Police attack sovereign embassy in midnight raid

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Three people have been arrested during an angry clash between police and Aboriginal protesters at the Brisbane tent embassy overnight.

The council shut down the embassy site at Musgrave Park in South Brisbane yesterday afternoon.

Later in the evening, a smaller group of Indigenous embassy supporters returned to Musgrave Park, set up tents and restarted two sacred fires.

About 50 police, firefighters and council workers arrived soon after and made a move on the group around midnight.

Australian slavery buried in Queensland mass grave

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Marty Silk AAP Herald Sun December 07, 2012

Hidden under an old cane plantation outside the Queensland sugar city of Bundaberg lies an awful secret.

Beyond the weeping fig trees the bodies of 29 South Sea Islanders are buried in an unmarked grave.

Local Islander leader Matthew Nagas says they could be his ancestors who were worked to death "like pieces of machinery".

Brisbane Sovereign Embassy to be shut down

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The Indigenous tent embassy at South Brisbane's Musgrave Park is set to be shut down.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the move was supported at "a special meeting of elders" on Wednesday.

Wayne Wharton has written to Cr Quirk expressing his "absolute disgust" that the Lord Mayor "would seek to move against the Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy". (Copy of letter included with article)

Facebook Message:  Brisbane Aboriginal-Sovereign Embassy 6/12/12
A good turnout this morning and we all had a deadly breakfast and good yarns - and successfully held off the move against the Embassy. Still standing strong. Big community meeting next Wednesday (Dec 12) at the Embassy around the Sacred Fire.

Act of Recognition is an insult to First Nations People

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Sovereign Union spokesperson Michael Anderson, slams the Act of Recognition introduced by the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, as an absolute insult to First Nations Peoples.

Mr Anderson said in a media release that First Nations people have been denied human rights since the invasion under military rules in 1788.

"By not declaring war the invasion developed into a genocide, in which women, children and non-combatants were slaughtered and they could avoid taking prisoners of war," he writes in his media statement.

"If Jenny Macklin and the Gillard government had any decency they would withdraw this Act of Recognition immediately and first consult First Nations people whether they approve of this type of action. On the other hand, recognition of our continuing sovereignty is the most prudent way forward."

Brisbane conference: Native Title system is fraudulent

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Wayne Wharton

Mining companies are robbing First Nations communities of a decent share of the mineral wealth because the native title system is flawed, Aboriginal activists say.

Wayne Wharton, from the Kooma tribe in southwest Queensland, says the talks are never fair but just a way for mining companies discuss loopholes in an already weak native title system.

"The system is fraudulent," Mr Wharton told AAP on Sunday.

Land council slams Sandon Point Embassy plan

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Wollongong City Council's draft plan of management for Sandon Point is "an affront" to First Nations people, the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council (ILALC) says.

Mrs Sharralyn Robinson, CEO of ILALC said the council "had no legal right or jurisdiction over the embassy as it is governed by constitutional and international laws".

She said all legal means would be used to stop the plan "if it requires the removal and/or control of embassy structures, activities or land".

Australia's response to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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UN Questionnaire

February 2012

Does the state have an overarching national implementation strategy to attain the goals of the Declaration?

The Australian Government announced its support for the Declaration on 3 April 2009. Along with the National Apology to Australia's Indigenous Peoples, and in particular, the Stolen Generations, the announcement demonstrated the Government's commitment to strengthening the relationship and ensuring genuine engagement with Indigenous Australians.

The Australian Government's overarching approach to addressing Indigenous disadvantage is through the Closing the Gap strategy. The Government is accountable to the Australian people through the Prime Minister's Closing the Gap report which is tabled in Parliament annually ...

Donations needed to challenge sovereignty

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Michael Anderson is calling for donations to fund a legal challenge to Australia’s sovereignty.

“The research for the statement of claim and evidentiary material has been concluded and it is now time to locate appropriate legal firms who would be interested in running this most important case," Mr Anderson wrote in a Media Release.

“We must put an end to all political and historical theories and bring this into the world of reality," he said. "We need to end speculating on the jurisdictional question and deal with what we argue is the legal and political reality of our continuing sovereignty.”

Last ditch effort to block UN Security Council seat

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The First Nations sovereignty movement is making a last ditch effort to stop Australia getting a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where voting begins on Thursday 18th October, 2012.

A second letter was sent to all UN Ambassadors in New York explaining Australia's position in terms of world affairs.

Mr Anderson spokesperson wrote that Australia shows it doesn't have a mature capacity to articulate foreign policy under international law.

" ... Australia clearly fails to articulate sound social justice policies, but rather confronts First Nations people under the original 'rules and disciplines of war' and thereby applies rules of a police state as a methodology to continually confront Aboriginal people around this country. Statistics of the imprisonment and arrest rates is clear evidence attesting to these police actions."

Australia doesn't deserve a seat on United Nations”

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2012: Michael Anderson, the surviving member of the founders of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, wrote to the United Nations urging it reject Australia's bid for a temporary seat on the Security Council because of Australia's treatment of Indigenous Australians. In his letter Mr Anderson said Australia was a colonial power and in breach of international conventions in its treatment of its Indigenous people. Mr Anderson also criticised the Federal Government for its policies on asylum seekers.
"Aboriginal nations and peoples in Australia object to any support for Australia to have a temporary position on the UN Security Council,"