
‘Colonisation’ by Lawry Love, 2001.
So here we are the last article for the year – the time has gone so fast. For me it is a time for deep reflection and an opportunity to say thank you to all our readers as we prioritise our thoughts towards another year. Remember we receive absolutely no Government funding and survive only on subscriptions and advertising so you are the ones who keep our voice alive; Gabayiindah (thank you).
This is the difference between us and the other media, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, and the reason why we were able to cover the G20 and Freedom Summit while the others remained silent … but more on editorial censorship later.
For me personally and I know many others will agree the year will be remembered for the constant assault and ongoing attacks against our People. The hostility has been unrelenting.
Of the many burning issues facing our People the closing down of many of our communities is just one example of the assimilationist policies we face. This will continue the dispossession of lands so important to our identity.
After 226 years of invasion our oppressors continue the threat of Culture, language and identity against us. We remain the victims of systemic causation and effect, which towards the end of the year had many of our community referring to it as systematic ethnic cleansing.
Ethnic cleansing is defined as the systemic causation via institutionalised racism through government effectively causing the extinction of the Original First Peoples of this country.
That’s right, extinction … extinction of languages, Culture and practice and eventually the people.
You think I am kidding? The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show over half of our mob, whether married or in a de facto relationship, have a non-Indigenous partner, with over 80 per cent of our children of mixed race.
Again, I am more than aware that such topics offend some people but if we don’t have this discussion now there is the very real threat that if things continue as they are we will not only lose our languages and ceremony but yes our colour.
And then when we look the same as our oppressor, speak only their language and know only their system ask yourself what part of our ancestors remain?
The same Australian Bureau of Statistics show 88 per cent of our Mob do not speak an Aboriginal language and only a little over half of us identify with a particular clan or First Nation language group.
Most of us live in single parent or nuclear households rather than extended family groups and moreover there is a growing Indigenous middle class which, in benefitting from Western values and self-interest, remain silent while suicide rates, self-harm, closure of remote communities and deaths in custody continue.
None of the above is opinion; these are stated facts and this is what we are up against as we approach the end of 2014.
Rachel Perkins wrote only last week in the Sydney Morning Herald: “There is a deep subterranean feeling of burning resentment, carried within my People, that has been handed down from parent to child across six generations since 1788. Fuelled by the fact our nation has not thoroughly acknowledged the First People of this country. That the 2500 generations, the 1 billion people who populated at least 60,000 years of life, means nothing? This is the inheritance passed on to me. I do not want to resent my own country any longer. I don’t want my children to carry this burden and neither should yours. Let us do something to free future Australians from this historical angst.”
No Rachel, this is no “historical angst” this is happening now and I have never resented my country. My country is Kamilaroi and runs from Tamworth in western New South Wales up through Moree and over the Queensland border, past St George, stopping at Surat.
Rachel states clearly within the article she sees the constitution as her “nation’s founding document” but as I said and continue to say my nation is Kamilaroi and I refuse to surrender 70,000 years of occupation and history in glorifying an invasion that took place 200 years ago.
We don’t get to write for the Sydney Morning Herald or The Australian, Ms Perkins and neither would you if you chose to make a difference rather than remain silent in speaking up for those most vulnerable who feel the full effects of hostility and racism against them on a daily bases.
The creation of 15,000 refugees across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia is happening now, Ms Perkins, not in the past. The CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Dennis Eggington is just one of our community who describes the closure of over 240 Traditional Homeland Communities as “ethnic cleansing”.
You won’t find Mr Eggington writing for the Sydney Morning Herald or The Australian either. Ms Perkins also wrote: “However, to you my fellow Australians, who may be hesitant in committing under these complex circumstances, I urge you not to wait for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People to find complete agreement. It will fall not just to us Indigenous People but more fundamentally to you, who are the overwhelming majority, to fix it.”
I can’t speak for Ms Perkins but after 226 years of White Australians making decisions on our behalf with such devastating effects they are the last people I want our future to “fall” to as “the overwhelming majority” to “fix.”
Compare the above statements with this from WAR and Brisbane Sovereign Embassy spokesman, Boe Spearim: “Do we really need to sit at the table with the same people who have put us in this very position we are in today. Ask yourselves do we? We need to create our own table that we once had before invasion since the first sunrise. Let’s clear the table of the White Australian Government, let’s create that change, let’s talk of freedom, let’s talk of independence, let’s talk of Black Nations rising. At our own table we are that change we see and we are that change we can bring it in to existence.” (Boe Spearim, 2014)
Like all colonised countries around the world, the Original First People of this country have survived the slaughter, the mass slavery and devastation of Western cruelty thrashed upon our communities.
