Sarah Hanson-Young – a politician who cares
The Adnyamathanha and Flinders Local Action Group would like to thank Senator Hanson-Young for coming to The Flinders Ranges and meeting with us. You listened to everyone with kind empathy and understanding and it was a pleasure to be with you. Thank you Sarah.
#nonuclearwasteintheflindersranges https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
Planned nuclear dump sites – Access denied to Barngarla Native Title Representative Body.
Everybody For A NUclear Free Future, 14 July 18, After claiming there was no aboriginal heritage issues at the proposed Kimba suppositories, DIIS denies entry to Barngarla Native Title Representative Body.
“We wrote to the department on 21 February requesting access for sites, for the purposes of that assessment being carried out, and advising that the DAC would contact the department after that assessment had been complete for the purpose of working a way forward for these consultation processes. The department advised that they couldn’t provide access to the sites. You’ve been provided a redacted version of the report. The material that was provided following our initial submissions—I think that was only provided to you in the last few days—is somewhat compromised, but it has identified that there are nine confirmed sites and nine potential sites that are affected.
As part of that assessment team, which included some of the DAC board members here. Mr Brandon McNamara, who’s a Barngarla elder, invited the department to come along to a board meeting on 3 March and that invitation was declined. There were also statements made to the assessment team that the engagement of Dr Gorring to carry out the assessment was premature, which we find quite surprising. If the department has already issued statements that there’s no heritage and not provided information about what heritage assessments of its own it has made, to then make a comment that for Barngarla to carry out its own heritage assessments was premature is a bit surprising.”
ENuFF[SA]
Office Admin
https://www.facebook.com/sanuclearfree/
Australian Medical Association urges fixing the uranium-polluted water supplies to remote communities
Filtering out heavy metals years away, despite high uranium detected in water, ABC News , By Bridget Brennan, Isabella Higgins and Stephanie Zillman, -20 June 18
The Northern Territory Government has downplayed concern following the ABC’s revelation that drinking water has been high in uranium in three Aboriginal communities for a decade — even as the Power and Water Corporation said a plan to filter heavy metals was still years away.
Key points:
- Earlier this week ABC revealed at least three Central Australian communities have uranium levels in drinking water that exceed health guidelines
- The NT Health Minister has now responded, saying the NT Health Department and Power and Water were working together on the issue
- But medical professionals said the situation was “unacceptable”
The response came as the Australian Medical Association urged the water supplies be fixed, with Aboriginal health organisations describing the situation as “unacceptable”.
On Tuesday, ABC’s 7.30 revealed the central desert communities of Laramba, Wilora and Willowra supplied bore water with elevated levels of uranium.
Data from the Power and Water Corporation showed Laramba’s water supply contained uranium at higher than 0.04 milligrams per litre (mg/L).
Australian Drinking Water Guidelines outline those levels should not exceed 0.017 mg/L — and the corporation agreed that several communities are drinking water above the national guidelines.
Yet the Power and Water Corporation said a plan to filter out elevated levels of heavy metals like uranium from drinking water in some Central Australian communities is still years away……….
Doctors said fixing the supply should be a priority.
“Contaminants which do make the drinking water unsafe to drink above the guidelines as stipulated, should be treated as a health priority,” AMA president Dr Tony Bartone said.
“All governments — of either jurisdiction — need to ensure that all Australians have access to potable drinking water.”
Dr Bartone said the AMA wanted safe drinking water levels to be part of the Closing the Gap targets, which are currently undergoing a review after 10 years of limited progress.
“Access to safe drinking water is a prerequisite for good health,” he said.
“You can’t really set aspirational targets for health without really pinning the strategy to the building blocks around good health — the social determinants of health.”
John Paterson, chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory, said an independent review was needed “as soon as possible”.
“Governments need to respond to this, we need the experts out there to explain how much contamination is in the water and what solutions have been provided,” he said.
