Why heritage does not ascribe cultural authenticity or authority
Senator McMahon has spoken at a Senate media inquiry where she criticised a media outlet for using the decades old slogan, Always was, always will be, citing herself as an authority and saying that it is offensive to non-Indigenous Australians. Identity politics a convenient tool of conservatives who often centre their own victimhood when racism is pointed out.
We would like to take this opportunity to send love to all the families who continue to fight for justice. This fight is not yours alone but you shoulder the weight of it as you grieve while staunchly fighting for justice. We see you, we hear you, we are with you and we love you.
8 Jun 2020
Recounting Abbott’s ‘contributions to Indigenous Australians’
Tony Abbott was the Prime Minister, self-appointed Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Women and has been awarded a Queen's Honour. Here, we honour him and his contributions.
As so many in the media space scramble to congratulate him on his career, equating his longevity with some sort of reflection of his value when it can be directly correlated to the dominant mindset and power brokers, I reflect on the damage he has done.
Every step in the direction of meaningful reform to address the issue of theft of this land is then countered through government legislation and this mean spirited response to every small victory we have has become emblematic of the Australian government.
Why are Australians so desperate to cling to a sense of nobility in the foundations of so called Australia when the truth is far from it?
Because we continue to romanticise the colonial experience as a pioneering event rather than the event of invasion it was.
Coroner finds bias present & police referred to DPP
Coroner English rightly opined that the train conductor’s removal of Aunty Tanya Day was “influenced by unconscious bias.” The conductor’s “regard for Ms Day as “unruly” was informed by a bias against her Aboriginality.”
There has not been anything in the bill nor the explanatory memoranda to address bail in the current uncertain circumstances and there are calls within the legal fraternity that the current legislative changes contemplated do not go far enough.
As it stands, there is a significant population in custody that have not been found guilty of a crime and they should be released.
So with the international spread of COVID-19 and the World Health Organisation declaring it an international pandemic, it is only natural that mob are feeling the anxiety along with the rest of the world.
The Justices that formed the 4 to 3 majority held that an Aboriginal person is not within the reach of the aliens power. Accordingly, they determined that Mr Thoms could not be treated in accordance with the aliens power and has since been released from immigration detention where he has been held for 500 days.
The only people qualified to manage country, make decisions that protect ecosystems and put community interests above corporate interests are First Nations. The system of governance brought across by colonialists seeking to reinforce their ideology of whiteness and its capitalist agenda has failed and here we are – we know the answers and still the masses continue to vote for the failures.
You would likely have seen the media that the National Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services Forum (NFVPLS) has been advised that its $244,000-a-year funding would not be renewed past June 2020.
Australia is a country that prides itself on the well-propagated narrative of being the lucky country with gorgeous beaches, scenic bushland and being the land of the “fair go.” This narrative is something that is heavily protected and there is no scope for criticism in this country without brutal condemnation from the masses of people who live a life of privilege on stolen land.
I often speak and write about the importance of Treaty and the model that I think would best achieve the ultimate goal of land rights, self-determination and reparation. In order to pursue any of these avenues, it is pertinent to understand sovereignty and the path to asserting it given it is apparent it is being denied by the government.
We have all seen the panels where a bunch of white ‘personalities’ debate something so far outside the realm of their understanding that it is laughable and yet, it continues, it influences and it pays them to continue saying what they want without basis, without evidence and without any real challenge. They are – after all – on mainstream media platforms voicing their ignorance as though they have some sort of authority to speak on issues.
You know when you rage and are that wild you grind your teeth, bite your tongue and sing people in your head? That is how I have felt writing the words that follow, so much so, that I have done CTRL+find checks to make sure none of my usual four letter words crept in.
15 Apr 2019
Dr Chelsea Bond delivers a masterclass in Indigenous Excellence
You may have heard a collective triumphant cheer emanating from Indigenous people on Twitter the other night.
Truth and Treaty are the theme of the second piece in the Reform series where you are asked to consider the possibilities of a better Australia – but that does require you to confront your way of thinking.
We cannot mature as a country if we do not acknowledge this damage and the responsibility of the nation to implement reform that encompasses restitution.
#FreeThePeople – saving lives and challenging the system
When I read the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as an 18 year old over a decade after it was signed, despite all that I was taught by my elders growing up, I never imagined that we would still be discussing laws so overtly racist in their intent and application today.
We have always had to fight for our right to assert our personhood and the fight continues with Alice Springs Newspaper ‘The Centralian Advocate – NT News’ currently the subject of defamation litigation following the publishing of an Indigenous child’s photograph above the headline “Youth Crisis: town split over kids.”
Indigenous people's lives are immaterial when they are inside, the risk of death is very real to us. The pursuit of justice is our greatest fight in history and one heavily resisted. Justice is not blind.
#IsThisForReal – Scam awareness for Indigenous Communities
The targeting of Indigenous people is particularly concerning as they are telephoning Indigenous people and pretending to be government departments alleging debt and that a warrant is out for the individual’s arrest and that, if a certain action such as paying money into a particular bank account is not done, then the individual would be cut off from benefits and/or arrested.” Given that there is a considerable number of Indigenous people vulnerable to this heinous scam, it is critical that we raise awareness in communities on how to spot and avoid scammers.
Women are dying and we are taking photographs and funding awareness campaigns. Women are dying and we know the cause. Women are dying and we know the solution, but still it continues.
Australia Day – 230 years of grand theft and trespass
On 26 January, 1788 the British Crown contravened its own law – and prevailing international law– by laying claim to 7.692 million km² of land that was already inhabited and cared for by over 200 First Nations, each with a sophisticated and ecologically-focussed system of governance. And the trespass continues.
STEM program aims to benefit Indigenous communities
For years there has been a disparity between Indigenous and non-indigenous students at high school and tertiary education in the area of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM.
Today is Ngarrindjeri man, David Unaipon’s birthday. He was born this day in 1872 and throughout his life was a noted inventor, writer and lecturer and he lived to be 95 years old. Most know him as the man on our $50 note but what most people don’t know is how so many things we now take for granted came from this brilliant man.
The anomalies in the 2016 ABS Causes of Death data
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has today released its 2016 Causes of Death data which includes annual national suicide information. Analysis provided by Mindframe revealed that 162 (119 male, 43 female) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died by suicide, which is slightly higher than the 152 recorded in 2015.
We are the lucky country for a privileged white majority. A republic could turn this around
Bill Shorten has raised the issue of a republic once again when he released his plan at the Australian Republican Movement gala dinner on Saturday night to put the question to the public. The predictable knuckle-dragging has ensued due to the shortsighted who continue to see value in pledging allegiance to a foreign head of state.
After hearing last Friday’s news, I was left reeling with a frenetic bundle of nerve endings and emotions. When I spoke to Luke, he instantly picked up on it.
Poverty must stop being used as a weapon to justify separating Indigenous families
Australia ‘has systematically implemented policies that are born of a rhetoric suggesting that the state is somehow protecting Aboriginal children better than their families’.
The judicial system in Australia targets Indigenous people more than any other group. Indigenous people are racially profiled, are killed in custody and are more likely to receive custodial sentences than their non-Indigenous counterparts. In fact, Indigenous people in Australia have higher incarceration rates than during apartheid South Africa. We continue to gaol Indigenous people for non-payment of parking fines as a result of mandatory sentencing that was instituted to target this very group of people within society.