But over the last 60 years we have seen a change with the development of television and mass media since the 1950s. This introduction of mass media changed the State strategy from just brutality to more subtle institutionalised State behaviours in keeping our Black People down.
The pioneer of such strategies was John Edgar Hoover, the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Hoover used espionage intelligence to harass political activists by collecting secret files on political leaders and by censoring reform agendas. It was Hoover more than anyone else who created the neo-conservative liberalism that sees corporations and big business run government policies across the Western world effectively putting an end to true democracy forever.
According to President Harry S. Truman, Hoover transformed the FBI into his private secret police force. Truman stated: “We want no Gestapo or secret police. The FBI is tending in that direction. They are dabbling in sex life scandals and plain blackmail. J. Edgar Hoover would give his right eye to take over and all Congressmen and Senators are afraid of him”. (Anthony Summers, 2012)
It was Hoover who more than any one individual influenced the fall of Communism, Socialism and Black Consciousness where he purposely exaggerated the threats of these ideologies under a programme of counter intelligence.
Hoover’s legacy is Western governments still use counter intelligence today. Hoover’s methods included infiltration, burglaries, illegal wiretaps, planting forged documents and spreading false rumours about key members of target organisations. There is also evidence that shows counter intelligence methods include inciting violence and assassination.
Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the Black Panther Movement were all targeted by Hoover and the FBI; in a civil trial in Memphis, Tennessee, 12 jurors reached a unanimous verdict on December 8, 1999 that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated as a result of a US Government conspiracy.
Again, why is this case not taught in school? Why is Edgar Hoover not written in the annals of history as a criminal of social justice and civil liberties?
Why? Because those who have retained power have benefited from his politics and strategies and now implement them against us. This is no conspiracy theory, this is truth, everything written here is not only well-known it is established as historical fact. So again why the censorship?
Ask yourself, why are Rachel Perkins and others writing in The Australian or the Sydney Morning Herald and I am writing in the National Indigenous Times and The Stringer and Boe Spearim is feeding 200 families on a self-funded programme standing in a park with a loudspeaker?
Do you honestly believe that having found such a successful form of civil control and obedience through counter intelligence that State authorities and Western governance would have stopped such practices in the last 50 years?
Of course they haven’t and censorship and control of publications and media is a large part of their strategy.
This is how it works on climate change. Australia’s national scientific organisations were raising the alarm for more than a decade and Labor were becoming leaders in climate change having pushed the carbon tax through the Senate.
In steps Rupert Murdoch, who exercises his considerable influence in Australian media. The country is now governed by a deeply unpopular Liberal-National government and its position on climate change has significant impacts on global efforts to reduce carbon emissions: Australia is not only the chair of the G20 group of nations but also holds a place on the UN Security Council.
So how did it happen? In 2010, Gillard managed to shepherd a cap-and-trade law to passage, in the form of the Clean Energy Future Act. Tony Abbott called the science of climate change “crap” and various senior figures in his frontbench team openly questioned the scientific basis of anthropogenic global warming. Abbott spoke at anti-carbon price rallies in front of banners proclaiming Prime Minister Gillard as a “witch” and a “bitch”.
Behind the scenes, several key members of Abbott’s party visited the United States to meet with conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, who openly deny climate change.
Gillard’s carbon pricing laws eventually came into effect in 2012 amid the biggest fear campaign ever seen in Australia. Rupert Murdoch-owned mastheads, controlling as much as 70 per cent of the newspaper market, carried front page stories attacking the laws.
Australia’s only national daily newspaper, the Murdoch-owned The Australian, promoted misleading stories giving credence to climate denialist views taken from the Heritage Foundation as public opinion. Julia Gillard was replaced as our Prime Minister and the rest, as they say, is history.
In closing my final thought of the year is ask yourself this.
If you believe in a Western system and in trying to change the organisational racism from within through active participation and access, don’t we have a Black President of the United States? And yet police brutality against minorities is as high as it has ever been with hundreds of thousands marching in the US in protest against the number of men and woman recently killed by police.
What makes you think things will change here via the Recognise campaign or any other policy that enables our People to become part of the system? The short answer is it won’t change anything. It is the system itself that is rotten to the core.
