The most challenging part of Olga Havnen’s new job will be to renew the faith and trust in governments as service providers of choice among the NT’s Aboriginal communities.
Politics / Australia / NT
Ignoring evidence may explain why the income management gap doesn’t close
Today the Productivity Commission releases its latest report on Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, which shows only 13 of 45 measures showed any improvement and seven went backwards.
Does new evidence from NT women undermine supposed benefits of income management?
A new research report, which has sought the views of more than 180 women in the NT, raises questions about income management’s level of support or perceptions of benefit.
Assaults an inevitable consequence of a failing detention system
Assault charges arising from an incident at Darwin’s Northern Immigration Detention Centre again have highlighted the detrimental consequences of significant delays in the processing of security clearances for refugees, writes freelancer Nigel O’Connor.
Census 2011: finding and counting 2.3% of the population
Thanks to $20 million from the government to address the undercount of indigenous people this time around, a significant amount of census resources have been allocated to ensure indigenous communities are counted accurately, reports Amber Jamieson and Crikey intern Sophie Malcolm.
‘I will have the Police shoot your Dog’ — animal management in the NT
Judging from a sign put up in Nyirripi, a small township in the Tanami desert, there are people in positions of power in remote townships who think that the bullet from the gun of the local cop is an effective means of animal control, writes Bob Gosford.
Intervention sign wars in the Tanami Desert
Bob Gosford writes on the amusing political war going on in Yuendumu, where locals deface (perhaps improve?) the signs spruiking the government’s NT Intervention and erect their own signs.
Export ban lifted; too soon say welfare groups
Crikey media wrap: Agriculture minister Joe Ludwig last night lifted month-long ban on live export of cattle to Indonesia, announcing a “progressive” examination of the industry.
Cox: new intervention proposals … same old, same old
A new consultation process on more intervention proposals does not please the many critics of the current version’s costly failures.
Live cattle ban: the beginning of the end
The Northern Territory pastoral farming industry is not economically viable, it is not ecologically sustainable, and it is an obstacle to obtaining wise fire management in the NT, declares Strider on The Northern Myth.
PHOTO GALLERY The PM’s visit to Yirrkala, Arnhem Land
On the weekend Julia Gillard visited Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem land, where she spoke about the extension of the bauxite mining operation at Gove Peninsula. Bob Gosford presents excerpts from the speech and a collection of photographs taken on the day.
Questions Gillard should ask in Alice Springs, but probably won’t
It is four years this month since the Mal Brough emergency intervention in the NT and today the PM goes to Alice Springs to see the “progress” supposedly being made.
Federal Court decision breaks through the native title roadblock
This power to determine native title applications without a court hearing has been neglected in most Australian state jurisdictions, however in the NT the government, native title representative bodies and non-government parties have embraced the approach set out in section 87.
‘Sorry’ doesn’t mean everything is OK
As National Sorry Day approaches, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) says more work still needs to be done to achieve meaningful justice for the Stolen Generations, writes Bob Gosford.
Pat Anderson: intervention neither well-intentioned nor well-evidenced
Pat Anderson co-authored the Little Children are Sacred report for the NT government. The subsequent NT intervention ignored everything the report recommended, says Anderson.
Borrowing bonanza: state budgets confirm soaring public sector debt
While next Tuesday’s estimated $50 billion federal budget deficit is the big one, we did get budgets from Victoria, the ACT and the Northern Territory yesterday which all confirmed the debt-funded proclivities of Australia’s public sector.
NT Intervention: the divide between opinion and evidence
The over-publicised tweet by Larissa Behrendt needs to be seen as part of a wider issue.
healthcare How to tackle scabies in Indigenous communities: the debate continues
In order to address an issue as significant as scabies in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, one cannot look at this problem in isolation, writes Selwyn Button.
Falling through the gaps: indigenous community left behind after Yasi
Cyclone Yasi hit Australia more than a month ago, but one town that wasn’t even damaged by the storm is still suffering the consequences of a mass evacuation.
Essential: What do voters think about Territory rights?
Labor, Liberal and Greens voters all feel strongly on the idea that territories’ laws can be overridden on the whim of Federal Ministers — they dislike it.
NT intervention … why it just didn’t work
The intervention has failed because of what was done and the way it was done, and it did not consult or engage with local people or, in many cases, address their problems.
Alcohol in the Alice: the drink destroying a city
In Alice Springs, locals drink double the national average of alcohol per year. Therefore it’s no surprise that 70-90% of the assaults in the town are alcohol-related. How do we stop the grog? asks Russell Goldflam.
Political donations: SA and Tassie rolling in election dough
Political donations data released by the Australian Electoral Commission yesterday shows a multi-million jump in donations for South Australia and Tasmania — the two states that held elections over the audit period.
Opposing the flood levy is not a moral failing
While opponents and supporters of the flood levy have reduced it the issue to the personal level, there are longer-term issues at stake in this debate.
Violence in indigenous communities: tolerated and not disclosed
In some Australian Indigenous communities violence is so widespread there is an expectation that it is inevitable and is something to be tolerated and not disclosed, reads the grim conclusion to an Australian Institute of Criminology paper released this week, reports Richard Farmer.