Rod Little, co-chair of National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, said he was shocked to hear of uranium levels not meeting health guidelines in Aboriginal communities. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-20/high-uranium-detected-in-central-australian-bore-water/9891522
Launch of film “protecting Country”
Protecting Country
Alexander Hayes After three years of listening, a huge trip across country, countless hours spent editing and many community consultations we are thankful to be releasing today the Protecting Country film which was produced by Bruce Hammond and features Aboriginal leaders in their stand against the continued genocide of uranium mining, testing and dumping in Australia –
“…Protecting Country is an independently produced film bringing the voices of the contemporary Adnyamathanha, Gurindji, Tanganekald, Yankunytjatjara Anunga, Mirning, Narunnga Aboriginal Australian people forward who are united in their stand AGAINST the present and planned uranium mining and nuclear dump activities in South Australia. Bruce Hammond, an Aboriginal Tanganekald man with ties to the coast in the lower South East of South Australia and the central desert regions of Finke and Alice Springs in conjunction with Alexander Hayes & Magali McDuffie from Ngikalikarra Media brought the ‘Protecting Country’ documentary film on a screening road trip across Australia –
Nuclear waste dumping would destroy Adnyamathanha traditional land and cultural heritage
Heather Mckenzie Stuart Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 19 June 18
Unacceptable levels of uranium in drinking water for several remote communities
‘Our kids need proper water’: Families plead for action over uranium in drinking water, ABC, 7.30 by Indigenous affairs reporters Isabella Higgins, Bridget Brennan and Emily Napangarti Butcher, 19 June 18,
Activists hold jamboree to organise beyond coal and gas
GLW author Margaret Gleeson June 14, 2018
‘The burgeoning movements against coal and gas projects,
to defend the Great Barrier Reef and to conserve precious water resources
were boosted by the Beyond Coal and Gas Jamboree
held on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland over May 31 to June 3.
‘More than 350 activists from around Australia joined
international guests from the Pacific, the US and India
at the fourth Beyond Coal and Gas gathering.
Participants included Indigenous campaigners
against fracking in the Kimberley, Western Australia; the Northern Territory; and
against coal mining on traditional lands in the Galilee Basin, in Queensland. …
‘All age groups were present but youth, particularly Indigenous people and women,
were well represented, …
Indigenous campaigns
‘The opening session, “Indigenous rising: protecting country and organising our people”, heard how
Indigenous communities are heading up the fight to defend their lands from coal and coal seam gas mining.
‘Adrian Burragubba from the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners Council (W&J) spoke
of their opposition since 2012 of the Adani Carmichael coal project in the Galilee Basin,
and the court challenges they have faced. The current challenge is
against Adani’s bogus Indigenous Land Use Agreement.
The mine cannot go ahead until this issue is resolved.
If the Federal Court rules in Adani’s favour, the W&J will call for a judicial review
and have pledged to take it all the way to the High Court. …
‘Micklo Corpus a Traditional owner from Yaruru people in Broome, Western Australia,
has been campaigning since 2014 against gas company Buru Energy,
where many of the gas wells are located in wetlands.
The government is claiming veto over land to which his people have exclusive rights.
‘“The gas mining company’s offer is only for 40 years financial benefit,” Corpus said.
“I say ‘put the money back in your pockets’, we have 40,000 years to safeguard.”
‘The opening session also included speakers from the Indigenous youth climate network SEED,
who work with remote communities facing extractive industries.
‘Yorta Yorta woman Karrina Nolan spoke of communities having to choose
between safeguarding country and meeting basic needs.
“Communities in poverty shouldn’t have to give into mining to get services
which should be provided by government anyway,” she said. … ‘
Read more of Margaret‘s comprehensive, well-researched & inspiring account,
including Sections on Victorious Campaigns & the View from India re Adani:
www.greenleft.org.au/content/activists-hold-jamboree-organise-beyond-coal-and-gas
Event 27 June The Need for Leadership to Address White Supremacy in the NGO Sector
Pro Bono Australia Luke Michael, 14 June 18
Charities and not for profits need to show leadership to address the issue of white supremacy in the NGO sector, a prominent Aboriginal writer and activist believes.Nayuka Gorrie is a Kurnai/Gunai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta writer and activist who spoke on a panel at the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) 2018 Summit on Wednesday.
She was joined by Victorian ombudsman Deborah Glass OAM, Will Stracke from the Victorian Trades Hall Council, Reason Party leader Fiona Patten, and Centre for Social Impact CEO Kristy Muir.
The panel discussed the “shifting nature of leadership and the role of citizens to shape their own prosperous and inclusive society”.
One of the topics discussed was the need for greater diversity in leadership, particularly around race and gender.
