Income management shames those who live under it and takes us back to the days of the mission. It sets Aboriginal people apart from their fellow Australians, writes Irene Fisher.
Aboriginal communities
What if the Senate held an inquiry into remote stores — and nobody came?
On 5 February, 2008, the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Affairs held one of its two scheduled public hearings. One witness turned up, writes Bob Gosford.
Open letter to Marion Scrymgour
I believe our bilingual program has been working well because all our children who go to school in Yuendumu speak our Warlpiri language very well and we have strong Warlpiri families, writes Cecily Napanangka Granites.
Where does Garrett stand on the McArthur River Mine?
A surprise decision by the Federal Court in late December will cause real headaches for both the Commonwealth and Northern Territory Governments, writes Bob Gosford.
Yuendumu video — “The Intervention is rubbish”
The controversy about the conduct of and reports by some members of the media that travelled to Yuendumu to cover the opening of the new local swimming pool continues, writes Bob Gosford.
Yuendumu: the pool, the press, protocols and permits
There are real local concerns about false links between the swimming pool and Macklin’s NT Intervention and whether journalists get and write their stories in a fair, balanced way, writes Bob Gosford.
NT intervention: Aboriginal Australians take their case to the UN
It is not surprising that Aboriginal Australians who have been denied justice in Australia will now embark upon a complaint to the United Nations in order to achieve change, writes George Newhouse.
The NTER review board – an opportunity lost
Jenny Macklin asked for an independent review and, when she didn’t like the findings, the submissions and the mounting evidence, she rejected it out of hand, write Larissa Behrendt and Nicole Watson.
CDEP: “Welcome back,” says one remote community
The reintroduction of CDEP is being welcomed by many remote communities. Harry Scott, CEO of Titjikala, located 130kms south east of Alice Springs, tells Crikey what it means for his community.
Calls to investigate Orkopoulos’ Aboriginal dealings
NSW Liberal MP Chris Hartcher believes that the conviction of Milton Orkopoulos on 28 child sex and drugs charges opens the way for a full-scale investigation into his other victims – the Darkinjung Aboriginal people of the Central Coast, writes Alex Mitchell.
Speak kids’ language to understand Indigenous s-xual abuse
Police investigating child abuse allegations in Nhulunbuy are failing to utilise local interpreters to communicate with the alleged victims, writes a local observer.
Aurukun Wetland Charters: The Australian got it wrong
The Australian chose to portray Aurukun Wetland Charters in a negative light. This was clearly an opportunity to report on something positive and instead was simply a headline grab, writes Aurukun Wetland Charters manager Tony Varnes.
The Oz’s SS Macklin yarn deserves to sink without a trace
Can any of this be actually regarded as journalism? asks Chris Graham.
The last act of Orkopoulos: skewering the Darkinjung
The NSW Government promotes Aboriginal self-development but its treatment of the Darkinjung people shows what happens to uppity blackfellas who want to redeem themselves, writes Alex Mitchell.
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
The simple facts are that The Australian’s MV Pikkuw story was an erroneous beat up.
The Australian’s SS Macklin has holes in it
Quite a few of what we call “facts” were omitted from today’s Oz story on Macklin’s luxury boat stay. And here they are, writes Chris Graham.
Toohey’s Walkley dummy spit: a stunt
Rumblings up north. The reporters are fighting. But are there grave issues of journalistic principal at stake, or is it more a matter of political posturing in the public eye? Margaret Simons writes.
Why do Aboriginal people have to give up rights for services?
I don’t support the NT intervention, and I happen to think that Mal Brough is an all-singing, all-dancing clown. But I do think Aboriginal kiddies in the central desert finally getting access to a basic health check is a good thing. And I think it’s great that some Aboriginal communities are, for the first time in their history, seeing a full-time police presence.
Raimond Gaita: The moral force of reconciliation
More even than Margaret Thatcher was, John Howard is an ideologically driven prime minister. And while his ideological agenda may not have been part of his motives for the recent national emergency, Howard must have hoped that it would advance that agenda, writes Raimond Gaita.
Brough gets lost in the Territory
It’s now clear that the act of parliament that set out the “prescribed communities” will have to be changed. Word has it that an overlay has been done on one of the Top End’s largest Aboriginal communities, to find that about 90% of the community has been left out.
The indigenous land grab will mean more suffering, not less
I am a senior traditional owner of the Yirrkala community land, which the Federal Government is trying to take from my family, without even having the guts or the courtesy to speak to us, writes Banduk Marika, community leader and artist in Yirrkala, Arnhem Land.
Voters and baseball bats – in Queensland and elsewhere
Will the Queensland local council kafuffle cost Kevin Rudd seats in Queensland? Maybe. But it might cost John Howard seats elsewhere, writes Peter Brent.
Tales from the Territory: racism is abuse too
For the last four years, I have worked as a GP in remote NT Aboriginal communities, a position which privileges me to be both doctor and friend to many Aboriginal people, most of whom are delightful, loving, law abiding citizens. Rarely has child sexual abuse been brought to my attention, writes Dr Glynis Johns.
