Racism

The arguments that mainstream media is hiding from you. The media and the government has only ever offered two sides of the story. One is the position the government calls for through their 'Recognition', which is a 'Yes Vote', and the other is the opinion of extreme right-wing racists. However, the grass roots First Nations people understand that their input has 'NEVER' been provided to the general public. Here we offer the alternative views of First Nations people who maintain their culture and know their Sovereign Rights, and they demand the self-determination and reject forced assimilation.

First Nations youth are 24 times more likely to be incarcerated than other Australian youth, Amnesty International has found. Amnesty International secretary-general Salil Shetty at the National Press Club in Canberra said the rate would have devastating consequences. "We will see another generation lost to failed government policies unless Australian Governments get smarter about this, and fast," Mr Shetty said. "We will see another generation lost to failed government policies unless Australian Governments get smarter about this, and fast"

Rosie Batty was right to criticise the federal government's allocation of a mere $16 million over three years to family violence in last week's budget. By comparison, more than a billion dollars was set aside for national security measures, an issue that is arguably costing fewer Australian lives at the present time. But when it comes to introducing oppressive legislation on the basis of race, state and federal governments suddenly seem to become incredibly concerned about violence against women - Celeste Liddle writes

A domestic violence shelter servicing 50 Aboriginal communities in the remote north of Western Australia has emerged as the latest project to miss out on funding under the Federal Government's overhaul of Indigenous funding. The women who run the Djarindjin safe house say they will have to shut their doors on June 30, if the decision is not reversed. - There is not a skerrick of evidence that abused women would be better off in larger towns and cities than in Ho,eland communities. Domestic violence is accelerated where alcohol is accessible.

Suicides in First Nations communities are linked to extreme poverty and disadvantage from the beginning of life, intergenerational trauma, cultural identity, racialisation and racism. Often alcohol and substance abuse are considered by many as underlying causes but these are not underlying causes and rather they are at best contributing factors borne symptomatically of the conditions above.

This article and links to all many other articles by First Nation suicide expert Gerry Georgatos.

The Western Australian Department of Housing has not been properly monitoring remote communities services and have not applied their 'apparent' eligibility criteria since 2008. Now, all of a sudden, when Barnett wants to close communities down to save money and make the land available for mining and other interests, his department is saying there must be at least 50 members per Homeland community and and that 24 Homeland communities don't meet the criteria. Throwing in the report that surfaced at the same time that some communities have Uranium contamination demonstrates appalling neglect.

The NT Government-commissioned Wilson Review recommends sending Indigenous high school students to boarding schools in regional centres.

"People in communities are saying we don't feel like we've been consulted," he said. "The Government has come and told us, 'This is what we're doing'." Prominent Indigenous educator Yalmay Yunupingu, a former teacher at Yirrkala school in East Arnhem Land, also said there had not been enough consultation.

For over two centuries, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia have had to endure brutal agression against their societies. Every year on Australia Day, Australians celebrate the arrival of the First British Fleet, on 26 January 1788, on the coast of Eora Country. But today, the first peoples of Australia still call it « Invasion Day ». This difference in perceptions bears witness to the political and cultural gap which separates Aboriginal people from other Australians.

Mr Fred Hooper, Head of State of the Murrawarri Republic, who served in the Royal Australian Navy as a submariner, was prevented from marching in Canberra on ANZAC Day in commemoration of his Grandfather and his two great uncles. Mr Hooper said from Canberra. “ I wanted to march with my Navy mates, but was prevented by the Australian Federal Police. Instead I was given a police escort from the back of the parade to the front, where the Submarine Association was gathered before the official march commenced.”