Stracke admitted during the panel discussion that leadership in the trade union movement was “too white”.
“One of our values that we say is ‘diversity is our strength and solidarity is our power’,” Stracke said.
“And that’s about the diversity of our movement and our movement is very diverse… but I think we as a union movement [still] need more voices.
“We’ve very white in terms of our leadership and we need to get better at that.”………
“Leadership needs to be much more representative of the people,” Glass said.
“It’s not just gender, it’s race, it’s disability, it’s everything we all stand for. We can’t have leaders speaking for us who don’t represent us, who don’t look like us or don’t speak like us.”………
Gorrie has organised an event to discuss “dismantling white supremacy in the NGO sector” at Victorian Trades Hall on 27 June.
She told Pro Bono News why she decided to create the event.
“I decided to put on that event after chatting to a number of different people that work in the not-for-profit sector,” she said.
“And [people of colour] are doing twice as much work just to survive I think.”
Gorrie said while white supremacy was found across all sections of society, it was especially disappointing to see it in the not-for-profit sector, considering the sector’s purpose to make the world a better place.
……..“I think a lot of not for profits make a lot of money and the Indigenous Advancement Strategy was a really good example of that. Most of the money in the strategy went to non-black organisations.“So there is a lot of money to be made in perceived black dysfunction and I don’t know if it’s possible for them to do the work they’ve set out to do if they haven’t examined and [removed] the white supremacy within themselves.”https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2018/06/need-leadership-address-white-supremacy-ngo-sector/
Government assessment of proposed Kimba nuclear waste dump area is a farce
Regina McKenzie Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA 12 June 18 The cultural assessment is a sham, just another token gesture by the Federal Government to tick a box, RPS failed to do a full cultural walk through and find the cultural significance of the area, they did not survey all Adnyamathanha people, to find the ones with the cultural knowledge of the area, they only did small pockets of area, also for the holes that were dug, no tests pits were done, only just standing watching a front end loader dig, no sieving whatsoever,
I suggested this but no, also hole for the water from drills was dug without a archaeologist present and a grader over a sandhill, no walk through no archaeologist in sight, they ran over marked heritage , a grindstone and dumped waste outside of work area , this assessment is a farce, no one listened , its just all tokenism, and all the underarm dealings behind closed door with the fanatical yes blacks , sounding a lot like insider trading to me. https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
Kimberley Land Council (KLC and agencies) wrong about Sovereignty
Ghillar, Michael Anderson 7 June 2018 ‘While the Kimberley Land Council (KLC) and theAustralian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
convene the Native Title conference in Broome, hosted by the Yawuru People,
Anderson shines another light on the KLC and its agencies’ agenda.'”Since I’ve left Warmun the community has been bombarded by yet another Native Title meeting run by KLC agencies.
Again, Senior Elders were bullied to attend but they have reassured me proudly, ‘I didn’t sign anything.'”In their reliable report-back they joked about the way the KLC Legal advisor, Douglas D’Antione,
was telling them lies about sovereignty.
“He said that the only way to get sovereignty is by conquering and that you need
an army and navy to get sovereignty, like the English people did!!
“He then said that the second way to get sovereignty was for the owners just to say:
“OK, here. This is yours.”
At no time did he acknowledge that First Nations sovereignty is pre-existing
and continuing and is the basis of the continental common law.”
~ Ghillar, Michael Anderson
‘Having looked at the map of the Native Title applications’ areas and
then comparing those maps with the Kimberley tourist topographical map
being sold in stands in garages and newsagencies and information centres,
I realised that the KLC agencies are demanding the Peoples authority
to put a massive Native Title application over a vast area of land that
is already reserved under the WA State law as being set aside
exclusively for the use of Aborigines only.
‘I informed the people that they are about to, or have,
authorised a Native Title application to go over a massive area of land
that they already own through the Aboriginal Land Trust of Western Australia
and it is exclusively theirs, if their families came from these particular lands.
‘When I asked the people why they would authorise such a claim they all said
KLC agencies never informed them of this fact at all.
‘The KLC agencies fail to provide documents ahead of the meetings,
try to prevent independent legal advice and
do not give back copies of any papers the people may have signed,
or have been coerced to sign.
‘I am now informed that the people of Warmun and surrounding areas
have made a decision to dismiss the KLC, KRED Legal and ARMA, EHSIS
and other KLC agencies from having anything to do with their lands and waters.