Did no one read the article last week highlighting an advertising campaign promoting luxurious apartments for sale in Redfern which claimed Aboriginal People had “moved out” of the inner-Sydney suburb in order to lure buyers.
This is the same development company Mick Mundine has brought in to build the $70 million redevelopment at Redfern.
The whiteman controls his own school, his own economy, his own politics, his own everything, his own community but he also controls ours. When you are under someone else’s control your freedom is being oppressed. They will always give you the lowest or the worst they have to offer.
The West won this control not through the superiority of its ideas, values or religion but instead through organised violence, hostility and brutality.
Westerners often forget this. Original First Nation peoples never do.
Dr Woolombi Waters is a Kamilaroi language speaker and writer and is a lecturer at Griffith University. He writes a weekly column for the National Indigenous Times.
WGAR News: Aboriginal Sovereign Manifesto of Demands – National Aboriginal Freedom Movement
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/02/10/wgar-news-aboriginal-sovereign-manifesto-of-demands-national-aboriginal-freedom-movement
Contents:
* Manifesto: Aboriginal Sovereign Manifesto of Demands – National Aboriginal Freedom Movement Aboriginal Embassy, Canberra, Australia
* Audio: Adam Evans, NIRS: Protesters come face-to-face with politicians during ‘sit-in’ [Featuring Tauto Sansbury and Gerry Georgatos]
* Audio Interview: Living Black Radio: 090215 ACT Freedom Sit In [Featuring Tauto Sansbury]
* Analysis / Opinion: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: They Came For The Abbott Spill, And Missed The Only Real Story In Town
* Audio: Ninah Kopel, The Wire: Protesting worlds worst child removal rate [Featuring Sue-Ellen Tighe, Michael Anderson and Tauto Sansbury]
* Video: NITV News – 9 February 2015: “GMAR groups from across the country rallied with Freedom Movement campaigners on the grounds of Parliament house to deliver a set of demands … ”
* News & Photos: CAAMA Radio at First Nations Freedom Movement Canberra 2015
* News & Photos: 9 News: Protesters attempt to derail TODAY Show’s Canberra broadcast to bring attention to indigenous deaths in custody
* Photos from the Sit-In: Sovereign Union & Stop Stolen Generations Facebook
* Current Event: Freedom Movement Sit-In at Parliament House, Canberra, from 9 February 2015
* WGAR Background to the National Freedom Movement
WGAR News: Aboriginal Protestors Deliver List of Demands To Parliament: CAAMA Video
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/02/11/wgar-news-aboriginal-protestors-deliver-list-of-demands-to-parliament-caama-video
Contents:
* Video: CAAMA: Aboriginal Protestors Deliver List of Demands To Parliament
[Featuring Clive Palmer, Tauto Sansbury, Michael Anderson, GMAR, Jenni Munro, Les Coe & Roxley Foley]
* Video: Eleanor Gilbert, Vimeo: Freedom Movement delegates report back on the meeting with Nigel Scullion
* Video: Eleanor Gilbert, Vimeo: Freedom Movement Sit-In protesters present Manifesto to Bill Shorten
* Video: Eleanor Gilbert, Vimeo: Clive Palmer responds to National Freedom Movement presence
* News & Photos: CAAMA: Nigel Scullion Visits Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra
* News: CAAMA News: “Aboriginal Rights advocates say they could soon send a delegation to England to present the Queen with a list of issues … ” [Featuring Tauto Sansbury]
* Audio: Gerry Georgatos, NIRS: Freedom Movement meets with Indigenous affairs minister [Featuring Tauto Sansbury & Nigel Scullion]
* Audio Interview: Let’s Talk’s Tiga Bayles interviews Michael Anderson on the Sit-In
* Audio Interview: CAAMA Radio: Young Voices… [Featuring Timothy Wilkey & Bud Spearim]
* Video: Eleanor Gilbert, Vimeo: Vanessa Culbong, Perth, speaks out at the Sit-In
* Video: Eleanor Gilbert, Vimeo: Sisters speak out at the Sit-In: Deaths in Custody
* Audio Interview: The Stringer Audio/Radio News: Gerry Georgatos interviews Bill Shorten on Aboriginal issues
* Audio Interview: The Stringer Audio/Radio News: Gerry Georgatos interviews Clive Palmer on Aboriginal issues
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Leadership squabbling, not Aboriginal rights struggle, consumed by mainstream media
* Media Roundup: Diet Simon, Linksunten Indymedia: Aboriginal protesters come face-to-face with politicians during Canberra ‘sit-in’
* Photos: Sovereign Union: Canberra Sit-in Gallery – 9 February 2015
* Event: Freedom Movement Sit-In at Parliament House, Canberra, on 9 February 2015
* WGAR Background to the National Freedom Movement
WGAR News: Closure of remote communities devastates residents: Miranda Wood, Red Flag Newspaper
