New York)
- InterAction Council (International)
- New Matilda
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (United Nations)
- The Alliance of Civilizations
- GetUp: Action for Australia
- A Just Australia
- Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