‘They are understanding the KLC agencies plan to
take over negotiations to enable mining on their lands.
‘I am informed that the people are now gathering in significant numbers
and will inform the Federal Court that they no longer wish to
pursue the Native Title determinations, because as one of the
Senior Elders, Mr. Patrick Mung, has said with words to the effect:
“For too long we have been signing papers for KLC and its agencies
and there are a lot of things going on on our lands,
but look at us, we have nothing.
“When we ask for royalty money they tell us there is not enough in the bucket.
We don’t want these people any more.
We joined KLC because they said we were being ripped off.
But now we have just gone from one rip off to another.” … ‘
Read more of Ghillar’s comprehensive, well-researched, challenging media statement here:
nationalunitygovernment.org/content/kimberley-land-council-klc-agencies-wrong-about-sovereignty
Historic Northern Territory treaty agreement means ‘the old way is finished’
Lorena Allam Sat 9 Jun 2018
‘Gunner told the crowd he was proud to have signed the memorandum of understanding,
calling it “the most significant Aboriginal affairs reform in the NT this generation”. … ‘
‘The chairman of the Northern Land Council, Samuel Bush-Blanasi,
said it was “momentous.”
‘“We’ve got a big journey ahead of us.
The MOU gives us high hopes about the future, and
I hope the government stays true to the spirit of the MOU.”
‘That note of hope was echoed by the chairman of the Central Land Council, Francis Jupurrurla Kelly.
‘“I hope a treaty will settle us down together and bring self-determination.
‘“Today we bounced the ball,” Jupurrurla Kelly said,
“but we don’t want to stay the only players in the game.
The next steps must be led by Aboriginal people across the Territory so that
… everyone can have their say.”
‘Tiwi Land Council’s Gibson Farmer Illortaminni was more cautious.
“We’ve got to be careful and understand each other about what we want,
because we don’t want to have the same problems we’ve had in the past.
The MOU is a good start, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
‘The treaty agreement kicked off the annual Barunga festival.
South Australian government decides against process towards Aboriginal Treaty
Kyam Maher started the treaty process as Aboriginal affairs minister and is now Labor’s spokesman for the portfolio.
“For far, far too long, policymakers have been doing things to Aboriginal people, not with Aboriginal people.”
A “massive amount of work” had been put in by Aboriginal people towards a treaty, he said.
He said the Premier had done “very, very little consultation” on the issue.
“To decide unilaterally without consultation to not go ahead with the most important reform process in Aboriginal affairs that we’re undertaking, I think there will be a lot of anger and it will be very difficult for the new government to operate with Aboriginal communities … letting them down in this way,” he said.
Yesterday, the Lower House of Victoria’s Parliament voted in favour of negotiating Australia’s first Aboriginal treaty, after the state’s Labor Government won crucial support from the Greens.
SA Government decides not to go ahead with Aboriginal treaties http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-08/sa-govt-decides-not-to-go-ahead-with-aboriginal-treaty/9851166 The South Australian Government has scrapped a process to negotiate treaties with the state’s Aboriginal nations.
It comes on the same day the Northern Territory pledged to work towards a treaty with its Indigenous peoples. Continue reading
Australia’s frontier war killings still conveniently escape official memory
Paul Daley ‘But change is inevitable.
The commemoration of the Myall Creek massacre is emblematic of a broader push for recognition’
@ppdaley 8 Jun 2018
‘This weekend it is 180 years since white stockmen murdered
28 unarmed Aboriginal men, women and children at Myall Creek
in northern New South Wales.
‘The Myall Creek massacre was part of a pattern of violence against Indigenous people;
hundreds of such massacres happened across the continent from 1788
as British soldiers, settlers and pioneering explorers clashed with Indigenous people
resisting pastoral expansion.
By some credible accounts at least 60,000 Indigenous people
– roughly the same number as Australians killed in the first world war – died.
‘Myall Creek was, however, remarkable for another reason.
It was the only time on the colonial frontier that non-Indigenous men
were successfully prosecuted for murdering Aboriginal people.
Seven perpetrators were eventually hanged. …
‘Meanwhile, the NSW Labor opposition has pledged $3m towards
the construction of a Myall Creek Education and Cultural Centre
that would be dedicated to public education of the massacre and frontier war. …
‘But as yet there is no official Commonwealth memorial to the dead
of the frontier wars in Canberra, the capital, whose monuments and
institutions also serve as a national memory.