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/02/14/wgar-news-closure-of-remote-communities-devastates-residents-miranda-wood-red-flag
Contents:
* Change.org Petition: Saving Aboriginal communities: Stop Colin Barnett premier of Western Australia
* Video: Eleanor Gilbert, Vimeo: Gerry Georgatos discusses the closure of WA Aboriginal homelands with Hugh Riminton
* Analysis / Opinion: Miranda Wood, Red Flag Newspaper: Closure of remote communities devastates residents
* Analysis / Opinion: Jessica Lukjanow, Global Research: Australia May Stop Providing Water and Power to Remote Aboriginal Communities
* Analysis / Opinion: Ben Collins, ABC Kimberley: Indigenous community closures: essential service uncertainty
* Video: NITV News: Planned Closure of WA Communities Highlights WA’s Poor Contribution to Closing the Gap
* News: Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian: WA premier withdraws royalties help for struggling Aboriginal communities
* News: Sydney Morning Herald: Spend ‘to save WA Aboriginal communities’
* News: Vicky Validakis, Australian Mining: Mining not dead in WA
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
WGAR News: Aboriginal protesters set up camp on Heirisson Island as some remote communities face closure: Andrew O’Connor, ABC News
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/03/wgar-news-aboriginal-protesters-set-up-camp-on-heirisson-island-as-some-remote
Contents:
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: In the heart of Perth, Aboriginal Tent Embassy and a refugee camp
* News: Andrew O’Connor, ABC News: Aboriginal protesters set up camp on Heirisson Island as some remote communities face closure
* News Analysis: Liam Croy, The West Australian: Act of war claim in Heirisson protest
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
* WGAR Background to the Aboriginal Sovereignty Movement
WGAR News: Senate motion condemns Oombulgurri demolition: Greens Senator Rachel Siewert
Background to the Oombulgurri demolitions commencing 30 September 2014 – 1 October 2014
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/04/wgar-news-senate-motion-condemns-oombulgurri-demolition-greens-senator-rachel-siewert
Contents:
* News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Western Australia’s Government to bury Oombulgurri
* Media Release: Greens Senator Rachel Siewert: Senate motion condemns Oombulgurri demolition
* Analysis / Opinion: Amnesty International Australia: WA Government must stop Oombulgurri demolitions after forcibly evicting community members
* Analysis / Opinion: Amnesty International Australia: Oombulgurri demolitions: your questions answered
* Audio: Gerry Georgatos, NIRS: Questions over mining influence on Oombulgurri demolition decision [Featuring Cissy Gore-Birch, Chair, Balanggarra Aboriginal Corp]
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
OPEN LETTER
To:
H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of UN General Assembly, New York, NY 10017 USA
From:
Ghillar Michael Anderson, Convenor and Joint Spokesperson of Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples in Australia and Head of State of the Euahlayi Peoples Republic
Re: Refugee Camp in Perth and developing Humanitarian Crisis
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/pdf/2015/150303-SU-UN-SG-re%20Refugee%20Camp.pdf
3 March 2015:
“As the appointed Ambassador of the original Aboriginal Embassy, the Convenor of the Sovereign Union and Head of State, Euahlayi Peoples Republic, I herewith bring to your attention the humanitarian crisis that has now developed in the state of Western Australia. This crisis is a consequence of the Western Australian government’s policy of shutting down up to 150 Aboriginal homelands and communities, which they have wrongly stated to be financially ‘unsustainable’ and economically unviable. We regard these actions as an an act of war and aggression against the various tribal Nations in Western Australia.
Already we have seen the Lockridge Aboriginal community in Perth bulldozed with impunity after the Commonwealth government of Australia had just completed building new dwellings. The people are homeless and have now crowded into other family homes creating massive overcrowding, which leads to family confrontation and lateral violence that affects not only children but adults alike.
In the northern part of Western Australia the Aboriginal community of Oombulgurri was progressively closed down: First, the government closed the services. … then eventually the electricity and water were turned off. Finally, the 10 residents who resolutely stayed to the end were forcibly evicted, …
I call upon Your Excellency to make this humanitarian crisis known throughout the world.
