News / Australasia
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June 20, 2008
United Nations to Consult Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change Issues
Though Indigenous Peoples of the world are among those most impacted by climate change, and they have long histories of adapting to changing climates, their voices have frequently been excluded from climate change policymaking. That may be starting to change with this week's announcement that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has begun consultations with Indigenous Peoples to solicit their ideas on climate mitigation and adaptation. UNDP recently concluded meetings with the Indigenous Peoples of The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh, and is planning additional consultations with Indigenous Peoples in India and Australia.
Link:
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20080618-143428/UN-consults-IPs-for-measures-vs-effects-of-climate-change
Australian Doctors Withdraw Support from Government Intervention
With the Australian government's intervention in the Northern Territory nearing its first anniversary, the Australian Medical Association announced that it will no longer recruit doctors to support the government's intervention, citing on-going problems with the controversial policy. Separately, Rex Wild, co-author of the Little Children are Sacred report on child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities, which was used by the government to justify the intervention, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, "Intervention itself was wrong and the way it commenced was completely wrong, without any consultation or discussion [with Aboriginal communities]."
Meanwhile, an Australian Senate committee investigating the intervention has been told by the Darwin Aboriginal Rights Coalition that the law has increased racism experienced by Aboriginal Australians.
Links:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/15/2274925.htm?section=justin
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23809364-29277,00.html
June 10, 2008
Aboriginal Australians Call for Constitutional Recognition
Twenty years ago Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced a treaty between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians would be signed within two years. Two decades later Aboriginal Australians are still waiting. They marked the occasion by returning to the venue where Hawke made his original pledge -- the Northern Territory's Barunga Festival -- to call upon the government to enshrine Aboriginal rights in the nation's Constitution.
Link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/08/2268308.htm
May 29, 2008
Lack of Health Care Infrastructure Making Dying at Home Impossible for Terminally Ill Aboriginal Australians
The desire of dying people to return to their homes and die with dignity crosses cultures. It is especially important in Aboriginal Australian communities where a dying person's spirit returns to the land. But this modest hope is off-limits to many Aboriginal Australians according to a new report from Central Queensland University in Australia. Despite the best efforts of health care workers to respect the cultural wishes of dying Aboriginal patients, there are significant practical barriers to responding to these wishes: common equipment like bed lifters and oxygen concentrators are not widely available, nor is electricity consistently available to power medical equipment. The report also cited the lack of transportation services between urban hospitals and rural communities as a barrier. The report called for improving woefully deficient health services available in remote communities, so that gravely ill people do not have to suffer long and difficult journeys to receive care.
Link:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/108832.php
April 16, 2008
Sign of Hope: First Australian Aboriginal Radio Station Celebrates 15th Anniversary
Brisbane-based 4AAA-FM made history in 1993 when it became the first Aboriginal-run community radio station in Australia. Over the years the station has appealed to a wide-audience, with a country music format popular among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal listeners. The station has a five minute news update every hour with stories from or about Indigenous communities. In addition, at least two songs an hour are from Aboriginal Australian artists. An hour-long talk radio segment is distributed across Australia. Station general manager Tiga Bayles says the talk show enables the station to give white listeners a black experience. The station counts 120,000 white Australians as listeners each week.
Link:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41872
April 10, 2008
Aboriginal Credit Unions in Australia Get Capital Infusion
One of the challenges of Indigenous Peoples living in remote areas is lack of access to financial services, leaving them vulnerable to unscrupulous merchants who charge inflated fees to cash checks and provide other basic services. Australia's Traditional Credit Union (TCU) was incorporated in 1994 and today serves more than 100,000 members and operates a dozen branches. Ninety-five percent of TCU's members are low-income Aboriginal Australians. Last week, the National Australia Bank announced a $1 million interest-free loan to TCU to help finance branch expansion in Australia's Northern Territory. The investment will allow the credit union to expand its branch network by 40%.
Link:
http://news.theage.com.au/nab-to-fund-new-indigenous-credit-union/20080409-24sr.html
March 24, 2008
Aboriginal Australian Protests Widen
Members of the Aboriginal Australian communities have begun monthly protests outside federal Centrelink welfare offices to protest the quarantining of welfare payments begun by former conservative Prime Minister John Howard, and now being extended by new liberal Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. One protestor labeled the policy as "apartheid" while another spoke of seeing "the shame that those forced to experience vouchers experience," saying it reminded him of the bad, old days when his parents were on food rations.
Meanwhile, new Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin cites anecdotal evidence that the quarantining of welfare benefits is helping Aboriginal children have more food on their plates, since in the new system the government specifies where, and on what, welfare payments may be spent.
Macklin announced that starting in July the $5,000 "baby bonus" provided to new parents for the first five years of their babies life, will be quarantined from many Aboriginal families, and restricted to use for certain items deemed appropriate by the government. White Australian families face no such restrictions.
Links:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/744/38515
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23401048-29277,00.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/19/2193541.htm
March 12, 2008
National Resolve to Restore Self-Governance to Aboriginal Australians Crumbles
Weeks after new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised to restore the permit system that allowed Aboriginal Australians to control who came onto their land, the Opposition Party, who stripped the Indigenous Peoples living in the Northern Territory of their control, has announced it intends to block the restoration of Indigenous rights to land management. Though the blocking move is likely temporary, until the Opposition loses control of the national Senate in July, much damage can be done in the meantime, as drug dealers, liquor runners and natural resource prospectors have unfettered access to land until recently beyond their reach. Compounding the situation, Prime Minister Rudd broke his promise to meet quarterly with Aboriginal leaders, sending his Minister of Indigenous Affairs to cover this quarter’s meeting, citing other pressing demands on his schedule.
Link:
http://news.theage.com.au/coalition-digs-in-on-indigenous-permits/20080311-1yn7.html
March 3, 2008
Northern Territory Children Suffer Widespread Hearing Loss
A new study found that 85% of the Aboriginal Australian children living in the Northern Territory suffer some sort of hearing loss. This hearing loss adversely impacts children's educational opportunities, with many children misdiagnosed as having behavioral problems. Poor acoustics in many classrooms exacerbate the problem, experts say. The underlying source of the hearing loss is repeated middle ear infections and lack of access to health care. Over half of the 641 Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory have a local health clinic.
Link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/27/2174372.htm
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