‘But it will happen, just as inevitably as the date of Australia Day
is bound to change from the day of invasion, 26 January.’
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2018/jun/08/australias-frontier-war-killings-still-conveniently-escape-official-memory
Victorian lower house passes treaty legislation after Greens accept Labor deal
‘Bill creates framework for Indigenous body to represent Aboriginal Victorians and advance treaty process‘ Calla Wahlquist @callapilla 7 Jun 2018
‘The legislation passed with the support of the Greens after
the Aboriginal affairs minister, Natalie Hutchins, proposed amendments
that went some way towards addressing concerns raised
by Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman and Northcote MP Lidia Thorpe.
‘Thorpe proposed additional amendments on the floor of parliament,
particularly demanding an acknowledgement of Aboriginal sovereignty
by the state of Victoria, but they were not adopted. …
‘The amendments to the Victorian legislation were moved
in response to concerns raised by Thorpe, the only
Aboriginal person in Victorian parliament, who said she was
concerned about a lack of engagement with elders;
a potential sidelining of Victorian traditional owners in favour of
government-appointed people on the representative body; and
the failure of the legislation to explicitly acknowledge the
sovereignty of Aboriginal clans in Victoria.
‘The latter remains a significant concern for Thorpe,
who said in parliament on Thursday that she was disappointed the government
had decided against including a firm acknowledgement in the legislation
that traditional owners in Victoria retained sovereignty over their lands.
‘“Treaties are between two sovereigns, and to talk about treaty
or to go ahead with treaty negotiations and not actually recognise
that Aboriginal people are the sovereign people of this land,
then I think that’s one of the major failures of this legislation,”
Thorpe told Guardian Australia.
“If we can’t start by addressing sovereignty, then that’s a joke.” … ‘
Aboriginal sovereignty – mere symbolism will never be accepted
Challenging the Great Divide in a David and Goliath struggle Sovereign Union – First Nations Asserting Sovereignty, by Ghillar, Michael Anderson
‘What is currently and actively going on without our Peoples’ full realisation
is the struggle between, on the one hand, grassroots Peoples and their leadership,
who are beginning to assert their pre-existing and continuing sovereign status
as linguistically based Nations, whose Countries are occupied
by the Australian/British colonialist administrators and, on the other hand,
the assimilated two-bob-mob conditioned by the colonised mindset
who are attempting to derail the sovereignty movement.
Only yesterday at Warmun, Turkey Creek, Kimberley Land Council
presenters were challenged by people asserting their sovereign position,
only to be told sovereignty was a ‘load of rubbish’ but this was
strongly refuted by Elders and the younger generations.
This situation at Warmun is developing fast.
‘The complex and grimy underbelly of Australia is gradually being exposed for the world to see.
Meanwhile in the international arena, diplomats under the instruction of the
executive Commonwealth government falsely pretend that Australia is an independent Nation.
The Australians sitting in the UN are there at the behest of Britain
and are mere puppets to the United States and Britain.
‘These puppets, in the guise of the Australian State,
hide the fact that there is a major struggle for sovereign title
to this island continent, now known as Australia, These colonial puppets
know they have no legitimacy while ever our sovereign First Nations continue
to exist and our Law if the Law of the Land, always was, always will be.
‘On this most recent journey to the Kimberley,
I was alerted to the very real fact of the enormous destruction and desecration
that is looming without our people knowing what is coming.
had an impact upon the government sitting in Canberra, because they were forced to realise that there
was NOT a true consensus on the proposed constitutional inclusion. The actual ‘Uluru Statement’
must have sent shock waves that propelled the government to abandon its enthusiasm for a referendum.’It is now clear that, because of the WALKOUT, the government became aware that the
leadership for this Constitutional inclusion had failed, because the grassroots people
saw through the con and did not want to be included in a racist colonial constitution belonging to Britain.
‘The impact that the WALKOUT had on those present created a situation that scared the organisers,
who clearly lost the complete overview of their original intentions, which the government know of.
The final document that was concluded came completely out of left field and
the government realised mere symbolism was never going to be accepted. … Continue reading
1 This month.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
Australians deserve the truth
about AUKUS
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 