Furthermore, we ask that Your Excellency assist in the immediate provision of safeguards and protection of the refugee camp and to provide appropriate aid for the health and well-being of the refugees.”
WGAR News: Urgent Action – Remote Homelands and Outstations in WA – Will You Help to Prevent a Crisis?
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/11/wgar-news-urgent-action-remote-homelands-and-outstations-in-wa-will-you-help-to-prevent-a
Contents:
* Urgent Action: Sovereign Union: Remote homelands and Outstations in WA: Will You Help to Prevent a Crisis?
* Audio Interview: CAAMA Radio: Aboriginals becoming refugees, following WA community closures
[Featuring Nicole Culbong from the Nyoongar Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Perth]
* Analysis / Opinion: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: Tony Abbott’s Australia: From ‘Nothing But Bush’ to ‘Brimming With Choices’
* Media Release: Senator Rachel Siewert: Greens: Remote indigenous communities are not a ‘lifestyle choice’ and should not be treated as such
* News Analysis: SBS News: Labor slams PM over ‘highly offensive’ remote communities comments
* Analysis / Opinion: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: Barnett Plays ‘Abuse Card’ To Defend Closure Of Remote West Australian Communities
[Featuring comments by Amnesty International’s Indigenous rights campaigner Tammy Solenec & Noongar activist Marianne McKay]
* Analysis / Opinion & Photos: Calla Wahlquist in the Kimberley, The Guardian: Of three remote communities here, why are only the two Aboriginal ones under threat?
* Video: Sovereign Union: Djurin Nyoongar Swan River Treaty
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
WGAR News: NZ MP’s support Aboriginal protest over proposed closure of indigenous communities: Heeni Brown, Maori Television
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/13/wgar-news-nz-mps-support-aboriginal-protest-over-proposed-closure-of-indigenous
Contents:
* News Analysis & Video: Heeni Brown, Maori Television: NZ MP’s support Aboriginal protest over proposed closure of indigenous communities
* Audio Interview: Paul Wiles, CAAMA Radio: Going backward is the problem – Rosalie Kunoth Monks
* Audio Interview: CAAMA Radio: Support growing for for displaced community mob … [Featuring Gerry Georgatos]
* Media Release: NAACHO: Closure of WA Aboriginal communities repeats historic failures
* News Analysis: NAACHO News: Will closing Aboriginal communities be detrimental to future health and wellbeing?
* Audio Interview: Sarah Martin, The Wire: Connection to country essential for Aboriginal culture [Featuring Glen Kelly, CEO, SWALSC]
* Analysis / Opinion: Joe Morrison NLC, SMH: Remote communities aren’t a utopian lifestyle choice but they are good for our people
* Analysis / Opinion: Michelle Dunne Breen, The Conversation: For the real story on Indigenous Australia, social beats old media
* Analysis / Opinion: Corinne Grant, The Hoopla: Why Can’t Black People Live More Like White People?
* Audio Interview: CAAMA Radio: PM’s comments a bone for the right wing… Shadow Minister Shane Neumann
* Background: Helen Davidson, The Guardian: Explainer: the facts behind the outrage over Tony Abbott’s Indigenous ‘lifestyle choice’ remarks
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
WGAR News: Remote Indigenous communities are vital for our fragile ecosystems: Craig Moritz, Emilie-Jane Ens & Jon Altman, The Conversation
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/13/wgar-news-remote-indigenous-communities-are-vital-for-our-fragile-ecosystems-craig-moritz
Contents:
* Audio Interview: Steven Riggall, The Wire: The environmental benefits of Indigenous people living on country [Featuring Emillie-Jane Ens]
* Analysis / Opinion: Craig Moritz, Emilie-Jane Ens & Jon Altman, The Conversation: Remote Indigenous communities are vital for our fragile ecosystems
* Analysis / Opinion: Marie McInerney, BBC News: Australia’s remote indigenous communities fear closure
* Analysis / Opinion: Dan Tout, arena: Settler Colonial Closures
* Report: Gavin Mooney: Health and Homelands: Good Value for Money?
* Report: Sean Kerins, CAEPR: The Future of homelands/Outstations
* Background: Amnesty International Australia: Homelands
* Background: Jens Korff, Creative Spirits: Aboriginal homelands & outstations
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
Matargarup Aboriginal Refugee Camp
WGAR News: Matargarup Aboriginal Refugee Camp: About 50 WA police officers have used mounted police and K-9 dogs to seize the tents and valuables
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/15/wgar-news-matargarup-aboriginal-refugee-camp-about-50-wa-police-officers-have-used
Contents:
* Petition: Change.org Petition: Stop displacing Indigenous Australians by the closure of Indigenous communities.
* Urgent Action: Jennifer Kaeshagen, The Stringer facebook: “If anyone can donate to the … Matargarup First Nations refugee camp, then that be good. Really good. Tents, mattresses, bedding, … cash”
* News Analysis: Alex Bainbridge in Perth, Green Left: Police move in but fail to snuff out sacred fire at Matagarup
* Audio: Adam Evans with CAAMA Radio, NIRS: We have a right to be on Matagarup: Noongar embassy [Featuring Marianne Mackay]
* Photos: Sovereign Union: WA uses mounted police and dogs to seize tents and valuables at Refugee Camp
* Audio Interview: social justice and sustainable living – new media: #Indigenous tent Embassy near #Perth CBD will continue despite eviction by police – yarn with Herbert Bropho
* News: Calla Wahlquist and agencies, The Guardian: Mounted police join effort to dismantle Heirisson Island protest
* News: Amy McQuire, New Matilda: ‘Refugee Camp’ For Aboriginal People Moved Off Remote Communities Ordered To Close
* News Analysis: Alan Austin in France, Independent Australia: Abbott trashes Australia’s reputation abroad – again
* Analysis / Opinion: Jon Altman, ‘concerned Australians’: Homelands under the hammer, again, from the aspiring PM for indigenous policy
* Analysis / Opinion: Michael Gordon, SMH: Tony Abbott’s lifestyle choice remark leaves ‘everyone hurting inside’ in remote indigenous communities
* News & Photos: Green Left: Rally against Indigenous community closures shuts down Melbourne CBD
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Forced to dance to the White Man’s song – Australia, steeped in racism
* Background: Diet Simon sourcing from WGAR news, Linksunten Indymedia: Maori politicians support Aboriginal protest over proposed closure of indigenous communities
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
WGAR News: Call to Action 19 March 2015: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities – Stop the Genocide!
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/17/wgar-news-call-to-action-19-march-2015-stop-the-forced-closure-of-aboriginal-communities
Contents:
* Facebook: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia
* Upcoming Event: Flyer: 19 March 2015: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities – call to action – Stop the Genocide!
* Upcoming Event: Thu 19 March 2015 from 11.30am: Rally from Aboriginal Tent Embassy to Parliament House, Canberra: Aboriginal communities in Australia announce a global call to action.
* Upcoming Event: 19 March 2015 at 12.30: Sydney say No Forced Closures of Remote Aboriginal Communities
* Upcoming Event: SOSBlakAustralia: Aboriginal Australian communities announce a global call to action
* Petition: Sarah Jay, Change.org: This petition will be tabled in the federal senate this week
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
Support for WA Remote Communities is Going Global
WGAR News: International exposure: Rallies throughout Australia protesting closure of Aboriginal homelands / remote communities
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/25/wgar-news-international-exposure-rallies-throughout-australia-protesting-closure-of
Contents:
* Video: NITV News: Support for WA Remote Communities is Going Global
* Open Letter: Sovereign Union Letter to United Nations – SOS Forced closure of Aboriginal homeland communities in WA
* Photo: Sovereign Union facebook: “Here is Sovereign Union founder and convenor Ghillar Michael Anderson speaking on a Russian TV program on Thursday night by Skype.”
* News Analysis: Charlotte Chabas, Le Monde: En Australie, la colère des Aborigènes face au « mépris » de leur culture: “The World: In Australia Aboriginal People’s anger faces the ‘contempt’ of their culture”
* News Analysis: teleSUR: Australians Rally against Closure of Aboriginal Communities
* Media Release: Sisters of Saint Joseph: Josephites express profound concern at proposed Government plans to withdraw basic services to Aboriginal communities
* Media Statement: Bishops Commission for Relations with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders: What Choice? Aboriginal peoples have the right to decent services where they live
* Joint Urgent Appeal: Franciscans International & Edmund Rice International: Forced Displacement of Aborigines in West Australia
* Background: Franciscans International – a voice at the United Nations: Indigenous Peoples
* News Analysis & Video: Heeni Brown, Maori Television: NZ MP’s support Aboriginal protest over proposed closure of indigenous communities
* Analysis / Opinion: Royce Kurmelovs, Al Jazeera: Shutting down Australia’s Aboriginal areas
* News Analysis: Alan Austin in France, Independent Australia: Abbott trashes Australia’s reputation abroad – again
* Analysis / Opinion: Marie McInerney, BBC News: Australia’s remote indigenous communities fear closure
* Facebook: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia
* Background: Diet Simon, sourced from WGAR, Linksunten Indymedia: Aboriginal Australian communities send a powerful message to government
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
WGAR News: Breaking News: Homeless camp raided – City of Perth in disgrace, once again: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/26/wgar-news-breaking-news-homeless-camp-raided-city-of-perth-in-disgrace-once-again-gerry
Contents:
* Breaking News & News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Homeless camp raided – City of Perth in disgrace, once again
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Help the First Nations Homelessness Project – help Matargarup refugee camp – help the homeless
* News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Refugee camp thanks its founders with corroborree
* News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: In the heart of Perth, Aboriginal Tent Embassy and a refugee camp
* News Analysis: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Jennifer Kaeshagen sets up The First Nations Homelessness Project
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
* WGAR Background to the Aboriginal Sovereignty Movement
WGAR News: May Day marches:
Forcibly removing our Peoples from their lands unacceptable as a remedy for governments trading insolvent:
Ghillar Michael Anderson, Sovereign Union
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/30/wgar-news-may-day-marches-forcibly-removing-our-peoples-from-their-lands-unacceptable-as
Contents:
* Media Release: Ghillar Michael Anderson, Sovereign Union: May Day marches: Forcibly removing our Peoples from their lands unacceptable as a remedy for governments trading insolvent
* Poster: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook: “We would like to confirm that that 2nd National Call of Action will be held Friday 1st May 2015.”
* Facebook: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia
* Video: NITV News: Remote Closures – SA Communities Call Emergency Summit to Fight ‘Cultural Genocide’
* News: Online News Team, Rewa Harriman, Maori Television: Maori supporters entertain indigenous protesters
* Background: Diet Simon, sourcing from WGAR, Linksunten Indymedia: Maori solidarity with the Nyoongar people at Matargarup, Perth
* WGAR Background to the Aboriginal Sovereignty Movement
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
Threats to close Aboriginal homelands in South Australia
WGAR News: SA Indigenous leaders seek urgent meeting over community closure concerns: Natalie Whiting, ABC PM
Featuring Haydyn Bromley, SA Aboriginal Lands Trust & Tammy Franks, SA Greens MLC
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/31/wgar-news-sa-indigenous-leaders-seek-urgent-meeting-over-community-closure-concerns
Contents:
* Audio: Natalie Whiting, ABC PM: SA Indigenous leaders seek urgent meeting over community closure concerns [Featuring Haydyn Bromley, SA Aboriginal Lands Trust & Tammy Franks, SA Greens MLC]
* News: ABC News: Indigenous elders meet at Port Augusta as federal funding cuts threaten to close remote communities [Featuring Elder Mima Smart]
* Video: NITV News – 30 March 2015: Threats to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in SA
* Video: NITV News: Remote Closures – SA Communities Call Emergency Summit to Fight ‘Cultural Genocide’
* Poster: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook: “We would like to confirm that that 2nd National Call of Action will be held Friday 1st May 2015.”
* Facebook: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
WGAR News Public Google Group: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en-GB#!forum/wgar-news
WGAR News – Working Group for Aboriginal Rights (Australia)
Marches in Melbourne & Sydney protesting community closures
WGAR News: Breaking News 10 April 2015: Over Thirteen Thousand People Shut down Melbourne: CAAMA
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/04/11/wgar-news-breaking-news-10-april-2015-over-thirteen-thousand-people-shut-down-melbourne
* Photos, Videos & Media: 10 April 2015 Marches in Melbourne & Sydney: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook
* Audio Interview: Van Nguyen & Sacha Payne, SBS News: Protests over plans to close remote communities [Van Nguyen spoke to Sacha Payne from the Melbourne rally]
* Video: David Hurley, Herald Sun: Flinders Street protest causing traffic, commuter chaos
* Breaking News & Photos: CAAMA: Over Thirteen Thousand People Shut down Melbourne
* Breaking News: ABC News: Thousands rally in Melbourne in support of remote Aboriginal communities
* Breaking News: Aisha Dow, The Age: Protests bring city roads to standstill
* Breaking News: Skye News: Aboriginal protest disrupts Melb CBD
* Breaking News: SBS News: Hundreds protest against WA closures in Melbourne, Sydney
* Video: NITV News: We Want the World to Know: Rallies Continue Against Forced Closures of Aboriginal Communities
* Breaking News: Brittany Ruppert, SMH: 800 people march in Sydney protest against forced closure of remote Indigenous communities
* News Analysis: Green Left: Good news: Victorian council opposes closures of Aboriginal communities
* News Analysis: Thom Mitchell, New Matilda: Marches Today In Sydney, Melbourne Against Forced Closures Of Aboriginal Communities
* Photos: Citizenside France: Noosa: Protesters condemn community closures outside Abbott’s lunch
* Poster: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook: “We would like to confirm that that 2nd National Call of Action will be held Friday 1st May 2015.”
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
KALACC Directors Statement – Kimberley
WGAR News: KALACC Directors: Threatened Closure of Remote Aboriginal Communities: Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/04/12/wgar-news-kalacc-directors-threatened-closure-of-remote-aboriginal-communities-kimberley
Contents:
* Statement: Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre: KALACC Directors Statement on the Threatened Closure of Remote Aboriginal Communities – April 2015
* Background: KALACC is the Kimberley Region’s Peak Indigenous Law and Culture Centre
* Background: WGAR News: Kimberley Land Council to ask UN forum to condemn Indigenous community closures: Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian
* Background: Kimberley Land Council – About Us
* Analysis / Opinion: Michele Madigan, Eureka Street: Funding cut signals the destruction of Aboriginal life in Australia
* Audio: Dom Vukovic, 2SER – Real Radio: “removal of aboriginal communities from their lands in Western Australia”
[Featuring Paddy Gibson, Brenda Croft & Rosalie Kunoth-Monks]
* News: Thom Mitchell, New Matilda: ‘We’ll Be Back’: Thousands Protest Forced Closure Of Remote Communities
* News: NZ Herald: Melbourne rocked by protests
* News: Reme Sakr, Press TV: Australians slam govt. over plans against aboriginals
* Video: Seven Local News – Sunshine Coast, facebook: “A group of protesters tried to interrupt the Prime Minister while he lunched in Noosa”
* Event Poster: TangataWhenua.com: Maori solidarity with our Aboriginal brothers and sisters in Australia
* Event Poster: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia, facebook: “We would like to confirm that that 2nd National Call of Action will be held Friday 1st May 2015.”
* Facebook: Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Communities in Australia
* Background: Press TV: Australia discontinues water, electricity services for Aboriginals
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA
Funding for South Australia’s Aboriginal Communities
WGAR News: Interview with Haydyn Bromley on funding for the 60 SA Aboriginal Communities: Uncle Stephen Goldsmith, Nunga Wangga – Radio Adelaide
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/04/14/wgar-news-interview-with-haydyn-bromley-on-funding-for-the-60-sa-aboriginal-communities
Contents:
* Audio Interview: Uncle Stephen Goldsmith, Nunga Wangga – Radio Adelaide: Haydyn Bromley on funding for the 60 SA Aboriginal Communities
[Featuring Haydyn Bromley, Stephen Goldsmith, Minungka McInerney]
* Audio Interview: CAAMA Radio’s Strong Voices: South Australia’s Remote Communities Safe for Now!
[Featuring Haydyn Bromley, Aboriginal Lands Trust South Australia]
* Audio: Natalie Whiting, The World Today: SA Indigenous communities safe: state and federal governments strike a deal
[Featuring Nigel Scullion, Haydyn Bromley & Kyam Maher]
* Media Release: Senator Rachel Siewert: Greens: Federal funding for SA remote aboriginal communities secured, WA must receive funding rethink
* Analysis / Opinion: Michele Madigan, Eureka Street: Funding cut signals the destruction of Aboriginal life in Australia
* Breaking News: Natalie Whiting, Nicola Gage & staff, ABC News: Future of remote Aboriginal communities secured by deal between SA and federal governments
* Breaking News: Lauren Novak, The Advertiser: State and Federal Governments sign $15 million funding agreement for services for Aboriginal communities.
* Breaking News: Stephanie Anderson, SBS News: Deal secures future of SA remote Indigenous communities
* Breaking News: Bridie Jabour, The Guardian: SA remote Indigenous communities thrown lifeline by funding deal
* Background: WGAR News: SA Indigenous leaders seek urgent meeting over community closure concerns: Natalie Whiting, ABC PM
[Featuring Haydyn Bromley & Tammy Franks]
* WGAR Background: Plans to close Aboriginal homelands / remote communities in WA and SA